Samriddhi's pov

It's the weekend, and Anna joined us. Well, all these brothers were busy with their respective jobs, and Anna's only friend settled in Washington.

Finally, she is glad that, because of Richard and Henry, she made new friends in the form of us.

I like her company. She is really sweet. I mean, even though she is the girlfriend of James Brown, she is nice with zero attitudes and a loving personality.

She is now one of us in a short period of time. She liked our company, and we also liked her. We all had fun together, but Anna left us earlier tonight because she had to attend a party with James.

It's an important gala to attend, so I'm glad that Mr. Brown is not coming to our apartment, and I'll have a quiet weekend, finally.

But the next day's news headlines made me restless. I don't know why, but I'm feeling like I'm the reason behind this.

"Business tycoon Henry
Brown lost his biggest
Project to his biggest
Rival."

This news headline makes me worried. I have nothing to do with his business.
Yet I'm feeling responsible.

Why?

What is happening to me?

Is it because he wastes his time here?
That's what James says. I know I overheard his conversation with Anna one day. I don't want to, but it was by mistake.

I have to talk to him. I was dealing with an internal battle myself when the door knocked. I opened it, and there he is.

Standing in front of me with a big cheeky smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked without letting him in.

He exhaled and shook his head in disappointment. Without even bothering to answer me. He came inside without permission, as if he owned the house.

"Wait, where do you think you are going?" I asked, running after him, but he sat comfortably and then replied.

"How many times do I have to teach you that you can't ask such things to your guests?" He replied.

"You are not my guest." I said while crossing my arms.

"Well, technically, I'm because I'm your roommate's brother from another mother." He replied with a smile.

Agh!!!! God!!! How badly do I want to wipe this smile off his face?

"How could you be so relaxed? You just lost a business deal." I asked in disbelief.

"That's not that important. You don't have to worry about it." He replied nonchalantly, as it's not a big deal.

"The news is all over the media; it is a big deal, and you are sitting here?" I asked.

"It is not worth it as compared to coming here and having a coffee made by you. Coffee, please? Or should I have to order from outside if you are not in the mood?" He said it calmly, and that enraged me.

"How could you be so careless about your work? Your work is more worth it than coming here." I scolded him. "Why are you behaving like a spoiled brat? You should concentrate on your work, not on me. You shouldn't waste your time on me. I'm not worth it." I said in one go, and he stood up from his seat.

"What did you just say?" He asked, taking a step toward me.

"Stop wasting your time; I'm not worth that." I said it word-for-word.

"Why do you think that?" He asked, still taking steps towards me.

"It's clear. You are always here, and you even missed your meeting when I was locked in the storage room." I replied confidently but took a step back.

"Who told you that?" He asked, taking another step towards me.

"I know that, and the proof is in today's paper and all over the media." I replied, taking another step back. Where the hell is Hannah when I need her?

"It has nothing to do with you, and don't you dare say that again that you are not worth it because nothing is more important than you?" He replied.

And now my back is hitting the wall, and he is just two steps away from me.

"Why me?" I questioned him out of the blue.

"Ask yourself." He replied. "Why not?"

And his words did something to me that I didn't want to feel.

"Please don't, Mr. Brown. You deserve better than me." I tried to convince him, but it seemed as if he was ready to listen.

"No, I deserve the best, and you are the best choice for me," he replied confidently.

"No, I'm not worthy of being anyone's best choice. Especially yours; we are two people from different worlds. I'll never be part of your world, and I'll only embarrass you. Your upper-class society is not meant for me; they will never accept me. I don't want to be your distraction, so just please focus on your work and career and find someone who is really a good match for you and worthy of you." I tried my best with lame excuses.

"Stop all these excuses. In which century are you leaving? I didn't expect such lame excuses from you, and what does upper class, middle class, or lower class mean? huh? I never believed in this bullshit. You know what these upper-class bimbos only know: how to do the shopping, how to apply makeup, and all the plastic crap on their faces. They are not self-settled like you. They don't know the meaning of values or the worth of food and money. They only knew one thing: how to trap rich people doesn't matter who they are or how they look. The only thing that matters to them is maintaining their social culture. That's it." He replied, looking straight into my eyes.

"Oh god, why don't you understand? First of all, I'm not interested in any kind of relationship, and second, we have no future together. Where you are Where am I? You are a billionaire, and I'm just a middle-class working woman. Look at you; you are the prince charming of every woman's fantasies, and I'm an ugly brown girl. The women who work in your office are more beautiful than me. They know how to behave and talk, and they are perfect.
On the other hand, I don't even know what to wear or how to wear it. I don't know how to talk. I feel anxious to talk to strangers. I'm not perfect at all. Society will just think of me as a gold digger." I tried to justify myself to make him think anything but not to think about me, but he only chuckled.

"Really? That's the definition of beauty in your dictionary? I thought you were better than this, but your lame excuses are not helping to make you a fool in my eyes." He takes a step forward and fills the gap between us. Again, he understood me.

Why?
"Beauty lies in simplicity." He said, "That's what I follow in my life, and good looks were never important to me, and who told you that you are not beautiful because, if you see from my eyes, you are the most beautiful woman in this whole world. You are beautiful not just from the outside but also from the inside; your simplicity is making me crazy. Your long hair and way of living. Your smile is the reason I was attracted to you in the first place. You have the most beautiful smile in this world, do you know that? You respect your elders and love your young ones. I fall for your values. I always wanted a girl with a good heart and great values, and you, sweetheart, ended my search.
I never like girls who show their bodies and cover themselves in plastic and makeup. Who values money over people and trust?
Because trust me, I'm not a child, and I have seen the world. If you were a gold digger, then it can't be hidden from me."

My eyes started to moisten after listening to him, but I controlled myself and blinked those water drops that were starting to form in my eyes. I didn't say anything, and he continued.

"I don't know what kind of man you want in your life, but you can tell me I'll try to be one of them." He replied with a smile on his lips. "Usually girls find their father in their man; my mother used to say that, but one thing is sure: you don't want that, and I promise I will never hurt you. I don't know what he did to you, and I'll never ask, I promise. Just one chance, that's all I'm asking for." He stopped and then continued again.

"I have zero patience in my life and have never talked too much, but your presence is forcing me to do things I never imagined in my life. I never apologized in my life; you are the only person to whom I apologize. But I'm happy to do all these things for you, and I will always do these things to make you happy. Just one chance. I never said that before, but..." he said pleadingly, "I'm begging you. Just one chance. I will never disappoint you."

After listening to all this, I couldn't control myself, and traitor tears rolled down from my left eye. He immediately wiped that tear and said that, looking straight into my eyes.

"I want to kiss you every time I see tears in your eyes. I want to kiss them away and tell you are not alone. You have me." He said that, and my heart skipped a beat, and another tear rolled down. "I hate these tears. These eyes only look beautiful smiling, not with tears." He said that while wiping another teardrop with the pad of his thumb.

I don't know what kind of emotion is enough to express the feeling that there is a person who is caring about me, despite the fact that I'm pushing him away from me every time he takes a step towards me.

Why is he doing all of this for me?

All I could do was cry. I don't want to, but at the same time, I'm unable to control them.

Today, I completely understand why they call these tears traitors, because they are. Then suddenly, his phone rang.

"P-please take it; it must be important." I said it in between my sobs.

He took the call and said, "I'm leaving for now, but this is not over yet."

He left me behind, confused. I don't know what I want now.

Since that day, my heart has always run marathons whenever Mr. Brown is around. I think I should consult a doctor or something. This has never happened before.

But what could be the reason for beating my heart so fast? Am I dying? Haah???? No, no, no.
Sammii tu pagal ho gai hai, that's it. (Samriddhi, you are getting mad.) I scolded myself.

I was never like that. I never did things before, and I just started now.

You are not going to believe it, but I started noticing queer things. Yes, I do, and may I tell you what?

Number 1. I started liking the color of Mr. Brown's eyes. Remember the moment when our eyes locked outside his office.

Number 2. I noticed his fangs while
We were discussing who's
the best Batman.

After that day, whenever he was around, my eyes were only glued to his face. Sometimes I even get caught stealing glances at him. Why sammii? I scolded myself every time, and this gawking revealed more features of Mr. Brown that I had never noticed before. This leads to point number 3.

Number 3. When he smiles, there is
Dimples formed on his
cheeks, which are normal
Most of the guys had
even both of his brothers
had dimples, but what
makes him more
handsome is a dimple on his chin. Three
dimples at the same time.
Oh god, I started liking
him smiling.

Whenever he smiles, Richard taunts him, saying that he didn't know that he knew how to smile. Seriously. If you ask me, he is always smiling around me, and I never noticed his dimples before. How? I mean, am I really blind, as if my mother always told me? I don't know.

Number 4. Oh god, no. 4 is the going
be the death of mine.

Actually, Mr. Brown didn't have a haircut. I always saw him with trim or short hair, but I know he has curly Superman-style hair. Which suits him very well.
But now, because he did not have a haircut, his locks were a little grown, and they fell on his forehead, which is normal.
But you know what takes my breath: how he set those curls back with his hand. Oh, my God. He was looking damn handsome while doing this.
I can watch him do this all day with mesmerized eyes.

The first time I saw him doing this, my heart almost stopped beating.

Damn it. Did you see how weird I started behaving? I. Samriddhi. Who never even imagined such things, and now I've started noticing them.

His presence stops bothering me. I like him being around. Even so, I started talking to him. Can you imagine that?

I'm telling you this man knows some black magic or something because it was not easy to melt the walls around my heart, but he did it.

I started liking his company. I don't fight with him anymore. We talk occasionally, and I find out that we have almost the same interests.

Richard was right. We are both nerds.

I was completely lost in my thoughts when Hannah came.

"You are not ready yet?" She said.

"I'm going to..."

"You are not going to wear your boring t-shirts," she told me.

"Don't you dare talk about my babies. They are more beautiful than you." I replied dramatically.

"Whatever." She flipped her hair to the side and threw a dress on my face. "You are going to wear this."

If you ask me, the dress is beautiful and according to my taste. Not much reveling and light summer shade. I wore it without any argument.

"Awwwww. You look beautiful," Nimii dii said.

"Thank you," I replied with a smile.

"After all, who's chosen this for you?" Hannah said.

"Yeah, whatever. Thank you to you too." I said to Hannah.

Then we all headed towards our destination. We are going to the docks.

Anna invited us to one of James's yachts.

Henry's pov

I'm here, and no one has arrived yet. James invited us to his yacht party. Well, it's a private party. Except for us, only a few of Anna and James's friends are coming.

She is coming too. I'm excited to meet her. Well, I saw her yesterday, but still.

Things are starting to be normal between us. She started to talk to me after that day. I even caught her red-handed many times, stealing glances at me.

Well, you have to learn to walk before running, they said, and I'm happy with her little efforts.

I was standing on the dock when I saw her coming. She is behind Namrita and Hannah, but my eyes only find her.

She is looking beautiful in her dress.
It's different from her usual look, but she still wears it gracefully.

I helped both of them get on the yacht first, and now it's her turn.

"May I?" I asked her permission while giving her my hand.

She nodded and took my hand. Then I climbed on the yacht. But before I talk to her,.

That idiot brother of mine came and took her with him. I must say they have made a really strong bond with each other.

I can't say that if we have a sister, then Richard loves her much more than he loves Samriddhi.

After a few minutes, finally, the hosts showed up.

They came, James raised a toast, Anna showed her hand, and everyone at the party went crazy.

Richard jumped and hugged both of them. After him, I came forward to congratulate them.

"Oh, man. Finally, after waiting for nine long years, I'm so happy for you." I hugged Anna and kissed her head. She replied, Thanks, with teary eyes. Then I came to my brother.

"Did you tell mom and dad?" I asked while hugging him.

"Yeah, I did, and they are coming back soon from their vacation." He replied.

"I'm happy for you." I said.

Then everyone congratulates them on their engagement.

Samriddhi hugged Anna and congratulated her and James.
"Congratulations, Mr. Brown," she said.

"Which Mr. Brown are you talking about?" James asked.

"Huh???" She asked confusingly. I noticed nervousness in her.

"Call me James." He answered, and she nodded.

Everyone is dancing and drinking, but she is standing near the railing, and I joined her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, offering her a drink. She hesitated, then I said, "It's a mocktail." She took it from me and said, "Thank you, Mr. Brown."

"It's Henry for you." I reminded her.

Then I noticed her hold on the railing was a little stronger. Then I asked, "It's your first time in the sea?"

"Hummmmm," she nodded.

"Come with me." I take her to the front side of the yacht. The flow was a little fast, and she closed her eyes.
"Open your eyes and sink it all in. It will take some time, but you will get used to it. Open."

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and a smile formed on her lips. Then suddenly, because of the turbulence, she got scared and held my arm in a strong grip.

"It's ok." I assured her. Then make her sit nearby.

"It's more beautiful in real life," she exclaimed, looking at the sea.

"It is," I replied, looking at her.

She took out her phone and started capturing the view. She is happy, and I'm happy to see her happy.

"Here. Give it to me. I'll click your pictures." I said, forwarding my hand to her phone.

"Really?" She asked excitedly, like a child, and gave me her phone.

I click on a few of her pictures and then show them to her. She saw pictures and said it dreamily.

"Oh, my God, Mr. Brown apne too badi achi pictures click kerdi meri."

"English, please." I said to her while chuckling.

"Oh sorry. I was saying that you have taken good pictures. It will be difficult for me to choose which one to post." She replied.

"Post all of them because not everyone got the privilege to be captured by my brother." James said that while coming forward to us. "Finally, I have witnessed that you started to break your own rules, brother." He said to me, then turned to Samriddhi, "You are lucky, Samriddhi, because my professional photographer brother never clicked pictures of a person easily, let alone on a phone." He said that, and Samriddhi looked at me in disbelief and excused herself.

"Now happy she is gone." I said it annoyingly. He chuckled and left.

The whole party, she ignored me and sat alone because everyone was busy drinking and she didn't drink.

It was almost evening when I came to her again.

"Come with me," I said.

"Where?" she asked confused.

"Don't worry, I'm not a serial killer." I replied, chuckling.

She didn't reply and followed me. I take her to the top of the yacht.

"It's almost time for sunset. We shouldn't miss this for anything if we are especially in the sea." I said, and she looked towards the sun.

The winds are flowing and her loose strands are falling on her face, and with a smile on her face, it's a haven.
She is looking pretty.

She takes out her phone and is about to capture the sunset. But I take her phone from her hand. She looked at me with a frown.

"Not everything is meant to show others. Somethings are meant only for us." I replied

"Huh?"

"Just enjoy the sunset with your own eyes. It's more worthwhile than capturing this on your phone because it never remains the same. Just enjoy," I said, turning her towards the sea.

After a few minutes, the view is marvelous. Her eyes are shining brightly at the scene in front of them.

"It's beautiful." She said it underneath her breath. "I never saw the sunset. It's beautiful; thank you, Mr. Brown, for showing me this." She said, turning to me.

"My pleasure," I replied.

"Are you really a professional photographer?" She asked.

"I just started as a hobby in high school." I replied, and she nodded.

"I'm feeling like Thanos." She was suddenly laughing.

"What ??? Why?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, now I know why he enjoyed the sunset, but I didn't wipe out half the universe, but still, I like it the same." She replied, bursting out laughing.

"Yeah, of course," I replied, smiling.
"How did you find references in everything?" I asked.

"I don't know; it's just who I am, Un Poco Loco." She replied.

"Yeah, but don't steal someone's guitar and curse yourself. Okay?" I replied teasingly.

"Did you watch Disney's animation movies?" She asked in disbelief.

"First of all, they are not anime; they are cartoons, and secondly, yeah, a few, but not princesses." I replied.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone, even if you do." She replied teasingly.

"After Richard, you are the only one who dares to tease me." I replied, looking into her eyes.

"I didn't tease you." She replied meekly.

"I didn't complain, Gulaboo." I said, and she looked at me with eyes wide like sausages.

"What did you just say?" She asked in disbelief with narrowed eyes, but before I could reply, she asked again, "Who taught you that? From where did you learn that word?"

"Namrita said it's the meaning of your name in Punjabi." I replied truthfully.

"No, it's not the meaning of my name, and don't you ever call me again by this." She warned.

"Okay, I will never, but what is the meaning of your name?" I asked.

"It means prosperity, welfare, perfection, wealth, good luck, and
Accomplishment." She replied after a pause.

"Just like you," I replied, and she blushed.

Oh, my God. She blushed. Does she know how to blush?

Am I dreaming or something?

"I didn't know that you knew how to blush." I blurted out.

She touched her cheeks with wide eyes and argued, "No, I didn't."

"Okay, if you say so," I replied.

"No, I didn't, and you are lying; it's getting dark and..."

"Okay, it's my mistake. I get it." I cut her, and she said,.

"Dekhya mai ta keha hi."

"English, please." I reminded her again while chuckling.

"See, I told you." She replied and turned to leave, but I stopped her.

"Everybody inside is pretty much drunk, and I'm sure you don't want to go inside, so stay."

She stayed, and we talked about random things again, then suddenly she said.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For saving me that day in the storage room and how selfish I was that I didn't even thank you for saving my life." She apologized.

"I didn't save you; I saved myself that night." I said honestly what was in my heart.

She was stunned, ran away from me, and didn't show herself to me the whole night.

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