"If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash, then crash and burn
You're not alone"

Crash and Burn, Savage Garden

Neil's POV

I left Ciaran's cabin by around noon and stumbled onto my own cubicle in the Structures department. Leonard had already left a pen drive on my desk with a memo, asking me to verify the structural layout, and number all columns and beams.

I groaned.

This was usually an intern's job, this bloody numbering business. Sighing, I booted up my desktop and got started. I was halfway through running the structural stability program when my phone buzzed.

Dehati, read my screen.

A crooked smile made it onto my face as I picked it up slowly and stared at her name. It was funny, it really was. Though it was odd for her to call, I figured she must be needing stuff. After all, it was close to lunchtime and I hadn't shown her everything in the kitchen.

With my smile growing, I swiped the phone green.

"Hello there" I tried on a rich, sexy voice.

I needn't have.

"Neil?" her voice was pitchy and trembling, "Neil? NEIL?"

"Yes, yes, Arundhati, it's Neil here" I sat up straight at her tone.

"Neil?" she continued, her voice breaking, "I got an envelope. It had this photograph....Neil, listen, can you come home?"

I balked.

"What happened?" I stood up, agitated, "Why are you sounding like this?"

"Neil, its Michael's handwriting!" her voice broke. She was this close to sobbing on the phone, "I can recognise it anywhere! Neil, he's keeping tabs on me...there's some warning on the back...Oh my god, just come back home!"

I had already picked up my laptop bag by the time she was done talking.

"I'll be there within half an hour" I promised as she started breathing hard, "breathe, Dehati, and hang on."

My mind was spotlessly blank as I shut down my desktop and rushed in an apologetic memo to Leonard, asking for leave. Next, I swung by Ciaran's cabin. His housemate, Carolyn, was perched on his desk and they seemed to be having a quiet conversation, but I was beyond caring.

"Ciaran, she knows" I blurted out as I rushed in, "I'm going home"

"You want me to come along?" he stood up, looking as shocked as I was, "Lynnie could help calm her down – "

"What is going on?" Lynnie looked at us with large, curious eyes.

"That interiors woman who came in that day" Ciaran reminded her mildly, "The one who proposed the new roof?"

"Ah yeah" her eyes lit up, "yeah I liked her. What about her?"

"She's staying with Neil."

"Really?" her eyes seemed to gleam in curiosity, "Why, what happened?"

"Aaah. Long story" I looked at Ciaran again, "If you want, drop in after work. Tell her" I nodded at Lynnie, "And for heaven's sake don't let Dehati know that you know."

"Who's Deh –?"

I banged the door and strode out before Lynnie could finish her questions.

As I sped down the road out of downtown, I couldn't help but feel frustrated at the situation. I thought I would sit down calmly with her tonight and break in the information gently, but this...nobody saw this coming. She was alone, in a new city, in someone else's home, absolutely freaked out because her ex-husband won't stop stalking her and warning off....wait, who was I to her again?

That's the problem, kid, I chided myself, Who are you to her?

For the life of me I couldn't answer that question.

**

Arundhati's POV

My voice quivered violently on the phone as I spoke with Neil. I was surprised at myself. I didn't know I was this terrified of Michael. I sat down on the sofa, laptop abandoned, head in my hands. I didn't know what to think, what to make of this absolutely disastrous situation.

Twenty minutes after the call, I heard the key turn in the main door. By the time I stood up, Neil had walked in, bag in hand. He stopped short on seeing me.

"Dehati?" his voice went abnormally low on seeing me. He strode up to me in about five paces and pulled me into a tight hug, "you look like you're about to collapse any moment."

I stood within his circle of arms, unmoving. Involuntarily, my hands crept up to his chest and rested there. What could I say to this man? What could I keep from him? My head rested on his shoulder. I felt his head turn, and he planted a firm kiss on my temple, as if reassuring me.

"Breathe" he reminded me, "You look like you're having a panic attack."

It was as if my arms had gained a life of their own. I pushed him away gently and stood back.

"Was Michael talking to you?" I blurted out.

He looked at me, expressionless, as if measuring my reaction instead of answering. After a few moments, his head cocked to the side and I could see him swallow.

"It wasn't exactly talking" he sounded as if each word was being knifed out of him, "Sit down, Dehati, you're not going to like what I'm going to tell you."

"Don't play with me!" my voice sounded pitchy even to me, "Just tell me!"

He whipped out his phone and tapped away.

"Tell me, Neil! Were you talking to Michael behind my back? What –"

"Dehati" he cut me off in a quiet, firm voice, "I've asked you once to not jump to conclusions already. Wait for my phone to boot up, and sit down. You'll get your answers."

I couldn't believe this man. He had the audacity to...to kiss my forehead like he cared, and then he ordered me calmly as if nothing at all was going on! I collapsed onto the sofa anyway, spent. He followed, phone screen lit up.

"Read" he handed me the phone.

I read. He stepped back, and then turned and went to his room. I turned back to the phone.

Dear Sir,

This is my first polite warning to stay away from my ex-wife, Arundhati Gray. I would also entreat you cut off all connection to her and ask her to move back to New York.

Consider it to be my last polite warning.

The next warning would not be in form of words, but in kind.

Yours sincerely,

Arundhati's husband,

Lord Michael Gray

I don't know when the tears started, but I know that I was already crying by the time I saw the hazy form of Neil come back into the room. He hurried over, and that is when an audible sob finally left my throat. It sounded as if somebody was dragging me through a bed of nails.

"Shh, come on" he tried to quieten me, but this was my nightmare come true.

"He promised to leave me alone" I clutched onto his shirt front as I sobbed in pure horror at what the e-mail entailed, "he..he promised to leave me alone! It's been years...its...been years."

Neil's forehead rested on mine as he continued to try his best to make me stop weeping my heart out. I felt it breaking again, just like I had, all those years ago when I had walked into Michael and...his partner. Just like the day Seth had told me that he had received a warning and a broken nose to stay away from me, and though he loved me, it wasn't enough to keep him around. Just like the day I had found out that Michael was behind scaring Seth away.

"Did you know he was following you?" Neil asked in a low voice as I quietened a bit.

"No...not this time" I wiped away my tears violently. I had vowed to never shed a tear for Mickey again.

"This time?"

Uh oh.

"Yeah" I swallowed, and looked up to find curious hazel-brown eyes boring into me, "He...he has scared someone away before..."

"Why?"

I shrugged, trying not to answer.

"You know why, Dehati" another clinical observation.

"He...wants to...get back."

There. I said it. It was pathetic. Nobody knew it better than me. I was running away from my ex-husband, and he was chasing me and ruining whatever hope I had of finding love again at any chance he got.

Neil sighed.

"So what are you going to do?" he looked me in the eye as he spoke, coaxing me to answer.

"I...don't know."

He stepped back at reached into his pocket. Out came a small box in his hand, something that suspiciously resembled a ring box.

"What the –"

He opened the box.

In it lay our rings, our original rings. The one I had put on his finger, and the one I had flung away. I looked up to see a determined glint in his eye.

"You can keep running, or you can tell him to fuck off" he spoke calmly, as if he was teaching a child English.

"No, Neil, you don't have to" I rushed in, "This is-"

"I want to" his gaze bored into me. "The choice will always be yours, Dhati. You can accept my ring, tell him to fuck off. Later, if you want to go our separate ways, I won't stop you. Or you can take back the ring you gave me, and keep running."

My mind clicked. ...Go our separate ways... of course. What was I thinking out here? He had begged for another chance because he had felt guilty. Now he was practically proposing, out of sheer pity. I would be his fake little wife, his charity project for the year. I steeled my gaze as I looked back at him.

All that money in the trust fund won't protect me from Michael, but the presence of a husband, no matter how convenient, would.

"One year, half of the trust fund" I intoned dully.

His mouth turned into a crooked smile, "You want to do THAT now?"

"One year" I repeated.

"I'll take what I get" his voice had hardened and his gaze had cooled. He glared back icily now.

I took in a breath and reached for a ring.

**

Neil's POV

I had known for a long time, and accepted a long time back, that I was probably never going to have a storybook love. It was alright with me; textual stuff rarely held true, and when it dealt with something as complicated as emotions, it was best not to follow a book. Nobody can predict the human mind, especially not when it goes mad. Like when it decides to love.

As someone who spent his adult life translating book knowledge to practicality, I understood that they rarely met eye to eye. Idealised situations didn't exist. When we had sold our software to a huge conglomerate, and managed to make a pretty pocketful for us, we had felt as if this was our storybook. The three of us had been batchmates in college, the best of friends. We were 22, millionaires, with a full life ahead of us. We lived it up for a while, clubbed, hooked up. It was a different stage, and we thought we were living our fairytale.

I would like to believe that maybe I have fallen in love before. With Karen, when I was 21, who left by the time I turned 23 for another man. With Stacie, at 26, who never wanted what I wanted from life. I grew up in a standard Hindu Indian household. It was ingrained in me that all meaningful relationships led to marriage. It didn't for Stacie; I never reached that stage with Karen.

As I stared into baleful, hollow eyes set in a pale, tear-streaked face, I caught myself wondering if Fate had decided to play a cruel joke on my fantasy of a storybook love. Oh, this was storybook alright. Right out of third grade Bollywood movies, no less. Of course, the usual storyline was rich guy-poor girl, strike a contract, marry, fall in love even though they swear they hate each other, and eventually all ends well.

The stalkerish villanous ex, the maiden in distress, the hero on a white horse. For someone who had grown up on a steady diet of Bollywood love stories, the irony of my own situation didn't escape me. This maiden had a choice. This hero was in love with his memories. This villain needed to get a life.

"One year, half the trust fund" she broke into me reverie, her voice sounding mechanical.

In that very moment, all my thoughts on romance went right out the window. For all that had happened, she was putting a price on my ring? Granted, she never felt the way I felt for her, but was this the way to reciprocate? A thank you might have broken my heart, but this shot it apart to smithereens. I felt myself go cold at the very thought of this emotionless, cynical woman.

"You want to do that now?" I packed in as much venom as I could. I wanted to hurt her just as much as she hurt me with her assumption that I was doing this for money. And why wouldn't she think so, I thought cruelly, exactly what more does she offer?

You know what more, my conscience fought back, you know she's sharp and witty when she's having fun. You know she's well-read and can hold a good conversation. You know she's caring, you know she could be badass if she wanted to be.

"One year" she repeated.

"I'll take what I can get" I shot back.

She took in a deep breath and reached in for a ring. I thought she would pick hers, when her hand hovered on top, and she picked up the one she had given me. I stared at her in shock. For all the money-offering, she picked up her own ring? To take and run?

"Give me your hand" her eyes flashed as she spoke, and I saw a return of the defiance that had initially drawn me to her. As if in limbo, I extended my left hand. She caught hold of it and slipped in the cold band. "I may not make much of a wife, but I'm a good partner" she offered a small smile.

My throat felt clogged up. What would I say? How could I tell her that I cared for her and yet felt deeply insulted at the same time? That I dreaded our future as much as I wanted it?

I took the diamond ring from the box and flung the box onto the sofa. I made up my mind. I didn't care if she wanted one year. I would show her exactly why she should never put a time limit on me. I didn't care how much of a queen Michael had treated her as, I would show her exactly what a storybook love was. And all love that should be envied began with two simple yet very complicated words – honesty and trust.

She trusted me, I knew that. It was time to ensure we were honest.

I took her hand between my palms when she extended it, but I didn't slip on the ring. Her eyes looked up quizzically and rested on mine. I took in a deep breath.

"I don't want your money" I started, "I had refused dowry when your father had offered, and I refuse whatever money it is that you are offering now. Don't demean your value to whatever is in your bank account, Dhati."

Her eyes glazed at my words, but she didn't speak.

"And it hurts me to think that you would believe that I would want to be with you for money" I continued, looking her in the eye, "I wanted to marry you when I knew you only as a divorcee with no prospects. I want to marry you still, no matter how messy your equation with your ex-husband is. I told you once, that I'm not much of a catch...and it's true. I could never give you castles and diamonds like Michael did. I could never give you fast cars or invitations to "high-society do's. I could never be a serious academic with a penchant for words. But I will make one vow to you. I will always be your rock. I will always be Dhati's Neil, for as long as you'd have me."

She was blinking hard as she turned away her head and refused to look up.

"I will never be a man possessive enough to tell you that you're mine" I managed a feeble smile, "But I can always be man enough to tell you that I want to be with you."

A messy snort escaped her lips. A few moments later, I saw her shake her head.

"I don't want castles and diamonds or any of that" her voice was low and close to breaking, "I've had them and they're never enough." Her eyes were shining with unshed tears when she finally looked up, "you may never be a man possessive enough to claim me as yours, but I'm woman enough to want to belong you."

I stared back at her in shock. I never thought she would return back an answer.

"I'd like my rock now, please" a playful glint entered her eyes as she turned my confession on its head by indicating at the diamond ring still in my hand. A smile crept up my face when I realized that she understood. She understood me.

I slipped on the ring, and would've stepped back with a smile when she practically launched herself on me. I was close to half a foot taller than her, but she latched onto my neck and pulled me into a bear hug.

"I don't know what I've ever done to deserve you" I heard her whisper, "Half the time I can't even believe that you're real."

I was attacked by an irresistible urge to kiss her senseless at that, show her that I was as real as they come. But I stopped myself, of course. She had just started to trust me properly. We had just begun a relationship officially. Anything too much, and she would be running scared. So I rubbed slow circles on her back as she clung on, as if for dear life.

I knew how to appreciate attractive women, and I found her very attractive. And ask any boy if he would be fine if a beautiful, sexy woman clung onto him like that. I swear, my mind is pure, but my body, alas, is male. I cleared my throat gently to remind her to step back when she loosened her grip and looked up with an impish smile.

I opened my mouth to speak, when she grabbed hold of my neck and dragged me down till my lips met hers. No, it wasn't a sweet one. Wasn't slow either. It was hard, and desperate, almost hungry. When we broke apart, her face was so close to mine that I could see her irises were dilated.

"You're real, alright" she whispered.

"What was that for?" I managed an amused laugh. Her eyes darkened.

"That was for us" she stated, "A kiss to seal the deal. Would you like another?"

********************************

Hi reader,

Keep reading, vote if you'd like. just know that every read pushes me to write better and update on time...sometimes before time:)

keep up your end, good readers, and I'll keep up mine:)

As always,

Architect-at-loggerheads Ellanie!