I pushed Mr. Luthra's wheelchair through the wooden
posh door of the medium sized
bungalow and it led us to a sizeable living room with a
chandelier in the midst of the
plastered ceiling. The beige
coloured walls were decorated
with a combination of mural
paintings and mosaic tiles. The
squared windows were arranged
in a straight horizontal line on
either walls with a little gap
between them, giving enough
room for the air to circulate easily inside the vestibule.

We reached the resting area where the exclusive sofa for the
accommodation of three was
arranged and a middle aged man
came running to us. He glared at
me in an awkward fashion as if he had encountered with a ghost.

"Sir, have you married this lady?
We just got the news," he asked
looking at Mr. Luthra and
snorting his nose in disgust.

I felt pathetic with the way everyone was discussing about
me and expressing their feelings
of disgust. I had never thought
that pretending as a girlfriend or
rather as a wife to a billionaire
would be so difficult, earning me
only rapid insults.

Mr. Luthra nodded his head in
affirmation and the man stared
at me again. I averted my gaze to
avoid a direct eye contact with
the man. As I was trying to adjust myself in the odd situation, I heard Mr. Luthra speaking again.

"Kamal, can you show Preeta my
room?" he instructed the man. I
guessed from his outfit that he was a servant in the house.

Kamal diligently obeyed and I
released the wheelchair for him to carry it. I followed them behind, myself rolling Mr. Luthra's hospital luggage. The man took a turn towards the right end of the corridor on the ground floor before halting in front of a rustic wooden door.

Kamal unlocked the door for us
and eventually led us into the
bedroom. He looked angrier each time he stared at me. He must not be satisfied with my stay in Mr. Luthra's room and he was not wrong at all. I was facing
the same dilemma too, my mind
not agreeing to share room with
someone whom I didn't know
personally. It was only for the sake of Mr. Karthik that I had agreed to stay in the Luthra villa.

Mr. Luthra gestured Kamal to leave the roomn but the latter
proved to be adamant. He was
demanding an explanation from
Mr. Luthra for bringing me home. I was finding it impossible
to understand why people were
so indulged in other people's
personal lives.

"Sir, are you going to keep her
here?" Kamal was muttering
something only to be shushed by
Mr. Luthra.

"You are my servant so behave
yourself. It's my life and I have the rights to take decisions myself. Now go and prepare the lunch for us." Mr. Luthra pointed his forefinger at Kamal and he left the room quietly soon after.

________

Every happening was so new and sudden to me that I found my mouth losing words to speak.
Though I had earned the luck of
spending a few days of my life
luxuriously at the affluent villa, I
was yet uncomfortable to share a room with Mr. Luthra. It was
true that living in his villa and
most importantly in his personal
room was itself a luxury, but I
couldn't bring my mind to peace
with my inner conscience.

The king size bed in the middle
of his large room was coupled
with a bedside table, containing
an ornamental flower vase on top of it. His bed was neatly wrapped with printed floral bedsheets which seemed very expensive. The mosaic paintings hanging on the walls were exorbitantly priced and the table lamp next to the bedside window added more to the beautiful scenery of the room. There wasa soothing aroma around which could automatically turn mood on for any ill-tempered human being.

As I was admiring the beauty of
the neatly maintained room, I
heard Mr. Luthra chuckle. I saw him staring at the engraved mirror on the wall before us and
smiling to himself. I rotated my
eyes to take a look in it andit filled my heart with horror.

My completely drenched image
was clearly visible on the mirror
and my face looked horrible. My
hair was clustered in randomly
tangled locks and the kohl I had
applied the previous night was
smudged all over my eyes, giving me the look of a little demon. I was still wearing my night suit comprising of the tank top and balloon pants, both of them were badly creased.

I felt ashamed of myself for having reached his bungalow in such a pitiful attire. Now I wondered that Kamal was right, in fact, anybody who knew Mr. Luthra personally would not agree that I was his girlfriend. But honestly, I was only worried for his safety and it was the reason whyI couldn't give time to take a look at my outfit.

I wished if Mr. Luthra realised
the truth!

"Go and change your clothes at
first. The washroom is right there in that corner. Then we'l talk." I heard him directing me in his usual hoarse voice.

His words infuriated me further.
I could not understand what was
there to talk after everything had been sorted out. According to me, all our discussions must include Mr. Karthik and I couldn't agree to just discuss with Mr. Luthra. I was here as his doctor and protector, and not as his gossip partner or a real wife!

"Don't you think you are trying to flatter me? What on earth struck you with the idea that I will be sharing the room with you? Why did you even tell your servant to fetch us here?" I was direct in delivering my speech and this was the first time I was conversing with him in his consciousness. I could see him widening his eyes in rage.

"I'm not in the habit of being chided or listening to people's
silly rants. Sir entrusted my safety in your hands and I thought to utilize that faith on you. Even I'm not damn interested to share my room with a stranger." He groaned
louder, resting one of his hands on the armrest of the wheelchair.

I deadpanned with his words.
"Then keep this in your mind that we are going to stay in different rooms!"

"To hell with your nonsense! If we stay separately, my servants or other visitors will start doubting us. They are already believing that we are married to each other. Moreover, if you stay away, how will you keep an eye on everything to protect me? Anyone can sneak into my room and kill me off!" He was an oracle with his speech and more skilful than Mr. Karthik in convincing others. Sadly, I was
the most incompetent among the
three of us.

He structured his eyes in the most convincing way, giving me the vivid description to agree to his detailed proposition. I was startled by his usage of words and stared blankly at him. He was glowering at me with frowned forehead as if he was able to read the upsetting
expressions on my face.

He continued when he perceived
my silence. "Don't worry Dr. Preeta Arora. Even if we appear as a married couple in the public, we can behave as strangers inside the room. Be confident of the fact that I won't be taking your advantage in any way. I'm an honest man." He mumbled genuinely but plastering a wide smirk on his lips, shuddering me from within.

I had never pondered over this
logic of two young adults staying
under the same roof, sharing
the same room but behaving
like complete strangers. My fear
was inevitable being a girl, an
unmarried girl. Even he was
unmarried too and things were
too complicated between us.

Indian societies still considered
it as a taboo if an unmarried
couple stayed together or shared
a live-in relationship. We were
teamed up together for a good
cause but I was not sure if it
would be acceptable by the society in the future. Our doctor-client relationship was unknown to the public because we had become the new romantic sensation among them.

But my only cause of worries at
the moment was the treatment
and safety of my new client. I,
therefore took a step backwards
before announcing, "I'm liable
to abide by the orders of Mr.
Karthik. I can't help but agree
with whatever you say. But please remember that my dignity is at stake in your hands and it is also your responsibility to keep it safe."

I declared it in a single breath
and my eyes were already welled up in salty tears. I shut my eyes to suppress them from trickling down but they continued trailing their path along my cheeks. My inner conscience began coaxing me for agreeing to the deal of living with him but then, I had no choice.

He spoke again, milder this time.
"You don't need to turn emotional at all. You're already undertaking a hazardous job so these little things should not affect you. I hate people exhibiting full of emotional
melodrama."

Melodrama!

He thought that I was being too
emotional but it wasn't, right? It
was completely normal for any
girl to behave in such a manner
for such a sensitive social issue.

"I won't exaggerate on the matter anymore. Let's make it a deal. We'll behave as a happy couple outside this room and we'll be total strangers inside it." I finally agreed to him. It was only a matter of a few weeks and I would move out of the mess as soon as things were settled for the better.

Mr. Luthra nodded his head and tried to move his wheelchair, not attaining enough strength in his arms due to the wounds. I was sympathetic as always and inched near him, clutching the handles to the wheelchair. Pushing it next to the bed and pausing to hear his opinion, I waited momentarily for him to speak. When he did not react, I decided to converse myself.

"Shall I help you?" I needed his
permission to help him shift to his bed.

"Of course! You're my doctor,"
came his quick reply and I set my head backwards a ittle. His rapid response took me by surprise since he was too fast to allow me to help him with everything.

I felt awkward this time. I had
taken care of male patients earlier, but Mr. Luthra's case was different. Pretending as his false wife had preoccupied my brain more than the seriousness of my duty.

I shrugged off all my random
thoughts and held him by his arms. He was trying to stand on
his limping limbs and wrapped
his hand around my shoulders
for support. When he had settled
down on the bed, I lifted his legs
on the mattress and positioned
his pillow comfortably behind his back.

It was rather strange that during
all of it, we didn't meet each
other's eyes, not even for once. We both must be feeling embarrassed because of the uneasy tension brewing between us.

As he rested on the bed, I took out his medicines from the hospital luggage. After he had consumed the pills, I decided to freshen up. Realisation hit me when I discovered that I was not carrying my belongings with me.

"Is everything alright with you?"
He asked in a soothing tone when he witnessed my perturbed face.

"I don't have my luggage here.
Mr. Karthik requested me to fetch them in the evening when he visits us. I can't leave you alone till he appears here," I told him, nodding my head in negation.

"So what's there to worry for? You are a girl and you can always use my casual clothes for yourself. Fetch a shirt and a pair of trousers from my wardrobe," he said, pointing his forefinger at the white gorgeous cupboard beside the window of his room.

Did I hear him correctly? A
billionaire was offering me his
used clothes and permitting me to touch his personal wardrobe!

The whole day seemed like a
fairytale dream to me. I had easily appeared in the news due to our false fling rumours, becoming the centre of attraction for the media. Now that my clothes were stinking and looking awful in the mirror,
I hated staying unclean being a
doctor myself.

I nodded my head and stepped
forward, gazing at the enormous
cupboard before me. Hesitating
to touch someone's personal
wardrobe at first, I reminded
myself of his permission. When
I opened it, the contents of the
shelves surprised me. He had
numerous overpriced collections
of every branded clothing, from
armani suits to gucci shoes and
designer tuxedos, he possessed
everything.

I instantly fell in love with his
collections while selecting a white gucci t-shirt and brown cargo pants to wear for the day. I quickly moved inside the bathroom without looking at him even for once. When I came out of the shower with my hair soaked in water, I found him snoring lightly in sleep with his hands stretched on either side of the bed.

The innocence of his sleeping
posture caught my heart offguard, fixing me in my position for a minute as I kept admiring him. He did not possess enough whiskers under his chin but he glimmered with the radiance of a perfectly handsome face. His elegant and
stout stature might also be one of the reasons for him to earn many female followers. An another good aspect of him was his expertise in skilful gambling to trick and secretly nab the criminals!

His gracious debonair disbalanced my mental stability when I stared at my own image in the mirror. His clothes hadn't come fit in my slim body and the expensive shirt was loosely hanging over my skinny figure. It was true that my face was gleaming from the shower but contained many imperfect blemishes compared to the godly figure sleeping in front of me.

The reason was easily predictable. I was considerably leading an unfashionable austere life and he was living with all the luxurious amenities!

_________

To be continued...