THE SCANDAL
SAMIRA'S POV
I woke up to a heavy head as i saw Alisha nudging me with a concerned look on her face . I was hardly able to make sense of anything when Alisha bombarded me with a series of questions as she spoke in a speed of bullet train , "Who was that man from last night? How did you get intoxicated? Where did you both meet? What does he do? ", To which i had only one reply " What man?!" Hearing which a surprised look appeared on Alisha's face " The man who dropped you home last night in an Aston Martin bounded by bodyguards, built like a greek man- ringing any bells ?" , when the memory of last night started rushing in , was it that mysterious looking hot man from the gala but what was his name ? Did i ask him his name ? Or do I not remember his name? My head hurt from thinking all this but Alisha being Alisha was not going to leave until she got her answers so I spoke with a confused look on my face because what was I going to abswer her when i myself did not know the answer to those questions " I dont know his name. Most probably he is that hot lookingmysterious man from the gala, I had danced with him in the gala but we did not talk much" FLASHBACK It was one of the most important gala of the year , all the famous celebreties , singers, CEOs, tech leaders, philanthropists, entrepreneurs attend this event . It is a place to market your brand , get yourself known , build connections. One move taht can either build or destroy your future , one wrong move , one scandal, and everything is over for one . I entered the gala as all the paparazzi were lined up at the entrance flashing their cameras at the guests . Soon I entered in the event and as usual it was flocking with people of all kind, everyone engrossed in their conversations as i went and sat at my designated table with other people when through all the loud noises created by the constant chatting of people and the orchestra playing in the background my eyes couldn't help but fall on the man in my adjacent table . He seemed ljke a mysterious man with an unreadable expressionless face decked up in a black Armaani suit . At a single look even a blind man can say that he had the perfect body and face structure to be on the list of top 100 hundred handsome men in the world . No wonder all the girls were flocking around him like he was a prey which sure enough, he was a catch of the mothers for their daughters the " PERFECT BACHELOR" when i soon shifted my gaze away from him to not let him know that I was staring at him as i caught myself up in conversations with other people at my table when suddenly suddenly i heard the words " Would you like a dance with me , Mi amore ? " as I flinched In my seat for the speaker was too close to me for I could feel his breath on my ear . When I look up and its him that "MYSTERY MAN" and before i could even think of anything the words " Yes!" slip out from my mouth as he lend out his hand and leads me to the dance floor as i could see all the people especially the girls flocking around him giving us or should I rather specifically giving me death stare which is something I'm used to not to mention. The dance floor is dimly lit with a romantic tune being played jn the background as we are dancing to the rythm , our steps syncing each others , his hand wrapped around my waist his other hand mindlessly lingerkng around my bare back with my hands flung across his shoulder when he leans in and whispers in my ear " You're gorgeous" " And you are shameless" I say as I can't help buy chuckle at his words . " That you'll get to know by time " saying which he pulls me closer , his grip firming around my waist as for the rest dance we go without much speaking. But as soon as the dance ends he is nowhere to be seen , not that I'm waiting for him but my eyes cannot help but wander around the hall in his search . But when I cannot find him throughout the evening I lose all hope as I go towards the drinks section to get a drink accepting the fact that I had been ghosted for the very first time anyone tried to, like what is he ? , MR INDIA that he could sudddenly just vanish by the click of his fingers GOD KNOWS !?. And to make all this worse my head suddenly starts feeling heavy as everything around me starts encircling into rounds it does not take much for me to realize that I have been jntoxicated but I did not even have an alcoholic drink bug there was no time for me to think about all this because I needed to get out of the media's sight before the alcohol starts to become heavy on me cause I cannot afford to create a scandal here let alone be embarrased by fainting infront of thousands of people . I sat in one of the quieter corner of the parties in a less populated hall way where no one paid much attention , when suddenly I saw a well- built figure coming in my direction from one of the darker hallways and to much of my surprise or horror should I rather say it was HIM , that mystery man who decided to ghost me after a dance and now he was showing up when I least wanted him to , like at this point of time I would anything to ward him off so that he does not need to see me throw up bit I'm hardly in the state to even walk properly so there is no way I could just run awau from there so I sit there pretending to not have seen him as he sits on the other end of the sofa as mine asking "Hey , why are you sitting here ? Won't you join the party ? " " None of your business to know that" I say trying my best no to let him know that I was waiting the entire evening for him as I shift my gaze in his oppositedirection , " Ignoring me huh , are you ? " " There is nothing between us for me to ignore you " I say trying to look unbothered still looking at the wall jn the opposite direction "Sure there isn't" he says as I look at him from the corner of my eyes to find him running his fingers through his hair as I pout my lips in disappointment after hearing his words even though I know we have nothing between us as we should not for I have just met the man and on the records I do not even know his name but hearing it laid out just hurt me somewhere , Uggh I'm pretty sure this is the effect of alcohol when my trail of thoughts is broken by his chuckle , why is laughing " What do you find so funny? " I ask irritatinly " Nothing Its just good to see you get annoyed " " I'm not annoyed , besides why are you even here dont you have a party to attend , why be bothered to sit and waste your time here when you did not even think of coming to me once in the entire evening after the dance even just as a basic human etiquette" I lashed even though I did not mean to as I regreted ot the next moment but he unexpectedly went on to explain himself " I wanted to but I had an important meeting to attend " hearing which I felt guilty of making such a scene as I turned around to find him looking at me with his head tilted , his lips curved into a soft mischievous smirk with his hand behind my back on the sofa when I immmediately turn around to avoid looking at him turing my head in every possible direction other than his when I said in a hushed tone " Dont look at me with hose eyes" " What eyes " he says trying to match my gaze knowing exactly what I meant " Those yes with which you look at each girl who you are trying to flirt with or impress . Let me warn tou mister I'm not like those girls who would fall for your tricks " Hmmn I see ! " he said trying to tease me which he was successful in doing as i got irritated and got up to leave only for my jody to lose its balance as I anticipated to fall on the floor with a thud on the ground making a fool of myself infront of him when a pair of storng , muscular arms caught me as I managed to see throughmy blurred visions that it was the " MYSTERY MAN" as he aksed me " Are you fine Samira ? " " Hmm , leave me " I say as I try to stand but his grip around me tightens " Im not leaving you Samira , not in this state when you are not even able to stand on your own. Come with me I'll drop you home." " But" I try to protest to not feel like a burden when he stops me " I did not ask for your opinion . Its final " he says in a no - nonsense tone " Can you walk on your own ? " He asks softly as I nod my head in affirmative try to stand up but nearly fall on my heels when suddenly my feet is no more on the ground and before I could realize he is carrying me out by lifting me in his arms on which i feel very awkward but Im in no state to protest and it no less than a truth that I'm physically not in a state to walk as I nearly doze off on his strong muscular shoulder. END OF FLASHBACK This was all I could remember which I blabbered out to Alisha hearing all of which her jaw fell open as I continued speaking " I can't remember anything else, did I do anything more while he dropped me home?" I asked in a concerning way just wishing I had done nothing . But on my question Alisha hesistated a little as she said " Um.. um , you kissed him on the cheek . And nothing else ... it wasn't that bad. " she adds quickly in a way to comfort me . But it makes me feel no better as I bury my face within my palms out of embarrasment , like what had gone into me that , that kind stranger helps ne and in return what I do ? I kiss him , like out of so many thkngs I could have done the only thing which I did was to KISS HIM !! Like he must think I'm some kind creep with the qualities of a lovesick teenager trying to take advantage of him OH NO!! I cry out but the worse was yet to come as I saw my phone ringing and it was from none other than my Dad and his phone call signified the ruining of my day because he can do nothing except taunt me for literally anything and everything I have ever sone in ky life neverthelessthe fact which struck me more was that why was he calling me so early in the morning , like what wrong doings of mine would he have been remembered of at this time not that I did something new or wait did I ? A strange feeling sunk in me at the thought of this , anyways I picked up the call and before I could even greet him he speaks in an enraged from across side of the phone " You weren't satisfied enough with all the shame you brought on us by deciding to pursuingacting that now you do this, if not for tourself just think once about us and the torment we have to go through because of your misdeeds" well this weren'tnew words to me for everytime I would talk with my dad or let alone my family this is how the conversation would take turn as he would remorse over having a daughter like me but hearing this words from him out of the blue made my instinct very strong that surely something had got very wrong, well the day had already started on bad terms and it would be unusual if it did not go any worse . Only if I knew what wrong I had done which I was cleary not able to make out from my Dad's words because he would keep on twisting and turning his words and speaking but I gathered up courage to ask him what really the matter was on which I expected him to lash out which obviously he did as he shouted more loudly at the top of his lungs " Wow ! I did not know that you were so good of an actress that niw you are faking it even in front of your father . I must say that Im in an awe of your audacity" as I could hear my mother cursing on me as she questioned her upbringing hearing all this broke the bounds of my patience " I'm not going to listen to to your angry rants when I have done literally nothing . And if you really have problem with anything I did which you always have just spit it out instead of speaking in riddles and wasting both of your and my time " , when he finally spoke about the matter " Oh if you really want to know then open the news to see which extent of a scandal you have caused , you have been photographed in intimate scenes with Zayn Malhotra the CEO and the Mafia who everyone despises and is one of the most powerful business man in the industry . Do you have the slightest bit of idea that how this nasty scandal of yours would affect our business ? Zayn MALHOTRA would at no cost tolerate this nonsense about him and would make both of us pay for it." When I heard this I was silenced , I had no reply to give him , he was right- I had messed up , I had brought shame bo both my family and myself , I had given my father another reason to add up to the list of why he would rather not have me as her daughter which is very much what he should do what any reasonable person would do because I created a scandal at the last place where anyone atleast I should have done and to make it worse the scandal was with such a person who should not even had been in the picture , with such a person whose name is also not known by me . My head turned at all this thoughts, possibilities of how this scandal would affect my family , me , my career, while my father is still shouting at me his voice filled with rage and irritation which was very acceptable but I was in no state to hear him especially after knowing that he would at no cost help me get out of this situations I disconnect the hall as I hit the floor sitting there realising the gravity of the situation when Alisha showed me the pictures which were being circulated by the news pamphlet with various scandalous headlines stating thing between us which never even took place . While I was going through all the news I got a call from my agency telling me to come to the police as I ran urgently only thinking that what would I have to endow now . As on the way I could only think that how this scandal would destroy my career, how much of a setback it would be well if any of this actually happens the only reason at fault will be me which is very right. Only for nothing to happen like I thought would happen since my boss does not lash out on me as she greetes me with a pleasant smile as my assistant guides me into an office chamber quickly going away leaving me off guard as I try to question her but she hurries off when I turn around to face HIM! ! The "MYSTERY MAN" - Zayn Malhotra, sitting there all decked up in his black Armaani suit resting against the chair one leg folded up on another as he mindlessly fidgeted with the paperweight kept on the table when suddenly his trail of thoughts is broken by my arrival for he looks up at me and gives me a smile as he starts to come towards me . And I'm standing there too stunned to speak , why? I dont know , maybe because of the various thoughts crossing my mind that if I am hallucinating , is he for really and if he really is standing infrint of me why on eart is he here ? To meet me? Why is he here to meet me? Does he want revenge on me for the scandal or is he here to lash out on me like other people? And before I could make head or tails about the situation the words slip out of my mouth " Sorry I seemed to have entered the wrong room . I didn't mean to. I will leave " as I'm about to leave when I hear the words "Stay" And I turn around with an uncertain look to see if it is really coming from him , well ofcourse it is since there is no other person in the room but still when seeing the uncertainty on my face he says " I came here to meet you" " Why?" I speak out bluntly expecting only for him to not say the scandal " To talk about the scandal" , oh sure you are as I speak out of reflex " Im really sorry about that I did not mean to get you involve in this whole situation and believe I did not want to take advantage of you and I'm ready to pay the price for it whatever you want." As I almost immediately regret the last words, GOD why don't I ever think before speaking but it was his response which took me back- " Let me be your boyfriend." " Sorry - WHAT!?" I ask totally surprised pretty sure knowing I heard wrong " No, you heard right ." ON which I look at him in a confused way ; what would this man take to talk in full sentences " What I meant is that we could show that we are already dating each other then all those allegationswould prove pointless and we could also get the media on our side ." " So you mean we fake date each other?" I ask blankly " Yeah - if you put it like that way " he says shrugging his shoulder. When hearing which I sat in the nearest chair I could find to actually process what was going on as Zayn pushed forward some papers on the table taking a look at which I realised it was a contract about the dating as I flipped through the pages I thought put the prospect of fake - dating him not that such things were uncommon and taking in hand the fact that I at present have no idea how I'm going to handle this it seemed better that I agreed to his plan as I said " Fine" and signed the papers on whic I couldsee him smiling , " We need to make frequently public appearances . What about dinner tomorrow night? " he asked " Yeah sure" I replied feeling strange about this whole thing even though I did not seem to hate the idea of going to dinner with him. " Okay then , I'll be leaving . See you tomorrow night " saying which he was leaving when I stopped him " WAIT . I wanted to apologise for the previous night . I did not want to take advantage of you and by no means was any of it intentionally." I blurted out when I found him staring at me as he was leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets " Hmm .. so you do remember the kiss" hesays with a smirk on his face when I try to look around to avoid him apsayong in a soft tone " it was just an accident and nothing else" when he calls me " Samira" to bring my attention on him which it does as I reply " Y -Yes?" " Dont worry about the kiss . I'll ma,e sure you pay for it" And as he is saying these words he moves forward towards me leaning infront of me as he keeps his hand on either side of me on the table caging me as I ask in a confused way feeling nervous by his close presence which at no cost I will show him " How ... how will I pay you?" " That you'll will get to know by time" he whispers in my ear and leaves from there as I could see him smirk put of the satisfaction he got from knowing that I got startled by his words. I quickly get into my car but on the ride home all I could think about is how is he going to make me pay , is he going to make me pay through money? But doesn't he have enough based on the fact that he is a billionaire, then how is he going to if anything it is just a kiss he should not make such a fuss about it . I could only hope that he forgets about it.
SPOILER
" I have brought flowers for you " Ishaan said with a hopeful look on his face handing me sunflowers - my favourite but nothing could change my feelings , my hate for him not even these flowers " What would she do with those flowers ?" My brother aksed in a confused tone " Keep it in her room. What else ? " Ishaan says stealing a gaze at him as leans forward and asks " Right , Nyra?" With that same mischievous smile of his but I am not falling for that this time " Well I don't know about my room but I do have a dustbin to throw them in and if you wish you can also dispose yourself there " I say to Ishaan glaring at him
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