Chapter 20
Ariya rolled to one side of the bed, and her body crashed into the rock-hard wall of muscle. Veer lay on his stomach with his face turned away from her. She couldn’t remember the last time she woke without their bodies melded together. They were back in his apartment after being away for a month.
Stefan decided to give the crew a break before starting the shooting in a different location. It was the day after Veer and Ariya argued in front of Andy and Dominic that got Stefan worried. He saw that a lot of the crew members were exhausted.
Little did the others know that the exhaustion on Ariya’s face was because of spending all night in bed lying under or over Veer. What started as a tease after showing up three hours late that night turned into an explosive ordeal she would never forget.
She smiled at the memory from two nights ago and gently traced the scratches she left on his back. He was fast asleep, and she was getting a lot of pleasure in just watching him sleep. His hair was a sexy mess, the sheet was draped over his lower back, and his face was half hidden. She moved slowly to the other side to look at him pulling her nightshirt over her head.
Ariya lowered her body and lay her face next to his, inches away. His soft breathing calmed her inner self, and she smiled as she toyed with a strand of hair that fell on his forehead.
Something inside her stirred when he took a deep breath and mumbled her name in his sleep. He was all she needed, and she couldn’t imagine another man in her life. Veer still managed to tick her off on the sets or when they were reviewing the images to be posted on the profiles, but he respected her for who she was and what she wanted to do. He paired that with his sweet lovemaking with a bit of tough roughness that she craved for in bed.
She gently ran the back of her hand over the edge of his mouth and then over his cheek. “I love you, Veer.” It was barely a whisper.
His breathing hitched as he heard her, and he moved, his hand reaching for her on the other side. He opened his eyes and found her looking at him. “You’re on the wrong side, baby.”
Ariya laughed when he put his arm under her to scoop her into him and then over his body. “You belong, right here.”
“I missed this space more than I missed my bed.” She rested her chin on his chest looking at him.
“Good thing you are not going anywhere.” He tightened his hold on her.
“My mom and sister are out of town for a family wedding.”
“Are you excited about your sister’s wedding?”
“Yes, I am so happy for her.” She smiled.
“When is the wedding?”
“In two months. It will be right after we are done with the show. It worked out well.”
“Yeah.”
“Veer… will you go with me to my sister’s wedding?” she asked, almost cautiously, and her heart flipped with excitement when he gave her his glorious smile.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiled.
“I wasn’t sure if…” Her voice trailed off when he pulled her to him his lips closing on hers.
“I’d love to go with you, sweetheart,” he mumbled against her lips, making her smile.
She pulled back looking at him. “I’m so excited. You’ll get to meet my sister and mom.”
“I have to wait till the wedding to meet them?” He raised a curious eyebrow.
“I don’t want my sister or mom to be distracted by what we have going on… no distractions from the wedding prep.” She laughed.
“You are going to show up at the wedding with me in tow? That will be some surprise.” He shook his head, smiling.
“I like that, that would be awesome.” She hugged him.
He smiled and slowly ran his fingers through her hair. “I want you to meet my parents.”
“Do they live close by?”
“Yeah, down south. It’s my mom’s birthday in a few weeks. Will you go with me to the birthday party?”
“I’d love to.” She nodded without looking up at him.
Ariya wanted their relationship to be a secret, worried about a repeat of what happened when she dated a man from her professional environment, but it didn’t take her long to realize it was different from any other time she had thought she had fallen in love. Being with Veer felt right, her in his arms felt perfect. She wanted to climb the tallest building in San Francisco and announce to the entire world.
*****
Later that day, Veer and Ariya were hanging out by the pier enjoying the cool breeze that blew in from the Pacific Ocean. She snuggled closer to him and stood looking at the blue waters.
“I like hanging out with you,” he whispered, his lips close to her ear.
“Me, too.” She turned her head and planted a kiss on his chest.
“What do you want to do tonight?”
“I want to be here… all night.” She chuckled.
“We can come back and stand right here… right after we get something to eat.” He crooned.
She turned around in his arms to look at him. “What do we do after we are done with the current assignment?”
He looked down at her, a puzzled expression on his face. “Work on the next one.”
“I know silly, I mean… what if we are not on the same assignment?”
“Don’t be mad I did this, but I told Stefan and the executives at the network that I would not do any other assignments if you are not my photographer.” He laughed.
“What? I’m stuck with you now?” She went up on her toes to kiss him, and he pulled her closer for a devouring kiss. She was lost in the sweetness of the delicate kiss until Veer pulled back breathing heavily.
She looked at him wondering what was wrong, and then she heard her phone ring in her pocket. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone and saw her mom was calling.
“Hi, Ma.” She smiled looking up at him.
Veer saw the beautiful smile of the woman he loved, the smile he woke up to every morning for the past few weeks and wanted to every day. He looked down at her and saw the smile fade and a look of shock creep on her face.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked when she hung up the call, a blank expression on her face. She did not respond but buried her face into his chest, a sob escaping her.
“Baby, is everything okay?”
She shook her head, and he felt the moisture from her eyes on his chest. He hugged her to him giving her a moment before pulling away and making her look at him. “Talk to me… I can’t see you like this.”
“My father…” her voice trailed off into sobs, and he wondered what it was about her late father that had her so emotional.
“Let’s go home,” he said, walking her away from the wooden railing.
“We… we need to go to San Francisco General Hospital,” she managed to say.
“Who is at the hospital?”
“My father… had a heart attack.” Veer heard her words and was convinced she was referring to her father’s relative who had a heart attack.
“Okay, let’s go.” He walked her toward the parking lot, and as soon as she saw Veer’s car, she dug her heels into the ground and stopped suddenly.
“I… I don’t want to go in the car.”
Veer cupped her face in his hands. “Ariya, we need to go to the hospital, and I will drive you there. You can sit in the back seat.”
She nodded, and he walked her to his car and helped her into the compact back seat of his sports car and clipped on her seat belt. “I want you to keep your eyes closed. We are not too far from the hospital.”
“Okay.” Her voice was weak as he turned on the engine. She had gotten comfortable riding in the passenger seat with him behind the wheel over the past month but at that moment he knew her fears had resurfaced. He wondered what was triggering old memories of the childhood accident, she had talked about a while back.
Ten minutes later, Veer pulled his car in front of the Emergency entrance of the hospital. He stepped out of the car and tossed his keys to the valet and held his hand out to help Ariya out of the car.
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t want to see him. I hate him.”
Veer squatted next to the low-slung car and wipe the tears from her cheek. “Whoever is in there means something to you. Let’s go.”
She broke into uncontrollable sobs as he helped her out of the car. She hugged him like she had no strength to walk. “I hate him, Veer. I don’t know why I want to see him.”
“Baby, you can’t hate anyone.”
“Him. I do, Veer.” She was angry.
Veer stepped them to one side of the lobby. “Take a deep breath, tell me what is going on?”
“My father had a heart attack, and my mom asked me to go see him,” she growled.
“Sweetheart, but…”
“This man is my biological father and the man who was responsible for the death of my biological mother.” She was no longer in tears. She was outraged.
Veer took in the new detail and knew there was more to the woman he loved than the beautiful smile and the tough exterior she put up every day. “Let’s go in.”
“I’m doing it for my mom… my aunt. She asked me to go check on her brother.” She sniffled.
“Your mom…” His voice trailed off, and she nodded.
“My mom is technically my aunt, but she is my mom.” She started to sob again.
“Sweetheart, let’s go.” He walked her to the check-in desk.
“How can I help?” the woman behind the desk asked.
“I’m here to see… Jaideep Devaraya. I’m his relative.” Her voice was wobbly.
The woman checked her computer. “Mr. Devaraya is in room number 173. You’ll need your ID validated by security at the door behind you.”
“Okay, thank you!”
She walked to the double doors reaching for her ID in her pocket to show it to the man who stood at the door.
The man smiled like he recognized her and pushed the door open for her. “I don’t need to see your identification, Ariya. Please go ahead.”
Veer held the door open for her. “You are Devaraya’s daughter?”
Jaideep Devaraya was a well-known name in the broadcast industry, an award-winning director turned producer for highly-acclaimed shows.
“I’m not his daughter. He happens to be my biological father and my aunt’s brother.” She sounded angry.
“Okay.” He took her hand in his and silently walked toward the room. They followed the turn and stopped when they saw a few people standing right outside the room. Another man in a security uniform stood by the door and next to him, a woman and a young man seated on the chair holding each other.
The young man looked up at Veer and Ariya and smiled. “You came. Papa will be so happy to see you. He is doing okay. The doctor is checking on him.”
Veer saw the confused look on Ariya’s face and turned to the boy who seemed to be a teenager. “Hi, I’m Veer.”
“Veer, I’m Aryan, Ariya’s brother. It’s very nice to meet you.” Aryan seemed happy to see Ariya, but she looked overwhelmed.
Ariya’s eyes moved away from the teenage boy and slowly toward the large glass window. She saw a man who she hadn’t seen in almost seventeen years. He was looking away from the window talking to the doctor.
As if the man sensed her presence, he turned to look at her and a smile played under the oxygen mask he had on his face. Ariya’s lips curved up like she had no control over them, and tears started to run down her cheeks.
She dug her fingers into his palm, and Veer pulled her to him. She placed her cheek on his chest looking at the man behind the window with tears in her eyes.
“Ariya, don’t cry. He will be okay.” Aryan put his hand on her cheek and wiped her tears like it was the most natural thing to do, and Veer wondered if that was how the bond was between siblings. Veer watched as she reached out to put one arm around her brother and pat his shoulder.
Veer held Ariya close to him and looked at the woman who stood looking at them. She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her and could tell that she was the boy’s mother. He noticed Ariya did not look in the woman’s direction.
The doctor stepped out, and the woman and boy approached the doctor, but Ariya stayed in Veer’s arms. She looked at the man lying in bed with the hospital equipment around him.
“Baby, do you want to go talk to him?” Veer whispered.
“No. Take me home.” It was a plea, and he wasn’t going to convince her to talk to her father.
Veer looked at the woman who was still in conversation with the doctor. Aryan looked at Veer and stepped away from the conversation and stepped closer to Ariya.
“Ariya, the doctor says he doesn’t need surgery. He is doing okay, and they are going to send him home tomorrow morning. Don’t cry.” Aryan sounded like a responsible older brother, even though he was many years younger than her.
“Thanks, Aryan. I’m going to take her home now.”
“Thanks, Veer. Take care of my sister.”
“Will do.”
“Veer, just so you know… I’m a huge fan and have been following you from the time I was old enough to have an online account.”
“Thanks, Aryan.” Veer smiled.
“Are you guys together?” The teenager asked bashfully.
“Yes.” Veer smiled back.
“I saw the picture of you guys when you were in the rainforest.” Aryan smiled.
“Okay, buddy. Take care of your mom.” Veer patted Aryan on his shoulder.
“Ariya, come see Papa. You don’t need to talk to him, come look at him.” Aryan pleaded, but Ariya stood frozen.
Aryan looked at Veer. “Veer, tell her. I know she wants to see him.”
Veer looked down at the woman who looked vulnerable in his arms. “Aryan, this is a lot for her.”
“I know… I’m happy she came. I never saw her outside of the pictures Papa keeps showing me.”
Veer nodded at the woman before turning away to walk Ariya away from the room.
“Baby, are you okay?”
She nodded, tightening her hold on him. “Thank you, Veer.”
“You don’t need to thank me, love.”
She stopped walking and looked up at him. “I love you. I’m so glad you were with me.”
Veer kissed her forehead and led her out of the hospital lobby.