Mannat

[3]

I had nothing to do for the entire day. I quit my job because it's too far away from here and it will take me an eternity to travel.
After what happened during breakfast, I wanted to try cooking something. I like cooking so I decided to bake a pizza. The chef and other helpers offered to help me but I wanted to do it by myself.

The entire family had already had their dinner at 8 PM. It was almost 9:30 PM right now, Avyan had not returned back from work and I didn't realise that I hadn't eaten yet. I decided to wait for Avyan to come and maybe I can have a little company during dinner. My farm fresh pizza was ready. I made the base extra large so that it will be enough for two people.

Despite his behavior, I waited for him, more for my sake than anything else. From 9 PM, it was now 12 AM, and I had dozed off on the tabletop. Suddenly, I heard someone sit down and pull out a slice of the pizza I made. It was Avyan. Even though I shouldn't be happy considering his behavior, a win is still a win.

"Do you always return back from the office at this hour?" I asked, pulling out a slice of the pizza.

"No." He replied giving absolutely no other explanation that I was looking for.

"um...don't get any wrong ideas, I didn't wait for you." I said, clarifying my behaviour.

"Hmm...ok...where did you order the pizza from?" He asked, licking the cheese off his fingers.

"I baked it myself." I said. He looked amused just as if he didn't expect me to cook well. He expressed his gratitude and left immediately. I finished the last slice of pizza that he left for me and headed back to the room.

"It's nice." He said. The compliment made me feel like I have achieved some huge accolades. He started scrolling through his phone and zoomed into something. I was really curious about what he's looking so carefully at.

"Give me your phone number" he said. I just realised that we haven't exchanged phone numbers yet. I gave him my number and he sent me an e-invite to a investors party night. There's a party tomorrow with many big investors, and there's a deal I need to make. Everyone will bring their partners, so you should come too. I hope you are free after 7 PM tomorrow.

"Yeah...I anyways don't have anything to do." I replied, sighing. "There will be a lot of media persons so we really need to put on a good show. we need to look like a couple" he said.

I nodded and left the dining hall.

Next day, I did nothing for the entire but bought my own designed dress from one the partner retailers of my previous company. I never got to wear my own designs because Mr. Jindal was a misogynist. He wouldn't let me or mom wear anything other than suits or sarees.

It's a satin corset dress that I designed a year ago for a debutante actress.
I slipped into the floral corset with a satin attachment, admiring the way it hugged my body and accentuated my curves. It was my first time seeing myself in the mirror wearing my own design, and I felt a rush of emotion, almost shedding tears of pride and joy because I am finally free to do whatever I want to.

Suddenly, Avyan entered the room, and I turned around to face him. His expression was one of complete awe as he took in the sight of me. Confused by his prolonged stare, I glanced at myself in the mirror again, wondering if there was something wrong with the dress. He had been staring at me for what felt like half a minute now, and I couldn't help but feel self-conscious under his intense gaze.

"Is there something wrong with the dress?" I asked him because now I was genuinely getting curious.

"huh...umm...No! It's good!" He said, turning around and looking at the ceiling to avoid my eyes. In that moment, I really wanted to say "if you want, you can keep looking" but I couldn't. We headed downstairs and I was awestruck by the trail of cars parked in front of the gate. Though I shouldn't be surprised that they have so many cars, but it was my first time seeing so many Mercedes lined up like that. Avyan asked me to get into one of the cars and he got in from the other side.