Chapter 10: Chapter 10
In-line comments please *puppy eyes*
Satisfied that Ava was finally asleep ,Janani wriggled gently away from her and slid off the bed
Armaan moved ,treading silently as he strolled across the rug towards her
"A water pistol??" Armaan asked mockingly
Janani gasped in fright and covered her mouth with her hands
When did he come back
How did he come in without making a noise
"Oh!! You startled me" she said placing a hand on her racing heart
She cast an anxious look at the child
"Don't wake her up. It's taken me ages to settle her"
"I'm aware of that" Armaan said dryly
She looks ridiculously young in that outfit ,her face fresh of any make up
Gritting his teeth Armaan reminded himself what she was
A woman who stole a baby for money
Young ,she might be!!
But innocent, she was not!!
"She had a bad dream again!!" Armaan said not knowing why he was explaining it to her
"Again?? You mean its happened before??" She frowned at him
Armaan stared down at his little daughter
"It happens all the time" Armaan said a lump forming in his throat
"Well you should start by firing the nanny. She's awful"
"Its already done"
"I don't understand why it took you so long to do that" Janani wondered
"He didnt know about the nightmares until yesterday " Aadesh quipped from where he was standing
Janani whirled around and looked at him in surprise
"You are still here??"
"Well!! I haven't heard of such a wonderful story before. Princess with a water pistol..I couldn't resist" Aadesh said grinning cheekily
Janani felt her face warming
It's one thing to tell such ridiculous stories to a child
Its entirely different to have two adults, that too ,two formidable ones like these ,to hear it
"Aadesh ,would you please ask Mrs Seth to come here and keep company for Ava" Armaan instructed his brother who immediately left
"Who is Mrs Seth??" Janani asked
"The nanny I hired for Advaith" he said
"What?? Then what am I here for??" Janani asked shocked
"You are the transit Janani. To make it easy for my son to adapt." Armaan reminded her
"Right!! I hope this new nanny isn't going to tell stories about chimpanzees who eats babies" Janani said flippantly
"I mean how ridiculous can you get" Janani asked wondering what possessed him to hire the awful nanny
"Ava was only comfortable with her.I didnt knew she was manipulating my child" Armaan said defensively not liking that she thinks he failed at protecting his child
"Well ,you should have made sure before hiring her"
"I didnt hire her.Ava's mother did" Armaan said gritting his teeth
"Don't tell me you left the child's mother behind and brought the nanny instead. I mean I would totally believe if you did" Janani said knowing she was being mean
But she is hurt.
He keeps reminding her that he is going to take Advi away from her
"Ava's mother is dead" Armaan snarled at her
"Oh!! I'm sorry..I didnt knew" Janani said regretting her mean words
"Ava is very insecure. " Janani said changing the topic of Ava's mother
"And you worked that out in one short evening " Armaan said mockingly
"Yes!! I have worked it out in one short evening. I'm used to children of her age. It's my job and I'm well qualified.And I love working with them" She said without thinking
"You mean you did....until you found it boring and went after the party life style you started enjoying for the past two years??" Armaan retorted
Janani sighed
She is never going to forget she is pretending to be Saanvi
How could she?? When he keeps reminding her of the fact with every breath he took
"I better get back to Advi. He fell asleep without having his regular night bottle. He might wake up hungry" Janani said and walked out of the room
This time she did somehow find the bedroom
Armaan stood there watching her disappear into the dark
He turned around and looked at his daughter sleeping peacefully with a little smile on her face
Had he ever seen her smile??
No!!
Maybe in some photos he found in the apartment where Ava and her mother lived
And she is smiling now
In her sleep
Maybe dreaming about the princess with a water pistol
He bent down a dropped a kiss on her head
Aadesh walked in with Mrs Seth ,a fifty year old lady who came with high recommendations from the agency
His innate mistrust doesn't want him to leave his daughter in care of a stranger
But he had no other choice
He will keep an eye on the lady to make sure his daughter is fine till she gets comfortable with him
"Mr Verma ,I was told my charge would be a ten months old baby" she asked confused
"There are two children to care for. The pay will be ofcourse doubled" Armaan said
"Oh I didnt mean it like that. I was just making sure"
"Alright. She is a little wary with strangers. I will be there right down the corridor. Just call me if necessary " he said and walked out with Aadesh following him
"So this is why you brought Janani...to take care of Ava??" Aadesh asked
"What??" Armaan asked frowning "Why would I bring her to look after Ava"
"Oh I just thought...Ah leave it." Aadesh said making Armaan frown
After a little silence Armaan spoke again
"She looks different. Not like what I expected " Aadesh told casually
"Don't fool yourself with her show of innocence Aadesh" Armaan warned not liking the fact that Aadesh is already taken in by her acting
"I'm not....I was just making a conversation " Aadesh said
"Well...its not time for making silly conversations. If you haven't noticed yet ,its past midnight " Armaan pointed out and Aadesh sighed
"Yeah...Good night " Aadesh said and walked towards his room
Armaan laid on his bed and closed his eyes to get some very necessary sleep
But sleep was far away from him
All he could see was the beautiful hazel brown eyes and the smooth porcelain skin of his son's mother
All the emotional turmoil of missing his son and finding his daughter is finally catching upon him
Why else would he be fantasizing about a woman like Janani Trivedi
Tomorrow he will get back to his normal social life
Maybe he should call back the lady whom he had met at a charity gala two weeks ago
She had been ringing him many times
What was her name again??