Chapter 20: Chapter 20
Since her communication with Dashtan a week ago happened, after that both Rakia and Dashtan were busy with their respective affairs in terms of work. Without Rakia realizing it, a week had passed since she last saw Dashtan’s face and heard his voice. Her current work took up so much of her time and attention that she had forgotten about Dashtan who had apparently returned to Singapore. She was surprised when the man came to pick her up at DS, to see Dashtan waiting for her while leaning against the hood of his car in the front wearing jeans with a white turtle neck shirt that had both sleeves rolled up to the elbows. A pair of sunglasses were pinned to his collar. Truly, Rakia would not be able to deny that Dashtan’s figure would always make women out there stunned, including herself at this time. She stared at Dashtan while gulping her saliva as she walked up to the man and when they were close Dashtan noticed her presence. The man turned his head and gave her a smile and a look that made Rakia blush all over and tremble.
“Hi, sorry for not updating you,” Dashtan said in greeting. Rakia returned the man’s smile and looked at him with a stunned gaze.
“I’m surprised you’re here.” Rakia said honestly. Since a while ago, several women passing by in the DS parking lot had been stunned by Dashtan’s figure.
“Don’t look at me like I belong to you like that,” Dashtan said which suddenly made Rakia surprised and blush. Dashtan enjoyed the joke that was right on target.
“I’m not-“
“Just kidding, let’s go somewhere,” Dashtan cut in quickly which was also able to distract Rakia from wanting to argue with him. Dashtan opened the car door in the front seat for Rakia after which he turned to the front side to get behind the wheel. While in the car, he saw that Rakia had forgotten to wear her seatbelt, so Dashtan leaned towards Rakia, and buckled the woman’s seatbelt. Rakia was surprised by the man’s action on her. After finishing fastening the seat belt Dashtan held his position to look at Rakia more closely. Rakia immediately held her breath as the man’s eyes stared into hers and seemed to stop the flow of time for a moment. The masculine scent of the perfume Dashtan wore made her sanity fade a little, replaced with a wild imagination of the man. They stared for a few seconds and Dashtan stole the opportunity to take a kiss.
As his lips pressed against Rakia’s, the woman was startled but quickly returned the kiss that had her a little carried away by the intoxicating sensation. Dashtan’s lips seemed to be made for expert savoring. They stopped when Dashtan moved away from Rakia’s lips first and released his hold.
“Sweet and Addictive,” Dashtan said in a low, sexy voice that tickled Rakia in the stomach. It was as if there were millions of butterflies flying around inside. Dashtan pulled away from Rakia then started the car engine and left the parking lot. Meanwhile, Rakia was still shocked by what had just happened to her. She could only sit with the tension still surrounding her, her gaze half empty staring ahead, at the Singapore highway which was quite crowded with vehicles but not to the point of causing traffic jams.
“Where are we going?” asked Rakia after regaining her composure after the sensational kiss.
“To my mom’s boutique,” Dashtan replied, instantly turning Rakia’s face toward him .
“What for?” Rakia looked panicked. Dashtan smiled and caught the panic.
“You’ll have to wear the right clothes when I propose to you, and I’ll introduce you to my mother at the same time.”
“What? But... it’s too soon, I mean... I’m not ready yet.” Rakia was getting panicky and that made Dashtan chuckle.
“You take it easy, the sooner we start our roles the better. We’ll have time to familiarize ourselves before we actually assume our roles after we get married.”
Dashtan’s answer made the other side of Rakia unhappy. The other side had hoped that they would go through with the wedding without any pretense, but Rakia quickly pushed that other side aside and replaced it with her own who felt nothing. As they arrived at one of the city’s shopping malls known for its collection of famous clothing brands, Dashtan took one of Rakia’s hands and grasped it and pulled her gently to walk side by side with him into the mall. Rakia could only surrender and blush again. She was a normal woman, being treated sweetly by a handsome and gentle man like Dashtan made her melt. Although she was determined not to be ensnared by any man’s charms, she had honestly gone too far since she first saw him at the food stall that time.
Physically and appearance-wise, Dashtan had more charm than Benjamin. It was as if the charm of a Dashtan was able to fade the charm of the man who had been with her for years, but betrayed her. Dashtan helped him choose clothes, the man’s choice fell to a party dress. The bottom was slightly flared with a rather large red rose motif, while the top was red satin with a collar that exposed both shoulders and part of the wearer’s neck. Rakia looked at the dress with widened eyes in surprise. The dress was quite short at the bottom according to her size.
“Try it on first,” Dashtan pleaded, to which Rakia responded with a roll of her eyes before heading to the dressing room not far from where they had chosen their clothes. Rakia stared at her reflection in the mirror as the dress fit her perfectly. She stepped out of the dressing room blushing, and when she met Dashtan’s gaze, she wanted to go back inside the dressing room. That man’s gaze seemed to make her heart function abnormally.
“How was it?” asked Rakia just to neutralize her current chaotic feelings. Dashtan could only stay silent with his mind in turmoil over Rakia. He would have happily made out with that woman in the locker room if only the relationship between them was real. To him, Rakia was a physically attractive and charming woman.
“It’s perfect for you,” Dashtan said in the midst of her unrelieved stupor. Along with her still-imaginative mind that was able to raise his manly instincts little by little. Rakia looked at herself in the mirror before going back into the dressing room to change again. As Rakia disappeared behind the door of the dressing room that was only made of thick dark blue cloth, Dashtan was only able to momentarily stop his thoughts of ravaging Rakia with his body from top to bottom.
“Damn! Why does she have to be so tempting?” grumbled Dashtan as he waited for Rakia to reappear. He exhaled loudly then rubbed his face quickly to neutralize the veins in his body that were starting to tighten at the mere thought of making out with Rakia. So many women in his life since Dalilah left him but none like Rakia, able to make him lose control even in his mind.
By the time Rakia arrived near Dashtan and handed her the dress, she was already better than before.
“If you want me to wear it later, I’ll wear it... although I’m a little uncomfortable with the short bottom,” Rakia said.
“I’ll let you know the time later. Come on, let’s go see my mom,” Dashtan invited then to which Rakia nodded with a nervous feeling coming over her.