Chapter 16
"ahh...good." Jian answered on confusion.
Jinman was fed up with her one-word replies.
"You can talk to me, Love...in sentences."
Jian nodded, not knowing what to do.
A traffic light made Jinman stop the car.
Suddenly, he remembered their first meeting.
"Do you know where I first saw you?" He asked excitedly.
'How can I forget!' She thought.
"Yes." She answered.
"Oh! Really?" He challenged. Of course, he knew, she was implying the first time she saw him.
"Yes." She answered.
"Well, care to elaborate?" He asked.
"..when I was coming from the grocery shop, and your friend asked for help. And you were there too." She said nervously, remembering that moment.
He chuckled at her innocence.
"That's a wrong answer, Love."
Jian narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"I saw you at a traffic signal...just like this place." He said.
"What?" She wondered.
"...you were playing with dogs at that time. And I swear, I had never seen such a beautiful woman in my life."
'Beautiful? Me? Is he insane or blind?' She wondered.
"...it was the first time in my life, without any reason, I had smiled, without any reason. Well! There was a reason...you. But, how could a woman, whom I just saw, make me...happy?" He continued.
'...Because you are a psycho.' She thought.
"...That day, I promised myself, to never let you go." He confessed.
"What?" She was shocked...beyond shocked.
Jinman saw her shocked expression.
"No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to forget you. At night I wish, you were beside me, and in the morning, I crave to see you. It is like... you are driving me crazy. This is why, I ask you to do whatever I want, and if you resist, I don't think twice before forcing you. Because Love, I can't afford to lose you. And, I have developed these feelings in such a short while that it feels surreal. Maybe, one day you will understand, why I am like this...so stubborn. Maybe, one day...." 'you will love me as I do.' He thought the last part, not having the courage to confess his feelings.
'There won't be any such day! Today is the last day I am bearing you. I don't care whether you can sleep or not..... I have my own feelings. What does he think of himself?' She thought.
She looked at the cars moving in front of her and she wondered why he wasn't driving. She looked at him and realized he was deep in his thoughts.
'So this crazy guy also dreams.' She chuckled. Little did she know, that he was recalling his past.
"Umm... The traffic has cleared." Jian informed.
Jinman came out of his trance and blinked hard.
"Yea! Thanks." He said.
Fifteen minutes passed and no one said anything. Jian was in deep thoughts, of planning how to ask him to go on with his own life and let her be alone. Whereas, Jinman was recalling every bitter moment of his past.
"What if Arkthar finds out about her...and worse hurt her. No! I can't let that asshole hurt my Love... I need to marry her as soon as possible so that I can keep her safe and she could always be under my safety.' He thought and looked at her with concern.
He saw her feeling sleepy and he had to admit that she looked so cute.
"Sleepy?" He asked.
Her heartbeat accelerated again with fear. Why does he have such an effect on her? He made her afraid and vulnerable.
"N..No!" She lied. Sleep was her utter weakness. One thing which she could do the best was, to sleep anywhere and at any time. And, once asleep it was very difficult to wake her up.
"Again with the lies, Love?" He complained.
She thought he became angry and can shoot her anytime. But the word shoot brought her to think.
'Is he carrying a gun right now?'
She quickly looked in his direction and caught his eye.
"What happened?" He asked noticing her sudden movement.
"No n..nothing." She lied...again.
"You can tell me, Love. Maybe I can solve it." He joked.
"Are you..... are you carrying a gun?" She asked and instantly realized what a stupid question it was. She mentally slapped herself.
"WHAT?" He asked in shock, which was expected.
"S..Sorry." She begged.
"No... why did this question come to your mind....?" He asked narrowing his eyes.
"I...I...don't know. I th..thought...." She stammered, not knowing what to say.
"You thought whether I was planning to kill somebody or not?" He asked.
She didn't know what to say, so she nodded.
"Don't worry. I will not do anything like that again, hopefully." He assured her.
She brought her hand to the strand of hair that came out, and pushed it behind her ear, in embarrassment. Jinman noticed her movement and smiled.
They were now very far from the busy town and the roads were very vacant. Hardly, any car was passing through, and this is why Jinman was driving at an unbelievable speed. He was way too excited to show her the arrangement he had asked his people to do. But suddenly he noticed something.
'Where is the thing that I gave her?' He thought and looked at her hand which was still pushing the strand behind her ear. He slammed the brake hard, to which Jian would have flown out if the seat belt wasn't there. She looked at him in confusion.
'Is he planning to kill us both?' She thought.
"Wh..." She was about to ask 'what happened?', when he cut her midway.
"Where is the thing I gave you?" He asked painfully slow.
"Wh..what?" She asked getting scared.
"I asked, where is the thing that I gave you yesterday?" He asked again.
'What thing?' She pondered.
Then it rang in her head.
'Oh my! The bracelet!' She gasped and looked at him apologetically. He had clearly mentioned that, if she removed the bracelet, the consequences would be terrible.
"Where is it?" he asked again.
She tried to remember where she had kept it last night. With every second, Jinman's anger was rising, and he was the worst person to witness when he was angry. After few seconds she remembered. Last night, when she was approaching her house in hurry, she had removed the bracelet, so that her Omma wouldn't see it, and Arisu won't interrogate. She had kept it inside her handbag, in haste.
Jinman was about to say something more when she interrupted him.
"I hhave it," She said quickly.
Jian opened her handbag and searched for the bracelet hastily. In an instant, she felt the cold metal. She quickly removed it and showed him. It was now when she saw his face. He was definitely red with anger. He snatched it from her hand and Jian thought, he was taking it back. She was so happy, but she hid it with a poker face. She relaxed a little before she felt him take her hand, roughly. A whimper escaped her lips, but he didn't care.
Jinman held her hand in a tight grip such that a bruise would be sure it he maintained the grip. Jian tried to take her hand back, but his hold on her wrist was so tight.Suddenly, she wished the earth would swallow her. She lowered her gaze in defeat.
Jinman pushed the bracelet back on her wrist and raised her chin with his other hand, to make her look at him.
"What did I tell you?" He asked. His voice came very deep and she could feel the edge in his voice. Her fear was beyond measure now, and she wondered, what the hell she had done to receive such a fate.
"TELL ME?" He raised his voice.
"Th..that...I sh..should not r..r..remove it."
She answered. Her tears threatened to escape, but somehow she restrained them.
"And why did you do it then?" He asked angrily.
"..." She didn't know what to say to make him less angry.
"JIAN? I am not stupid. When I give you something, I expect you to wear it and not ignore it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" He shouted.
The whole car echoed his voice. Jian cringed back in fear, but he didn't let her.
"Ye-yes," She said. Her whole body was shaking with fear. She wanted to go home
"Then why did you remove it,Jian? Tell me a valid reason, or be prepared to see the worst side of me," He threatened.
"I... I was sleeping at night. This...this was...poking the skin. I couldn't sleep. I...am sorry J...Jinman. Please... don't kill me," She said not able to stop herself from crying.
The tears were like waterfalls. Good for her that Jinman's heart ached by seeing her cry.
He instantly loosened his grip and his anger lowered a bit. He now realized how scared she was. Her whole body was shaking and her lips were trembling with fear. He had lost it again...his self-control.
Another tear escaped when she brought her hand to wipe it. But, Jinman held her other hand too and pulled her body towards his. He himself bent forward to crash himself on her. Another whimper escaped her mouth and by instinct, she caught his arms for support.
Jinman soothed her back, slowly as if trying to comfort her, which he was doing. He let her cry as much as she wanted. And Jian also shamelessly cried over his chest.
"Please don't kill me," She begged again.
"Shh! I will never hurt you, Love, let alone kill you. I was just...angry. I thought you intentionally removed the bracelet. I am sorry, I didn't know it was itchy and uncomfortable. Surely, one cannot sleep with diamonds. Don't cry, please. I get it, it was my fault. I am sorry for being judgemental, Love!" He said.
And with this, the almighty Jinman who never failed to detect a person's truth and lies fell over this woman's lies.
Jian wiped her tears and all the confidence she had once, was gone now.
"Are you still angry at me?" He asked while he guided her the way.
"Yes!"she thought
"No," She said.
"Thank you... You know, the place where I am taking you is very beautiful; especially for you." He said.
"Really? What do you know about me? The only place I love to go is a beach; which I just saw once. And, how in heaven are you going to create a sea here? Stupid!" She thought.
"Aren't you excited?" He asked.
Jinman's heart pinched a little. He took her face in his palms and hushed her.
"Look, Love, we are here. I hope you like it," Jinman said and looked at Jian expectantly.