The day for their next counseling session arrived. Time had flown quicker than Dhiraj had expected. What he also expected was that he would get some awfully harsh treatment from Nakul. But on the contrary, Nakul just seemed to ignore Dhiraj's existence.
That did pain Dhiraj's poor heart. At Least when Nakul got mad at him, Dhiraj could tease him just so he could observe various expressions his baby made. The furrowed brows, pouty lips, flushed cheeks, his glare, and the cuss words he snapped out in his deep voice that had become a serious turn on for Dhiraj.
'Am I turning into a Masochist? Coz I seriously wouldn't mind being humiliated with that sexy voice of his.' Dhiraj often found himself wondering. With all his previous flings, things had a different order. He was the one in control of the situation. All his partners craved for him. When everything just falls into place for you exactly as you want, things tend to get boring.
Maybe that was a reason why he was chasing Nakul so blindly. He was experiencing something he hadn't ever experienced before. Things were not happening in their usual order. Unpredictability made things interesting for him. So, every time Nakul told him to fuck off, it only made him want Nakul more.
Now that his baby was ignoring him, he felt so dejected. But he kept visiting the school frequently to check up on Nakul. Quietly observing from a distance, he often found Nakul interacting with colleagues.
As a teacher, Nakul was quite strict but with his fellow teachers he became more relaxed and smiled often. His staff mostly consisted of women a lot older than him. And these ladies adored him!! Around them, Nakul came off as a small child, surrounded by dotting older sisters.
Seeing him so relaxed around them did make Dhiraj jealous. And a bit insecure. But every time he saw Nakul smiling, it made him experience something weird. His body heated up a bit. His heartbeat furiously but he wasn't able to take his eyes off Nakul. His stomach was all wobbly but strangely, felt at peace.
He had only ever experienced lust for people. So, what was this jittery thingy that he felt?
[A/N: Ahhhhh......love?]
He put a brake on his thoughts when he saw Nakul walking out of the school gate. He waved at Nakul, who quietly made his way towards Dhiraj. And Dhiraj knew something was off. Under normal circumstances, Nakul would straight up ignore him and walk away or at least call him a stalker.
But today, Nakul quietly sat in Dhiraj's car waiting for him to start driving which Dhiraj soon did. ½ an hour later they were at the counselor's office. They waited for their session to begin. All this time Dhiraj had only 1 thought in his mind. 'I don't think this is good.'
Finally, their session started. The counselor greeted them with her ever warming smile. Unlike the professional smile faked by nearly all professionals, her smile felt genuinely welcoming. Soon the duo got settled and the counselor commenced with the session.
"So can you tell me how you...." she began but was cut off by Nakul.
"I've made my decision."
~pin drop silence
"And what is it?" asked the counselor with a confused expression. Meanwhile, it seemed Dhiraj's worst nightmare was just about to come true, his heart beating frantically.
"I won't be continuing with these sessions. I want nothing to do with this man." Nakul declared in his deep voice with an attitude that he won't budge no matter what. He got up to face the counselor.
"Thank you so much for helping me out. I really mean it." The counselor can see sincerity reflecting in his eyes. So, she smiled at him and gave him a nod as if to let him know that she respects his decision. Returning her smile, Nakul walks out of her office ignoring the glaring looks of the man he came with.
Soon Nakul made his way towards Dhiraj's car. And only a minute later, Dhiraj caught up with him. His forehead had so many furrow lines. But Nakul had no remorse on his face. They stared at each other for some time in silence and that silence soon became unbearable for Dhiraj.
Breaking it, he asked Nakul, "why did you.....?"
"Would you like to have dinner?"
That question from Nakul immediately changed Dhiraj's expressions.
"What do you say? Dinner.....at my place?" Nakul made his offer.
How can Dhiraj not take up this once in a lifetime offer? Nakul inviting him for dinner?!!! AND THAT TOO AT HIS HOUSE?!!!!!! Dhiraj was internally screaming. Although he was hell lot of confused about what exactly Nakul had in his mind, he decided instead of pestering Nakul at that moment, he should just go with the flow.
And so he did that. They got into his car and started driving.
"Where to?" Dhiraj asked.
"Ahh....didn't your stalking report have my address?"
Dhiraj's eyes left wide open as his little 'shenanigans' were brought into light once again. Embarrassed, he let out a foolishly big grin. Scratching his head he replied, "sorry, I only know about that area roughly. I don't know the specifics. If you give me your location, I'll fill it in the navigation thingy."
Nakul rolled his eyes and gave his address.
In between they stopped at a place so that Nakul could buy some vegetables and groceries. Not only was Dhiraj invited at Nakul's place, but Nakul was going to cook the food himself?!!! 'Is today my lucky day? What the fuck is going on in his mind?' Dhiraj couldn't help but wonder.
Finally, they reached Nakul's apartment. It was in a quiet residential area, a bit cramped up yet peaceful. Soon they got to Nakul's house, and he signaled Dhiraj to remove his shoes.
To Dhiraj, Nakul's house seemed pretty small. Maybe it was because he was habituated to his luxurious and spacious penthouse. Meanwhile Nakul had rented a small 1 BHK apartment. It was surprisingly neat and well organized. Not many formalities were exchanged, and Nakul straight up started to prepare for dinner.
Time passed by and Dhiraj observed Nakul preparing the vegetable in silence. Washing, slicing, prepping up the species and veggies, Nakul seemed a natural at it. Never was Dhiraj so fascinated by someone cooking. In fact, this might be the very first time he was patiently watching someone cook. But a question still kept lingering at the back of Dhiraj's mind. Finally, it slipped through his lips.
"Why did you say that?
"What?" Nakul retorted with his gaze focused on the veggies he was cutting.
"That you won't be attending any more sessions."
"Because I won't" Nakul finally looked at Dhiraj.
"But why?" Dhiraj whined.
"Dhiraj....."
The deep voice resonated in his mind. It was the first time Nakul ever said his name and that startled Dhiraj.
"You said you love me, right?
~Silence.
Dhiraj sat up straight. That question suddenly seemed to have so much gravity. He knew now isn't the time to fool around.
"Yes. I do."
"And you care about me?"
"I do."
"So...I can consider that you respect my thoughts and opinions too, right?"
"Yes. I do respect them."
"If you do, then if I tell you to leave me alone, you will, right?"
"Huh?" Dhiraj's mind was completely blank.
"See Dhiraj. You are a stalker. And have no regard for how I feel. But I still do like to believe that you are a good man. That you are sincere. So I will accept the fact that you love me. But I cannot return your feelings."
"What.....what are you trying to say?" meekly asked Dhiraj, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"What I'm trying to say is : I don't want to remember you as a bad guy. So if you love me, you will respect my decision and never come in my way again. no following me around. No stalking. No nothing. You will leave me alone." Nakul finally said what he was planning to do for days.
He knew the man he was dealing with won't give up easily. He tried to deal with him in the tough way. But Dhiraj did not budge. So instead, he decided to use Dhiraj's own words against him. Since he said he loved Nakul so much, Nakul can just use them to deal with Dhiraj.
Dhiraj stormed towards Nakul.
"I'm not stalking you....." Dhiraj let out a nervous laugh "I just.....I just want to get to know you better."
"And I don't want that. Thank you so much for helping out my school. But don't feel obligated to do that. It's fine if you don't support us any longer."
"I didn't do that so that I can get some brownie points from you. I wanted to make some good investments and your school seemed to be the right fit. That's why"
[A/N- LIE]
"Then why my school. There are some other good schools too."
Dhiraj took a step closer to Nakul. His eyes seemed desperate. He held Nakul's shoulders, his grip slightly tight.
"Please don't do this to me. I love you. We can just start off as friends. Please. Please. I promise I won't cross any lines. Just give me a chance."
That desperate look in Dhiraj's eyes made Nakul feel that he was committing a crime. Although he tries to show that he is a tough person. He was somewhat of a softie on the inside. And in his earlier life, he was kind of a pushover too. He gave in easily and that's why got taken advantage of in many situations. Some lecherous people drained him out due to this. So, the one habit he wanted to adopt was to create boundaries and to say no.
So even when a part of him felt he could be just friends with Dhiraj he knew he had to say no. The nature of his condition and the dynamic they shared will only make things harder for both of them. So it's better to end things earlier.
Shrugging off Dhiraj's hand, he firmly stated "No. Can't do that. If you don't stay away from me, I'll have to seek legal help. And I'm sure this won't be good for you either. But most importantly, I want to remember you as a happy accident. So please. Do allow that."
Now it was Nakul pleading to Dhiraj and Dhiraj had no idea how he should counter this. His infatuation for the chrome-monochrome relationship made it seem that Nakul was the only one for him. If it wasn't Nakul, no one would ever be truly in love with him.
"But...but...we can just be friends" Dhiraj frantically thinking of ways to make Nakul think otherwise.
"Friends? Ask yourself : Do you think you can be just friends with me?"
"Yes. I'll try..."
"Dhiraj....we are too different. I don't know anything that rich people do. We aren't into the same field of profession. Our lifestyles and interests are way different. There's nothing common between us"
"But people don't need any particular reason to be friends right?"
Nakul let out a smile, "I'm sure you are a busy man. I would hate for you to waste your valuable time on me." Nakul kept on countering Dhiraj's every excuse proceeding according to his plan.
"But being with me will improve your health. I have read that. You can ask the counselor if you want. Let's not rush to conclusions...." Dhiraj made another desperate attempt.
"Dhiraj.....lets not stretch this out. Let's have a good meal once and for all. So that we can get back to our lives."
Saying that, Nakul returned back to cooking leaving Dhiraj in a state of dejection.
"Can you tell me where the washroom is?" Dhiraj's voice somewhat trembled. It didn't go unnoticed by Nakul. A part of him felt guilty for making the other man go through this but that was something he HAD to do.
"See that door over there-" Nakul pointed to a nearby door, "-that one."
"Thanks" Dhiraj meekly replied and hurried towards it.
Inside the washroom all Dhiraj could think of was, 'asking out for dinner and then torturing is a nice way to treat people Babe.' His mind was completely blank, having no idea about what he should do next.
* * *