Zafar burst into a chuckle that soon metamorphosed into full-blown laughter. The words that Zaya just said were so funny to him that he couldn't control himself. He wanted to smile a bit, but when she added 'I am rich, but I am not that rich' it threw him off guard. Coupled with her facial expressions, the whole scene was amusing to him. The more Zaya tried to defend her words, the more Zafar laughed.
"The price made the wine taste bitter to me!" Zaya went on.
"That is enough money to last me for an entire lifetime. I could buy a house, a car and even a spaceship with it!" Zaya ranted on.
Zafar threw his hands up in the air, in a form of surrender, as he laughed his heart out. "No more, no more!" he kept on saying in between laughs.
"De la Romanée! De la Romanée indeed! Was it made in Rome? Is that why it is expensive?" Zaya let out as Zafar laughed.
"Why are you laughing? What is so funny here? I don't really get why people have to drink wine. I mean, what happened to the water? If you want to have a taste of a liquid like refined wine, then you can buy those packets of flavors and add it to your water. As simple as that!" Zaya said.
It was the last straw that finally broke Zafar as he laughed uncontrollably and ended up kicking the bottle of wine, spilling it and it falling to the ground.
"Oh no! There goes de la Romanée!" Zaya screamed as the bottle hit the ground.
Zafar was trying to be serious for once after he fell the bottle of wine, but Zaya's words made him go back to his laughing state.
"And de la Romanée is gone. Gone too soon. Rest in pieces de la Romanée. You will always be remembered in our hearts because of your price." Zaya said to the shattered bottle of wine.
"Why are you calling it de la Romanée?" Zafar asked after he had managed to calm himself down.
"Because, that is its name. Something-something de la Romanée. I can't remember the start." Zaya disclosed.
"You mean Domaine. Domaine de la Romanée." Zafar corrected.
"Is it Domaine? I didn't know, and I don't really care." Zaya said.
"I can't believe you said something-something de la Romanée. That's insane!" Zafar told her.
"That's because I didn't know the beginning," Zaya defended.
"From today on, your nickname will be something-something de la Romanée. I am the only one allowed to call you that." Zafar said.
"Do not call me that. If you call me that, then I will…" Zaya tried to say before Zafar cut her short.
"Something-something de la Romanée." Zafar teased her.
"Wow! You might just be the reason why I commit murder!" Zaya uttered.
"Oh really?" Zafar asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Zaya replied.
It went silent for a minute as Zafar stared into the eyes of Zaya, letting out a warm smile. Zaya did not fight back the feeling and stared back too. There was something about the night and Zafar's eyes that were enchanting to her.
"I never knew you could laugh this much. You look so beautiful when you are blissful and happy," Zaya told Zafar.
"Most people don't know a lot about me. When I'm with the right person, I'll always smile nonstop," Zafar replied.
"And am I the right person in your life?" Zaya asked.
"You are and you will always be. Sadly, you didn't end up with me. Maybe in another lifetime, you could have been mine. Maybe in another universe, I'll be having this romantic dinner with you, as my wife, not my pretend girlfriend." Zafar said with sincerity.
His words touched Zaya, to the deepest of her heart that she didn't know when or why she uttered the words;
"Maybe, just maybe it could have been so. Maybe if I wasn't married to Kabir then you could have been my husband, maybe we could have been welcoming our babies into this beautiful house of yours. Maybe I could have built a home and had a family with you. Just, maybe."
Zaya and Zafar continued to gaze at each other. This time, the stare was much different. It was as if it spoke volume and their hearts communicated through it. It felt as if they were one. It was like a warm promise in the cold winter weather.
"But those are just words. In reality, you were never mine. I couldn't hold you close even if I tried." Zafar said as he let out a sad smile.
He averted his gaze away from Zaya. He could no longer carry on with the staring and pretend as if he was okay with what just happened. It was too much for him to bear. Seeing the one he loved so close to him, but yet she was not his.
Zafar signified for the butler to come with a clap. He arrived, and they spoke shortly before he went back and came with another bottle of wine.
"Oh no! Not again! How much does this one cost now?" Zaya asked immediately she saw the bottle.
"I am not telling you. I do not want you to start listing the things you could buy with the cost price." Zafar replied.
"Okay fine, but what is the name though?" Zaya asked further.
"I am still not telling you that one either," Zafar responded.
"Come on, that's not fair! Just tell me, please." Zaya protested.
"Fine, the name is not Château Petrus, and it does not cost $7,000 per bottle," Zafar said.
"Oh, I see what you did there!" Zaya remarked.
"What did I do?" Zafar feigned ignorance to his words.
"No worries, but I have got to ask this burning question of mine. May I?" Zaya asked.
"You may." Zafar replied as he opened up the wine bottle and poured it into the glass of both his and Zaya's.
"What do you do for a living, Zafar?" Zaya asked.