Obsessive Flames of Love

Tanvi finished work early and got home a little earlier than usual. She quickly changed into her pajamas and flipped onto a music channel while sitting on the couch, and began painting the completed draft.

The silent hall was replaced by relaxing music. Those heart-touching beats were easing her nerves while filling her soul with endless peace. Music was her best method to alleviate her mood, and soon, she started humming the tune.

When her round black eyes were focused on the swift movements of the ink and brush, her body began swinging freely with the background music, which was a feast to her ears.

Her keen concentration was interrupted when a loud vibrating ringtone kept on making an irritating sound. Her slender fingers searched on the couch beside her, but to her surprise, it’s not present there.

“Ugh! Where’s my mobile?” Her eyes rolled across the living room, but there was no trace of it.

“Ah! This is frustrating,” her fists punched the couch while yelling and stood up to stop the annoying sound. Followed the vibration until finally, she found it on her glass dining table.

Grabbed it quickly to turn it off, but glancing at the picture on the screen, she wasn’t able to decline it, “Oops! Video call.” She sighed and picked it at almost the last ring.

“Hey, Riaan, What’s up?” She asked while walking back to the couch.

“Nothing much, are you free? Can we have a meaningful conversation?” Riaan asked a little nervously.

“Yes, of course, I reached home early today.” With that, she turned the music off to give her complete attention. Though her mind was running crazy, “What he’s going to say? What does he mean by having a meaningful conversation?”

Dropped onto the couch in anticipation, she hugged a pillow onto her stomach, staring intently at him trying to decipher what’s there on his mind.

Looking at his movements, “he’s a little weird today?” She pondered. “His face was sweating though it’s chilly over there?”

“Ahem… Tanvi… so…” His stuttering made her anxious, “What happened? Why he’s nervous?”

“Is he about to propose to me??” A question startled her with uneasiness yet made her happy at the same time.

“I’m listening.” She said with a wink.

“I do like you Tanvi, a lot. I’ve thought about saying these words to you for many days, but I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. So, I waited until now.” Listening to it, her heartbeat started beating vigorously, her chest tightened as her breath paused.

“I love you, Tanvi! I want you to be there by my side all the time. I want to spend time with you. Do little things together and enjoy our lives.” Hearing to it, her entire body trembled while her eyes turned a little moist when the brim of her lips curved upwards.

“Will you marry me?” The final thing she’s waiting to hear came out from him, and for a minute, her world stopped working. She remained rooted when her eyes didn’t miss his expressions for even a second.

Mixed emotions turned her upside down. Happiness, fear, helplessness, and shock came to her at once, in that very moment, while her eyes widened and gazed at him without a blink.

Seeing her like this, worry seeped through Riaan’s nerves. “Did I made a mistake proposing to her? What if she rejected me? Sitting on the couch in his room, he tapped his foot restlessly while clasping his hands with narrowed eyes.

“Hey, Tanvi!” He said slowly, not knowing what she’ll say.

His troubled voice snapped her back, and she squinted, “Ah!”

Gazed at him, “Um… I’m sorry.”

Hearing it, Riaan’s heart sank, his eyes lost their usual brightness. Then Tanvi realized, “I said the wrong words at the wrong timing.” Tapped her forehead, “Hey, I mean sorry for dozing off.”

“You mean…” A little hope settled in Riaan’s eyes when he curiously waited for her to complete.

Licked her lips, she brushed her nose, sat upright, “I…”

With quivered lips, “I… I do like you… Riaan. I’ll… m… marry… you.” Words didn’t come out of her mouth out of joy, somehow she managed to say while nodding.

“I’m glad you said that.” He said in relief when his smile widened, and they both chuckled.

“I’m really happy to have you by my side, Tanvi.” He said in a loving tone making her heart skip a beat.

“Me too, Riaan.” Listening to the raw emotion and tiny, jubilant fluctuations in his voice Tanvi basked in his joy. “I like this side of him, the joyous, carefree, loving side of Riaan. But I’d love to keep that side only to me.” Tanvi felt blessed, and her usual possessiveness kicked inside of her.

The rest of their conversation filled with endless laughs, “How you want our engagement to happen?” Riaan asked her in a teasing tone.

“Hehe! I prefer it to be simple.”

“I knew it.” He said with a smirk.

“How about marriage?”

“It’s a big thing. We need to book a wedding hall, do shopping…”

She had a brief moment of sadness because she missed his presence beside her. “But, he promised me, he’d come to me within twenty days.” Tanvi happily reminded herself.

“He’d planned to come to India after a month or more, but because of me, he pushed it to twenty days.” She felt as if she owned the world.

…

After such a prolonged absence, Rudra found piles of work waiting for him. Though Tamaz and Maahir handled as much as they could, there were still a lot of issues only he could take care of.

He didn’t have time to bother about Tanvi or Diana, so he set all those things aside for now and focussed on his work, which relieved him to give his full attention to his business after a long time.

When he was busy studying the documents, an email from Tanvi popped onto his screen. A slight smile came to his lips by remembering their conversations, “Tanvi!” He murmured in a gentle tone.

“We’ll meet soon.” He mumbled while staring at her picture.

“I’ll make sure everything is complete before that. That way, I can be free, and we can spend some quality time together.”

Rudra walked onto the sofa and leaned his head when Tamaz came in, “you seem a little disturbed?”

Opened his eyes, “I’m thinking.” Rudra said in a deep voice.

“About Tanvi?”

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?” Tamaz asked with a frown.

“Nothing! I don’t want to alert my enemies.”

“Mm-Hmm. We’ll take appropriate measures when you met her outside.”

“Uh-huh.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“When are you going to meet her?” Tamaz asked provocatively with a wide grin.

“In a week, maybe.”

“You don’t fear losing her with the delay?” Tamaz asked bewildered.

“She’s single. There’s no way I’m going to lose.” Rudra said with a smirk.

“That doesn’t mean she’ll be single forever.”

“Ugh! I don’t want to pull her into the lurking shadows of dangers lying beneath me. I can’t risk putting her life in danger due to my eagerness.”

“Got it!”

“Hmm.”

“Be patient with her.” Tamaz patted and left.

…