And then, I heard a gunshot.

Any sane person would think that I was shot by Anahita or the police came to save the day. I thought so too, one moment I thought I was dead but the next moment I opened my eyes to find Anahita lying dead on the floor.

My mouth hung open. I lifted my gaze hoping to see a police officer but I saw a not so familiar face instead. Wait! That face WAS familiar ! Holy crap ! It was Vineet Verma.

"You deserved this bitch!" He shouted looking at the dead body. He looked muddy and wounded, no wonder that police had done third degree torture with him.

It was a horrible sight. Someone was just shot dead in front of me. His eyes looked boiling red. The situation was too scary. I guess I was trembling because even my karate wasn't helping me right now because I was drugged, tired, hungry and not in the right state of mind.

"Now it's your turn love birds." He said looking at me with a crooked smile. I shut my eyes really tight once again. Paras didn't move even a bit.

But just then the police came running and held his hands. So many near death experiences in a single day!

I was happy but I was too tired to express it. I could barely keep my eyes open. It was obvious that I had been given a high dose of sedatives. Other officers rushed to us and opened our hands.

I looked at my wrists, they were bruised because of the rope that was tied around them. I looked at Paras, he was covered with sweat and he wasn't even lifting his eyes from the floor.

We were escorted to the ambulance. My first aid was being done in an ambulance and Paras's first aid was being done in the other ambulance which was in front of me. There were just so many band aids.

After that we were taken to the police station. I and Paras were seated in the backseat of the same police car but none of us spoke a word. I was stealing glances at him every now and then but he kept looking out of the window.

We reached the police station. I was asked to come in for inquiry first. There was a female officer sitting there to question me. I went inside and took my seat.

"Mrs. Singhania, I know you are not in the condition right now. But you need to tell me what exactly happened with you guys." The officer said in a professional tone.

"Well, we were having a conference at my office that is Oberoi Enterprises. Suddenly the fire alarm blared and everyone rushed out of the conference room. Some men came to escort us saying that they were bodyguards. But they started taking me and Paras to the garage side instead of the building exit." She was noting the things which I was saying.

"We all got into a fight. Paras got beaten up really bad even though we put up a good fight. And I was made unconscious by chloroform. Then I woke up at I don't know where, a dirty room. Paras came back to consciousness too, We somehow removed the handkerchiefs from our mouths. She came inside and saw what we had done. She was about to shoot me but then Vineet shot her." I continued and she continued to note down.

"Anything else?" She asked and I nodded negatively.

"Thank you, now you may wait outside." She said and I got up and went out. After that Paras was asked to come in and he also came out after a while.

He just looked at me once and went out of the station. We were escorted to our apartment. Our families were waiting for us.

The second I entered the house, my mother engulfed me in a hug. Wow that was unexpected.

"You know how worried I was ! But thank God you're okay !" She cupped my cheeks and said with teary eyes. I guess, she didn't like me because I had created problems between her and dad unknowingly, but she could know bear the feeling that her child could die. I just smiled and her and tapped on her shoulder.

Paras straight away went to his room.

"Paras !" His mom called out.

"Please leave him alone for sometime aunty..." I said and she glared at me. She was walking towards me and I was nervous about what might happen.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you have to call me mom !" She said and smiled.

"You are my daughter too." She added and hugged me tightly. Next, my brother hugged me. My father just nodded looking in my eyes and I nodded back. I could see his lips curving into a small smile which he was trying to hide.

"Thank you for coming here all of you. We both really love you all and care for you but right now we both need some alone time. I hope you understand." I said and all of them nodded in agreement.

After they left, I sat on the couch. I held my head. What would have happened if we had died today? Life is too short and we should live in the moment.

For the first time I felt that living in the past is just a method of killing our present and future which I didn't want to do. I was ready to move on and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with the man I love, no matter what it takes.

I stood up and walked towards Paras's room. The door was open. I went inside. I heard the sound of the shower from the bathroom, but Paras's clothes weren't there in the laundry tub so I figured out that he wasn't taking a bath.

I went near the bathroom door. I took a deep breath and was about to knock. But then I thought otherwise. I put my hand on the doorknob and the bathroom door was also open.

I went inside and I could see him through the shower curtain. He was just standing under the shower, maybe in the hope that the running water would wash away his pain. I could not see him in this state.

He knew I was there but he was not paying any attention to me, he was completely ignoring my presence. It was killing me from inside. I opened the shower curtain and stepped inside.

Then too, he didn't spare me a single glance. I looked at the water droplets on his face and those messy wet hair, they were enough to drive any woman crazy, including me. I was getting irritated, he wasn't even looking at me.

I held his arm. He averted his gaze towards my hand and then looked directly into my eyes, searching for some kind of emotion. I could see pain in his eyes but I had already gone crazy so I did what I had to.

I stood on my toes as he was too tall. I slightly cupped his cheeks. He was carefully observing my every move. Then I slowly brought my lips nearer to his. Our lips were about to meet but, he moved his face away from mine.

I ... I was shocked, sad and most importantly embarrassed. A tear slipped down my eye but thanks to the shower that the tear disappeared somewhere between those water droplets. I looked at the floor in embarrassment.

"I... I am sorry..." I said in a shaky voice and began to leave.

But he suddenly held my hand. I turned around to face him and he suddenly pulled me towards him. He did not waste a single second and captured my lips. He held my waist really tight and pulled me closer to him. I wrapped my hands around his neck.

Our lips were moving rhythmically. I had never felt this way with anyone as far as I remember. Then the memories of that night crowded in my mind and I felt like I was blushing. Both of us were dripping wet but that was the last thing we cared about.

I had poured all my love and affection in that single kiss. He then subtly stopped the shower by pushing the handle down. He picked me up in a go and I wrapped my legs around his waist. None of us broke the kiss.

He then made me sit on the bathroom counter. We parted our lips to catch some breath. He stepped a bit away.

"This is not right ... I ... I don't deserve you ... I failed to protect you." He said while stuttering. I could see the tears in his eyes, the water droplets were of no use now. He looked away from me.

I climbed down the bathroom counter and walked towards him. I cupped his cheeks and made him look at me.

"Now listen to me you idiot! I love you ! I love you so much that I can't even describe it in words ! I'll stick with you till the end and trust me you want that too!" I was trying to fake anger in my voice but my voice broke. And his lips curved into a big smile.

He pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my hands tightly around him and he stroked my wet hair. He then stepped away a bit and looked in my eyes.

"You know I can see through your shirt right!" He said with a straight face and heat rushed to my cheeks.

"Shut up you pervert!" I said and lightly hit him on the chest. We both broke into a laughter. It had been so long since I had laughed so whole heartedly. He was my happy place.

"Nobody can love anybody as much as I love you!" I said with sincerity clearly visible in my eyes.

"There's one exception." He smiled and said and captured my lips once again.