Hi guys! A very Happy Valentine's Day to all! This is my Valentine's special update for you.

Hope you like it!

Enjoy!!

Chapter 40: The Revival

Breathless. It was the only thing I felt when I reached my room, it wasn't bad breathless like I was choking. I wasn't breathless because I ran to my room, 2 floors down. I was breathless because of what happened near the elevator. What was that? My skin was still burning from the kiss, even when it was just a simple kiss on the forehead, even though it lasted longer... I stopped thinking and looked at the present in my hand.

He asked me to open when I am in my room, and here I was. I decided to change for bed before opening the gift, the sari, even if I wore it quite often on weddings was a bit uncomfortable now, even my hair which was loose were bothering me because it's been long since I left them untied.

After changing and tying my hair in a French braid, because the fringes won't come in the bun, I sat on my bed with the present in my hand. I carefully opened the packaging and gasped loudly when I saw a square jewelry box with name of the same store where we went for ring shopping.

I opened it and my eyes widened at the contents of the box. It was the same emerald necklace which I saw when Adreyan and Esme were finalizing the ring. I caressed the necklace before picking it up as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. How did he know? Was he finally remembering me?

My eyes fell on the lid of the box where there was a note attached. I pulled out the neatly written note and fell in love with the similar cursive handwriting once again. My breath stopped when I saw what was written in the note, it said-

Dear Ariana

If I am successful in giving you this gift, it means you forgave me for the ill treatment I showed towards you. I saw you looking at this pendant while we were in that store, maybe you liked it. Maybe it was some remembrance or maybe not. But it did remind me of something.

Your eyes, just like the emerald, they shine, with elegance, with anger, with passion. I bought it then and there and had no idea how to gift it to you, before Esme told me that it's your birthday.

If you accept it, then please wear it tomorrow. If you don't then I'll understand that you never forgave me and try harder to get your forgiveness.

I'll be waiting

Yours Adreyan

"Shit!" I said loudly as I went through the contents of the note. He was confusing me again! It puzzeled me even more with the fact that if he was remembering me or it was a thought that came to his mind.

I picked up the pillow and shouted in frustration. He didn't know and here I was feeling thousands of things again. Those butterflies, the erratic beating of my heart, the breathlessness, the restlessness, everything was giving me the revival of the old days.

I put the pillow down and looked at the pendant again and sighed. It was beautiful, I got down the bed and went near the mirror with the necklace and placed it around my neck. I almost broke down when I remembered the day again. I put the necklace in its box and the box on the dresser and went to sleep.

___

I wore the necklace the very next day when we were in the Perez restaurant for the rehearsal dinner preparations.

Due to my shirt that I buttoned up till the first button, Adreyan couldn't see it and the whole time we were there I could see that he was in a bad mood, I asked him what bothered him but he just gave me a look of hurt and went out. I went to the washroom to freshen up and realized what bothered him, my necklace wasn't showing. So I undid the two buttons of my shirt and took out my coat making the necklace visible unlike before. I was instructing the staff about what china should be used and letting them know the sitting arrangements when Adreyan entered the restaurant, I called him to ask about what color he would like for the napkins, he gave me a weird look before his eyes caught the sight of the necklace and he smiled at me. Like a big, bright, wide full grin that went to his ears, I just chuckled and shook my head and told the staff to use the cream colored napkins.

After when we got to our rooms, I received a text from Adreyan.

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: You really forgave me?

Me: I was wearing the necklace, wasn't I?

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: And you were wearing the whole time and covered it? Why would you do that to me?

Me: I didn't realize, and you could have pointed out when I asked you. Huh, you and your ego.

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: Hey! I was hurt alright.

Me: Whatever helps you sleep at night...

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: If I tell you what will, would you help?

Me: Why should I?

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: Bcoz we are friends... but never mind.

Me: Good night Mr. Valdez.

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: It's Aide or Adreyan for you and please change my contact name on your phone. I hate it.

Me: It's your name 'AIDE'

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: But I don't like it and if I see my full name on your contact list, I'll personally change it. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

Me: Alright 'AIDE'. What do you want me to change it into?

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: Sweetheart? Darling? Mi amore?

Me: Are you flirting with me?

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: No, never. Why would I flirt with you?

Me: Good, have a Good Night 'AIDE'. I have work to do tomorrow.

Adreyan Alejandro Valdez: So grumpy Ariana. Is this how you talk to all your friends?

Me: Who said I have friends and I changed your contact name to Monkey King. Is that fine?

Monkey King: What the hell!!! Can't you be a bit kind?

Me: Alright, what about Angry Robot? My team calls you that.

Angry Robot: Why the hell would they do that? Change it.

Me: Because you act like one. I changed it and I won't change it again.

Angry Robot: To what?

Me: Not telling. See you tomorrow 'AIDE' and I loved the gift.

Reyan: Good Night Ariana

___

Days went in a blur, everything was hustled and finally, it was just 5 days left for the wedding. Everything was arranged, from the dress to the tent, there were just minor finalizing and final fittings left. The dance lessons were perfected for the first dance of the bride and groom. The bridal party consisted of few people. The bridesmaids were Adreyan's cousins; the best man was Esme's mom's sister's son who was just 17. I wondered if they both had any friends or not.

I talked to Esme about going to the wedding location as I would have to arrange everything there as well and we had only 5 days in hand, which included the bachelor party and the rehearsal dinner.

"I can't make it Ariana, it's my friend's baby shower and I have to attend it," She told me.

"When is it?" I asked her.

"Tomorrow, in Valencia. I was going to tell you but it slipped my mind. I'm really sorry" She apologized.

"It's alright, but that means you would return on the day of your bachelor's" I estimated.

"I was planning on celebrating my bachelor's there only as all my friends would be there, but I will be back the day after, before the rehearsal dinner," She said and I was confused.

"What would I do if the bride is not here?" I asked her in frustration.

"Aide will take you. He said he has work near the location, he can help you with everything and the final fitting would be done today before I leave" Esme offered and I sighed.

"You could have informed me, Esme," I said and she looked down. "Don't worry, we'll manage," I told her and she looked up and beamed.

"Thank you, Ariana! You're the best!" She exclaimed before hugging me which I returned awkwardly, still not used to hugging people.

"I'll call Aide and tell him that you and your team are coming with him," She said and I nodded.

__

It was after lunch that the fittings were done and I was in my room packing my stuff to leave for the location when I heard the knock on my door.

I opened it to see a very worried and panting Samarth.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"Karan and Kai," He said and I frowned, "They were having a pastry-eating competition after lunch and when they came up, both of them started throwing up and when Angela saw them, she too started throwing up" Samarth explained and I left my room and went towards theirs.

Kai and Karan we groaning in pain, both lying next to each other, I held the bridge of my nose.

"Take care of them, call the doctor. I'll leave alone. You guys can come when these three are feeling better" I told Samarth and Neha who were there in the room and they nodded.

I met Adreyan in the lobby and he raised his eyebrow when he saw only me.

"Where's your team?" He asked me.

"Kai, Karan, and Angela are sick so the others are staying here to help them and take care of the reception and other arrangements," I told him and he nodded slowly.

"And that's all you need for 4 days?" He asked me eyeing my single suitcase.

"Yes, all the clothes I need are inside this. Why?" I asked him.

"Nothing, I thought women needed four bags for four days, that's it," He said sheepishly and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh no! I should have kept that mini fridge with me, now my reputation is runied " I said sarcastically and Adreyan chuckled.

"I'm sorry for assuming. Let's go?" He asked and I nodded.

The mansion was quite far away from the hotel, on the outskirts of the city so Adreyan told me that it would take around four hours to reach and he had some phone calls to attend and make so I should make myself busy. I had absolutely no problems with that, for half an hour I made calls to the tent setters, the florist, the caterer and Alfredo with which I had meetings tomorrow.

Then I answered to emails and messages which Noori had forwarded me or I directly got from the clients or the suppliers. After another hour of work, I was relieved as I had no more work to do for the day. I tried to turn the volume of the radio loud but Adreyan glared at me talking to someone and switched the thing off.

I sighed and looked out of the window while Adreyan was still talking on the phone in continuous Spanish. I was utterly bored, so I decided to read while Mr. Busy was too occupied to talk.

I took out my unfinished Dance of the Dragons and my reading glasses and started reading from where I kept the bookmark. I was too engrossed in the story to realize how much time had passed by.

"Ariana" Adreyan called me and I put my book down on my lap and looked at him.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"Wow, you were so focused on the reading. I called you five times before you listened" He said with an amused smirk.

"I'm sorry, I was just keeping myself busy until His Highness was free," I said rolling my eyes, "If you don't mind, I was very rudely interrupted on a very important part," I said wryly turning back to my book.

"Oh, I didn't know. By the way, we are still far away so if you want to catch up some sleep you can" Adreyan said and I kept my book down raised my eyebrows at him to which he just shrugged.

"I'm fine," I said pulling my book up again.

"Don't you feel uncomfortable wearing the formal clothes all the time," Adreyan asked and I rolled my eyes at him, not taking my eyes off the book.

"I don't have anything else to wear," I said nonchalantly continuing reading Tyrion Lannister's point of view.

"Really? You just have formal clothes in your wardrobe? Don't you have a life other than your professional life?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes really. I just have formal office clothes in my wardrobe, give or take few dresses and evening wear and saris and no I don't have a life other than my professional life" I said, annoyed by his behavior. Why isn't he just letting me read? "Don't you have other work to do than to annoy me?" I asked him and heard a scoffing sound.

"My work is done, for now. Thanks for asking" He said and I nodded, trying to read a very frustated Tyrion. 'Same feelings Lannister' I thought.
"Do you always wear glasses," He asked again and I groaned and put down my book placing the bookmark where I left and looked at him.

"No, these are my reading glasses. Why can't you just let me read?" I asked with irritation.

"Because I'm bored," He said simply.

"Then call someone, listen to music. Why annoy me?" I asked him seriously.

"Because I have no one to call and I thought you won't like music while you are reading. It could cause disturbance" He explained.

"And your interrupting me won't?" I said raising eyebrows at him.

"Go on read then. I won't talk to you" He said angrily looking straight at the road.

I sighed and massaged the center of my forehead with my fingers. "I'm sorry. I just get very annoyed while I'm disturbed while reading" I told him and he just nodded. I decided to put my book back in the bag. I was removing my glasses when Adreyan's voice interrupted my actions.

"Don't take off your glasses," He said and I looked at him with confusion. "They suit you. Don't take them off" He said and I snorted but nodded.

We sat in silence until I heard a loud noise and suddenly the car stopped with a jerk.

"What the..." I said as my body jerked forward, at the level that I was standing on my toes with the seat belt and so was Adreyan.

"Are you alright?" Adreyan asked me looking at me worriedly.

"I am, are you fine?" I asked him with the same worried look and he nodded and tried to start the car many times but it won't start. He clicked opened his seat belt to see the damage.

After 15 minutes, I stepped out of the car and went to Adreyan who was keenly looking at the engine.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"There are some issues with the fuel pump and I think the cylinder is damaged. We need a mechanic" He said scratching the back of his neck.

"Don't you have the tools, the fuel cleaner or something?" I asked him and he looked at me with surprise.

"You know cars?" He asked me.

"Yeah, you only..." I was saying but stopped when I realized what I was saying. "I mean, yeah, someone taught me a few basics," I said correcting myself and he nodded and closed the bonnet.

"Well, there is nothing I can do. We have to get it to a garage or get a mechanic. I don't know how the cylinder got damaged" He said and took out his phone to call someone. "Fu...Shit!" He cursed and I smiled internally at his correction.

"What now?" I groaned.

"I have no reception," He said and I looked at my phone and groaned again.

"Me too. How far is this place?" I asked him.

"2-3 miles," He said and I nodded and looked around. Like the phone reception, the place too had nothing. I couldn't even see a petrol pump or even a house. Hell, not even a person.

"Do you mind walking then? It would take us may be an hour or so to reach there on foot" I asked him with a sigh.

"I don't. But I think you would" He said with an amused smirk and I raised an eyebrow and he motioned my feet and I realized he was talking about my heels.

"Don't mind me, señor, I can run in these babies for miles without issues," I told him with a confident smirk on my face.

"If you say so" He shrugged and went towards the boot of the car to take out the luggage and I grabbed my purse from the seat and my laptop. I went towards the boot and opened my suitcase and kept my laptop bag in it safely while Adreyan did the same with an amused look.

Adreyan insisted in carrying my luggage but I refused. He insisted so I handed in my purse to which he grimaced but took it, carrying it on his shoulder like a girl. I chuckled and he glared at me causing me to shut up but I snickered as he started walking in front of me.

After 20 minutes of walking, I took off my waistcoat and stuffed it in my suitcase pocket as it was getting hotter with every step. I saw Adreyan struggling with his tie and coat with the purse and I shook my head.

"Listen, give me back my purse," I told him and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I want my handkerchief," I said and he reluctantly gave it back to me. I took out my handkerchief and kept the purse on my strolley bag.

"Give it back" Adreyan stopped and I sighed and did the same.

"The bag isn't heavy and it's not like I can't see you struggling," I said calmly.

"I am not!" He said defensively and I smiled.

"You know you can forget about your manliness in front of your friends. Friends see each other at their weak spots and still stick with each other. Making me hold my bag won't make you less manly, Aide. I can see you are feeling hot in your suit and tie. Plus the bag looks horrible on you" I said with a soft smile and Adreyan's lips quirked up into a small smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You win," He said and started walking again and I smiled triumphantly.

"So, how far is this place?" I asked falling into step beside Adreyan. We were walking for 45 minutes now.

"About 20 minutes or so," He said and I nodded. "Tired?" He asked me wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"No, just hot," I said and he nodded as his lips quirked up and I groaned. "You are such a pervert," I said rolling my eyes.

"What? I didn't say anything" He said innocently and I scoffed.

"But you thought about it" I argued.

"What? A guy can't even think now?" He countered and I scowled but my insides were dancing in joy.

"How are you not tired? I am a bit tired and I work out" He asked me and I smiled.

"I am used to walking and running all day, even in the blazing sun. I'm a wedding planner remember" I said quoting 'wedding planner' with the two fingers of my free hand and Adreyan snorted.

"We have been walking for an hour now, you can't possibly not be tired, leave the ego, Ariana," He said nudging me and I pushed him a little feeling happy from just touching him.

"I telling the truth, I am standing or walking most of the time and I run a lot. I have a lot of stamina" I told him and saw his lips twitching again and groaned. "How immature can you get?" I asked him sardonically.

"What? You have the same mind as mine, or else you won't think what I may be thinking" He pointed out with a smirk and I shut my mouth and turned my head away. "So when do you run, I've never seen you in the gym," He asked.

"I am working most the time Aide; your wedding preparations didn't actually give me time for a breather you know. But, I run at night every day, on the beach" I told him and he looked shocked.

"You start working from 6 am in the morning till 12 at night and run every day. When do you sleep?" He asked me and I kept quiet. "Don't tell me you are some vampire" He joked.

"I can't be a vampire if I walk in the sun without turning into ash or shining," I said flatly.

"I see you saw Twilight" He smirked.

"I read it," I told him flatly.

"You didn't see the movie?" He asked me and I shook my head. "You must have seen The Vampire Diaries, Esme watches that. She even made me watch it once" He said making a disgusted face.

"No, I read it" I told him.

"Buffy the Vampire slayer?" He asked me and I shook my head again.

"Read it" I repeated.

"Come on! What do you watch on television?" He asked me and I shrugged. "You were even reading Game of Thrones series, please tell me you watched that?" He asked me and I shook my head again and he looked at me as if I had nine heads.

"What? I don't watch T.V shows or movies" I told him simply and he stopped in his tracks.

"What?" He said holding his face in his hands in horror leaving his bag on the road and I chuckled at his over- dramatic expression. "You don't watch movies or T.V? Nombre dios, what type of a human are you?" He asked me with horror.

"A busy one. But just to tell you, I have watched some shows" I told him and he looked at me with hope.

"Please name them" He practically begged.

"I watched this show called Barney and Friends, with my niece. She loved it and Oswald, it's a blue octopus show with a hot dog shaped dog..." I was saying but he stopped me.

"Wait, means all the shows you saw were kids shows?" He asked me and I nodded, "With your niece?" He asked and I nodded.

"And my friend's kids too. They went for a movie together when my sister was visiting, it was a Sunday and I was not interested in watching the movie so I volunteered for looking after their kids. We watched this Barney show and Oswald. They made me watch some other shows including Tom and Jerry and some other shows" I told him as I remembered the day. I had smiled and laughing the most that day before I came here...

"You really don't have a life. I mean you call Oswald the octopus a show? Tell me something, how old are these kids?" He asked me.

"Samaira or Sammy is 2, Shreya is 4, Rohan and Aman the twins, are 3," I told him with a smile and I saw a small smile on his lips.

"Wow, you must be good with kids if you handled 4 kids for a day" He mused and I nodded.

"They are not a bother, Rohan is a handful but cartoons and snacks make them calm and I had their toys so it was pretty easy" I shrugged and he nodded.

"So, 'Grumpy Ariana' is not for kids? Wow, I wish I was a kid" He said and I gave him an unimpressed look.

"You still are a kid. I mean you mock me for watching kids shows when you have watched only 'Friends' and that too like a thousand times..." I was saying but stopped when I realized my slip and I made a mistake looking at Adreyan who looked at me with wide eyes filled with confusion.

"How do you...?" He started to say and I panicked and looked anywhere but him and to my relief my eyes caught something.

"Look! We are here" I said pointing at the mansion with fake excitement. "Faster Aide," I said practically running.

"Hold on, I'm coming" He called out jogging behind me.

I was relieved when we reached the door. The mansion looked even better than the photos. I rang the bell but no one answered.

"There is no one inside," Adreyan said panting as he reached the door.

"What do you mean, how will we get in?" I asked him panting and he took out a set of keys from his coat pocket. I gave him space to move forward and open the door.

"I asked the staff to come later tonight; I didn't expect us to reach so soon. I had some work so I was hoping we would reach here after dinner" He said and I nodded as we entered the mansion. "The rooms are here," He said showing me the wing which had the rooms across from another. "Pick any room," he told me and I nodded and unlocked the first room in line. I put my luggage and turned to see that Adreyan took a room just across mine.

"I think you should rest, I'll switch on the air conditioning and check what we have in the kitchen. I am starving" He said and I nodded.

I decided to take a quick shower as I was dripping with sweat. I pulled out my yoga pants and a tank top, my running attire which were the most comfortable clothing I had except my night clothes and I was no way wearing a nightgown near this man.

It took me 15 minutes to shower and feel fresh again. I put my hair in a messy but presentable bun and went outside my room to see what Adreyan was up to.

When I reached the kitchen, I noticed two things- one, the air conditioning was working perfectly and two, that Adreyan was standing in the kitchen, his hands on his hips and a similar frown on his face.

"What is it?" I asked him and he turned to me. His frown disappeared as soon as he saw me and his mouth fell open.

"You said you have no casual clothe, what are these?" He accused.

"My running clothes. Now, what's the issue?" I asked him.

"We don't have gas or anything edible except for bread, butter and cheese and milk and my phone still has no reception," He said as his mouth turned down in a frown.

"Why don't you go and have a shower and I'll try to figure out what to do" I offered but he hesitated. "Go, I'll see what can be done," I said with a reassuring smile "Moreover you look gross with all that sweat" I joked. He was nowhere looking gross, in fact it was the opposite, as his shirt clinged to his body and became translucent giving me a peek of his well-built body. I fought hard not to touch his silky hair which were wet because of all the sweat. If anyone could look as sexy as he was while he was sweaty and tired, I would kiss their feet.

"Alright. But if we don't get anything to eat, I'll eat the bread and cheese just like that whether it's supper or breakfast" He said and I nodded.

As soon as he left, I entered the kitchen and started opening all the cabinets. I saw a blender and a grill with a toaster and I got them all out. I searched more and saw some coffee in a bottle. It was hard but could work if I tried. I got some sugar too, but it was next to nil.

I took out bread, butter and cheese out of the fridge and put my hands on my hips. Suddenly the memory of making grilled cheese for Reyan came into my mind and as if it was automatic, my hands started working on their own.

I put butter on the bread and used double cheese slices instead of grated cheese and put them in the sandwich grill and poured the cold milk and liquefied the coffee in a utensil and turned whatever sugar there was in the utensil and started the blender.

"What did you do?" Adreyan asked stepping into the kitchen after I was almost done with the food and I turned towards him and almost stopped breathing when I saw him standing only in his sweatpants which were hung loosely on his lean waist with no t-shirt on.

"Where is your t-shirt?" I asked him trying not to look at his 6 pack abs, which looked as if a sculptor sculpted it perfectly. His biceps were huge and his chest hard and tanned.

"I dropped it and it got wet. I put it in the sun, it will dry in some time" He shrugged and leaned on the kitchen island. His muscles flexed with a simple action and I felt my feet turning to jelly. "So what did you make?" He asked me and I looked away and turned towards the grill.

"Can you hand me a plate?" I asked him and he obeyed by handing me a plate.

"'What did you make?" He asked standing behind me, his chest touching my back and his smell invaded my thoughts making my heart throb like never before.

"Sit down and you'll see," I said as calmly as I could.

"Bueno" He muttered and when I could finally think properly, I took out the sandwich from the grill and took out a glass from the shelf and poured the cold coffee in it. I sliced the sandwich into two triangles and placed both the things in front of Adreyan.

"We don't have ketchup, so just bear with it," I told him as I sat down across from him with my own sandwich.

"You made grilled cheese?" He asked in surprise and I smiled.

"Yeah, and cold coffee. I found a blender, a grill, and a toaster. I didn't think that toasted bread would be filling so I made this" I told him. "Eat and tell me if there is anything more I can do," I said and he nodded and took a bite of his sandwich and moaned. Goosebumps rose on my body and I felt like all the hunger and thirst was satisfied in that moment.

"Exquisito" He said and bit into the sandwich hungrily. I smiled as I watched him eat. He sipped into the cold coffee and licked his lips like a child. "It's amazing. You cook magically" He said as he drank the whole glass in one gulp.

"Slow down big boy. We have more" I said and he passed me the glass with a huge grin and I poured the extra coffee I made for him as I usually did.

Watching him eat and smile like this revived our old days. I smiled as my eyes stung with tears, but I pushed them back and watched him finish his dinner.

"It was amazing...you didn't eat?" He asked me and I looked at my plate. My sandwiches were kept as it is.

"No, I am not hungry," I told him and he gave me an incredulous look.

"You are kidding me right?" He asked and I shook my head. "I don't believe you. You have to eat this amazing dinner you made for both of us. I don't care what you say, I'll feed you myself if you don't" He said and got off the chair and walked towards me picking up my sandwich and holding it up to me.

I reluctantly bit into the sandwich and a moan of appraisal left my mouth too. "Wow," I said taking the sandwich from Adreyan and eating it as he smiled at me.

We retired to our rooms after dinner when the staff came and as I lay on the bed, all I could think was how we relived the old days without even knowing.

***
I actually don't know what to write.

Happy Valentine's Day once again guys.

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Until next time...