Helloooo everyone!!

A new chapter is here for those who still remember this story...

Apologies for not updating for so long...  will update regularly from now on.

Anyways, without wasting ur time... here is the next part !!

Happy reading folks!

Part 7 – Perfect Date

"Surprise? For me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, my dear. A surprise for you..." and he blindfolded my eyes with a satin scarf and he called me "My dear" yet again..!

"Okay..." is all I could mumble. Neil held my shoulders and helped me to get out of the yacht slowly.

I felt like I was on standing on a wooden surface when he told me there were stairs to get on further.

From what I could feel, it was some kind of an empty space since I could hear Neil's voice echo in the place around.

"Neil, please let me open my eyes" I requested.

"Two minutes ma'am... I will let you open your eyes" he said as he instructed someone to arrange for dinner for both of us leaving me confused as to what he was up to.

Then, he wound his muscular arm around my waist leaving me stunned for a moment with his gesture and gently walked me further. I had no idea what he was up to, but I let him do whatever he wished.

"Neil... your 2 minutes are done" I whined.

"Can you count 30 seconds?" he asked curtly.

"Uff... yeah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." I started dramatically counting realising that it was waste to argue with him anymore.

He chuckled at my antics but kept quiet until I neared the number 27... I felt Neil's frame in front of me as he untied my blindfold slowly. I blinked my eye lashes a bit to adjust my vision and the sight around us left me baffled. My mouth turned into a perfect O, eyes widened, and eyebrows shot up in surprise while I turned around and saw that I was inside a royal palace kind set-up. The interiors were so elite and classic that I could not believe my eyes witnessing the sheer beauty.

However, for a few minutes I could not comprehend how we ended up in this palace while all I remember was being on the yacht in the lake. Then realisation dawned upon me that the place I stood in was indeed the Jal Mahal that I wished to see while I spoke to Neil about it just sometime back.

And, here stood the man with a gleeful smile on his face as if he had bought me just a lollipop, absolutely no attitude, no show-off guy! He fulfilled my wish in a jiffy and swept me off my feet yet again. I was lost in roaming all around the palace like a little kid in Disneyland, savouring all the intricate architecture of the pillars, to the huge paintings and portraits of the royal family members, to the real weapons used in warfare that were stuck up the walls, the regal furniture etc.

I was so happy that I was jumping in joy and did not realise that Neil stood rooted to his place and stared at me wherever I went with a huge grin on his face.

"Neil, I'm so happy! I had never ever dreamt that I could visit Jal Mahal in my life! This is so amazing....!!" I was almost jumping and dancing holding a pillar and roaming around it and suddenly my back hit something hard and it didn't take me long to get that it was Neil behind me. I immediately turned towards him and tug my face in his chest while wrapping my arms around his torso tightly.

"This is the best surprise ever Neil..! Thank you so much!" I mumbled still hiding my face in his broad chest not realising our proximity as this gesture of mine was purely out of excitement and impromptu. I do not know what dawned upon me that is stayed glued to him for few moments in trance and came back to my senses only when Neil also reciprocated by while wrapping his arms around my shoulder.

"It's ok Avni. I'm glad I could fulfil your wish." He muffled and I raised my head to meet his eyes, still staying in his embrace I found his intoxicating eyes rested on mine without blinking and his shy smile that appeared faintly on his lips.

I slowly moved apart from him and slid my hair strands behind my ear while I looked everywhere else but him. "Uh... eh... I was carried away... I hope..." before I could complete, his fingertips were on my lips preventing me from saying further.

"Shhshh... we are friends and it's ok. In fact, it's normal to hug friends. No?" He tried to ease me noticing my hesitation.

"Hmm... Neil, but how... did you get us inside the palace? This is prohibited for the public right?" I enquired not wanting to continue about our hug.

"Oh yeah, when you told me you wished to see the Jal Mahal, I also saw a kind of sadness in your eyes when you said unfortunately the palace is prohibited for the public. I didn't want to see that sadness in you... so I got in touch with the Maharaja of Jaipur, who happens to be my friend. He made sure we could visit the palace. I heard this is only for the royal family for their private events and ceremonies. He was courteous enough to agree the moment I asked him..." he explained modestly.

I was blown over by him and could not believe myself that a man could go to this extent just to not see sadness in my eyes. My eyes brimmed with tears as he spoke... and he was right there to wipe away them before the tears could flow down my cheek.

"Oh Avni... sshhh... I did all this to not see tears in your eyes, girl! Please... I haven't done anything so big... it's... it's just that Pacho is my friend, we play Polo and Golf whenever he visits Mumbai. He was generous to agree to a friend's request. That's it. (Young King of Jaipur– Maharaj Padmanabh Singh called as Pacho by his dear ones) He said nonchalantly by rubbing my arms to console me.

"Ohh... I can't believe I'm working with someone who is friends with Bollywood stars and royal kings! I don't... I don't seem to fit in..."

"uff Avni... don't have such thoughts! And first of all, I'm not only your boss but your friend too... Do I have to remind it every time or you don't consider me as one?" Neil wailed giving me a sad look emphasizing that he did all this for me, but I didn't even consider him as a friend.

"Oh no Neil... not at all... I mean yes... I mean... ahhh You are my friend. I do consider you as my friend..." I fumbled a lot to converse, since the situation that we were in was not that favourable for me... first the surprise, then the intimate hug and then this...I was not able to decipher completely whatever had just taken place within a short span of time.

"Haha... common Avni... I understand. So, are you going to waste the time standing here or will you let me give you another surprise?" Neil raised his hand that was still rested on my arm to my shoulder and gave a gentle pat. For some reason or no reason he was being too casual with me the entire time we spent in Udaipur. He occasionally held my hand, patted my shoulder, wrapped his arms around my shoulder... all this didn't seem wrong to me in any sense rather seemed affectionate. And I loved that fact that the man I fell for was doing things for my happiness.

"Anotherrrrr surprise?" I almost nagged.

"Oh madam... why? You don't want?" Neil quipped.

"I want... I want..." I replied immediately and he chuckled.

"So, let's go..." He said grinning widely taking my palm in his and pulling me towards the stairs. We entered a huge room that seemed no less than anything that I saw downstairs. The same royalty, the same architecture, the majestic chandeliers, the long luxurious curtains everything looked straight out of a Prince and Princess story.

Neil had arranged the dinner for us in that same hall which was apparently the recreational room for the royals and I was mesmerized to see everything as I mumbled a 100 thank you's to Neil by the time we reached the dining table. Neil was chivalrous to pull the chair for me and then he sat opposite me. The table was enough for 4 people to dine, a small but elegant one. The table had a scented candle lit and a flower vase in the centre, a champagne bottle in the ice tub and two glasses for us. As we settled ourselves, a light violin music played in the background setting the right ambience for a romantic dinner.

I could not believe if all this was happening in reality or a dream! I even pinched myself once and winced in the little pain that it caused making Neil laugh heartily at my silly antics. He then apologised for laughing but just like friends do he started pulling my leg and all I could do was blush and smile.

"Neil... everything seems so perfect except my dress. If I had worn something better this evening could have been just like a scene out of a fairy tale." I said curtly.

"You always look perfect Avni... There's no need of any dress to showcase your beauty or to be fit for any situation like this. I mean you look beautiful in anything that you wear!" Neil gave me a perfect compliment that was just right at the moment and I blushed for the 100th time in the evening.

"Ah Thank you Neil... nobody has ever told me so" I averred.

"Because, I had to tell you that..." He winked.

"Neil... are you flirting with me?" I asked with a new found courage.

"Undoubtedly yes...! Was that so hard to guess Avni?" He smirked leaving me startled from his outright confession.

"Ah... eh... No... But..." I was interrupted by the steward saving me from taking this topic further.

"Sorry to interrupt Sir, Ma'am... Can we serve the dinner in 10 minutes?" the steward asked politely.

"Yes yes... please" I replied before Neil could say anything and saw him squeezing my eyes thinking if I had done a mistake by saying so but noticing my discomfort Neil smiled.

"Hahaha... chill Avni. It's fine... Shall we open the champagne?" He asked.

"Sure!" I exclaimed while he opened the champagne and poured in our respective glasses.

Before drinking, we clanged our glasses and raised a toast for ourselves.

"To us...!" Neil said.

"To us...!" I repeated.

"To many more dates like these...!" He smirked.

"To many more... what?!" I realised mid-way I was repeating what he had said and exclaimed.

"Haha... don't you want to Avni? Many more dates like this... with me?" Neil questioned with his ever-charming smile.

"Hmm... I would love to if you also would want to..." I replied smartly.

"Of course, sweetheart!" He replied baffling me yet again by calling me sweetheart. I took to moment to compose and smiled at him as we both sipped on the champagne.

The dinner went great with some delicious Rajasthani royal cuisine food and ofcourse Neil's company. I enjoyed the unimaginable day to the fullest and loved every bit of it. We clicked some selfies and pictures inside the palace as our memories to take back and left the place with a heavy heart as we both loved to spend some more time but had to leave due to the time constraints.

We got back on the same yacht and enjoyed the serene star lit sky and the calm moon. We reached the car and while Neil went towards the door I called him and gave him a warm hug this time without any hesitation.

"I can't thank you enough for today Neil... I owe you a day like this...! I'm sure it won't be as luxurious as this was... but I'll try to give you the same happiness that you gave me today." I expressed my gratitude filled with love while I still hugged him. Neil wrapped his arms around my waist this time and pulled me a little closer before he said "I know you will give only happiness to me Avni..." He mumbled and kissed my head.

We drove back to our hotel and bid adieu to each other before we retired to our rooms. Content and happy the way we spent the entire trip with each other.

I was exhausted to be honest, so I sprawled myself on the bed as soon as I got in the room.

I checked our flight schedule and texted Neil that we should be ready by 7 in the morning and a Good Night with a heart emoji.

I did not wait for his reply and drifted to sleep thinking about the best day spent in my life.

*********

I woke up by 6 in the morning though I had set alarm for 5 AM. I immediately texted Neil that we may get late. But he called me up and informed that it was okay as he had already changed the flight schedule to 8 AM considering we were late last night. I realised the perks of having a private jet and laughed to myself.

We got ready by 7 AM and left the hotel... reminiscing the fond memories that the city had given us we bid adieu to Jaipur.

We boarded the jet as scheduled and flew to Mumbai. We had our breakfast and decided that we shall head to office straight from the airport since we had meetings lined up.

The travel to Mumbai was peaceful and soothing. Neil and I drifted off to sleep, unknowingly clasping each other's hands while we rested on the recliner seats.

*******

So, that's it for today guys... 😊 Thanks for reading and I hope you liked the chapter

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Till then,

Love,

Avni