Read A Perfect Mismatch for Free Online

down on her.
    “I don’t need your help,” she said enunciating each word with a calm she hardly felt.
    Armaan watched the mutinous tilt of her chin and the lips compressed into a thin line. He waited for five minutes with her trying to hail an elusive cab or an auto-rickshaw. None of them seemed to stop just when she needed one desperately, thought Zara.
    Armaan stood leaning on his car and shook his head. “You can stand here flailing your arms for a taxi all night if you want, but I am not moving from here until you come with me!”
    “Why are you so concerned? I am not your problem!”
    “I wish you were not, but you are, from the moment you agreed to marry me!” he drawled.
    “So, are you going to tell me what to do all the time?” Zara asked with a forced smile.
    “I can see that you can’t seem to understand goodreasoning!” he pounced, without a trace of remorse, “You are a stubborn woman. I don’t think it is safe for you to travel alone at this time.”
    “Stubborn? Well, if it is not the pot calling the kettle black! You think you are a paragon of virtues. Why do you insist on standing there lecturing me? I can take care of myself!” Zara was beginning to feel the usual stirring of antagonism at his highhanded comment.
    His smile was a slash of pure derisive contempt, “Of course, you can take care of yourself! Dressed for the funeral, or is it a custom-made costume for Bat-woman? You are hardly likely to get any unwanted attention!”
    She was stunned by the insolence in his tone but then struck back, “Why, Mr. Malhotra? Don’t I seem like the best candidate to be your bride? At least I am not underdressed like one of your arm candies or those scrawny models you paint so diligently at your studio? The way I dress is none of your business! Stop calling me names!”
    “You didn’t seem to have a problem calling me a gaseous dirigible.”
    “You are one!” Zara shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel.
    Armaan was getting tired of the argument. “Alright, fine, I am a dirigible and you are a brave Batwoman and we are both a pot and a kettle and any assortment of vessels that you want it to be! Now get in the car!”
    Armaan was fascinated by the colour on her cheeks.
    “I’ll walk home!” she huffed.
    Then she turned around and stalked off. He was right behind her taking her arm in a tight grip.
    “Get in the car, Zara!” he said grimly. “You are not going alone!”
    “Yes I am!”
    “Alright, I apologize! Just get in the car! Or I’ll walk with you!”
    She paused when she noticed several people staring at them. Not wanting to make a scene, she swung around and hissed at him. “Let go of my arm and I will come.” He let go and she followed him back to the car. Fuming through her ears, she got in and shut the door with a splintering bang.
    “Go easy on it, will you?” he said, with his temper tightly leashed this time as he got behind the wheel.
    Zara gave him the address and for the next fifteen minutes neither of them spoke. She wondered what they would do after the marriage. Perhaps the best solution was to shift to two different planets where she would never have to see him again. The moment they reached her apartment building, she stormed out without a ‘Thank you’ and he drove off without a backward glance.
    Things began to move very fast for Zara after that. She was pained to see Vini looking frail when she came to visit her. She congratulated Zara for accepting the proposal, welcoming her heartily into the family. Zara was dumbstruck when her mother-in-law lovingly touched her head. The conversation that followed shook her deeply.
    “I know you are the perfect bride for him.” Vini said beaming, “You have strength of character that demands respect! You know how to stand up to him. He may say all kinds of silly things pretending to be uncaring but he has agood heart. He has had a rough childhood. Some kids grow into healthy adults in spite of a broken past.