"Come what may,

I will love you until my dying day."

- Moulin Rouge

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__________

~ A A R O H I ~

P

By the time we finally left the bridge, Paris had fully transformed into its nighttime self.

Golden streetlights glowed softly against rain damp roads while cafés overflowed with music, laughter, and tourists escaping the cold.

I was starving.

"Food," I announced dramatically while walking beside Advik. "Immediately."

"You speak like a medieval king returning from war."

"I survived social anxiety today. Same thing."

"Fair."

A soft laugh escaped him before he guided us through a quieter lane lined with tiny restaurants glowing beneath warm fairy lights.

Then suddenly he stopped outside one of them.

The place looked almost unreal.

A cozy little Parisian restaurant tucked between old stone buildings, overflowing with flowers and soft golden lights while jazz floated gently through the open windows.

Inside, couples sat beneath candles while a tiny live stage rested near the center of the room where someone softly played acoustic guitar.

I stared immediately.

"Oh my God..."

Advik noticed my face and smirked.

"Found your weakness."

"It looks like a movie set."

"Which means the food is either Michelin star restaurant level or too expensive for my card"

"You are an Oberoi .....Mr. Kanjoos"

"Does not mean I can spend billion dollars on food"

Liar. I knew .

Because he absolutely bought me the very expensive Dubai Kunafa Chocolates during our layover at Abu Dhabi .

Five minutes later we were seated near the stage beside a window overlooking glowing Paris streets outside.

The restaurant buzzed softly with conversation while waiters moved elegantly between tables carrying wine and desserts.

And honestly?

Everything felt romantic again.

The atmosphere. The vibes.

I narrowed my eyes at the universe.

Meanwhile Advik leaned lazily back into his chair, sleeves rolled slightly upward while candlelight flickered across his face.

"You know," I muttered while opening the menu, "Paris feels like a scam."

He looked amused. "How?"

"It tricks people into falling in love with literally everything."

His gaze lingered on me for one second too long."Hm." then after a minute "Not a scam"

Before I could recover, the live singer on stage finished performing , gaining a loud applause.

Then suddenly the host smiled, while speaking into the microphone.

"Does anyone else want to sing tonight?"

Absolutely not.

I immediately looked down at my menu.

Far away from danger.

Unfortunately,my husband was evil.

"Aarohi sings," Advik announced calmly.

I snapped toward him in horror.

"ADVIK."

The host brightened instantly. "Really?"

"No," I answered immediately.

"Yes," Advik corrected.

I stared at him with betrayal.

He looked deeply entertained.

"You said You wanted to enjoy life" he shrugged lightly. "Go."

"I will participate in your murder."

"See?" he sighed toward the waiter dramatically. "Emotionally abusive marriage. Toxic. Lemme call the Purush helpline"

(Let me call male helpline)

I kicked him beneath the table.

Still,the entire restaurant looked encouraging now.

And somehow Advik's expression shifted softer afterward.

Less teasing. More sincere.

"Go," he said quietly this time.

The chaos around us faded slightly.

"What if I embarrass myself?" I whispered.

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

His grey eyes held mine steadily.

"Because these are the best bits of life. I am a pro. I know it"

God.

That sentence did something dangerous to my soul.

Before I could overthink myself out of it, he stood up calmly and held his hand out toward me.

"Come on, Mrs. Advik."

I stared at his hand for a second.

Then took it.

The restaurant applauded softly as I walked nervously toward the stage while Advik returned to his seat looking far too pleased with himself.

Traitor.

I took the microphone awkwardly while my heart beated violently.

"Relax," the guitarist smiled warmly.

"What would you like to sing?"

My brain emptied completely.

Then suddenly, a voice beside me spoke softly.

"Moonlit Floor?"

I turned.

And immediately blinked.

Because standing beside the stage was a ridiculously attractive French man with messy dark hair and striking green eyes smiling politely toward me.

The restaurant visibly reacted too.

Of course Paris would produce men directly out of perfume advertisements.

"You know the song?" he asked gently.

I laughed nervously. "A little."

"Then duet?"

Before I could answer...

I looked toward Advik instinctively.

Big mistake.

Because my husband was sitting back in his chair watching the entire scene with narrowed eyes now.

Not angry. ....Worse.

Interested.

Then slowly

he lifted his glass toward me once.

'Go ahead.'

Dangerous man.

The music began softly through the speakers.

And suddenly the nervousness faded beneath the warmth of the song and the lights and Paris itself surrounding everything.

The French man sang first, voice smooth beneath the soft melody while the restaurant swayed along quietly.

Then my turn came.

I inhaled once.

And sang softly...

"Kiss me... under the Paris twilight "

Green-eyed French boy got me trippin'

How your skin is always soft

How your kisses always hit

How you know just where to

Green-eyed French boy got me trippin'

On that accent off your lips

How your tongue do all those tricks?

How you know just where to

The restaurant melted immediately.

A few people clapped softly.

Someone whistled.

Meanwhile the French singer smiled brightly beside me before harmonizing effortlessly with the next line.

Kiss me under the Paris twilight

Kiss me out on the moonlit floor

Kiss me under the Paris twilight (ah-ah)

So kiss me

And somehow....

I actually started enjoying myself.

Laughing between lyrics. Relaxing into the music. Letting Paris carry the moment beautifully forward.

My gaze stayed on my husband....all the time.

And the smile slowly faded from my face.

Because he was already looking at me.

Not at the stage. Not at the crowd.

Me.

Completely still now.

Grey eyes fixed on me with something unreadable sitting underneath all the usual teasing.

Something quieter.

Something dangerously close to awe.

And suddenly the lyrics felt different in my chest.

Because I had sung the entire song looking at him. And I could feel my cheeks turn red.

After the song ended, he applauded with the rest of the crowd. His eyes were soft, warm and he looked too proud.

___

~ A D V I K ~

I should've known sending Aarohi onto a Paris stage was a terrible idea.

Not because she couldn't sing.

No.

The real problem was that the second she relaxed into the music...

the entire restaurant forgot other people existed.

Including me.

The warm lights above the stage softened against her skin while the live band played gently behind her, Paris nightlife humming quietly through the windows around us.

And there she stood...

laughing softly between lyrics, curls falling around her shoulders, one hand wrapped around the microphone while she sang like she belonged inside this city.

Meanwhile the French guy beside her looked entirely too enchanted for my liking.

Green-eyed menace.

I leaned back deeper into my chair, jaw tightening slightly while lifting my drink toward my mouth.

Then immediately lowered it again.

Because Aarohi looked toward me while singing.

Directly toward me.

"Kiss me... under the Paris twilight..."

The entire restaurant collectively lost emotional stability.

I exhaled slowly through my nose.

Wonderful.

Now strangers were emotionally invested too.

Beside the stage, two women whispered dramatically to each other in French while pointing toward Aarohi like they'd discovered gold.

The green-eyed singer smiled at her again during the duet.

I disliked him immediately.

Not for any rational reason.

Just spiritually.

And unfortunately...

Yash's voice suddenly echoed in my head:

"You stare at your wife like a dehydrated Victorian man."

Bastard.

I rubbed a hand across my jaw slowly before finally pulling my phone out.

Reflex .Instinct .Habit.

Because somewhere along the way, I had started recording moments involving Aarohi without realizing it.

Not posed pictures. Not planned videos.

Just...pieces of her.

Laughing in car rides. Complaining dramatically at breakfast. Dancing badly in hotel rooms. Smiling when she thought nobody noticed.

My camera roll was becoming dangerously domestic.

And now......

here she was beneath Paris lights singing softly while looking happier than I'd seen her in weeks.

So yes.

I recorded her.

Quietly.

Like a proud husband I was....

Without interrupting the moment.

Because this ,right here...

was exactly the kind of memory life steals too quickly.

The video captured everything.

Her laugh slipping between lyrics. The sparkle of city lights outside the restaurant windows.

The tiny nervous smile fading as confidence took over. The way her eyes kept searching for me unconsciously through the crowd.

I find myself grinning like an idiot looking at the stage. Aarohi throws herself head back happily, her cheeks flushed and eyes shining as she looks at me . And she is so beautiful, it makes my chest hurt.

God.

I want to fucking kiss her .

The French guy moved slightly closer during the chorus while harmonizing beside her.

I narrowed my eyes instantly.

Too close.

Professionally too close.

The guitarist noticed my expression and physically hid a laugh.

I looked away with dignity.

Then suddenly Aarohi laughed mid-song again after forgetting one lyric briefly.

And the entire restaurant laughed with her warmly instead of judging.

Something in my chest softened painfully at that.

Because this morning she had been scared to walk through Paris alone.

Now she stood on a stage full of strangers singing without fear.

Happy.

Free.

Alive.

And somehow

seeing that mattered more than my jealousy.

Even if the French man's had a killer jaw and cute freckles.

The song finally ended beneath loud applause and cheering throughout the restaurant.

Aarohi blinked in surprise before laughing shyly into the microphone while the green-eyed traitor bowed dramatically beside her.

Then her eyes found me again instantly.

Like they always did now.

And the second she smiled toward me

everything else disappeared briefly.

The noise. The people. The jealousy.

Gone.

I lowered my phone slowly.

The recording still running.

Because I already knew this would become one of my favorite memories of her.

Not because she sang perfectly.

Not because Paris looked beautiful.

But because for those few minutes

Aarohi looked completely fearless.

And somewhere along the way...

watching her become fearless had started feeling more important to me than protecting myself from her.

~A A R O H I~

By the time we finally left the restaurant, Paris had grown quieter.

Not silent ..Paris was never silent ...but somehow softer.

The streets glowed beneath amber streetlights while distant laughter drifted through cafés and cold wind curled through the narrow lanes around us.

Somewhere far away, music still echoed faintly from another restaurant.

And beside me, Advik walked with both hands tucked into his coat pockets while I replayed the entire singing incident in my head for the seventeenth time.

"You enjoyed yourself," he stated casually.

I looked up immediately. "You forced me onto that stage."

"And now?"

I tried very hard not to smile.

"...Maybe it was fun."

"Exactly."

His mouth twitched with quiet satisfaction like he'd won something.

Which, annoyingly, he had.

For a few moments we walked quietly side by side beneath the glowing Paris lights.

Then unfortunately, my heels betrayed me.

I winced slightly after stepping wrong against the uneven pavement.

Advik noticed instantly.

His head turned toward me immediately.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"That was a pain face."

"It was not."

"Aarohi."

I sighed dramatically before lifting one heel slightly.

"These shoes are violence in disguise against the feet of women."

A laugh escaped him softly.

"You chose them."

"I chose fashion. They chose to harass me."

"Tragic."

Still, his pace slowed automatically afterward.

We walked another few steps before my ankle protested again and I muttered something deeply aggressive under my breath.

"Fucking Asshole"

That's when Advik stopped completely.

Then without warning he turned around and crouched slightly in front of me.

I blinked.

"...What are you doing?"

"Get on."

My brain malfunctioned instantly.

"What?"

"You're limping."

"I am walking."

"You're 2 seconds away from bruising your ankle."

I stared at his back in complete disbelief while the cold Paris wind moved through his dark hair slightly.

"Advik," I whispered horrified,

"absolutely not."

He looked over his shoulder calmly.

"Aarohi."

"We are in public."

"So?"

"So people will see."

"Paris has witnessed worse things than husbands carrying their wives."

"That sentence sounds conspirational."

"Aarohi."

His tone changed slightly.

Softer now. Patient.

"Get on."

And God help me, the exhaustion in my feet won.

Muttering about humiliation and feminism under my breath, I finally stepped closer before carefully climbing onto his back.

The moment my arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders, his hands immediately secured beneath my knees effortlessly.

Like carrying me weighed nothing.

"Oh my God," I mumbled into his shoulder, "this is embarrassing."

"You say that while clinging to me "

"I'm vulnerable right now."

"You're violent in every condition."

Still his grip tightened slightly before he began walking again through the glowing Paris streets.

Warmth surrounded me almost instantly.

His coat. His cologne. The steady rhythm of his steps beneath me.

And suddenly the city felt very far away.

People passed us occasionally along the sidewalks.

A few smiled warmly. One old woman literally clasped her hands emotionally while watching us pass.

Meanwhile I hid my face partly against his shoulder in pure embarrassment.

"This is exactly how rumors begin," I muttered.

Advik sounded deeply unbothered.

"What rumors? A married couple behaves married?"

I hated how reasonable that sounded.

The cold wind grew stronger near the river and instinctively I shifted closer against him slightly.

His hands adjusted automatically beneath my legs.

Protective. Secure.

"I must be heavy..." I said again and he just let out a soft sigh, followed by a grin.

"You must be kidding me" another step forward "You are not even half as heavy as my warm-up weight"

I buried my face further in his shoulder.

Neither of us spoke for a minute after that.

Then quietly

"You were happy tonight."

The sentence caught me off guard.

I lifted my head slightly. "What?"

"At the restaurant," he said softly while continuing to walk. "You looked... lighter."

Something about the way he said it made my chest ache unexpectedly.

"I think," I admitted quietly, "today was the first time in a long time that I stopped feeling scared of everything."

His steps slowed slightly after that.

Not enough to stop walking. Just enough for me to notice.

"I told you you'd be okay."

I smiled against his shoulder faintly.

"You were right."

"Obviously."

"There he is," I sighed dram

atically. "The ego returns."

"It never left."

A quiet laugh escaped me before I rested my chin lightly against his shoulder again.

And somewhere beneath the glowing Paris lights.....

with Advik carrying me through cold midnight streets like it was the most natural thing in the world..

something inside me shifted dangerously softer toward him.

The parking lot finally appeared ahead of us beneath golden lamps.

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ADVIK OBEROI is such a proud husband and I absolutely love him....✨✨✨

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