"Arvika? What are you doing here, baby?" I asked the little girl who stood by my side with her doll in her arms. It was past 1 a.m.

"I can't sleep in my room. Can I sleep with you?"

"Yes, baby. Come here." I helped her into my bed, and she turned to me, wrapping her little arms around my waist. I patted her back to help her fall asleep.

It had been one month since I'd first stepped foot into this house. Arvika and I had become best friends; she was a sweet little girl.

She got scared at night, and sometimes she had trouble sleeping. I didn't have a problem letting her sleep in my bed. I felt happy when she wrapped her arms around me in her sleep, and I knew I made her feel safe and secure just by being there.

Meera visited every weekend to see how things were going. I still hadn't met Arvika's father. I didn't know any more about him than I had a month ago. Arvika sometimes told me that all she remembered about her father was how serious he always seemed.

I felt sad for her. He didn't spend time with her, and he never came home to see her.

Parents should spend time with their kids. They shouldn't leave them all alone in their huge mansions with nobody around but nannies, housekeepers, and bodyguards.

We woke up around six and headed to the kitchen because Arvika was hungry. Along the way, I saw men in black suits standing guard. Usually, the housekeeping staff wore white, and the bodyguards weren't allowed to enter this wing.

The men all stood ramrod straight, and I didn't dare to make eye contact with any of them. We kept walking until we reached the lavish kitchen.

"Arvika, do you know who those men are?"

"Mm-hmm, they are Papa's men."

"Oh, so your dad is back?" I tried to sound casual as I helped her hop up onto the kitchen island. I started pulling ingredients out of the fridge.

"I don't know. Meera will come to my room if Papa wants to meet with me."

"Why? Can't you go and see your daddy without Meera?" I turned to see her with a frown on her face.

"Papa gets angry if I go to his room without his permission because he'll be with important men."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah," she said, shrugging her little shoulders.

"Don't worry. After our breakfast, we'll go out and find something fun to do." I gave her a wink as her eyes widened in excitement.

"Yeah! But there are men... We can't go out when they're here. Meera won't allow it. She'll tell Papa."

I placed the vegetables I had just retrieved from the fridge on the table and put my hands on her shoulders. "Then we'll sneak out without telling anyone. Meera won't have any idea that we've gone out, so Daddy won't know anything."

Her eyes lit up, just thinking about going out. Arvika wasn't allowed to go anywhere, and I couldn't just leave her alone. I was used to being able to come and go as I pleased, but once I'd gotten here, I was stuck in the house with her. The only solution was to sneak Arvika out with me. We'd gone to the local mall once, and now that we'd tasted freedom, we were tired of staying home all the time.

"What won't Papa know?"

We both heard a rough, dark voice coming from behind me.

Arvika's eyes widened. "Papa," she said, wiggling in my hands. She got down and stood beside me.

I didn't dare turn around.

"Sir, this is Arvika's caretaker, Vedika Mathur," I heard Meera say.

I forced myself to turn around, not looking at Arvika's father.

"Ms. Mathur, meet Mr. Atharv Kapoor." Now it was my turn to widen my eyes comically.

Why hadn't I been told that he was Arvika's father?

Standing before me was the most powerful man in the world. I looked up at him to see him studying me carefully. Meera narrowed her eyes at me, giving me my cue to speak up.

"Hi." After I beat, I slowly lowered my hand, which I'd just used to wave at him. Not my finest moment.

Meera closed her eyes at my stupidity. I couldn't even look directly at the man. There was this intensely powerful aura surrounding him.

"I would like to speak with Ms. Mathur," he said firmly, as if I weren't standing right there in the kitchen with him.

"Sure, Mr. Kapoor," Meera replied.

"Privately."

I looked at Meera to save me, but she looked bewildered and kept her mouth shut.

Mr. Kapoor walked away.

"You have to move. He does not like waiting," Meera informed me. "Follow him."

"Just give me five minutes, Meera. I need to change," I said, looking down at my cotton shorts and cropped tee and becoming painfully aware of the fact that I wasn't wearing a bra.

"Ms. Mathur, for your own good, I'm telling you to go now."

The three of us wandered through the halls toward the side of the house where no one was allowed. Meera stood outside with Arvika, and I knocked on the door. When I heard, "Come in," I entered the room nervously.

He was going through his papers, while I stood there being clueless. I'd never in my life imagined I would be meeting him.

I mean, who would've thought that they would meet the man of every woman's dreams?

"Ms. Mathur, you were assigned to take care of my daughter, not to sneak her out."

His voice startled me. I blinked, and tried to hide my shaking hands.

"I was not sneaking her out, Mr. Kapoor."

"Then what was the conversation I overheard in the kitchen?"

"Just...you know...normal chitchat."

He didn't respond but pulled another file from the stack on his desk.

"I hate when people lie."

I gulped down my nervousness. Of course. That made sense. I knew he hated basically everything.

How was I going to say to his face that he was an asshole for keeping his little girl away from the world and not allowing her to go out?

How could a father stay away from his daughter and not spend time with her? He should have shown her the world and played with her.

"Ms. Mathur, there is a reason why I keep Arvika here. My responsibilities keep me away from my daughter. It's impossible for me to take her with me."

I watched him with wide eyes. Had I said my thoughts out loud?

"Mr. Kapoor, I would like to get straight to the point. Arvika is a growing kid. She has to live a normal life. She can't stay in this house all the time. Allow her to enjoy life like a normal kid," I said, suddenly not feeling nervous anymore.

He watched me carefully while I spoke.

There was a brief silence. He didn't say anything; just kept staring at me until I started feeling a bit uncomfortable. His eyes roamed from the top of my head down to my toes.

I turned my head a bit, crossing my arms to cover my chest. I didn't want him to know that I wasn't wearing a bra.

" Are your hair naturally curly, Ms. Mathur?" he asked, so unexpectedly that I almost didn't realise he'd spoken.

"Huh? Um, yes." I rolled my lips into my mouth as I looked at him, wondering if I'd heard correctly.

He nodded and took one final look at my hair.

"I will speak to you later, Ms. Mathur. You can go now." Okay, then... I didn't say anything, just turned to leave.

"Ms. Mathur, try to wear more concealing clothes. I don't want my men eyeing you, being distracted from their work."

I bit my lower lip before walking away. As I wandered to my room to change my clothes, I ran into Meera and Arvika.

"Meera, why didn't you tell me about Arvika's father?"

"Ms. Mathur, Mr. Kapoor didn't give me permission to reveal his personal information."

Before I could ask her anything else, she wandered off, who knows where.

"I'm sorry, Flower."

I looked down at Arvika, who was looking at me with tear-filled eyes.

"Shh... It's okay, baby. Daddy didn't scold me. You didn't do anything wrong." I wiped her tears away and took her hand in mine.

"I'll get dressed, then we can finish making breakfast." I quickly changed into my sweatpants and put on a bra.

We made breakfast while I explained what I was doing each step of the way to Arvika, who was eager to learn to cook.

We were just finishing up our bowls of fruit, Arvika laughing while I told her how I used to make a mess in the kitchen during my freshman year, when Meera walked into the kitchen along with a man and a woman I hadn't met before.

"Ms. Mathur, Dev and Gia will be assisting you," Meera said, pointing to the couple.

"With what?"

"Mr. Kapoor has given his permission for you to take Arvika out, provided you're back by five."

"Really?!" Arvika shouted and we both jumped for joy. Without waiting to hear another word from Meera, we ran to our rooms to get ready.

"Can I shower in your room?" Arvika asked as I went through her clothes.

"Sure." I pulled out a white T-shirt and her favorite pair of pants. I let her choose her underwear.

As soon as we got to my room, I headed for the bathroom and started running water in the tub for her. "Why don't you take a bath while I figure out what I'm going to wear," I said.

She put her clothes on my bed and climbed into the tub, while I pulled out a white long-flowing Anarkali, matching pants and big oxidised Jhumkas.

While she was still soaking, I booked our movie tickets. I was excited to take her to see Frozen, the latest Disney princess movie—I knew she'd love it.

-------

"Where are we going?" Arvika asked as she got out of the car.

"Movies," I said, smiling when her face lit up.

"What are you two going to do?" I asked Dev and Gia.

"We aren't allowed to leave you," Gia replied.

"No problem. We'll grab another two tickets at the box office," I said. I took Arvika's hand in mine and walked into the theatre with Dev and Gia following behind.

"What do you want?" I asked Arvika as we got to the concession stand.

"Caramel popcorn."

"One caramel popcorn, three regular popcorns, and four Cokes."

I'd asked Dev and Gia what they wanted before placing our order. They looked stiff and overly alert, making the exchange pretty awkward.

As I waited for the girl to hand us our snacks, my thoughts shifted to Arvika's father. I wasn't very interested in the business world and didn't keep up with the news. I'd learned about Mr. Kapoor mostly from the women I used to work with, though even when I was in college, he'd been pretty famous. My coworkers never stopped gossiping about him, so I'd Googled him to learn who this guy was. There had been a lot of things written about him—some positive, some negative. But there was never a hint that he had a daughter.

He was a mystery figure who kept his distance from the media. He never gave interviews and was never seen on television, but I always saw his name on the cover of Forbes and the ~Harvard Business Review~ when I passed by a newsstand. And then there was that article in ~Time~...

I handed Dev and Gia their popcorn and soda and we headed into the theatre. I was pretty excited myself; it had been ages since I'd gone to a movie.

"It's my first time seeing a Disney movie in a theatre," Arvika said, munching on her popcorn.

"Don't worry. I'll bring you here again."

"Promise?"

"Promise," I said, and she gave me her bright smile.

We enjoyed the movie, although I couldn't stop focusing on the characters' hair. I wished I had blonde hair.

I wasn't a fan of my curly hair, though people said I was lucky to have it.

"Are your hair naturally curly, Ms. Mathur? " Arvika's father's voice rang out in my mind.

I played with strands of my hair, remembering how he kept gazing at it.

Did he like my hair? What about it captured his attention? I guess he thought it was worth commenting on.

"Hmm, Arvika, do you like my hair?" I asked her as we were walking out of the theatre.

She turned her head and looked at me, nodding furiously.

"I love your hair! When I met you, your hair was the first thing that I noticed," Arvika said.

I didn't reply, just pulled her closer to me as I thought of her father. It seemed he couldn't look away either.

Maybe it isn't that bad having curly hair? Maybe getting a bit of attention isn't all that bad?