Destined Hearts Ch. 10

Praveen's stomach felt like it was turning. His heart was beating rhythmically, wonderfully and he had no idea what he felt. It was different, wonderful, something he'd never experienced before. He was both scared and confident but then...

"Ahem!"

Both of them quickly came to reality and Antonio pulled Praveen, both them standing still like they were soldiers. It was granny and she had her arms on her chest, looking at the two of them sternly but deep down, she was smiling. She loved the position she had found them in. If her hunch was right, the two of them had already started falling for each other. The way they'd been staring at each other. She was sure that if she hadn't come there or disturbed them, they'd have surely kissed.

"Antonio!" She was still serious and she sounded mad. "What's going on here? What are you doing to my grandson?"

"Granny?" Antonio was in shock. "What do you mean?"

Praveen chuckled, looking towards the floor. He was smiling.

"I heard him scream my name. What did you do?"

"Nothing!" He chuckled nervously. "He was just..."

"I won't ask you. Praveen!" She called his name with such seriousness in her voice that he almost jumped up. "What's going on? Is he disturbing you?"

Praveen moved his eyes to Antonio, seeing him gesturing him to say no. Then he looked at granny and smiled.

"Yes, granny... I was trying to do something important and he..."

"Lies!" Antonio chuckled nervously at his granny. "He's lying granny. Look what he did to me." He opened his arms wider, showing his granny all the flour on him, including his shirt. "So tell me, who are you gonna believe, your favorite grandson or Praveen?"

Granny sighed, rolling her eyes. "Of course, my favorite grandson."

Antonio gave Praveen a "nah nah nah nah..." Look before he turned to granny and got another surprise.

"Which is why you're getting out of here..." She held his ear, dragging him out of the kitchen.

"Ouch! Granny!" He screamed, following her. "You're hurting my ear."

"And you're disturbing my grandson." Granny said with a laugh. "Let's go you massage my feet."

She took him out of the kitchen, leaving Praveen alone, smiling to himself while he stared at the door where granny and Antonio had just exited. There had been no such wonderful scene than seeing granny and grandson in that position. It was really wonderful that it made Praveen see Antonio in another light.

*

"Fuck!" Bruce stormed in Andrea's room, slamming the door so hard that it almost gave Andrea a heart attack.

She furiously got off the bed, dropped her tablet there and went to him. "You know you're seriously getting on my nervous, Bruce, right?"

She was just dressed in a simple dress and slippers and her hair was tied in a ponytail but she looked lovely.

Bruce just stared at her and looked away. "Look, I am sorry but I am just so mad."

"Are you ever in a good mood, these days?" Andrea rolled her eyes, picking up the tablet. "Look, I am really tired of this non-sense."

"What do you expect?" Bruce roared, gripping his hair. "That idiot is getting too close to my boyfriend. Do you know exactly what he told me the other day? He literally warned me about Antonio, saying he's his husband and has every right on him. Can you imagine such non-sense?'

Andrea shook her head, breathing in audibly. She had already had so many problems and didn't need any more. "And what are you gonna do about it? I wanna hear your plans so that I can know how to help you."

Bruce clenched his fists, smiling like an evil warrior after defeating all his enemies.

"I need to stop him from appearing on that video at all cost." He snarled, feeling anger taking every bit of him.

"Sweetheart," Andrea sighed. "Last time you prevented him from taking a romantic photo with Antonio but he still managed to pull..."

"Not this time, Andrea." He smiled. "This time, I will deal with him in such a way that he won't only lose this opportunity to be with Antonio but he'll also be scared of me. He'll leave this house on his own because he'll be too ashamed to face anyone."

Andrea loved the sound of that.

"What are you planning?"

Bruce gave Andrea an evil grin, shaking his head.

"I have tolerated you too much, Praveen." He thought as he smiled even brighter. "You are hungry for Antonio, I will satisfy your hunger. You will always run when you see me. You leave me with no choice. I warned you that I can go to any extent just to get back what belongs to me. You're playing with fire and you'll definitely get burnt."

***

3 days later...

Praveen was seated in front of a huge mirror, staring at his reflection. He looked completely different, really different from the way he'd ever looked before. The image in the mirror reminded him so much of his past, before he even became a nerd back in school.

He was looking really, really beautiful. His hair was made into braids that reached his butt and some passed down his shoulder. His face was in full view without any spectacles on his eyes. His eyes were in full view that seemed to be piercing through him, his own eyes. He was really emotional because he was remembering his mother and how she used to make him happy.

"You're really beautiful, my love." She used to say. "One day, the world will see how beautiful you are, inside and outside. I thank God for giving you to me. Your father must be proud wherever he is."

Praveen had to fight off his tears. He didn't wanna ruin his face plus he didn't think the makeup artist working on his face would have appreciated it after her hard work.

"Your dream for me is slowly coming to reality, mother." Praveen thought, placing his palm on his chest as he slightly closed his eyes. "Your Praveen will get to appear in a music video."

He completely closed his eyes and gave a short prayer of guidance and protection.

"You look really lovely, sir." The makeup artist commented as soon as she was done. "I can't wait to watch the video because I am drooling already."

Praveen smiled, fighting off his tears. "Thank you so much." He said just as the director came inside the room.

Praveen was already at the scene and he was nervous as hell. The people that were working on him were already done. He was wearing a deep pink designer's shirt that was half way buttoned, fitting him like a second skin and it was tucked in a black skinny jean that was also marvelous and he had black designer's snickers on his feet, the best he'd ever seen in his life. Had he been dressed like that and went out, people would definitely mistake him for a billionaire's son.

"Aren't you charming?" The black handsome man with hazel eyes and slightly pink lips spoke. He was tall and muscular too. "I still wonder where Antonio got a diamond like you."

Praveen nodded. "Thank you so much, sir."

"Sir?" The man laughed, folding his arms on his chest. "My name is Shravan and I am the director. By the way, your first scene is gonna be right here and your second will be at the beach and then we're gonna have to change. You really are gonna have a long week."

Praveen simply nodded and smiled at the man.

"Why don't you do some final touches while I check if your husband has arrived?" He smiled. "We need to start shooting soon."

With a smile, the man left. Praveen got up from the chair and started checking himself out in the mirror. He was truly looking like a prince but he was nervous as hell. He was just hoping that there wasn't gonna be any mistakes.

"Come on, Praveen!" He said softly, looking at his reflection. "You killed it at the photo shoot. This is no difference. You just have to be confident and go with the flow. Granny and the family are counting on. Don't disappoint them."

Then he smiled at his own words. He slowly turned to leave the room but before he did, he heard his phone. He quickly turned, grabbed his phone from the table and looked at the screen. It was just a number that he couldn't recognize but he answered it.

"Hello!"

"Thank heavens," the deep manly voice on the other end answered. "Is this Praveen, the famous Antonio's husband?"

"Speaking..." He said, wondering who it was and why the man on the other end was breathing so harshly. "How may..."

"You need to come here quick!" The man said abruptly. "Your husband was involved in a terrible accident and he's losing a lot of blood."

"Your husband was involved in a terrible accident." The man's voice echoed in his mind.

"What?" Praveen covered his mouth shut, tears already forming in his eyes.

His heart gave a really sharp pound in his chest which felt like he was about to have a heart attack. A cold shiver raced through body, giving him the greatest fear he'd ever felt. His knees felt weak that he almost fell if not for the wall. Before he knew it, tears were already running down his cheeks. He was so scared and weak that he started trembling uncontrollably.

"W... what?" He stammered, the phone shaking on his ear. "Where? How? Why?"

"Sir, you need to come quick..." The man said abruptly. "There is an old mansion in..."

He gave Praveen the address and cut the call. Praveen's phone fell from his ear to the floor and before he thought about anything else, he was running out through the door. He prayed to the almighty that there was nothing wrong with his husband.

***

Bruce and Andrea arrived at the site of the music video, smiling brightly, especially Bruce. He was sure that he was gonna play the part that was supposed to be played by Praveen and Praveen was gonna be in a corner somewhere crying. In fact, he had come prepared. He was dressed for that part.

He was wearing a really lovely green designer's shirt, dark blue skinny jean and brown snickers. His hair was combed backwards and gelled, revealing his makeup overdone face which looked really magnificent, or so he thought. He was really happy.

"Look, Andrea!" He moved his arms around, looking at the people there that were busy setting the whole place up. It looked magnificent. "Dreams do come true. This place is a perfect place to romance with Antonio." He folded his arms around himself, looking all seductive. "I can't wait to have him kiss me on set."

Andrea shook her head. She too was dressed like a queen. "You don't seize to amaze me, Bruce. You're such an evil genius."

"Yeah and..." He paused and gasped. "...Look!"

Andrea turned and saw got really excited too. Black designer's shoes, red trouser and a blue shirt that was folded at the sleeves with glasses in the hair that looked lovely and a face that looked like it was curved by angels and that chest exposed for everyone to fantasize about. Andrea's brother was to die for.

Antonio was entering the room, his mind busy on the phone. He was busy typing something with a stern look on his face. Walking a distance away from the door he turned and stood still, looking all around. He seemed to be really impressed as a smile popped up his face.

"Isn't he dreamy?" Bruce asked, touching her chest. "And poor Praveen will be nowhere to be seen, dear Andrea."

"I know..."

They both burst into laughter.

"Andrea, when I am all set to reclaim what belongs to me and protect it, I can do anything." He felt like a hero. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and..." He moaned, winking at Andrea while he bit his lip like he was in a porn movie. "...reclaim my man."

He turned and started walking towards Antonio but stopped before even going further. His heart literally stopped beating... his body, mind and soul felt frozen... his breaths seized and fear took control of him... his eyes widened just as he heard the harsh breaths from his friend.

"How is this possible?" He gasped.

He closed his eyes, rubbed them and open them again but he was still there...

"Praveen!" He gasped as the fear of God himself took control of his body.

Praveen was standing in the door way close to Antonio, staring at him like he'd seen a ghost. His eyes were a bit red and his face was wet from tears. He seemed shocked, weak, sad and happy at the same time. He was weakly sobbing, looking like he'd been chased by a predator.

"Ant... Ant..." He couldn't even say his name.

Seeing Antonio standing there alive and well just weakened him. He got really emotional that he couldn't even think straight. Only God knows what he wanted to do. He didn't care. Antonio was alive. The person that had called him had been lying to him but who cared?

With a sharp breath, Praveen started running towards Antonio who couldn't see him because he was busy on his phone. Praveen didn't care. He ran as fast as he could and reaching Antonio, he did the impossible, something he wouldn't have done even if someone had chased him in the past. He gripped Antonio and hugged him tightly, wrapping his arms around him and resting his head on his chest while he sobbed softly.

To say Antonio was surprised would be an understatement. When Praveen hugged him, he felt a sharp electrical sensation take control of his body and he dropped the phone, his eyes widening. He hadn't expected that at all. He was caught by surprise and he didn't know what to do?

Suddenly, he was caught by so many emotions that he started trembling. Everything again disappeared in front of him, everything. His trembling hands slowly started moving until suddenly, they wrapped themselves around Praveen though his eyes were still wide open.

Where Bruce and Andrea, they felt like the earth had moved but truly, it was their heart that pounded so hard that they felt like they'd been hit on their chests so hard that they almost had a heart attack?

Was Antonio hugging Praveen and why?

***

Thanks for coming to the end of this chapter... Theme songs are "Bad at love," by Halsey, "Solo," by clean bandit and Demi Lovato (dedicated to Bruce), and "New day," by Celine Dion.

Feel the passion...

***

Praveen is a starry eyed young groom dreaming of a fairytale life with his husband. But what happens when the fairytale has no happy ending?

We've seen him smile, we've seen him cry, we've seen him grow confident and brave, we've seen him change but most importantly, we've come with him on this long journey, crying and smiling with him.

But now, we've got to say goodbye as Praveen's journey comes to an end.

Will their hearts unite and prove that they're truly destined to be together or will it all come crushing down?

Don't miss the grand finale of "Destined Hearts."

Feel the passion...