“Grandfather, I would like you to meet Natasha,” Sameer brought Natasha forward.
“Hello, there,” Janak said, releasing his hold on Raashi.
He shook hands with Natasha and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek before she wished him a happy birthday.
Natasha saw her and her eyes flared in recognition, but she flicked her gaze away, dismissing her like she was of no consequence and turned to Sheena and Keya, greeting them instead. The woman was such a snob! Raashi felt her temper rise at such a deliberate insult.
Soon, Natasha engaged Janak and the other two girls in some random discussion, trying her best to keep Raashi out of the conversation.
Disgusted with Natasha’s petty behavior, Raashi turned her face. She found Sameer watching her while the others continued chatting.
“Hello, Raashi,” Sameer said, tilting his head to the side and looking straight into her eyes.
“Hi!”
“You’re ignoring me again,” he said softly, his eyes dancing with laughter.
Why did he always have to be so smug and confident? With just a look and a few words he had managed to rattle her composure completely. Raashi was annoyed more with herself than him.
“Really, I hadn’t even noticed you. Did you just arrive?” Raashi asked sweetly.
It was a feeble and silly attempt at retaliation but that was all she could manage at this point. Appearing calm and unaffected in his presence was taxing enough for her.
He let out a bark of laughter.
“That is absolute nonsense and you know it. You noticed me the moment you reached here. Just like I noticed you. Or are you going to pretend you didn’t?”
He raised a brow in challenge.
Raashi moved a step to the side. She needed him to stop toying with her. His words, his actions, his behavior – all of it was infuriating her. He had ended whatever it was that had started between them when he had walked out on her that night. He had made it very clear that he had not been interested in a relationship with her, so why was he playing these games with her now? She was going to end this, whatever it was, once and for all. She stepped to a side, away from the others, so she could have this much needed conversation with him in private. Sameer followed her.
“What do you want, Sameer? Why are you are trying to provoke a reaction out of me? You have taunted me every time we have met recently and I’m tired of it now. What are you after this time?” she hissed.
His smile vanished. Sameer had not expected her to be so direct. He stared at her for a moment, not saying anything. She had always been very bold and got to the point quicker than he could even blink. She was right. He didn’t know what he was doing. He only knew that he enjoyed throwing her off balance. She had made it more than obvious that she wanted nothing to do with him and had avoided him whenever they had come across each other. Each time she met him she pretended as if nothing had ever transpired between them. As if they had never touched, as if she hadn’t writhed in ecstasy in his arms on that one night.
He hated that she could so easily ignore him while he couldn’t for the life of him ignore her. She was standing so close to him now that her delicate floral scent enveloped him and theurge to touch her was growing out of control for him, whereas she stood cool as a cucumber, pretending to be unaffected by him. Didn’t she know better than to throw her indifference constantly in his face? Didn’t she remember how much he relished such challenges?
“The thing is, Raashi, you give out this arctic cold vibe to me all the time and I cannot resist but lighting a match to heat up all that ice,” Sameer drawled.
“You’re just too much,” Raashi snapped. “Do you ever stop to think how your actions and conduct could affect someone else? Oh wait! I forgot that playing with people and their emotions is second nature to you.” She held up her palm to stop him when he started to say something. “This has got to stop. I refuse to participate in whatever game you are playing. So, leave me alone.”
She started to walk away when Janak called out to her.
“Raashi, come here. Have you met Natasha?”
Done talking to Sameer, Raashi gave him a final glare before she stepped towards Janak.
“I did briefly meet her when Sameer had brought her to AquaNox. Hello, Natasha,” Raashi said looking at her.
Natasha gave her a haughty nod in response.
“I see you two have been catching up,” Janak said, warmly looking from Raashi to Sameer. “Sameer, did you already discuss with Raashi about the land you want back from her?”
Raashi frowned.
“What land? The one next to The Marquis?”
When Janak nodded, she turned to look at Sameer with a furrowed brow.
