“We are seeing you tomorrow night for Sheena’s party, right?” Kabier asked.
He nodded.
“Oh and Shauna is landing tonight. I’m going to fetch her from the airport. Are you coming with me?” Rishi asked.
Sameer’s phone beeped. It was Raashi messaging him that she was waiting in his office.
Sameer turned towards the door and left without responding. He didn’t see the look exchanged between his brother and his cousin.
He hurried to his own office. Pure joy filtered through him, knowing that she was waiting for him, that he’d be able to spend time with her again.
He heard her tinkling laugh even before he entered his office. He walked inside and shut the door leaning against it. She was sitting on his desk facing the glass windows, talking on her phone. She continued her conversation on the phone without even an inkling that he had entered and was watching her.
Sameer was besotted with her. The way she walked, the way she talked, the way she rubbed her neck when she was tired. He had never wanted another woman as much and he was sure she felt the same for him too. Being with her and not touching her was making him ache. But he had given his word and he was waiting for her to make the next move.
They were finally comfortable in each other’s presence and she was back to being the old Raashi he knew, full of laughter and emotion. If only she would accept him into her life fully!
He continued to watch her as she carried on her side of the conversation.
He narrowed his eyes when he heard her say, “Come on, Rithwik, I am not going to give you an answer, right now. Definitely not on the phone.”
And then she said, “Of course, I am thinking about it. It’s not like you don’t bring it up every time we talk.”
Raashi twirled her hair and then she pushed it aside agitatedly.
“Can you stop this here?” he heard her say. “I need more time to think. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with the fact that you actually proposed to me. So stop with the pressure already.”
Sameer scowled and folded his arms as the implication of Raashi’s words hit him. He knew Rithwik had proposed to her and there was no doubt as to what they were discussing right now. The mere thought of Raashi and Rithwik together burned a hole in his chest. His fists clenched and unclenched. It was just intolerable. He would never let it happen. He exhaled a tortured breath.
Raashi spun around in the midst of her conversation with Rithwik and her brows shot up as she saw Sameer. There he was leaning against his office door, watching her, obviously listening in on her conversation. Seeing him, she quickly ended the call and put her phone away.
She walked towards him. “Hey, when did you get here?”
Ignoring her question, Sameer walked closer to her. “Are you going to marry him?”
“Excuse me?” Raashi sputtered.
“You heard me, Raashi, so don’t make me repeat it,” Sameer snarled.
Raashi looked at him. Fury oozed out of him in waves. Every inch of him was rigid.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“That’s not an answer.”
Raashi took a deep breath and replied, “It would be easy to marry Rithwik. He’s my friend and he cares for me. I’d be foolish not to consider it.”
Not that she had given much thought to Rithwik or his proposal ever since Sameer had come back into her life. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. He already was very close to breaking through the lock around her heart. She wasn’t foolish to hand him the key to it. He’d just simply walk blaze and break down all her barriers and she wasn’t entirely certain she wanted that – though she was tempted. Oh! So tempted to do so.
Sameer was livid. “No! Absolutely not! You cannot consider it.”
Raashi’s eyes widened at his audacity. “And you cannot dictate what I can or cannot do!”
“Oh, I can and I will. You will not consider marrying anyone until we resolve what’s going on between us.”
Raashi opened her mouth to say something but Sameer took a menacing step forward. She forgot what she was about to say and retreated a step back. He kept walking forward until he had backed her into the glass wall of his office. He was standing right in front of her, towering over her, crowding her in. She turned to the left to step aside but he placed his hand on the window by the side of her head, confining her. She turned to the other side but his other hand blocked her. He had caged her in, effectively blocking any means of her escape.
Raashi shut her eyes and when she opened them again, he was watching her.
