Chapter 6 #2
A hand touched his shoulder. Sameer swivelled and came face to face with Natasha.
“Hey,” she said. “Sorry, I am late.”
Sameer had forgotten he had invited her to attend the birthday party. He had asked her to be here before his grandfather arrived. But as usual Natasha did things in her own way. This was not new to him though. He sighed and moved forward to greet her.
“Hi, Natasha,” Sameer said.
Natasha gave him a hug and kissed his cheek before she said hello to Kabier and Rishi.
“Come on,” he told her. “Let’s go wish grandfather. Excuse us, guys,”
Natasha held his arm as he steered her to where his grandfather stood with the three girls surrounding him.
His grandfather still had his arm around Raashi and Sameer understood exactly when Raashi realized he was coming towards her and tried to escape.
Sameer’s lips curved into a smile as his grandfather said something to her and didn’t let her leave his side.
A stab of envy pierced Raashi’s heart as she watched Sameer approach her group with Natasha on his arm.
Dressed in designer jeans and a dark Henley t-shirt, he looked great as usual.
Beside him, Natasha looked fabulous in a short silver dress.
Natasha tugged Sameer’s arm and he leaned down as she whispered something in his ear.
Raashi couldn’t help but stare at them. They did look fabulous together.
She had spotted him as soon as she had entered the house.
His heated gaze had locked with her hers and a devilish smile had curved his lips before his eyes had leisurely coasted up and down her body, appraising every inch of her, making her toes curl.
Annoyed with him and with her own reaction to him, Raashi had waited for his eyes to return to hers, before she had dismissed him coldly, deliberately turning away from him.
She had managed to ignore him so far, but now here he was walking towards them, his eyes on her again, watching her every move.
She shifted and tried to move away from Janak again. She didn’t want to meet Sameer. She didn’t want to talk to him.
But Janak held her shoulder.
“Don’t go, Raashi. Stay here with me, okay?” he requested.
Wordlessly, she nodded and waited as Sameer approached them with Natasha on his arm.
“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 the urge 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.
“You want my land?” she asked, surprised.
“Actually, it was my land. Grandfather gifted it to you without knowing my plans for it. So, yes, I want it back. I will pay for it, of course,” Sameer answered her brazenly.
Raashi’s mouth opened and closed in shock and then fury blazed through her. How dare he think she would sell it? How dare he assume that money could get him whatever he wanted?
“That land is not for sale,” Raashi said through pursed lips.
“Everything has a price, Raashi. One just needs to know how high to bid for it.”
Cocky, overconfident, bastard!
Raashi almost said that aloud but then she realized they were in public and Janak, Keya, Sheena and Natasha were all watching them.
Therefore, she said instead, “You can bid as high as you wish, I am not selling.”
Sameer gave her an insolent smile. “We shall see.”
Janak interjected before she could say something nasty and it all went out of hand.
“Hey, you two,” Janak looked from her to Sameer, “this is no way to behave. Business is not to be conducted here. Leave the work talk for another day, will you?”
Raashi wanted to throw something at Sameer.
God! He made her so furious. She leveled him with a venomous look, hoping that it conveyed all the exasperation she felt at his brash behavior.
He gave her a cool smile in return making her blood boil even more.
Before she could react again, she saw Rithwik entering the room.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her temper and then smiled at Rithwik as he came closer.
“Hello, people,” he said. “Happy Birthday, Mr. Sehgal.” Rithwik wished Janak, shaking hands with him.
Then he turned to Raashi and Keya. “My favorite girls. Sorry, I am late. I just returned to the city, you know that right?”
“I’m just glad you’re here,” Keya said.
“Me too,” Raashi said.
Rithwik then turned to Sameer and exchanged a few words with him. He chatted with Natasha and Sheena briefly. Of course, Rithwik knew Natasha. They moved in the same elite social circles and knew one another.
He turned back to her and Keya, “Come on, you two. I’m going to steal you both away for a bit. Let’s get a drink and catch up.”
Sameer watched with mounting irritation as Rithwik Bali confidently and quickly steered the two girls away to the bar at the further end.
Yes, the three of them were close and they had been friends since years, but Sameer did not like the possessive way Rithwik’s arm was curved around Raashi’s waist.
“Stop glaring at her and leave her alone, Sameer,” Sheena whispered, gripping his arm hard, her finger nails digging into his skin.
Sameer brushed her arm off.
“You need to stay out of things that do not involve you in any way.”
She cast him an angry look. Sameer ignored her, his eyes still on Raashi and Rithwik. Sheena maneuvered their grandfather away, leaving Sameer alone with Natasha.
“How does that girl from the restaurant have such rich, influential friends?” Natasha asked Sameer, flicking her head towards the bar where Raashi was standing with Keya and Rithwik.
“They’re her close friends and the fact that they are rich or influential has got nothing to do with it,” he said, defending Raashi.
“Oh! You’re quite well acquainted with her. Anyway what was the land thing your grandfather was talking about?”
“Oh, nothing...nothing,” Sameer shook his head. “Just some business deal between Raashi and me.” Sameer replied to Natasha, not really paying attention to Natasha’s questions. His eyes hadn’t strayed from Raashi even once throughout their conversation.
Rithwik was ordering drinks at the bar and Sameer could see him get some shots for the three of them.
He offered one to Keya who refused vehemently.
Raashi, he saw, accepted the shot, clicked glasses with Rithwik and downed the shot quickly.
They promptly ordered the next round. Soon, Sheena, her husband Rajiv, Rishi and Kabier join them, the entire group laughing and drinking joyously together.
He noticed Rishi gesturing the deejay to change the music.
The music changed immediately to a loud and racy number.
Already moving their bodies to the rhythm of the new song being played, the merry group moved to the dance floor together.
“So, it’s just business between Raashi and you?” Natasha queried, as she saw Sameer’s attention fixed on Raashi.
Sameer turned to Natasha.
“Purely business,” he replied. Then he smiled. “Come on. Let’s go join everyone on the dance floor.”
“Ummm...Actually, I have to attend another party. Why don’t you come with me? It will be so much more fun. The who’s who of the city will be there,” Natasha coaxed him.
Sameer stared at her in outrage.
“Really? You expect me to leave my grandfather’s birthday party to attend one of your events?”
“Why not? You’ve shown your face here and the party started a long time back. It is well underway. It’s not like you will be missed,” she scoffed.
Natasha was something else. Her indifference to tonight’s important celebration drove him mad.
She had always been difficult to please and wanted things her way.
But this was just a bit too much. He was already on the edge tonight after meeting Raashi and Natasha’s behavior was annoying the hell out of him.
Without thinking, he searched for Raashi and found her dancing with his grandfather, his hands in hers as she moved forward and backward with him.
His grandfather was smiling in pure delight and Sameer couldn’t help but feel pleasure on seeing him happy.
He forced his attention back to Natasha. She was watching him, her lips pouted, her expression unhappy because he hadn’t yet agreed to her demand.
“So, shall we leave?” she prompted, before checking her watch. “I can’t wait much longer. Let’s go.”
Damn! She was pushy. What was he doing stuck here with her? He shouldn’t have invited her. She was too opinionated and bossy. She was the type who would destroy his peace of mind with her constant demands and difficult attitude. He had completely forgotten this side of her.
He should have been there on the floor, dancing and celebrating this important night with Raashi who loved his grandfather as much as he did.
But then being with Raashi was not so simple either.
That had its own set of complications. It meant that he might lose his heart to her.
He would have to open himself to heartbreak again.
Losing his peace of mind was way better than heartbreak any day.
Hell, yeah! Been there. Done that. Faced the heartbreak and lived through it.
And now he refused to have another serious relationship with anyone that might even remotely involve that stupidly emotional organ that his heart was.
And he most definitely refused to be a sucker to a beautiful woman’s charms again.
Particularly not this beautiful hazel eyed woman.
He let his anger go and addressed Natasha, “Stay for half an hour more and then I will drive you to wherever you want.”
Natasha smiled and twined her arm with his, appeased by his reply.