SS: Wounds From A Flower *Chapter 3 on Page 27 - Page 11

Recap: Khushi is a student at a university, and the head of cultural society. She has always been active in extracurricular activities, but this time it will be difficult because of her sister. Why? You will come to know in the following update.

Professor Dixit, the sports head, has asked Khushi to guide their chief guest for the annual fair, through the university. The chief guest is none other than Arnav Singh Raizadah, who might help in providing their university with funds, if everything goes well. After her many failed attempts to convince the professor to replace her, she has no choice but to fulfill her duties.

Now let's see what happens next.

CHAPTER 2

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

"Charm was a scheme for making strangers like and trust a person immediately, no matter what the charmer had in mind."
~ Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions~

Khushi retreated herself into the library, after her several failed attempts to convince Professor Dixit. She hit one of the empty computers and began her search about Arnav Singh Raizadah. Arnav Singh Raizadah had been the talk of the town for quite some time in the university, especially between girls, though she couldn't understand why. She had heard he was exultingly rich, one of the wealthiest tycoons of Delhi. Maybe that was the reason. Khushi rolled her eyes in exasperation. Rich men had never attracted Khushi, nor did good looking men. She always thought that a man should be judged by the way he speaks and acts, not by his money.

Khushi started with her thorough background research on Arnav Singh Raizadah, as suggested by Professor Dixit. She knew it was fundamental, if they needed to impress him. She opened the search engine in one of the new windows and typed in the name Arnav Singh Raizadah. The search generated above thousand results, which included several newspaper articles and photos. It was true; she had never expected him to be this famous. This certainly intrigued her curiosity, so she clicked on the first article on that page.

After going through numerous articles on Arnav Singh Raizadah, she came to a conclusion that he was those rich men, who had dirt under their sleeves. There was less information about his personal life and more about his social gatherings. She also didn't find many interviews on him, which told her he was a hard man to catch.

She made a copy of all the important information and neatly stacked it into a file, before leaving the library.

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Arnav Singh Raizadah was an orphan, who lived alone in a big bungalow in the outskirts of the city. His parents had died when he was fifteen and from what Khushi found out, he didn't have any siblings. In all interviews, he had refrained from commenting on how he had achieved so much success at such a young age. Usually his answer contained something like,

"As a matter of course, misery teaches you a lot."

All in all, Arnav Singh Raizadah was a handsome man in his late twenties. Now she knew why all the girls in her university were going crazy behind him.

After going through all the articles, Khushi summarized the key points and made a short report for Professor Dixit. Hopefully he would be happy now.

That night Khushi went to sleep early, preparing herself for the big day ahead.

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"Jiji, why didn't you wake me up? Now I will be late," Khushi called out from the bathroom, as she put on her black jeans, "Do you know how important today is?"

Khushi was getting late as usual for her university, but at least for today she wanted to be on time. Professor Dixit would never forgive her for this, she knew it.

"Khushi, just relax. I am sure you will reach on time," Payal called out from outside the room.

"Jiji, you can't say that for sure," her voice muffled, as she put on her flowing v-neck half sleeve cropped tee, one of her best pieces of clothing, something she had reserved for special occasions.

She opened the bathroom door just in time to notice her sister's pale face replaced by a smile. A smile she had always adorned for Khushi, a smile that manifested that everything was well, no matter what difficulties they face, but who was she kidding. Khushi's answering smile was as radiant as ever. Though, she knew that her sister had a very feeble chance of surviving the cancer. Yes. The cancer, that had changed their lives from the past 3 months.

With only Madhumati to turn for help, these two orphans had no money. All their daily needs were fulfilled by Madhumati's husband's pension, which didn't leave anything for curing her sister.

Payal lay on the hospital bed, her back propelled against the pillows. She had given up any thoughts of surviving, but Khushi still wasn't ready to lose hope. She would do anything and everything possible, under her inadequate potential, to make her sister survive the deadly disease because she was her only family left.

Khushi bit back her tears which were threatening to fall at her sister's fragile form. She didn't want to break down, not in front of her sister, not right now, "Jiji take care of yourself while I am away."

She caught of the messenger bag from the corner of the bed and put it around her shoulders. Fixing her hair, she gave her sister a peck on the cheeks before leaving out the room.

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Khushi ran through the corridors of the college, trying not to collide with everyone on her way, apologizing when did so. Eventually she reached the reception where Professor Dixit was talking to a tall man, with broad shoulders. His face hidden from her, as he stood with his back facing her. With his one hand in his pant pockets and the other shaking Professor Dixit's, they both were immersed in an important conversation, to which Khushi was no ear. Khushi quickly walked towards them, steadying her breath meanwhile from the running.

"I am really sorry I am late, Sir."

"Oh, here she is," Professor Dixit exclaimed, gladly, though his eyes looked at her sharply. Khushi gulped.

The man turned just in time, as Khushi arrived by his side.

Arnav Singh Raizadah, a man whom she only knew through pictures, thought that they had done injustice to his pulchritudinous and virile features. With not a hair out of place, he was indeed a very handsome man in his late twenties. No wonder he was attracting attention of every girl passing by. The girls passing by didn't at all feel embarrassed while pointing fingers at him, and she thought that he also seemed to be enjoying it.

With her hair flying, Khushi started feeling conscious about her appearance, but still words did not falter out of nervousness as she officially introduced herself.

Khushi moved her hands forward, "Hi, I am Khushi Gupta. You must Mr. Raizadah."

He didn't immediately clasp her hands, but instead took of his Ray bans, as if they were obstructing his vision of her to and then put his hand forward, nodding in response. As Khushi saw his chocolate brown eyes behind the glasses, she wished he hadn't taken them off. They were too distracting. His intent gaze was making her uncomfortable. He did not let go off her hand after a shake, instead he stood their holding them tightly. Khushi had to pull her hand slightly, indicating him to leave.

He unapologetically let it go, as Khushi continued, "I will be escorting you today through our campus."

"Yes, off course." Though he had only said three words, Khushi felt his voice was a sweet ring to her ears. She thought he purposely sounded flirtatious and delusional.

Arnav signaled with his hands, asking her to lead. He followed soon afterwards, with two hulky men close behind them, whom Khushi hadn't noticed before between so many students moving around today.

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Khushi guided him through the college campus, showing Arnav the different departments. He was not much of a speaker, she noticed, which made her look talkative. He mostly nodded in response, and had very little to comment. Though several times Khushi caught him watching her keenly, unabashed. They finally reached the stalls for the annual fair and Khushi left him drift alone between aisles, as she wanted to have a look how her stall was progressing.

Nandini wasn't having any problems till now. Many students liked the handicrafts, but they felt it was a little expensive She was apologetic she wasn't able to make sale up to their expectations. Nonetheless, Khushi appreciated her effort. It wasn't like she had expected much out of it.

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Khushi escorted Arnav towards the staffing area next.

"Would you like something to drink?" Khushi asked courteously, as they reached their destination. She thought to leave him alone to interact with the teachers.

"Yes, I would like a coffee," he said, turning towards her, smiling

She introduced him to Mrs. Kapoor, her psychology teacher, before leaving them to get him a coffee.

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By the time she returned, Mrs. Kapoor's door was closed and his bodyguards were standing outside. She felt this was strange, but nonetheless knocked on the door before tuning the door handle with her one hand while the other held the coffee.

The sight that greeted her, threw her off guard. Mrs. Kapoor, in a disheveled state was sitting on the table, and engrossed in a passionate lip lock with Arnav Singh Raizadah. The both moved away from each other as they realized the interruption. Khushi knew she was supposed to apologize, but shock had taken over. Mrs. Kapoor also looked embarrassed to be caught in such a state by a student.

More than appalled, Khushi felt disgusted that Arnav was engaged in an inappropriate behavior with a woman elder to her, and the fact that Mrs. Kapoor was married made her hate her too.

I know it's a short update, but trust me I am not getting time these days.

The beginning is not up to the mark, and I really apologize for it. The next chapter is also almost ready. I will post it as soon as proof read it.

This chapter is dedicated to Priyanka who has been waiting for a very long time and was the first one to reserve too. Love you Priyanaka.

Do leave your comments and feedback.

P.S.: I have changed my username.

P.P.S.: Someone had asked me to give a small recap before every update as I always update late. I hope nobody has a problem now.

P.P.P.S: Please ignore any mistakes. I had proofread really quickly.

Originally posted by: Shruti_P

res

me second

coming after sometime to edit😊