Chapter 1
"Roshni, baby, this thing
between us, it isn't working out," Krish said as he stuffed French fries
into his face and checking his Blackberry, frowning at whatever was the screen.
"This thing?" I snarled.
"We've been dating for three years! I thought you loved me!"
"I do, baby," he said,
frowning insincerely. "But as a sister. The sex isn't what it used to be
and to be honest, you've gained weight, Roshni."
"You're dumping me because I'm
fat?" I shrieked. "Excuse me for gaining a few pounds, Krish. You're
not exactly the vision of athletic prowess, either." He was around five
foot nine inches tall with a beer gut. His hair was receding and he tried to
hide it with a stupid hipster fedora all of the time. His beady little eyes
were framed by thick black glasses. I definitely wasn't with for his looks.
"Look, Roshni, I want a clean
break," Krish said coldly. "I think it's time to cut our losses and
go our separate ways."
"Fine," I spat, getting up
from the booth at the diner he decided to dump me at. "Have a nice life, Krish.
I hope you catch chlamydia and your miniscule dick falls off."
"Roshni, let's not be harsh,"
he chided, arching a bushy brow. "You never were unsatisfied."
"Oh, Krish, I was unsatisfied.
I faked it. Every. Single. Time," I smirked. He pursed his lips angrily.
"And do you know where the c***oris is? Because you could never find it on
me." Waggling my fingers, I turned away. "Toodles, asshole." I
flounced out of the diner and hailed a cab. Barking out my address, I kept my
emotions in check until I pulled up to my apartment building that I rented with
my long-time best friend, Siddarth Raza Ibrahim. We shared the cost of a
brownstone apartment. I wanted to live in the city but couldn't afford it. Siddarth
just wanted to make sure I was safe because he's like the overbearing,
protective big brother.
Paying the driver, I heaved my body
out of the cab and up to the stairs to my apartment. Our place was nice. Too
nice, really. I was barely scraping by as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools. Siddarth
worked as an up and coming attorney in one of the bigger firms in Chicago,
Denali, Volturi and Romani. How we could afford this is beyond me, but I wasn't
about to question it. I had a gorgeous home and a best friend who I needed
desperately.
Walking into the apartment, I tossed
my purse, jacket and keys onto the table in the foyer. Siddarth's head turned
in the family room. He was watching reruns of Law and Order. "Bells?
I thought you had a date?" he asked. He stood up and pushed up his
glasses.
Not able to hold back, tears fell
from my eyes. "Krish dumped me!" I sobbed.
Before I knew it, Siddarth had me in
a hug and I spent the rest of the night, crying over that loser who made me
waste three years of my life, when I was my hottest. Krish was such a troll.
Why was I with Krish again?
Oh, yeah...desperation.
"Okay, what happened?" Siddarth
asked after I snotted up his dress shirt.
"So, Krish and I went out on
our weekly Friday date. Things were fine as we ordered our food and talked
about our week," I sniffled, curling against my best friend. "Then,
once I was done with my salad, Krish told me that this thing' we'd been having wasn't
working out. Our relationship that lasted for three years wasn't working out.
On top of that, he made mention that I was getting too fat, or something."
"Krish is a douchebag," Siddarth
growled. "Why didn't you dump him?"
"I don't know," I
shrugged. "I guess because I was afraid I'd end up alone. I figured if I
was in a relationship with a douchebag, it was better than being a spinster who
got off using her vibrator."
"TMI, Bells," Siddarth
grumbled. "It's bad enough that I can hear that thing through the damn
walls."
"I shouldn't have to use
it," I sighed, getting up from the couch and padding to the kitchen. I
opened up a bottle of red wine, pouring myself a hefty glass. "You
want?" I called. Siddarth replied affirmatively. When I walked back into
the room, I found my best friend taking off is glasses and pinching his nose.
"Krish had a dick the size of my pinky, Siddarth. Never once did I have an
orgasm by his hands. Or his dick. And let's not talk about the lack of oral
sex. He thought it was gross."
"Again, TMI," he groaned.
"Were you so desperate to have a boyfriend that you stayed with a
no-dicked, hipster wannabe? There a ton of men out there who think you're hot.
Plus, you are not fat. Krish is an asshole for saying that. You're curvy. In
all of the right places." Siddarth vaguely gestured to my huge rack. Yes,
I had big tits and a huge butt. My momma was a full-blooded Italian and I got
her curves. I was proud of them.
"Do you like my boobs?" I
asked Siddarth, cupping my tits.
"I'm a guy. A straight guy. Of
course I like your boobs. I like any boobs," he chuckled. "But,
you're like my little sister."
Yeah, Siddarth was older than me by
nearly five years. I actually met him through his sister, Kritika. She was the
same age as me. Kritika and I were best friends all through high school. Siddarth
was at college at Yale and we saw each other during his breaks and stuff. Then,
when he started law school, I started college, getting my degree in English and
history, earning my teaching certificate. I got hired at Chicago Public School
District, working at Whitney Young Magnet High School and Siddarth got his job
at the law firm, we decided to be roommates, much to Kritika's chagrin. Don't
get me wrong, I loved Siddarth's sister, but I couldn't handle living with her.
Too. Damn. Hyper. Besides, she was in a committed relationship with a coworker,
RajeevWhitlock, who was a department head at the high school I taught at for
history. Hearing them f**k like rabbits was not my idea of a good time. Plus,
Rajeevwas my kind-of boss.
Can you say awkward?
"Ugh, Krish said that he loved
me like a sibling, too," I snarled. "Do I just throw off the friend
vibe?"
"Well, since we're friends,
yes," Siddarth quipped, tugging on my hair. "But, I've seen you
flirt. Most men are powerless to your cleavage, Bells."
"My boobs are hella
awesome," I giggled.
"I plead the fifth," he
snickered. "Look, Krish was so not worthy of you. He never treated you
right and you can do so much better than him. I've got a coworker, Seth, who is
a great guy. He just graduated from Loyola and is a junior associate."
"Nah," I said, waving him
off. "I think I'm going to enjoy my singledom. I've been in some sort of
relationship or another since I was a junior in high school. I don't know who Roshni
Swan is. You know? I've always been somebody's girlfriend. I want to be known
for me."
"That makes sense," Siddarth
shrugged.
"What about you? Weren't you
supposed to go out tonight?" I asked.
"Oh, Tanya had to cancel. She
had to comb her cat," he grumbled. "Tanya wasn't my type. She kind of
reminds me of Emmett's girlfriend, Rose. Skanky. s**tty. Stupid." Emmett
was Siddarth's brother. He was dating this girl that no one liked because she
was an epic bitch. Rosalie Hale just wanted to be with Emmett because of the
Raza Ibrahim moola. "Not that I blame her, I am kind of a nerd."
"Siddarth, shut up. You are not
a nerd," I said, smacking his arm. "Yes, you wear glasses and you are
super smart. But that does not make you a nerd."
"I was sitting watching Law
and Order on a Friday night. I live and breathe that shit," Siddarth
chuckled. "Eh, I'll just wait. I don't need a girlfriend to make me
happy."
"When was the last time you got
laid, Siddarth?" I asked.
"I don't know! It's been a
while but it's not like that I don't care of my needs," he wailed, his
pale skin flushing pink. "Usually when you take out your little vibrating
friend, I go into the bathroom and deal with my own issues."
"I don't know if I should be
turned on or grossed out, Siddarth," I giggled. "You're wanking off
while I'm wanking off?"
"I'd rather not hear your moans
and that obnoxious buzzing sound," he said, arching a brow. "The
water drowns it out."
The rest of the evening, Siddarth
and I drank an entire bottle of wine. I was completely looped by bedtime. Siddarth
had to carry my fat ass to bed because I was fighting with gravity. It was a
losing battle, damn it. He took pity on my drunk, clumsy ass and hefted me over
his shoulder before tossing me into my bed. I giggled hysterically.
"Okay, lush, take some
ibuprofen and drink this," Siddarth said, giving me a water bottle.
"Can you stay with me until I
go night-night?" I laughed, downing the pills and drinking most of the
water.
"Let me change and then I'll be
back. The last time you drank too much vino, I got covered with your
puke," he deadpanned. "I happen to like my pants, Bells." He
darted out of my room and I heard him shuffle in his own. I took the time to
change out of my jeans and into a pair of sleep shorts and a camisole. Siddarth
walked back into my room, wearing a pair of sleep pants and a hoodie. Both of
which were fairly old. I scowled at him. "I'm not taking any chances, Roshni."
"You suck, Siddarth," I
frowned. He just snickered, climbing into bed and laying down next to me. I
snuggled up against his shoulder. A wave a sadness overwhelmed me as I
remembered why I was drunk. Krish dumped me. "Do you think I'm unlovable, Siddarth?"
Fresh tears fell onto my cheeks.
"No, Roshni. You are such an
amazing girl," he said, folding me to his chest. "A bit crass, but you've
such a big heart."
"Do you love me?" I asked
pitifully.
"Yes, Rosh," he replied,
kissing my forehead. "Now, just relax and go to sleep. Tomorrow everything
will be better."
"Kay," I yawned, letting
my eyes droop. Before I knew it, I was dead to the world, drooling on my best
friend.
The next morning, I woke up with the
worst migraine ever. Siddarth's promise of everything will be better'
was a big fat lie. It was infinitely worser. Yes, I'm high school English
teacher and I just said worser. I feel like there are rhinoceroses galloping in
my brain, spearing my skull with that damn tusk of theirs.
"Morning, sunshine!"
chirped Kritika from her perch on the corner of my bed.
Ugh, not her. Not today.
"Kritika, I'm hung over and
cranky," I groaned, throwing back the blankets. A piece of paper fluttered
onto my lap from the pillow that Siddarth slept on. "What's this?"
"Brother mine left you a
note," she said, handing me a huge cup of coffee.
"Okay, you're sort of forgiven
because you brought me coffee," I said as I sipped it. Flipping open the
note from my roommate, I smiled at this thoughtfulness.
S ~
I got called into work. I know, I
know. I work too much but I've been given the opportunity to sit second chair
on a big case! It could be a huge break for me! So, I'm at the office, up to my
eyeballs with research and preparing depositions.
I'm sorry I couldn't be there for
you when you woke up. Your sleep talking was borderline cute until you started
kneeing me in the junk as you tried to fend off the attacking kittens that were
clawing at your eyes.
It's like you had drugs...not wine.
Whatever...
Anyhow, I called Kritika. She's
better equipped to handle you while you're having your girly sobbing moments
over the douchenozzle. I should be back for dinner. Pizza? I'll even pick up
your favorite! ;-)
Bruised and battered,
A
"Is he working?" Kritika
asked.
"Yeah. He's got the opportunity
to sit second chair on a case," I said. "Whatever that means. When he
talks lawyer, I tend to tune him out."
"Most of us do," Kritika
giggled. "When Siddarth called me, he did tell me what happened. Are you
okay?"
"Yeah, before I start talking
about my drama, I've got to shower and feel human. Why don't you make yourself
useful and make me an omelet?" I smirked.
"Roshni, you know I can't
cook," Kritika snorted. "My version of cooking is how fast can you
deliver?'"
"Well, do that," I said,
hopping out of bed. I took a quick shower, scrubbing the nastiness from
yesterday off me. Dressing in a pair of yoga pants and a fleece, I padded
downstairs. Kritika went to Panera, picking up various bagels and cream
cheeses. Silently, I made my breakfast and downed another cup of coffee. Kritika,
thankfully, didn't start her inquisition until I was done with my bagel and
coffee.
"Tell me everything," she
said, her blue eyes shining with concern.
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