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

PROLOGUE

"The rose's rarest essence lives in the thorns."

~Rumi~

The ambiance of the restaurant was lavish, from the exotic paintings covering the walls to the small, round chandeliers covering each table. Not like anything she had ever seen. With a soft music playing in the background, not too loud, neither too low, it was a peaceful place to have lunch. The tables and chairs surrounding the restaurant were almost empty. She believed that it was a seven star hotel, though she was not sure, as she had never been to one. She looked around the vast place, which was almost empty. It was still early for lunch. With only one couple, who were having lunch and were seated at the far end of the spacious place, there were four men sitting at a table in the centre, chatting animatedly and laughing after every few minutes. Their food hadn't arrived yet. Most probably they were here for the afternoon break.

They both were guided to a table for two in the corner of the hall. It was as if the table had already and only been reserved for them. He was their usual customer, it seemed. The server pulled out a chair for her, before she sat down, facing him. The chandelier, she realized just a few feet above their heads.

She felt a little awkward, as she was the youngest one over there. Rest everyone was in their early thirties. She looked out of place, in every way. Even her clothes were not up to the mark; after all she had been cornered in university. She concluded on the fact that she did not belong here.

On the other hand, he looked at ease. While his posture was completely relaxed, his lips still replayed the seductive smile that he had given to the women sitting at the entrance counter. No doubt he was one of richest tycoons in Delhi, and everybody knew about him. Any woman would fall head over heels for the man sitting in front of her right now. He had everything what a woman wants, the extremely dashing face to the outstanding bank balance.

His calm self was one of the only notorious traits that ever appealed to her senses. She always envied him because of it.

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He knew this very well that he could not affect her, not even with one of his smiles. Maybe that's the reason she had always intrigued him. She was not less beautiful than half of the women he had known his life. Although she could do with just a little bit of grooming, and then she would be a fine woman to walk along with him.

This is the reason he had brought her here. He wanted to work with someone who wouldn't be affected by him physically. He knew his weaknesses well, and he could not allow them to interfere it with one of his biggest achievements so far, or to be one of the biggest achievements so far. He had planned everything perfectly, and had finally found what he had been looking for, though he only realized that when he had found her.

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Their table had flower vase in the middle, which he motioned the waiter to take away. He had always been allergic to them, no matter to which species they belonged. He gave a look of utmost disgust to the fresh lavender flowers, before the waiter took them away. After giving their respective order, the waiter took off while they both were draped in silence. He became busy with his iPhone, oblivious to her presence she thought. She took this opportunity to have a better look around the place, and the other reason that involved was to avoid staring at him.

The place was dimly lit, and had a very romantic touch to it. There were intricate carvings on the walls, which gave them a royal look. If she hadn't been tensed about their sudden meeting, she would have enjoyed being here.

His eyebrows creased for just a moment before he resumed his attention back to her.

"Do you like this place?" he asked with amazement, as he observed her looking around, as though he hadn't expected her to like it.

She knew this wasn't his plan to impress her. It had never been. It could never be. It was not easy to charm her, and he knew this very well.

"It's beautiful," she said, nonchalantly and he sensed that she was not interested in his small talk. She wanted him to proceed to the purpose of their meeting, which she believed was much bigger and greater. With him everything had a prupose, otherwise she wouldn't be her. Though the only thing she feared, was the purpose involved something extremely atrocious.

"I am sure you are wandering why I brought you here," he started in a business like tone.

"Yes. I am, but I think so it is something really grave," she voiced her doubts.

"You know, this is the reason I like you, your intelligence, your smartness and your wittiness has always intrigued me," he appreciated, "You never fail to disappoint me."

She gave him a sarcastic smile, which he returned whole heartedly with a big grin.

"Do you want to talk about my offer after lunch, or before it," he asked genuinely, all traces of humor gone.

"I think so before will do," she decided it was better to get to the point, as early as possible.

"As I telling you earlier, I have a very beneficial offer for you. A one you would be really grateful for."

"What type of offer is it?"

"A contract of three months, where you have to act as my wife," he said as casually as possible, as if he said these things everyday to someone or the other.

"Act?" she stared at him incredulously. She wasn't surprised to hear such a thing from him, knowing very well his evil nature.

"Yes. Act. We have to behave as a happily married couple, without a marriage being involved," he explained in the same calm manner, which she so much envied.

"What makes you think that I would accept your offer?"

"I don't think so you will, but I have many ways to make you accept it," he said with a twisted smile. She flinched. "None of which you will approve of, and none of which I am willing to try," he added, at the look of horror on her face, "Unless, offcourse, you ask for them."

She stared at him with disgust. Finally they had come down the most extruciating of methods, blackmailing.

"Why haven't you just started with one of your methods to convince me, as you very well know that I am not going to accept your unreliable offer?"

"You are going to accept, sweetheart. I am sure of it," he said with an evil smile, "Nonetheless I do hate unnecessary violence."

"What makes you so confident that I will? I can walk out of here right now, if I want."

"Off course you can, but I am sure you wouldn't. The amount of money I am paying you for it is more than you need to cure you sister's cancer."

He knew he had caught her unguarded, so he done a thorough background check, which she was sure would not have been difficult for him regarding the amount of influence he had on people.

She was brought back from her reverie, as the waiter served them drinks.

"Why me? Why not any other girl? I am sure you can find someone else with a lot less money."

"I can, but I will not because I want a relationship without any sexual involvement," he said "and you are the only girl whom I know is less approachable to my charming tactics."

She looked offended, "What do you mean?"

"You are a very beautiful girl. I didn't mean……..," he added, but quickly changed track, as he met with her scrutinizing gaze, "What I meant to say is that you are the only girl with whom I can work without having any sexual relationship," he sighed deeply, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

She knew what he meant. He could not affect her like he did the other girls. She had always been disregarded towards his charismatic behavior and glossy money.

"I need time to think about it," she lied.

"You don't have a choice in this. You know this very well, don't you?"

"Yes, but still I need time."

"Why are we playing this game, when we both very well know the end result?" he asked.

He was right that she would eventually have to agree for it. She couldn't even involve the police, knowing the influence he had as part of mafia, the underworld, the corrupt people. She would never be able to win in this game, but she still wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt, so she didn't answer him.

"Ok. Fine. How much time do you need?"

"A week at least."

"A week, it is then," he concluded.

They finished their lunch, after Arnav made a call to his driver. As they walked into the veranda of the restaurant, their car was already waiting.

"Drop her back to the university and then come back to pick me up," he instructed the driver.

Khushi sat down in the car, as Arnav opened the back door for her. She could feel his gaze piercing through her, though she avoided having eye contact with him, even after he closed the doors and they couldn't see each other through the completely tinted windows.

The car took off from the driveway, swiftly passing through the traffic.

I have my fingers crossed.

No idea what to expect.

Do leave you honest feedback.

Thank you for reading.😊

Omg...jaldi continue..SO different..and so intriguing..

And you write really well Sobi 😳Your descriptions are very well written...you paint very clear pictures of the scenes😍

Awesome .. nice start 😊

different & interesting.. wud love to read more

sounds very much intrstng...
waitin to read more
plz pm me nxt tym u update it...

Intrsting concpt...thx 4 d pm...continue...

Nice n Diffrent.. Looking forward..

sounds really great!!! Can't wait to find out what happens next :D Thanks for the PM :D