StT{Thread2} Prequel OS - PG- 36 - Page 21

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Aasha was drowning.

In a longing that had been buried impossibly deep for six years.

In a caress that seared through six years worth of heartbreak, tears and maybe's.

In a kiss that was six years in the making.

All at once it all flashed before her –

The mussed chestnut-brown hair, tousled over the crisp white shirt he had been wearing.

The look of guilt when she'd let out a sharp gasp of recognition.

The bright red stain of Mac's latest lipstick, decorating the collar her nearly nude best-friend was burying her face into.

And the cliched way her name had fell from these same lips accompanied by an excuse Anji Bua had always told her to steer clear of – "It's not what it looks like."

Her eyes snapping open, she stiffened perceptibly before pushing him sharply away.

Damien Bass – was the last person on earth she should be kissing even if, she reasoned, she had been drowning in him.

Raising pools of caramel to tempered steel, Aasha stepped carefully out of Damien Bass's reach as she intoned in a voice devoid of any reflection of what had just passed between them.

"Three months – long enough for Ma to believe we were engaged and long enough for us to convince her we realized we were better off as friends."

"And then?"- asked Damien, the raw huskiness in his simple question tempting Aasha to ask if the kiss had affected him as badly as it had her.

She didn't.

Instead with a practiced poise that came with years of training in the best private schools on two continents, she answered- "And then you can leave with whichever flavor of the month you come across."

"And if I don't want to?"

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Six Years ago,

The Day of the Debutante Ball,

The Bahamas.

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"Did you get her corsage?" asked Blair in her most worried voice for the millionth time as she mentally cursed the horrible timing Serena had chosen for her third marriage, this time to Blair's own childhood sweetheart and Chuck's childhood best-friend Nathanial Archibald.

As former Queen Bee Blair knew exactly how important a debutante's launch was – and she was determined everything would go perfectly for Aasha, even if she couldn't be there to see her through. She was the only reason she wasn't worrying herself to death over the details was because for one, Dorota was in charge of Aasha's things, two, Arnav and she had personally seen to it that Aasha's debut gown was nothing short of perfection and, third, her escort was Damien Bass.

The heir to the Raizada empire being launched in the Debutante Ball of the century hosted at the Empire itself, and with the sole heir of the Waldorf-Bass lineage as her escort. She was about to be the envy of every girl on the Upper East Side for the next decade.

Even so, Blair couldn't help but think that things were going almost too smoothly. Ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head she swiftly reminded her son once again to use his silk white bow-tie instead of black and to pick up the nursery grown Calla Lily corsage - which had had its edges dipped in gold dust just hours before it had been delivered to the Damien's Suite at the Empire.

It was not until later, much later that Blair realized her son had been exceedingly fidgety during the conversation, almost as if he had something else he needed to do– or rather as if there was somewhere else he needed to be.

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Present Day,

Outer grounds,

Lennox-Hill, New-York.

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She wasn't there.

He had been standing in the middle of the hospital corridor a well hour after having given his congratulations to Mrs.Bass along with both of Aasha's friends. The girl odd as it was seemed to be more intent on distracting him from interacting with Aasha's mother than anything else, while the tall firangi was engaging in the most disturbing monologues every time he would attempt to ask after his fiance. It was decidedly odd.

In fact it was almost suspicious.

Could Arnav Singh Raizada have realized already who exactly he was?

No, he reasoned mutely, If Arnav Singh Raizada knew there is no way he would have been allowed thus far into the inner Bass-Raizada Sanctuary.

Never.

For while a gold-digger would be treated with amused condescending tolerance, if Arnav Singh Raizada truly knew just who Mohit Shergill was --- he wouldn't allow him within a ten mile radius of his family goat much less his prized daughter.

Arnav Singh Raizada – it seemed had fallen perfectly for the 'hidden' gold-digging social climber history he had planted. For if Anrav Singh Raizada had one fatal flaw it was his arrogance. He believed he knew everything. Which is why when men like ASR found exactly what they suspected they never bothered to dig any deeper.

His arrogance had been his fall from grace once almost thirty years ago, it would be his fall from grace again very soon. And this time the entire Raizada family would pay the price.

This wasn't, despite what Arnav Singh Raizada professed, about money. No.

This wasn't even about power.

This was about revenge.

After who better than Arnav Singh Raizada to understand vengeance?

Present Day,

Outer grounds,

Lennox-Hill, New-York.

___________________________________________

"After the miscarriage, your mother...went into a decline…..

"Mom was pregnant? I...I had a ..?"

"Sister."

"Your mother is under the impression that the two of you are engaged."

"I am engaged!"

"…. if we did what would we be risking?"

"Who matters more to you?"

It was never a question – Aasha admitted as she braced herself over the wide berth of the washroom basin, the ice cold water still dripping from her face.

Mohit – was a nice guy. He was sweet. And attentive. But he was not someone she'd loved.

Which was precisely why she had chosen him.

She had chosen him so it wouldn't hurt if things went wrong. But it still did. Just not because of him.

And like always the man behind the heart-ache was none other than the man who had broken her heart so many years ago.

Six Years ago,

The Day of the Debutante Ball,

'The Tree-House'

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"A!! Oh-my-god, you are not going to believe who has been asking James about you! –Sinclair!"

Aasha froze as she zipped up Renee's own gown, "Sinclair?!" she repeated with a impish laugh – " The tall dark and handsome Sinclair who is a good seven years older than us?" she clarified only to dissolve into laughter at Renee's pointed nod and imitation of Damien and James' faces every time any one of the three girls were caught anywhere within the vicinity of Damien's ex-girlfriends step-brother.

In fact now that she thought of it Aasha realized, even when Damien had been conducting his brief dalliance with Tiffany Sinclair – he'd never gotten along very well with Tiffany's step-brother. In fact he had gone as far as to specifically tell Aasha to stay away from him, a decidedly odd thing for him to do seeing how Sebastian Sinclair was never anything short of perfectly cultured on the few occasions she had run across him --- In fact even though Bev would never admit it – Renee and Aasha were both of the opinion that Bev had a little bit of a crush on Sebastian. In fact once when Renee had been lamenting about how much older all the real men were – Bevin had done something she hadn't done since she was five – she pointed out rather mildly that they were actually all one and a half years younger than her a tin quirk that made Bevin as of a few months ago legally eighteen.

"….are you insane?! Damien would murder him! He hates Sebastian!"

Bevin who had been heating her curls into perfect curly locks, looked up, the startling green of her eyes sparkling with an odd gleam, as she pointed out – "What he doesn't know can't hurt him, after all, all's fair in love right?"

Renee frowned blankly, "But Aasha's not in love with Sebastian, she doesn't even know him! None of us do!"

Bevin Baizen however much to her friends surprise, failed to either reaffirm or to deny what Renee had so matter-of-factly, stated, instead she merely smiled. A smile that said without words that she was keeping much more to herself than she was willing to share.

Little did she know, that mere hours from now just one little secret would tear them apart.

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Hey Upper East Sider's, Gossip Girl here.

Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's Elite.

Sometimes the past haunts us -- even when we don't know it exists. Daiiyan Ho my lovelies.

You know you love me.

XOXO

Gossip Girl

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