Chapter 1 - Muddled Meddlings
"No wonder you're still single!"
"What do you mean?" she choked, blushing deep red.
"Oh, please! You're always buried under your books, you dress like a granny. How can you expect someone to even look at you twice?"
Khushi looked down at her remaining piece of Triple Belgian Chocolate Muffin, her appetite suddenly lost. She seriously did not need this conversation now.
"I have already told you, Andrea, I don't want anyone to look at me, even once right now," she muttered back.
The girl who sat opposite her bunched up her dark blonde mane to tie it back into a high ponytail. "Oh, come on, Khushi! You can't just stay single for your whole life, can you?"
***
He smirked to himself as he listened to the conversation. The girl was obviously trapped in something unwanted. She had almost turned as red as his Ferrari. Arnav sipped his latte and leaned back in the chair, letting his eyes rove over her.
She was damn beautiful, even though her friend was right. She did dress like a granny. More like a behenji, he would say. Had she forgotten she was in America, or what? She had worn a dark, mustard yellow kurta on faded slim jeans. Okay, she could look good but he was sure she'd look sexier in something else, like a dress, maybe. And instead of braiding that hair, which he could guess came to her waist, if she just let it open...
Her skin was clear and milky, nearly alabaster in contrast with her ebony hair. Her eyes were wide and innocent, dark brown, turning slightly lighter when the light shone into them. And she could not stop biting her bow-shaped lips for one moment, making them go redder. Crap! She had no idea what effect that could have one a man, did she? Right now, he just wanted to walk over and...
Dammit!
***
"Oh my God, Khushi! You're going to die a virgin!" Andrea screeched loudly enough for most of the people to hear.
Khushi felt the heat rising in her cheeks as several people sniggered. She drew her lips in a thin line, repressing a dry remark, when someone leaned over from behind and kissed her cheek. She froze, horrified, and before her, Andrea sat equally stupefied.
"Hey," a husky voice whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. She turned around briskly to find herself face to face with Arnav Singh Raizada himself, the star of Boston Devils. Not that she was interested in hockey. Sports as a whole was just a mind-boggling subject to her, whose head and tail could never be figured out but she had heard about him.
He had been graduating when she had joined Harvard, and from what she knew, he was doing his MBA and he was the captain of the hockey team, on whom all the girls literally swooned and drooled. Who could know that better than her? One of her roommates from that time, Sandy, still had posters of him stuck to the walls of her bedroom. Less than a year after his graduation, he had been recruited as a hockey player. But what was he doing here, whispering in her ear and all?
Colour flooded her cheeks. He Devi Maiyya! He had kissed her in public when they didn't even know each other! Surely he had mistaken her for someone else... had he?
***
He watched her face turn red with embarrassment while her eyes widened with confusion. A grin crept lazily onto his lips. She was a cute thing. Feeling her friend gawk, as all the other people were around them, he bored his eyes deep into hers, getting down on one knee.
"The other night was wonderful," he whispered huskily. "We should meet again. I'll call you."
After depositing another kiss on her satiny cheek, he stood up nonchalantly and marched out of the place. Once he had reached into his car, he turned once to smirk at her and when he found her stupefied gaze had followed him, he winked rakishly. Stupor made her jaw drop to the floor and he got in his Ferrari triumphantly.
It wasn't in his habit to do this kind of things. Like dropping in on a girl who possibly had no clue about who he was - which, technically, was impossible, given his popularity - and pretending to have spent a night with her, without letting her in on the 'joke'. He was more of a person who preferred to fade in the background.
What he had just done was so not him but it had been too irresistible. The girl - was her name Khushi? - looked terribly cute to be overlooked and her friend had been gnawing at her for being single and, he grinned to himself, a virgin. Now, Arnav Singh Raizada couldn't just sit and enjoy the show, could he? He just had to play the knight and save the damsel in distress. Only, his act might not have been that gentlemanly, maybe he had delved her deeper in the distress. But her friend would have to believe that she had had a night out with the great Arnav Singh Raizada...
***
"I swear to you! I don't know him!" Khushi pleaded.
Sandy sniffed loudly while Andrea rubbed her shoulders sympathetically. "Don't lie, Khushi! You've been my roommate for almost four years now! You know he is my crush! How could you?"
"And you didn't even tell me?" Andrea added with a good measure of consternation.
Khushi sighed and fell her head in her palms. "You have to believe me, I don't know him! Okay, I know his name and all, but I never even talked to the guy! Maybe he mistook me for someone else!"
Andrea opened her mouth to retort but Lavanya entered the room and stood akimbo by Khushi to glare down at the two girls who were over-reacting on the couch.
"Enough with the drama, girls," she said snappily, closing her hand around Khushi's arm. "Stop harassing, Khushi. She's probably right. And even if she went on a date with Arnav Singh Raizada, let her be!"
Sandy released a loud tragic wail that made Lavanya wince and drag Khushi out. "Hey, Chamkili, you don't have to worry about these gals, okay?" she reassured her friend.
Khushi smiled at her but it didn't reach her eyes until La gave a tight side-hug.
***
"Hey mate!"
He cocked his head in the voice's direction without any real interest while he tried to win a level of Angry Birds for the thirty eighth time. "Damn!" he muttered as once again, he lost and quickly locking his iPhone, Arnav stowed it in the pocket of his jeans before looking up at NK. "What?"
The emerald green eyes flashed with mischief at him. "Nine o'clock, dispenser machine."
Grinning, he looked where NK was indicating him using their code language. He groaned immediately, stepping back into the changing rooms which he had been about to leave.
"All yours, NK," he grimaced.
His teammate snickered. "What, man? She's hot!"
"Sticky, I'd rather say," Arnav peeked before continuing since the redhead had not moved yet. "A real stalker, she's more your type."
NK swung his back-pack over one shoulder, giving Arnav a punch in the shoulder. "Nathaniel Knight, at your service, Nannav!"
Well hidden enough, Arnav waited till NK had the girl hooked, and once the coast was clear, he hauled his bag and left immediately before anyone else came.
***
"Has he called you yet? For your second date?" Sandy grouched, making Khushi feel unreasonably guilty.
Seriously, what was wrong with Andrea and her? They were so much like babies. But she couldn't bring herself to say anything like that, very much unlike Lavanya, whose temper combusted instantly.
"Will you f*cking leave the girl alone, Sandy?"
A week had gone. They were all trying to study for the finals, but apparently, the ASR-fiasco was still fresh on Sandy's mind. Andrea hmpf-ed to show the feeling was mutual with her too. Khushi sighed and strode to her room to grab the cotton shoulder-bag she had brought with her from Lucknow and tapped Lavanya, her sole support, on the shoulder.
"I'll be at the hospital," she whispered.
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