The next few days
401 Words
The next few days were a blur of studying and nervous anticipation for Priya. She found herself glancing out the window more often, a subconscious search for a familiar dark figure. She waited for the phone to ring, a part of her desperate to hear his voice, another part terrified of it. The silence from Arjun was deafening, and in a strange twist, she almost missed the intensity of his attention.
She tried to bury herself in her books, to lose herself in the worlds created by others, but her own story was proving far more compelling and unsettling. The memory of his kiss lingered, a phantom touch on her lips, a warmth that spread through her despite her attempts to suppress it.
Her best friend, Rhea, noticed the change in her. "Priya, are you okay?" Rhea asked one afternoon, watching Priya pick at her lunch in the college canteen. "You've been distracted all week. And you’re chewing your lip so much you're going to get a blister."
Priya forced a laugh. "I'm fine. Just stressed about my final papers. You know how it is."
Rhea, however, was not convinced. She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Did something happen with that guy? The one you were telling me about, the one who spilled coffee on your book?"
Priya's fork clattered to her plate. "No! I mean, yes. He got me the book. He came to my door. And then... I slammed the door in his face."
Rhea's eyes widened. "You did what? Priya, he's a billionaire! He could have just had his assistant deliver it. The fact that he came himself... and you slammed the door?"
"He was being a jerk, Rhea," Priya said, her voice filled with a mixture of anger and defensive pride. "He was being... possessive. Like he owned me or something. He tried to tell me that I wanted him. So I showed him that I don't."
Rhea just shook her head, a soft smile playing on her lips. "I don't know, Priya. It sounds to me like you're just as obsessed as he is. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"
That evening, as she was studying in the quiet of her room, her phone vibrated softly on her desk. She pulled it out, her breath catching in her throat. It was an unknown number. Hesitantly, she answered
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