Adi

The doctor bandaged Anika's bruised forehead and on Anjali's insistence scared the girl of being injected in case she didn't listen to her mom. Anika gave me a puppy face look, my heart melted. But Anjali stopped me, she wanted Anika to know that she committed a mistake. Surrendering, me and James left the daughter mother alone. James wished me walking back to his room. I turned to mine recalling the events of earlier in the day. I can't forget her face after I kissed her. She went crimson being embarrassed, ''How dare you Adi. How dare you kiss me. Do you have any idea what Bhai will do to you, if he learns of your misdeed? He will bury you alive.''

I smirked , raising a brow I replied, ''Go ahead, and don't forget your granny . Hearing about the little detail, she would confirm our wedding date in next minute.'' It took lot of control to subdue my laughter watching her shaking form. Raksha pretended all angry, tough . In reality, she was shaking with my touch. It was her first and I realised it the moment my lips came down on hers . 

  ''You pervert, what kind of royal are you that molests a girl.''  She said agitated. I rolled my eyes, I took a step forward and she stepped back. I kept moving forward and which my each step forward she took one back, till she was on the edge of her bed. She tried to appear all dangerous , crossing her arms over her chest. My eyes involuntarily went to her chest as her crossed arms pushed her soft flesh up, giving a tantalizing view through her lose top buttons. Though, I didn't intend to stare, still taking my eyes off was little difficult after the sizzling kiss. My lips tingled with greed to press them on hers again. But no, I don't want her to freak out.

   "what are you looking at?'' She asked mad. Guess she followed my eyes. I decided to rile her up a bit

''What do you think I can look at?''  I answered with a question.

''Are you ogling at me in a wrong way.''  She asked

I laughed and then moved away, ''Ogling... and that too at you...what is special in you to ogle at?'' I enjoyed teasing her. Her cute innocent form looks adorable with so much anger on her face

 ''What do you mean?'' She shot back. And why not, any girl would feel insulted for  being called unattractive.

  ''I answered your question Princess. There is nothing eye catching about you.'' I answered with a smile, walking away from her. The heat between us was too much to ignore. I had a hard time controlling my senses around her. I created some distance between us, turning my back to her . She must be blazing in anger, I just kissed her and now I am calling her unattractive.

  ''Are you calling me ugly?''   

  ''I am not calling you anything. You are just drawing conclusions.''  i replied, without turning to her

'Why did you kiss me?'' I She asked. She seemed not to be able to forget the kiss. She is again and again probing me on the same thing.

I made an innocent face, turning to her I replied, ''You wanted to kiss a random guy for fun, I kissed you. Hope you had your fun.'' Her eyes widen at my reply. She looked ready to explode and hen her ranting started, "I hated it, it was against my will. You had no right to....'' She went on and on, without giving me a chance to utter a word. I watched her once, huffed. I know how to shut her off. Taking long steps I stood an inch away from her. Her speech came to abrupt halt, I watched her throat moving in nervousness. I reprimanded her for risking the job of the staff responsible for her well being and safety. Her expression changed, she lowered her head feeling guilty. My heart melted, this is what I had fallen for. She can be stubborn arrogant at times but I her heart she a naive little girl who is hungry to explore her freedom. I wanted to tell her it's fine , just then my phone went off and I had to rush home. 

Raksha called me once and I disconnected,  I was busy then. I  decided to call her after checking on Anika. By the time I reached my room, the battery had already died. It was past midnight so I decided to call her some other day. 

***

"Morning every one! " I greeted everyone at the table. Kissing Anika on the  top of her head , I greeted Anjali. " Adi, you have a meeting  at a peculiar venue"

I chuckled at the way she rolled her eyes, " and where is It?" She huffed, feeding Anika she responded,  "Derby! I mean who keeps a meeting there" Anjali was clearly pissed. She hated when client came with wiered request. I just nodded.

" Ivory too is running today. Wouldn't you wish to watch ? " James asked. I shook my head. "Ivory is trained to win, it won't  let me down. I am going in just to meet Thomas"

"By the way Jade too is joining, with her family. She called early morning to check if you are attending. " I huffed and my two best friends laughed. My eyes turned to Anjali and she cut me off before I could utter a word, " don't even ask me to be your date. I have too much work at my disposal." She again went about feeding Anika who now looked curious about the discussion

" How can mom be a date. Date is on the the calender." Anika innocently asked.

" baby this date is different. When a boy and a girl together go out. It's called a date." James explained as we glared at him. Anika nodded making a perfect O with her lips.She suddenly smiled and chirped, " like me and Robby went to Sandra's party." Now 3 pair of eyes were fully attentive staring at the little girl, who seemed too fond of Robby. " kids don't go on a date"

I explained and her lips drooped, "I don't want to be a kid. Kids can't do this,kids's can't do that." She mimicked her mother. We laughed and I took my leave. Thomas was an important man, I needed to partner with him for my new steel plant. He can prove to be an important customer. Me and James walked in the reserved box. Thomas hadn't reached yet. We took our places as others started walking in. " it's so good to have you here Adi"

Jade's sweet voice broke my thoughts. Dressed in blue skirt , blazer and a matching hat,She looked eternal. I greeted her with a hug. Clicking of another heels made me turn my head, Raksha walked in hand in hand with Jordan. Dressed in white knee length one piece and matching hat, She looked like an angle from the skies. Her lips painted in shimmery red, reminded me of fresh cherries. I smiled, the cherries I tasted. She approached us , head held high , brown eyes emitting fire and lips lifted at a corner, forming a smirk. James cleared his throat, shaking my head I pushed the thoughts aside, turning my focus on Jade. Wait! Why is Raksha here and not in college. I felt anger creeping in, there are people who don't get a chance to be here and this one is wasting a golden opportunity to have fun. Raksha slid in her place trying to appear stylish, as usual she spilled placing the wrong foot at the wrong place. Jordan caught her at the right moment and this time I too cleared my throat subduing my laughter.

The sound of hooter, brought us back to our seats and just then Thomas walked in, he is a man in his late forties. Tall macular and good looking he can give any young guy run for his money. He greeted me with a firm shake taking place next to me. His eyes landed on Jade and roamed all over her a little more than required. She sat unaware busy talking to me. I felt Raksha's eyes on me a couple of times. When I turned to her, she quickly turned away. The race commenced and I smiled,  Ivory was leading again. She is a beauty, I knew she would win. People screamed encouraging their bets to perform. The horses raced towards the finish and Jade got up clapping as Ivory emerged as the winner. She congratulated me with a hug. And I heard a coughing sound, " you are one lucky man to have that soft flesh clinging to you every now and then" Thomas commented with his lusty gaze roving all over Jade. 

" her name is Jade and she is off your limits" I said with a hidden warning  in my voice which he ignored, " Introduce me to the lady"

Jade by now had noticed his lusty gesture towards her. She quickly moved behind me. My blood started boiling in my veins. Turning to Thomas , I stared into his eyes and then smiled, " The deal is off. I am allergic to perverts"

"Think again" he warned . I turned my eyes away, ignoring him , " I don't  change my desicion. Your presence is no longer entertained." Thomas left with flaring nostrils.  Jade turned me to her, " I know , I am not the one your heart seeks. But lucky would be the one whom you would chose to be with." She pecked my cheek, her eyes glistering with emotions. She walked off, I am glad she understood,  but at the same time I felt bad being the reason of her pain. Jordon followed his sister , Raksha stayed back. " mind dropping me off."

Without replying I walked off, she followed we drove in silence, except of James clearing his throat more than required.  We drove into her drive way and waited for her step out. " Come in for a coffee"

" not today" I replied. She didn't move and pulled my side of door open with a jerk. James again cleared his throat. Some day I am going to throttle him and he won't suffer from the throat issue ever again. Sighing , I followed her in. She ordered tea to be brought to her chambers. I frowned, " Raksha, I am in a hurry. We can talk here." She ignored, walking away. I followed her quietly.

''Why were you so reluctant to step into my room.'' She asked. She looked angry for some reason.

''Are we here to discuss on this.'' I asked

''What's between you and Jade?'' I frowned and then smiled. Guess, I smelled jealousy in her voice. 

''What were you doing there, when it was time for your classes.'' She blinked at my piercing gaze and quickly turned away. Taking few steps ahead she asked, ''How is Anika?''

''Good, but will have to skip her school for few days.''  She kept fidgeting around. After watching her for few minutes, I grabbed her arm pulling her closer. ''What is it?''

''You disconnected my call.'' She whispered complaining, with her brown eyes lowered.

''Does it bother you?'' I asked. She lifted her eyes up, ''I was worried about Anika.'' Lie ! cupping her cheek, I pecked it deep. She didn't protest, instead two drops trickled down ''What is it girl? You can tell me.''

''I feel alone. I never thought, moving away from Jaigarh would make me feel so lonely. I miss all of them and so much.'' She started sobbing. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her close, ''You are not alone. I am here, you can come and see me any day any time you want.''

She sniffed, her head buried in my neck, ''You promise! '' I nodded. She smiled , wiping her tears she leaned on my cheek, then stopped. She moved to my other cheek pecking me. ''Why not this one.''

''I don't prefer second hand stuff'' There spoke the mighty princess. I recalled Jade kissing me on the other one. I smiled and pulled her cheek. Pecking her forehead I said, ''I will leave now.''

''Can we be friends like before.'' She asked.

''We were always friends, its you who decided to ignore it.'' She smiled wide at my words, ''Can I come down to your place over the weekend.''

''You can, on one condition. You won't  miss your classes. Your brothers have their names on hall of fame of this University. You can't just destroy it.'' She nodded and promised. Wishing her once I let the premises, walking to my car with a big smile plastered on my face . As I got in, James throat suddenly started itching again. I glared and warned him, instead of going quite he started coughing harder. I ignored and by the time we reached my place. His coughing had turned serious. Annoyed I walked in to be greeted by Anjali, who looked at me and then James, who still had been coughing. Anjali started laughing hard, ''Now what's wrong with you.'' She lifted her palm asking me to wait. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a small mirror, holding it over my face. My jaw dropped, my cheek had a deep red imprint of Raksha's lips. I was thoroughly embarrassed. 

''You could have told me of it, rather than coughing like a maniac. '' He coughed more as Anjali laughed. I really didn't know what to tell theses two idiots. ignoring them I made my way to my room, locking the door behind me. Moving the mirror, I touched the imprint, '' I guess I should get you the lip colour that doesn't leave a mark.'' I danced like a teenage boy , deciding to keep the mark on my skin for some more time.

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Cover by my darling Sathya. 

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