7. Dating?

VEDA

Noises, laughter, and cries echoed through the hotel. Meher and her family were crying because of their daughter's vidaai. Surprisingly, even the groom's mother, Sameer's, was in tears. Tripti, Swastika, and I cried, while Palak just stood there, yawning, always grumpy since childhood. I heard someone bickering and looked at the source; it was Abhinav arguing with Vihaan, but his eyes were glued to someone behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Palak looking around.

Fuck.

Abhinav Randhawa, the CEO of ELC, the enigmatic business tycoon-he was hot, not gonna lie. Jet-black hair. Black eyes. Broad shoulders. If I were asked to define him in a few words, I'd say Tailored Suits, Cigarettes, and Guns, because that man looks like he'd fuck you up himself if anything or anyone he loved got harmed.

No one has seen the CEO's face, but I only knew who he was because he's Aadvik bitchy Malhotra's friend, and there's no way in hell he would stare at her.

Shrugging off thoughts of Abhinav, I smirked and made my way through the crowd surrounding the bride to Sameer, whispering to him while he froze.

"Kyu, jija ji, paise nahi doge apni favorite saali ko?" I smirked.

He rolled his eyes, and I teased, "Aurat ho kya bae? Badi aankhen ghumate ho."

He whispered, "Tum Darsh ki long-lost kumbh ke mele mein bichhdi behen ho kya?"

I knitted my brows. "Darsh, kon tapak gaya?"

He shook his head and muttered, "Never mind."

I elbowed him in the stomach. "Never mind kya? Paise de."

He snorted, took out his phone, and asked for my number to send me the money via Paytm.

After a while, now that Meher and Sameer were gone, it felt like a funeral.

No one said a word. Now that it was family time, and I didn't even know anyone, I side-eyed the girls, and their expressions were helpless. So, we touched the feet of the elders, while the younger ones and kids did ours. We bid them goodbye and went our separate ways.

Getting back on track from tommorow, going to be tough.

PALAK

Next Day

"AKSHIT RANVIJAY MEHRA!!" I shouted and after a few seconds my assistant came running and panting.

He panted "Y..Yes Maam?!"

"Reschedule my meeting with Mr.Kabir Singhania, I need to meet Mr.Abhinav, and post the official news right now from my side and tell Sarah to do that from his side." Akshit nodded and closed the door.

While I drinking my usual chai and seeing the lists of new lawyers and interns in my firm one caught my breath.

Rudransh Tewari.

My once love of my life. My nemesis. My

Rudra.

He's here, and I am not ready to face him after what happened back then. I can't. I took a deep breath in, I wasn't the poor little girl trapped in the alleys of Delhi anymore, I was here, in Banaras, being a billionaire and owning of the most prestigious law firms in Uttar Pradesh but because of Abhinav freaking Randhawa, my firm ranked to #2 and his ranked to #1.

I despise him, he's my nemesis.

A knock interrupted the chain of my thoughts when I said "Come in"

"Good Morning Miss Palak Naaz" A deep yet smooth voice drawled from the doorway. I looked up and saw a man probably 6 feet, dark brown almost black eyes, jet-black hair.

(A/n : Palak ke naam pe koi nahi jayega, ik Naaz is not a Hindu surname lekin fictional hae to chalta hae, no hate to any religion)

He walked over to my desk and sat down on the black leather chair.

"Abhinav Randhawa here. Nice to meet you," he offered his hand to shake.

I scoffed. "As I thought, Randhawa. You're late-" I glanced at my wristwatch, a retro model. "-by 8 minutes."

His eyes moved to my hair, then to my face, and finally to my eyes. My face heated up, but I didn't make it obvious.

"Naaz, cut the bullshit, get to the point. I have a meeting in an hour." He looked at me, his eyes showing no emotion.

"I get it. We have a scandal, okay? Tell your assistant to publish the official news faster, or else we're going to be in big trouble, right?" I looked at him, and something flickered in his eyes for a second, but it was gone before I could notice.

"See, Palak, I know we are rivals, but..." He trailed off.

My brows furrowed in confusion. "But...?"

He took a deep breath. "I think we should let people know we're dating, which we aren't."

My eyes snapped to his. "Are you mad, or what, Mr. Abhinav?"

Annoyance crept onto his face before he hid it. "And please, Palak, drop the Mister and Miss."

I rolled my eyes. "Randhawa, so you're saying we should fake date? But what profit are we going to get from that?"

He smirked. "Sarah will send you a forged contract tomorrow by 9 o'clock." He got up from the seat and straightened his jacket with deliberate care. "See you soon, Palak."

A shiver ran down my spine from hearing him call my name that way.

Whatever he has in his mind, I'm pretty sure it will be a mess.

DARSH

I wish my contract had been for one year instead of four, and I wish I hadn't transferred to BHU again because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met a certain 5'6" brunette who loves Christian-Christian Louboutin, or maybe Christian Harper? Because for the past 30 minutes, I've been watching her read Twisted Lies, and her face looks like a red tomato.

I bet she's on chapter 31.

"Swastika," my voice came out drier than usual.

Her eyes lifted, meeting my gaze. I smirked. "Tell me about the book."

Her cheeks flushed. "But, Prof. Darsh-"

I took a seat beside her. "Mind if I sit?"

"No, no, it's okay," she said. I glanced at her brown hair, but my mind fixated on something red under the table. I smiled unknowingly and felt relieved because at least my ₹125,604 on the Louboutin hadn't gone to waste.

"You're so much like Stella," I blurted out, but it was too late when she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"You're 26 years old, yet so passionate about your career and your passions. You're sweet, shy, and kind, and you're a brunette," I said, then added, "But don't worry, I'm neither your Christian nor am I going to call you 'Butterfly,' right, Noor?"

Her face scrunched up in confusion, but she returned her gaze to the green-covered book. "Why did you call me Noor?"

Yahi sawaal ka jawaab dene ke liye meri aankhen taras gayi Noor.

"You are my noor. Everywhere you go, you shine brightly, just like light. So, 'Noor' it is."

Kutte Darsh kitna lame bol gaya tu

"Oh," she said, avoiding my gaze and returning to her book, while my heart began to race.

These were going to be some long years.

-

Helooooo, your fav moments??

<3