Sanvi's POV~
"Huh? Were you awake all this while, you jerk?" I straightened my posture, all ready to pour my wrath down on him.
"I came to say sorry. I am sorry for what I did in the parking lot this evening. It was uncalled for and truly indecent of me to just kiss you in that manner."
What? I jerked my ears with my finger. Was I hearing right?
"At this point of night? By breaking into my house? What a terrible strategy to apologize for your actions, Rathore!" I deadpanned.
Was it really Rishabh Singh Rathore? He was apologizing for his actions? Well, that was something worthy to be documented in the world history books.
He sighed and sat upright. His eyes remained stuck to the pills in my hand.
"What are those?" I looked down and attempted to keep them away from his line of sight when he grabbed my arm out of nowhere, making me stumble on the bed frame and sit my ass beside him.
He pulled the bottle out of my hand and began reading the label. I was too tired to even fight him for it. He looked back at me with eyes so appealing that it made my toes curl.
I looked away for an instant and when I looked back, he was staring at the red nail marks on my wrists and the bandaids across my arm.
"I couldn't sleep in my house and I was constantly thinking about... Championship and stuff. You do understand why I wanted us to partner right?" Whew, so he was entirely ignoring the elephant in the room. Good.
"Yes, I do." I closed my eyes as I heard him scoff at my response.
"Yet you won't partner with me even with our school's reputation at stake?" His voice sounded genuinely sad. I sighed.
"I don't have any problem partnering with you, Rishabh. But how can you overlook the fact that we do nothing but quarrel whenever we are put in the same room? We are absolutely incompatible and I don't even need an online test to figure that out." He was looking at me with such an intense gaze that I looked away immediately after voicing that out.
"But that topic aside, how did you find out this address?" I furrowed my brows at him the next moment.
Why wasn't he inquiring about my unusual living situation? Moreover, how did he even find the main house? He had already seen my apartment the one time he dropped me there and now this house? Wasn't he curious?
"The apartment was empty. I called Dhruv. He gave me this address as he lives a block away from this house." He answered as nonchalantly as he could without looking at me while examining my wrists.
I cringed internally. He had brought Dhruv into all these. There wasn't a single moment of solitude for me, was there? Now the whole school might just come down here to see me in my pathetic state.
"Oh." That was all I could answer before the pain in my head made me cringe. I clutched my head with my hands.
Much to my surprise, Rishabh immediately came to my aid. I fumbled with the tablets but he grabbed the bottle from my hand before sliding one tablet from the bottle and popping it into my mouth.
I couldn't keep the water bottle steady and he held my chin while I chugged down the tablet with the water. I sighed as the lump slid down my neck with the water.
When I turned to look at my helper, I was astonished at the sight of Rishabh staring back at me with a piteous frown.
"Thank you.." My voice came out in a whisper. I was truly tired.
"Don't take these painkillers so frequently. You shouldn't douse your pain with such medication, Sanvi. These might have some adverse effect." I don't know why but that made my lips curve up a little bit as he shook his head in negation while still holding my hands.
We were sitting on the bed side by side while facing the window. The silvery moonlight seeping through the glass made his eyes shine. He looked ethereal. Fascinating. Rathore and beautiful? Goodness gracious.
"I won't, Doctor." He rolled his eyes at me before standing up from the bed. I panicked when I was hurled out of the trance with his movement.
I was so sure that he could hear all the ruckus that went down a while ago. Why wasn't he questioning me about it? Why hadn't he pulled out his snarky palette of mockery and insults when he finally had some substantial evidence of my miserable background?
The ball was in his court. Rather, he was acting like he hadn't heard a single sound. Maybe he actually fell asleep when I had locked him up to go downstairs?
"I do understand your concern about our predicament. However, what's a championship without some sacrifices? I'll sacrifice my strong stance of dislike towards you and you do the same with your ego. We have no choice other than turning to each other in the end. Why not get over with all the formalities beforehand?" I rolled my eyes when the usual Rathore tone returned in his voice.
Still the jerk.
"Ego? Really? I don't think I can ever discard my strong dislike towards you, especially not when I know you'll be spouting nonsense the second you open your mouth." He turned to look at me with a sneer and I simply shrugged my shoulders.
"Strongly disagree but alright. I'll throw in another dilemma to support my case here." He posed a stern look towards me before closing his eyes.
"What about the supposed detention that we have received from Father? Haven't you seen his stern look on both of us when he was talking about the partnership? Do you really think he'll let this go? I don't know about you but my graduation is very important for me since I will be the highest scoring topper in the history of St. Louis." I almost gagged at his haughtiness. He perhaps is the reincarnation of Narcissus.
Saying so, he plopped down on my desk chair with the year-end photograph in his hand, while I kept gaping at his back.
The school usually photographed each class all together in the end of each year, and that was the last year's one which I somehow hadn't kept away yet.
I caught chicken pox during that time and had to stay quarantined for a month. I wasn't allowed to stay at home and was chased away to the apartment by my Devil of a father and my mother had to commute from one part of the town to another, alternating between managing this house and taking care of me.
I wasn't in that much pain and all I did was rest and study for the entire month but it was hectic for Mom. That lady had been going through a lot for me and that man.
Naturally, I wasn't in the school photo but they still handed me a copy of it a few months ago. And I might have... accidentally scribbled horns and moustaches on Rishabh's face in the photo out of anger on some sad day.
As Rishabh sat their silently doodling on the picture, I was immersed in my own thoughts while sitting on the bed.
He did make a good case on the prospect of Father's opinion. That was the one thing that had put me in a hard place. I didn't want to lose school privileges this close to graduation and I honestly wanted to do my best in the name of my school in the Championship. But I didn't have anyone else to partner with.
If me and Rishabh could keep our heads straight for that one common goal, nothing could go wrong right?
But what if something happens between you two? My mind interjected in between.
Then I'd try to steer clear of any occasion that might indicate something strange. I'd never ever give into that strange urge ever again...never again.
"Ahem... Would you come here for a second?" He swivelled his head to stare at me with a questioning look as I sat still on my bed. "Stop doodling and come here, sit beside me. I need to check something."
He sluggishly got out of his seat and sat down on the bed beside me with a humph. "What?"
I turned towards him and sat cross-legged on the bed before smirking at his very confused face. I placed my left hand on his thigh and inched my face closer to his ear.
Rishabh immediately stiffened as my breath cascaded down his neck.
"What are you trying to do... " His voice came out in a raspy whisper and my right hand gripped his collar before pulling his face inches closer to mine.
He didn't utter a single word despite our lips being a thread apart and simply kept on gazing into my eyes. His demeanor remained unchanged, rather unbothered. Almost seemed trained.
Good.
In the meantime, I tried to persuade my mind that this closeness should mean nothing to me.
Right?
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To Be Continued.