CHAPTER 4

ARYA

I had never been so riled up in my life. For starters, that moron almost threw me off the roof. And then he grabbed me. The way his muscular body felt against mine, I couldn’t help but drool. He had such strong arms, how easily he had lifted me in his arms. If only someone was there to click a photo of the moment, I would have loved to sketch it for my collection.

“Ms. Nathan,” someone called out. The session was going on and some blonde woman was speaking finance gibberish, which I was tuning out as usual.

“Ms. Nathan,” someone repeated. I looked up and saw the elderly man who often stayed glued to Nate. The man was gesturing me to follow him. I looked up ahead, the woman taking the session was impatiently waiting for me to leave. So, I obliged.

As I walked outside, the man led the way and took me to a buffet room.

“What?” I asked, but he just opened the door for me. I sneaked inside, it was empty.

“Please,” the man almost nudged me to go inside. He must have read fear on my face because he added, “You will be safe, trust me.” And something in his wrinkled old smile made me walk inside. The door closed behind me and I heard the lock click.

My jaw dropped as I finally noticed him. He was standing just beside the door, sipping from a cup.

“Hi,” he smiled and suddenly, I was hyperaware that we were alone!

“I was in a session,” I spoke with as much courage as I could muster.

He laughed, and it sounded like music to my ears.

“About that,” he strolled to the food counter and placed an assortment of items on two plates.

He was about to say something but I interrupted him, “What am I doing here?”

“Well,” he looked back at me and then added a few potato chips on our plates. I waited impatiently as he loaded the plates with everything that was on the food counter, which was a lot, and then walked up to a table.

“Here,” he spoke as he pulled a chair for me to sit.

Feeling awkward at his chivalry, I took the other seat instead. Smirking, he sat in the seat he had pulled out for me. I swear I heard him whisper stubborn. But it was not an insult or a comment, instead, it sounded like a compliment.

“Do I need to ask again?” I demanded as he placed a napkin on his lap and adjusted the spoons and forks on the table. His dining etiquette was impeccable.

He pushed one plate in front of me and dug his own fork in his own plate. As he savored the taste of the food, I couldn’t help but notice how red his lips were.

“I realized that you didn’t eat, neither did I, so…” and he gestured at the plate.

I picked up a handful of fries and started to eat. Smiling yet again, he continued to eat. We ate in silence, and while I tried to focus on the delicious items I was swallowing without any particular interest, my eyes kept flickering towards him. Our eyes often met, and every time I felt a blush creep on my cheeks. And by the time I took my last bite, I was sure that my cheeks must be as red as his perfect lips.

“Anything else?” he asked as he wiped his mouth and I surreptitiously checked his discarded napkin to check if he indeed used any lipstick. He didn’t!

“So…” he smiled again.

“Do you always smile this much?” I blurted and his smile vanished like a fused bulb. He pursed his lips for a moment, thinking, then suddenly, they arched back up in a wider grin, making my heart stop.

“Not always,” he spoke more to himself.

I raised my eyebrows so he added, “It depends on the situation and, well, company.”

“You say ‘well’ a lot too,” I pointed.

He blinked in surprise, then laughed. “See, I just don’t smile in your company, you make me laugh too…” and I felt my breath hitch. I made him smile and laugh…

“So you called me out here because I didn’t eat before?” I asked seriously.

“Yes, and seeing how well you ate, I can say now that you were famished, so I did the right thing, didn’t I?” he nodded with pride.

I pouted at his comment. “I do eat a lot, any problems?”

“Till the time you can digest every bite, I have no problems in feeding you endlessly,” he raised his hands.

“Feeding me?” I demanded.

He grinned again, then asked, “Why didn’t you eat at the buffet with your friends?”

“They were mingling with their ‘finance folks’. I endured your lecture because I had to, but I didn’t wish to put my poor brain through more of that gibber-gabber, you know!”

“You endured my lecture?” he demanded with raised eyebrows.

I shrugged.

“Any idea how many people would kill for a seat?” he asked seriously.

“All except for one girl whom you literally pushed into that seat,” I screwed my nose and pointed at myself.

“Consider it a punishment for harassing me,” he smirked.

“I harassed you?” my jaw dropped.

“Well, when a beautiful girl pursues me, literally falls in my arms, grabs me and I am forced to stay within my social limits, well, it is harassment in my definition,” he added.

My jaw dropped further, so he picked up a grape from his plate and pushed it in my mouth, shocking me.

“I could slip something else in it as well,” he whispered as he raked my lower lips with his thumb.

My mouth hung open wider at these words. What else did he mean? What did he wish to push in my mouth? His hand, his lips, his tongue or his --- his ---

“I meant another fruit, you filthy mind,” he chortled as he read my expressions.

I closed my mouth and chewed quietly.

“I am missing the session,” I pointed after a while.

“That reminds me, would it hurt you to pay attention to the presentation and make use of the pen and paper provided?” he asked with a smug smile.

“I am an artist, I don’t do financial equations and your weird symbol thingies,” my words made him laugh and I just stared at him as he laughed freely. His laugh was just as beautiful as he was.

He looked around, the room was still empty. Slowly he leaned in and pulled my glasses. “Better,” he whispered. I wanted to push him, or maybe push myself back to force some distance, but I was frozen with his act.

“You are weird,” he laughed again, composing himself. His eyes were twinkling with warmth and affection and I was stunned by it. I had seen Sri and Raghu share this look of love and warmth and affection with their boyfriends, but no one had ever looked at me like this. Never Ever!

“Shall we?” he spoke standing up, “I am up for the next session and I would like to have you in that seat of yours,” he laughed. I too stood up. He walked to the locked door and knocked it. At once, the doors flung open and he gestured me to walk beside him.

“If you are an artist, then draw something,” he suggested as we walked together.

“Who said I didn’t,” I spoke with pride.

“Show me,” he demanded with raised eyebrows. “I know that you were doodling and not drawing,” he challenged but I just shrugged.

“Draw something worth my interest and I may add some financial equation to it,” and with a wink, he walked ahead.

I drew a heavy breath as I halted in my steps, putting some distance between us. It was so difficult to breathe properly in his presence. I pushed my glasses back and exhaled heavily to gain some composure.

So he knew that I was doodling. So, it meant that though he was not looking at me during the session, but he noticed how I was drooling all over him. Damn it!

“Coming?” he turned at a distance, his grin visible even from where I stood.

I nodded clumsily and walked forward. He was waiting by the door. 

“This is my last session for the day,” he murmured as I reached the door. “Now it is your turn to show me what kind of Arts student you truly are!” And he gestured at me to walk forward, and with face, ears and even roots of my hair blazing red, I entered.

Sri and Raghu gave me a curious look as I rushed to my seat and sat with my head down.

“What happened?” Sri asked me but Nathan’s voice boomed in the room and a hush fell.

I took out my notebook and started sketching absentmindedly.

‘His last session,’ I remembered his words and felt my mouth turn sour. I had enjoyed his company so much that I really didn’t want to see him go away. Who knew which meeting would be our last!

So, to preserve a few memories, I pulled out my phone and discreetly clicked endless photos of him taking the session. He was looking in my direction so often that in many photos he was directly looking at me. And in one photo, he was actually smiling coyly.

When I had taken enough photos to memorize his features and every action, I placed my phone down and continued to stare and doodle.

After a while, he stepped down from the dais and walked amongst the students. Everyone was following his every move as he was speaking and explaining non-stop. I tried to listen to what he was saying, he was explaining how inflation impacted the delicate curves on the Stock market!

Hold on! Did he really use the words ‘delicate curves’? I wondered, staring at the back of his head as he walked in the row next to mine.

*

NATHAN

“The delicate curves,” I paused, alarmed by my own words but they were out and I had to continue. Shoot! What was I thinking…? Everyone noticed what I had just said, “of the stock market.”

“Yes, delicate curves, that’s what I call the ups and downs in the stock prices,” I made up as I spoke. A ripple of soft laughter ran amongst the students but she looked perplexed. She was doodling again and not paying a bit of attention to me or a word that I was saying.

I was walking among the students and deliberately started from the opposite corner. All eyes were following me, even hers and I liked that. Maybe she was not as ignorant as I thought her to be.

“The stock prices,” I said as I finally reached her and stopped dead. She was looking at me with interest but her hands were moving non-stop. And she was not doodling, she was drawing.

My jaw dropped as I saw it. A masterpiece indeed! I paused and took it from her hands. Well aware of all the eyes on me, I studied her notebook.

She was drawing me. Standing up on the dais, with hands spread wide, eyes narrowed slightly and a small, crooked smile playing on my lips. She had drawn my portrait so perfectly that it looked like I was looking at one of my own photos. And she was not even looking at the paper!

“Your notes are quite something,” I spoke, impressed. She blushed so hard that it took all my strength to not grab her face and force my lips on hers right there.

“Please add your name to it,” I spoke, pushing the notebook in front of her. She looked around nervously, everyone in the group, her friends included, were staring at us with curious expressions. She quickly signed the drawing with her initials, V.A.N.

I took the notebook back, tore the last two pages with my drawings in them, and pocketed them. “Please continue to take notes, it will help a lot!”

And with a small wink, I turned and continued with the lecture with renewed happiness. She was not just staring blankly at me, she was observing me, soaking in every minute detail of my personality, and with the intricacies she was capturing me. I knew that she liked what she was seeing.