Professor KHAN [DISCONTINED]

Chapter 3: A New Position

"I'm not doing this." Shah Rukh scoffed in disgust. Quickly the man turned his body in the direction back to the main entrance to which he had just come in from. Once a week Shah Rukh would come and eat dinner with his parents in his childhood home. It was something of a tradition between himself and his parent's own personal busy schedules.

Today, a not-so-special guest sat at the dining room table as if she belonged. Priti Kapoor. A woman of great elegance, power, and prestige. A woman that Shah Rukh had been arranged to marry since his birth. As years went by he had grown to love her dearly and never saw their arrangement as a burden. He actually delighted in it. She was the woman he had proposed to almost two years ago. The woman that had broken his heart two years ago....The same woman who cheated with his former best friend the same night he formally proposed. Shah Rukh had come to find out that they had a secret relationship for years underneath his nose. 

Today, here she was now shamelessly seated between his mother and father with pleading eyes and a deep frown to her plump red lips. What she was pleading for? Shah Rukh didn't know nor did he care. Her sorrowful-looking face did not affect him. If anything he felt she deserved it.

"I dare you to turn your back on us!" Shah Rukh's mother's voice roared authoritatively through the extensive dining room. Her voice felt as if it echoed for miles ringing in his ears unpleasantly. The last thing he wanted to do was disrespect his mother, but he himself had already felt disrespected to see Priti seated cozily at his family table. Hanging her head as if he were the one who should feel sorry for her. He didn't. She could kick boulders instead of rocks for all he cared.

"What is she doing here? I can promise you she will never have the chance of being your daughter-in-law again just know that before anyone says anything." Shah Rukh spoke seriously. He had taken a seat farthest away from the witch at the other end of the table. His parents were delusional if they thought he would sit any closer.

"She will. It's been arranged and you have been well aware of it all your life!" Shah Rukh's father's voice boomed in retaliation. Shah Rukh kept his face straight and his eyes low as he began to eat the meal in front of him. The faster he finished. The fast he'd go home. His father was so adamant that this arrangement happened because Priti was his dearest friend's daughter. His family was one of appearances. It always made being from one of the richest families in India so aggravating. The news of Priti's father's passing prompted this discussion. Shah Rukh's father all those years ago made a promise of the arrangement publicly. It was around the time to make well on his word. A wedding had to come and soon.

"Father I don't care if you disown me. I won't marry her." Shah Rukh wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin as he pushed his empty plate away from him. He had scarfed down his meal in large bites so that he could depart from what he considered hell faster.

"Shah Rukh, please. Let's just think about this---" Priti dared to speak but her words caught in her throat as Shah Rukh's eyes shot daggers in her direction. Her hands gripped at the end of her skirt nervously.

"You don't have the right to speak. Did you think before you had sex with my best friend? Huh?" Shah Rukh asked inquisitively as he looked at the woman who dared to have tears filling her eyes. The room fell silent. What could anyone say to that truth? Nothing.

"I'm going. Enjoy your meals. Priti don't choke." Shah Rukh scoffed as he made his way back to the door from which he came and left without another word.

His mood for the rest of the day was blown. It was bad enough how much Priti plagued his mind with her infidelity regularly. She was the reason he became reserved. The reason he lost his smile, laughter, and joy. Her deceit made his world so much darker. So much more depressing. It was today that he actually felt amusement of any kind again when Kajol came to in office hour. For the first time in a long time. He almost smiled. The thought of it almost made him smile again.