INTRICATE

CHAPTER 10

V E D A N   S H E K H A W A T

"I have to go."

Vedan had seen Samaira pull all kinds of stunts, things the human mind wouldn't even be able to conjure up on its own, but there she was, displaying an emotion he was all too familiar with. She wanted to run. Given the chance, she would. He could see it in her eyes as clearly as day, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

His confusion must have been evident because she began to explain herself immediately. "I just got a call from my brother's teacher. My parents are busy, so she wants to meet me instead."

"Are you sure? We haven't even gotten to dessert."

He turned to Jai in disbelief. Dessert? Seriously? Did the guy not see how overwhelmed she looked? It was concerningly obvious.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for cutting it short." she said, her eyes darting to her phone to check the time. Vedan would have believed her if that wasn't the third time she had checked the device in the last two minutes. Surely, her brother's teacher wasn't that impatient of a person. If she was, then teaching wasn't the profession that she should be in. 

"It's not a problem." Jai chuckled. "We can just do it again."

Like hell they would. Once had been more than enough. Vedan would fake the death of a family member before choosing to eat another meal with the insufferable man. Murder wouldn't be too far off.

"I'll take my leave then." she informed, doing exactly that when he didn't say anything to add to it. What was he even supposed to say? Vedan had no clue, so he simply watched her go. He gave it a minute before turning to Jai with a polite smile that was faker than the one he had reserved for his family. "I should go too. See you later."

Hopefully never, but that was too much wishful thinking. The universe could only grant so much. Carrying his blazer on his arm, Vedan made his way outside, surprised to see Samaira standing a few feet to his right. She looked like she was waiting for someone. 

Could it be a boyfriend? Regardless, curiosity got the better of him because he found himself walking towards her before he could even process what he was doing. Beauty was subjective, yes, but Samaira was as beautiful as a human could be. It wasn't because she was perfect. 

No, she had big eyes, the back of her upper arm was covered in acne and her palms were always as cold as her soul. She definitely wasn't perfect, however, there was just something about her. Vedan had never been able to point it out and from the look of things, he wasn't the only one. The people who walked by stared like she had accidentally fallen off of a runway show. 

Hell maybe, but runway show? Nah. He wouldn't go that far, unlike a group of men who attempted to walk a little too close to her back for his liking. Once he got close enough, he grabbed her arm and smoothly pulled her in front of him, eliciting a surprised yelp from her. "Hey."

"What's wrong with you, you idiot?!" Samaira exclaimed, making him smile. There it was. The fire that he loved kindling. He let go of her arm once she regained her footing. "Holy shit. I freaked out."

"Pay attention to your surroundings then," he advised, aware that he was irritating her further. It didn't bother him one bit. It was his life's purpose after all. "Why are you waiting here?"

She looked at the road for a second before looking back at him. Both of them knew that he wasn't going to leave her alone without getting an answer, so she knew better than to evade his query. "I got here in a cab because I was too tired to drive. I'm waiting for one."

"How far is it?"

"Twelve minutes," she said, looking just as exasperated as she sounded. He gave her a look. "I know. I have no choice though."