ANIDITA- 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 'Professor Student Romance' (BOOK 1)

|32|•ꜱᴜɴꜱʜɪɴᴇ•

ANIRUDH

My eyes were glued to my phone, my frustration mounting with each passing minute. I had messaged Bondita five hours ago and still no reply. 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵! I know I was a jerk yesterday, bombarding her with messages non-stop, but what else could I do? She’s not fucking talking to me, and I hate that for fuck’s sake!

I forced my eyes away from the screen and looked at Tulika sitting across from me. She had a tense smile plastered on her face, a clear sign that she was just as uncomfortable as I was. We were in a café, a neutral ground where I had called her to meet. I didn’t want to keep her hanging on the hope of this sham marriage. I knew I couldn’t, and never would, marry her.

Before I could say anything, she spoke first. “I know you don’t want to marry me, and this is all a forced marriage. Even I’m forced into this marriage. I don’t want to marry you either.”

Her words hit me, and my eyes flicked with realization. She continued, “I don’t know what your issue is, but I never wanted to marry you. I mean, I can’t. I love someone else. But I was forced, and I want your help.”

Confused, I asked, “Help? With what?”

Her eyes looked even more helpless as she said, “I want you to break this marriage. Tell my dad and Binoy Uncle that you don’t want to marry me!”

The idea that popped into my head was exactly what I wanted. “Why can’t you say that to your parents?” I asked.

She sighed. “You think they care about my opinion?”

I nodded, understanding. “I see.”

At that moment, a waitress came over and asked, “What would you like to have, sir? Ma’am?”

Tulika gave her order, “Uh, for me, a strawberry milkshake.”

𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺. The word hit me like a memory punch, a reminder of my first meeting with Bondita.

'4 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙥𝙘𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙚 𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙜𝙚??

𝘼𝙧𝙚𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙝 𝙩𝙤𝙝 4 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙝 10 𝙠𝙝𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙩𝙞 𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙝𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚 𝙠𝙞 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙞, 𝙨𝙤 𝙯𝙮𝙖𝙙𝙖 𝙝𝙤 𝙟𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙜𝙞, 𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙮𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 4.'

Her favorite strawberry cupcakes. I snapped back to the present and told the waitress, "Nothing for now, just water, and yeah, 10 strawberry cupcakes packed." The waitress nodded and left as my eyes went back to my phone. Still no reply. Why can’t she reply to me?

A few minutes later, Tulika’s voice cut through my thoughts. "So, what’s your reason for not marrying me?"

I looked at her, my expression cold. “Does that matter?”

She shrugged. “Sure, it doesn’t, but just asking.”

Our orders came. Tulika started sipping her strawberry milkshake while I stared at the packed cupcakes, Bondita’s... no, our favorite.