Ruhani woke up after a good two hour nap and saw the time on her phone which was placed on the bed stand. It was 3pm in the afternoon. Scorching sun in Jodhpur was very vibrant even among the chilly winds of February. All the wedding festivities were about to start tommorow. They arrived a day prior. There was a note pamphlet at the end of her bed which caught Ruhani's attention. She took a sip from her water bottle and opened the pamphlet.
Woah. It was more of a brochure that mentioned all the stalls,food carts,activities and their directions rather than a pamphlet with compilation of pictures. It was mildly hot outside but chilly inside the palace. She got confused between what to choose. Should she go for an ice cream to soothe the hotness of Jodhpur’s weather or should she choose a warm gulab Jamun to cope with Palace's chillness. It was tough.
She stepped out of her room and went towards the carts. Both the ice cream as well as Gulab Jamun carts were stationed beside each other. It made her already difficult situation more Harder. There were not much people to begin with. Most of the guests were about to arrive tommorow. Palace was moreover vacant with workers and handful of people roaming here and there.
Ruhani clenched her fist with her index and middle finger peeking outside her hand.
“Bhaiya choose one” She asked the worker working on Gulaab jaamun cart.
He frowned his eyebrows but later chose the index finger.
“Sorry Bhaiya,Hard luck” Ruhani said and moved towards the ice cream truck.
She got her strawberry flavour ice cream moulded on a cone and moved towards the palace.
Her happy trail of thoughts came to an end when she suddenly bumped into someone. It surely was a hard chest to bump into cause it made Ruhani fell on her back. She looked up and two handsome men were soaring over her like clouds. One had a buzz cut with mild beard and the other had shiny smooth hair with Round sunglasses covering his eyes. They were too handsome to be true. Maybe straight out of the novels.
Her image of them came crashing down when one of them opened their mouth.
“You ugly bitch,Can't you see?” He said while shoving the ice cream from his white Armaani shirt.
“I didn't know uncle sent invitations to such lower class peeps as well.” The one with buzz cut said while eyeing Ruhani's outfit.
Ruhani was wearing a military green H&M hoodie pairing with her green cargos and her wavy hair, open on the sides. She thought she looked good. She thought she looked pretty.
That sudden interaction with those two intimidating men sent a wave of panic in her nerves. Her skin suddenly crawled with anxiety and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
“Who's going to pay for this now? Huh,you shit?” The shiny hair guy asked
Ruhani was too nervous to even get on her feet back. She mumbled a scared apology.
“S..sorry..I didn't see you guys..”
“Are their sockets instead of eyes?”
Ruhani couldn't utter another word when the buzz cut guy opened his mouth.
“Leave It Avi,it may cost her her seven generations to afford this shirt..let it be”
“But Yug,This shirt was expensive homie” The shiny hair guy said.
The same guy saw her for a second,hatred visible in his eyes before scooting the remaining ice cream from his shirt and splattering it all across Ruhani's face.
He smirked for a second before he spat on Ruhani's forehead. Her eyes became glisery. Dread and fear clearly visible in them. Both the men's evil Laugh covered the halls,sounding like utter disrespect and disdain to her ears. She couldn't get up. The last time she cried was when her grandmother passed away. Months and years passed but she couldn't get herself to cry after that. Some light drops of tears were shed here and there once in a while but today was different. She didn't know where the flood of emotions came from but she was crying her eyes out. Her silent and stifle wailing got camouflaged inside Palace's massive walls. Her eyes were moist and Vision was totally blur. It was tough to even stand up in that moment.
Her eyes suddenly moved to a folded paper which had earlier fallen from the guy's Pocket. She held it but before she could open it a voice entered her ears.
“Ruhi”
Ruhani didn't respond.
"Tu theek Hai? What happened?”
Panic clearly audible in their voice. She turned around to see her brother running towards her. He immediately lowered his phone from his ear and stepped hurriedly towards Ruhani. He got down on his knees. Eyed the ice cream on her hoodie and the splatter of previously done spit on her forehead. Ruhani could sense the anger bubbling in him.
“Who did this to you?” He asked.
Terrified Ruhani from the recent occured incident couldn't utter a word.
“Ruhi,I'm asking you something”
Her brother asked,his fist and jaw getting clenched.
“Bhai..woh..” Ruhani managed to get some words out amidst stuttering.
“Stand up” He held his Sister’s hand and took her to his room.
“Go wash your face and change your clothes” He asked calmly.
Ruhani looked at him for a brief second before stepping into the bathroom and grabbing one of his brother’s sweatshirt. She left the folded paper on the side shelf of the bed.
She closed the door behind her and noticed how her tears were dry now. She washed her trembling hands under the cold tap water and splattered the same on her face,harshly rubbing her forehead on the same spot where that shitty human being spitted earlier. Her forehead turned red. She quickly washed her face using the first facewash which was available in the washroom stack and changed her clothes.
Her face was clean but it still didn’t help her puffy red eyes to soothe,who were on a clear display now.
She stepped out and took a seat on her brother's bed. Her brother's big yet warm hand wraps around her shoulder. He placed a light kiss on her head.
He takes a deep breath.
“Ruhi,Tell me. Who were they?” He asked
Ruhani looked at him for a second before opening her mouth. “I don't know Kairav,I didn't catch their names”
“What happened exactly?”
“I accidently bumped into the guy with my ice cream splattering across his shirt. He abused me for the same and later tossed the ice cream on my face and hoodie following…”
“Following ..?” His brother asked sternly
“following….his spit on my forehead. I apologized yet they were quite rude”
She didn't had the courage to look her brother in the eyes yet she could sense his flaring anger which was on the brink of bursting.
“They ?” Kairav asked after a pause
“Yeah there was another guy with him”
“By any chance Did you hear them calling out each other’s names?”
“Not clearly but maybe the guy beside him called him Avi or something and he reffered to his friend as Yug I guess”
Her brother frowned his eyebrows.
“WAIT,AVIRAJ MALHOTRA?”
A/N - Drop your views on this Chapter.
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UNETHICAL (Teacher×student) (Indian Sapphic romance)
RomanceRuhani is a teenager who has always been insecure about her looks and her personality. She has an immense talent for writing poetries and has always been appreciated for the same since childhood. She isn't sure of her future which seems more darker...
