Chapter 9

Mastyaa flicked the excess shadow from the brush and smudged along her eyelids to the arch of her eyebrows. Smiling at her pretty reflection, she pulled out a satisfied breath. Her jubilant eyes were fixed on the artwork in her neckline of her blouse. She ran a hand over them, feeling all the beautiful pearls and stones under her soft palm. 

A smile fitted her lips. She held the sides of her skirt and twirled side by side to look at the dress. It was gorgeous. She hadn't worn Indian attire in a long time, especially not after coming to India. She was giddy like a teenager to wear the skirt and the blouse. 

The heavy layers in the skirt made it circle beautifully when she did a round, and the back of the blouse was amazingly designed with a thread looped in a criss cross manner all over her back. She quickly fixed the long hoops her mother had given to her to match with the dress. 

"Matsyaa? Are you ready, darling?" Her aunt smiled, stepping in the room and she nodded, looking through the mirror. "Yes, I'm almost ready. I just need to put on the heels."

"Oh my! You're looking gorgeous, princess." Her aunt gloated and kissed her forehead before putting little kohl behind her ear to prevent her from the evil eye. "I'm so glad Gauri agreed to let you stay here. We missed you so much."

Matsyaa smiled sadly, "I'm sorry. I couldn't come earlier. You and Arush had to go through everything alone. It must've been hard on you."

Her aunt sighed, losing her smile a little. "It wasn't your fault, Matsyaa. God had different plans for us. What could've anyone done? I'm just glad we have all of you to fall back on."

"That's what families are for!" Matsyaa said, cheerfully and widened her eyes. "Why don't you come along with us? It'll be a change of scenery for you. I know you've been in home these days, so let's go with us. I'm sure you'll love the function."

"What will I do with you kids there? Oh, I just remember. I came to call you. The boys are ready, come on." Her aunt ushered her and Matsyaa followed her down the stairs to the hall. Her mother was sitting there, discussing something with Upesh and Asha. Upon seeing Matsyaa, everyone silenced.

"Wow. You're looking amazing." Gauri raised her eyebrows in exaltation. Matsyaa nodded, looking down at her dress. "Thanks, mom. I love this dress."

"Ved has a keen eye for fashion!" Gauri admired, turning to Asha. "His wife will be lucky." Both the women chuckled and Upesh stood up, leading Matsyaa. "Let's go. They are already outside."

"Okay!" Bidding a bye to her mother and aunts, Matsyaa left for the inaugural of the cultural week in University. The Rathores were invited for the program and Upesh had decided to sent Ved as a proxy to him, but since Matsyaa hadn't met the dean the last time, he thought to tag her along. 

"There we go! Finally her highness graces us with her presence." Arush mocked, doing a fake curtsy and Upesh growled at him, "How many times do I have to tell you to not do that? She's your sister. Don't tease her all the time."

Arush straightened up and muttered a quick apology. Matsyaa pressed her lips to stop from laughing and Arush warned her with his squint. She corrected her expressions when Upesh turned to greet her with a lovely smile, "You'll join me in the car with Ved, okay?" 

"Yes," Like an obedient daughter, she nodded but Prem stopped her. "Dad, please. She's gonna be bored to death with you two. She is coming with us."  

Upesh rolled his eyes and nodded, waddling to his car. "If I see you both troubling her, you'll be ready to pack your bags and get the hell out of my house!" He warned before sitting inside the car and Ved smirked at them, mouthing. "Losers!" 

"Damn! We've got no respect in our home, brother." Arush shook his head, looking at the zooming car and Prem patted his back with a suffering sigh, "Yeah. We're men. We deal with shit like that. Let's go."

Like Upesh predicted, the journey was full of verbal fights between the youngest duo. Prem took sides as per his convenience. He validated a few points and also got biased to both parties whenever the need arose. They both silenced as the car finally rolled inside through the campus doors. 

The whole premises was draped in colorful tapestry. Loud music, overexcited crowd and various stalls were arranged. The car drove through the rows and stopped near the main building. Matsyaa stepped out and blinked at the paparazzi who'd been there to cover up the event. 

The energy was high. Everyone was cheerful and the ambiance was exciting, but despite that, Matsyaa couldn't normalize the sudden thumping in her chest. She looked around and tried to figure out why she was getting this nervous, discomforting chill but nothing caught her eyes. 

She was doing fine just a couple of minutes back. What went wrong suddenly? They got inside the auditorium where the main event was supposed to happen and took their seats on the first row beside Upesh and Ved. The men soon started talking to others, but made sure she was attended. 

In spite of that, Matsyaa couldn't shake off the strong ominous feeling of something bad happening from her mind. The uneasiness wouldn't go, and it increased more and more with the passage of the time. 

***

Ten minutes later in the event, Matsyaa finally got to know the reason behind her uneasiness and was left shocked. It was unnatural. Her eyes glued to the entrance and her ears turned deaf to whatever the lady in the podium was saying in her usual cheerful voice when he caught her eyes. 

The boom of applause burst into the air like a bullet shot, rupturing the silence even hidden in the crevices as Ranvijay entered with a bunch of guards behind him. Their eyes met dramatically for a second and her heartbeats quickened. In his crisp Jodhpuri, carrying a proud stance, he eyed her with a crooked smile playing about his lips. 

Dean excused some other dignitaries with a smile and went to greet Ranvijay along with the top management of the University. They talked about something politely before he led Ranvijay to the dais and the anchor continued to encourage the crowd to keep on applauding. 

For what? Only her overexcited ass knew. 

The roaring clapping didn't end until he was on stage, performing the ritual of lightening the lamp as a symbol of the inaugural event. His face glowed under the flashlight falling over him and made him look like a marble figure. His serene and sharp features illuminated, casting shadow on the smooth plains of his face which was breathtaking in the contrast of his maroon suit. 

And, his eyes landed on her.

Matsyaa felt someone pushed a hand in her throat and squeezed her windpipe. Her breath wedged in her throat. Damn! His blue eyes seemed to have commanded her to not breathe. She was immovable. His gaze was consuming her whole from afar and locked in his eyes, she could feel him entering her mind and detecting the fear she had neatly tucked aside. 

Swallowing the lump, she broke eye contact from him and looked down, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. She was surprised at the response of her body. Her palms had gotten clammy and goosebumps had pebbled on her skin, as if her body had also felt the promising threat in his eyes. 

A frown sat between her brows. 

Arush nudged her shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows at her, questionably. She gave him a small smile and shook her head, turning back to look at the stage. The ritual had been performed and Ranvijay had been given the seat, which was an awful spot. The seating arrangement was ridiculous, in her opinion. The crescent shape arrangement put her directly in the field of his vision. 

Program had started. The girl on stage was still saying something, but Matsyaa didn't focus at all. 

All her mind was concentrating on not looking at Ranvijay even by mistake. She kept her eyes everywhere and tried to relax, acting as normal as she could, but it was so hard when she knew his gaze was probably burning her skull. And, she lost to the urge. She slanted her eyes at him. To her surprise, he wasn't looking at her, but as if he felt her gazing at him, his stare fell back on her. 

Feeling like a culprit, she immediately looked away. Her throat had begun to feel dry. She felt like she sat inside a furnace, too hot to handle. If she wasn't wrong, she felt wet behind her ear. Her nervousness was frustrating her more. It wasn't like she had a past bad experience with him but she was literally sweating. 

"Are you okay, Matsyaa?" Arush hissed in her ear and she shook her head, looking at him through the corners of her eyes. "I'm not. I'm thirsty and I need to use the washroom." 

"I'll come with you." He was about to stand up but she caught his arm and shook her head again, "No. I'll be right back. Just wait here. I'll call you if I need to."

"Okay!" She heard him as she quickly dashed out, leaving her chair in a hurry and dragged in a long breath. She rubbed her chest which was still drumming with the sound of her racing heart. Out in the open, she felt a lot better and took a few minutes to gather herself. 

"Excuse me!" She called a guy who was going in the other direction, smiling at him politely, "Could you please guide me to the ladies' washroom?" 

“Sure. Take a left from the corridor, then straight and then another left.” He said in a hurry. Matsyaa followed his directions and breezed inside the empty toilet. In fact, the main building was mostly vacant because everyone was busy outside.  

The music thumping outside turned faint as she closed the door. Putting her purse aside, she splashed water on her face repeatedly and hovered over the sink, letting the cool drops put off the heat in her skin. Closing her eyes, she stayed in the same position until her pulse finally turned normal and she began to feel better. 

She breathed into relief. It was so silent. The faint bass of the music and the soft running water soothed her mind into ease. She opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. Her makeup had come undone. Shaking her head, she tore a tissue to clean her face when the door knob turned and she twisted her neck to see someone entering. 

Her hands froze in the air as her eyes found the familiar blue pair of eyes along with its owner, making an entry. He quickly scanned the room before his gaze dropped on her and he rewarded her with a smile, “Hi.”

“What are you doing here? It's a ladies’ room!” Matsyaa jumped the formalities and came on point, throwing the tissues in the dustbin. It was hard. So hard to not shake in front of him. 

She gripped the marble tightly in her hands, feeling crowded even when there was space between them. Ranvijay was still near the door, however that was the only exit out of the room and he was in control. The wheels in her mind moved, looking for a different escape route. 

"I came to check upon you." Ranvijay’s voice momentarily distracted her and she raised both her eyebrows, “Excuse me?” 

He turned to lock the door and replied, “You were looking restless back in there. I was worried. Are you doing okay?” 

Matsyaa widened her eyes at the door, and blinked. Kicking herself in mind, she recalled the survival techniques. Never show your fear. She corrected her face and took a deep breath, wetting her lips. He was behaving cool, so she should talk to him frankly if she wanted to get out of there without a scene. 

Once out, she could think how to deal with this rude asshole. Her jaw ticked slightly as she made up her mind to complain against him, but she showed nothing on her face and remained expressionless. "Thanks for your concern, but I don't think you need to worry. I'm fine. If you could just excuse me, I'd like to…"

"Are you uncomfortable because of me?" He questioned, more like observed in the nip of the second. His eyes roamed all over her red face. She shook her head in frustration, "No. I'm totally fine. Please leave the door. I have to go." 

Ranvijay gave her a mute, long look and stepped aside from the door. Matsyaa darted like a shot to get it open and leave before he stopped her. She was about to go when he caught her wrist and her pulse elevated under his fingertips. 

She glared at him, "Mr. Raghuvanshi, what is this? Leave my hand!"

"You're forgetting something." He cocked his head to her side and pointed behind her. She followed his trail and groaned under her breath. Her purse was still on the counter. 

She glanced at him and he left her wrist, staring at her face. She took her purse with a snatch. Nodding at him, she again turned to leave and he whispered, "Don't you think you should thank me, Matsyaa?" Upon her silence, he added. "For the dress?" 

Matsyaa was done. She dug her fingers in the soft leather of her purse and gritted her teeth. This man was getting on her nerves. It was high time she taught him a lesson. She turned to him with a stern look and peddled back on finding his face so close to hers, stupidly kicking the door shut. 

Damn! 

If she was cornered before, she was trapped all over right then. Her back hit the door and her breath came out shallow as he kept a palm beside her face, leaning peer into her eyes, "Hmm?"

Matsyaa clenched her fists in the sides and blinked severally, "Mr. Raghuvanshi, what are you doing?"

"I asked you a simple question. Did you like the dress?" He prodded and a frown pinched her forehead. "No, I didn't. And, I don't need to thank you for anything. I didn't accept it. Also it was very impolite to force it on me. Just like, it's impolite to stand so close to me right now and… and staring at me like that."

Ranvijay chuckled, tilting his head down. His cologne washed over her while his soft hair tickled her chin. She backed to the door as much as she could, ignoring the tremors in her body. She stiffened when he looked up at her again and crooked his lips in a sly smile, "I am talking about the dress you're wearing right now! Did you like it?"