The Arrangement by Chauhan

32) Flowers

Until she couldn't.

He had quickly changed into a man who learned to tackle board meetings and crack deals faster than he learned how to ride bikes and cars. He now was chasing girls who looked pretty, but only until she had stepped back into his life. He wore custom suits and smelled of expensive cologne that she could never get a hold of. Yet, he was the only one who ran towards her worrying out of his mind.

He was her salvation and one could die a thousand deaths to attain it.

Using her twenty seconds of courage was still a fair deal.

"Your destination is here, Shreya Beti." The driver made her aware as the car came to a halt.

"It is." She smiled at him, her words meant more. They were the decision she had come to.

If Rakshit wanted to be chased, she might do it for a change.

After all, why were only the girls entitled to act as hard to get? Men could be difficult to catch too.

It was time we exercised equality and not just demanded it.

Stepping down, the harsh afternoon sun blinded her making her wince. Shielding her eyes, she waved the driver goodbye and blinked to push back the black shadows that appeared in her vision.

There was no farmhouse but an under-construct shell of a place that had four walls with a hatched roof. The cemented plaster was unset, and workers moved around carrying the materials used for construction.

Not wasting any time, she pushed the giant doors that she supposed were only a temporary encase.

"Careful!"

She flinched and screeched in fear, almost falling back due to the loud crash that followed. Debris of sand, cement, and bricks flying all around made her choke another scream of fright, rasping for breath, she waved around as the multiple footsteps ran towards her.

A wall had fallen from above, right in front of the doorstep that she so happily was going to cross, another step inside could have cost her life and her brain seemed to process it all until a frantic and stunned call of her name was heard.

"Shreya!" She was whirled and crashed into a pair of protective arms. A chest that she so well knew was panting heavily, while those biceps crashed her bones.

"Rak-"

As fast as he took her in his arms, with dual speed he pushed her back and glared at her. "Are you insane? Why would you come here all of a sudden, damnit?"

"I might." She mumbled glancing behind her shoulder as the dust cleared and she could see a huge part of the wall battered into hundreds of pieces.

"You could have died, you stupid woman!" Rakshit screeched making her jump, no longer did the workers whisper about the context of this mishap, now their interest was the woman in their boss's arms.

"Nothing happened." The reassuring smile she planned to shoot him faltered at his glare and she swallowed, smiling sheepishly she shrugged. "I am fine."

His eyes took a good look at her, from head to toe as if waiting for any injury to pop. Once satisfied, his clenched jaw seemed to loosen and he brushed a palm on his face. He exhaled audibly and turned to a man she assumed to be the architect.

"Sorry, sir." The man fumbled with the words, clearly baffled at the events. "I will check the measures again."

"Do it and get this fixed, Javed. Make sure there will never be something like this again." Rakshit passes a short nod to him and glances between the wall and her again. Shreya bit back her smile that threatened to jump seeing his eyes sweeping her figure again, the relief was prominent. "I am returning back to the hotel. Call me if you should."