Page 31 of Reckless Dare

She felt helpless. Knowing she could not approach Pooja directly, she knocked on Nitya’s bedroom door.

“Come in!” a cheerful voice said from inside.

Taking a deep breath, Ava stepped into Nitya’s room.

“Hi. Am I disturbing you?”

Nitya shook her head. “Oh no. It’s fine. I just got off a call with Suraj.”

Ava knew Suraj was Nitya’s childhood friend and soon-to-be fiancé. Nitya was on calls most of the time with him during late evenings.

“What’s up?” Nitya asked.

Ava took a deep breath. She knew Pooja would want her to stay out of her business, but she had to try. “It’s about Pooja. I… just saw her deliberately trying to throw up.”

Nitya didn’t look shocked. She let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah I have known about that for a while.”

Ava was surprised.

“It’s no use speaking to her, Ava. I tried many times, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“But she will fall ill if she doesn’t stop.”

“I know. But she thinks if she doesn’t maintain what she thinks is a slim figure, Abhi won’t look at her.”

Ava’s heart jerked listening to her tormentor’s name.

Nitya shook her head. “It’s not like he looks at her now, but she is obsessed with him. Her family owns pharmaceutical industries. Not as big in scale as Simha Pharmaceuticals, but she thinks because Abhi’s and her families are into the same business, they are a match made in heaven. It’s really silly of her to think that way.”

Ava didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know her tormentor’s family owned a pharmaceutical company. But now that she did, she realized why he chose that field along with pursuing a business degree.

Ugh. I don’t care.

She mentally shook her head, once again pushing thoughts of her tormentor away. She was more concerned about her roommate.

“Can you speak with Pooja again?” she asked Nitya. “Just tell her it can be dangerous to forcibly throw up.”

Nitya nodded. “I’ll try.”

Ava still felt uneasy about her other roommate’s condition, but there was nothing she could do unless the other girl asked for her help.

“Did you brew coffee?” Nitya asked, sniffing the air.

Ava nodded. “Yeah.”

“Awesome! I’m ready for another cup!”

Pushing away the uneasiness about Pooja, Ava smiled and followed Nitya into the kitchen.

*****

The rest of the weekend sped by quickly and soon it was Monday morning.

After having spent the entire weekend setting up her room with family pictures and knickknacks and also spending a few hours at the garden outside the housing unit, Ava felt refreshed.

The clock showed that it was only five a.m., but she couldn’t go back to sleep. She decided to get an early head start.

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