Page 18 of Obsession

“What is wrong with you two?” Ananya asked the second she sat down.

“Do you know who you were speaking to?” her friend Asha asked excitedly.

“Yes, he introduced himself—Mihir Oshnov,” Ananya replied.

“We know who he is,” her other friend Devina said. “The question is, doyouknow who he is?”

Ananya exhaled. She looked back at Mihir. He was with three men now. All of them, standing together, looked spectacular. They were all extremely good-looking, including the older European man he was greeting warmly.

But Mihir… he was something else. Dressed in a black cashmere sweater, beige pants, and a black sports jacket, he was stunning. His sharp jawline had only the hint of a stubble, and his eyes were an appealing molten brown, like he had gold flecks swirling in them. So beautiful. Added to all that was his killer smile, his well-built body, and his height. As a tall woman herself, Ananya took to men who towered over her, and he fit the bill perfectly.

“Ananya, you’re staring,” Devina said.

“He’s so hot, of course she’d stare,” Asha said, twirling her ash-blonde hair. “I’m surprised you never noticed him before, Ananya. Do you not know that he’s in our Global Business class this semester?”

“Oh my God, really? Why have I never seen him?” Ananya faced the girls.

Just then, a boy dropped into the chair next to them. “Hi, besties. Who are we talking about?”

Ananya smiled at Zeeshan, another one of her closest friends in London. “Where were you?”

“My landlord has increased the rent to my apartment,” Zeeshan sighed. “Which means I have a month to hunt for a new house. Anyway, who are we discussing? Give me the goss.”

Ananya rolled her eyes. Zeeshan thrived on gossip. Devina immediately began to explain Ananya’s encounter with Mihir Oshnov to Zeeshan in vivid detail.

Zeeshan looked at her. “He’s super-hot, and unfortunately for me, straight as an arrow.”

“Great. You also know him?!” Ananya asked. “Am I the only one hearing about him for the first time?” She shook her head. “Tell me about him. I want to know everything.”

“He’s super rich,” Devina said.

Ananya rolled her eyes. “So what? Surya was rich too.”

Devina caught her hand. “There is rich, and then there is Mihir Oshnov. Surya wears Jordans and drives a BMW, whereas Mihir wears Loro Piana and drives a fucking Ferrari. You cannot even begin to compare them.”

And yet she’d never noticed him? Ananya blinked. How oblivious was she that he was in her class and she still hadn’t seen him before?

“He’s got serious drip,” Zeeshan said, his eyes on Mihir. He addressed Ananya, “He is so stylish, girl. Look at him. And all that money is a bonus. Rumor is that he belongs to some affluent family nearby in the UK. He mentioned to someone in class that he had a home in the countryside where he goes to visit his family.”

Ananya scowled. “Honestly, I really don’t care about his money. I care about whether he is a good person, whether he is kind, honest, and responsible. I don’t like defining people by their wealth.”

She wanted to understand what was special about Mihir. Why only he had made her heart beat so hard, and why being close to him had caused her skin to buzz?

Devina made a face. “Only someone as rich as you wouldn’t care about his money.”

“But seriously, Ananya, he’s hot! Shouldn’t that be enough.?” Asha queried. “None of the rest ought to matter. It hasn’t in the past with any other guy you dated.”

None of the guys before him had mattered. After a disastrous fling in her first year of undergrad, she’d sworn off men completely. She’d gone out for two dates this semester only because her friends had bugged her relentlessly to do so. They kept insisting that she had to move on, so she had given in and tried dating again. However, she hadn’t felt connected to either of those men.

But with Mihir, it had felt like an instant connection. An instant attraction. Like she’d finally found something missing, and now she couldn’t seem to let go. Even now, she couldn’t stop looking at him. He was surrounded by his friends, but she hadn’t even paid attention to them. Her entire focus was on him. Mihir. And each time their eyes met across the distance, the urge to be with him, to talk to him, grew stronger. But she couldn’t tell her friends that.

Ananya sipped her frappe. “So, how is he as a person? Is he a decent guy?”

“No clue,” Zeeshan said. “He’s as mysterious as he is rich. No one knows much of him. Like I Googled him, and there is nothing on Mihir Oshnov. He’s not any of the socials either.”

“He’s quite a loner,” Devina said, “and doesn’t have many friends, not that I know of. He, Zeeshan, and I are together in a couple of other classes too. Mihir keeps to himself mostly. I’ve been trying to get his attention for weeks, but he’s never looked my way. And then he sees you and can’t stop looking. You know, I’m really jealous now.”

Before Ananya could react, Zeeshan laughed. “Ignore her. She’s jealous of any girl who catches the attention of any guy she likes, especially if the guy in question is rich.”

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