Page 106 of A King's Oath

“Come on, Ave. It’s safe with me.”

“No history,” she still lied. Something held her back. The girl who had announced to the whole class that she was dating Samarth couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had once dated him. As if saying it out loud would shatter the sacredness of it.

“Liar.”

“Goodnight, Ivor. Bonne nuit, monsieur,” she called out to the taxi driver and stepped back.

“See you tomorrow, luv!” Ivor’s holler echoed long after he was gone. Avantika turned on the street, eyeing her building and the concierge lit up in muted orange light. The sun was now down, considering it was way past 10. People were asleep in half of their suburban neighbourhood.

She pushed her hair back from her face and entered the lobby.

“Ava.”

Her heart stalled before her feet did.

“Samarth?” She whirled, only to find him sitting on one of the plush waiting area sofas. He was still in his polo gear — sweaty T-shirt, sweaty hair and muddy white pants. One foot rested onhis other knee, his hands clasped in the space his lap made — a king… a prince, even when he had given it all up.

He got to his feet with the litheness of a leopard. But his face gave nothing away. He didn’t look like he was jealous. Or disturbed. Or even amused. He didn’t look like anything as he closed the distance between them.

“I wanted to call you and check if you were safe,” he said.

“So you ran to my apartment to see if I was?”

“I wanted to call you and check if you were safeafterI reached here and found you gone.”

“Oh.”

One cocked eyebrow and nothing else.

“I am. Thanks. Goodnight.”

She began to walk away, knowing they weren’t done. He deserved some work to get his point across — whatever it was.

“Ritu is not what you think to me…”

“Who Ritu?”

“Ava, please. Act like yourself.”

“Like myself?”

He chuckled — “You come straight to the point and strangle me with both your hands.”

“Aah,” she laughed. “You remember?”

His eyes shut. And she felt bad. For him and for herself. He was right. She was never a girl to beat around the bush. She was never a girl to use others. Or make somebody jealous like this. All that she had done in the last 24 hours wasn’t Avantika. Andnow it dawned on her how stupid and kiddish it had all been. And for what?

Nothing.

“Samarth,” she sighed.

His eyes popped open.

“Did you even eat something?”

“No.”

“Come up and eat.”

---