Page 86 of A King's Oath

“Since when?”

“Since always. You can’t understand the difference between Chanel and small x. The rest of us do, Samarth.”

“Yeah, fine. So where are you working in Paris?”

“Van Cleef & Arpels. I am their new Brand Visual Strategist.”

“I don’t know what that brand is but it sounds luxurious. And since they have you, I am assuming they are big.”

Avantika felt her whole being heat up with that single offhanded compliment. “Thanks,” she pushed her hair behind her ear. She had worked very hard to get to VC&A.

“So what’s with these flowers?”

“Oh…” she zoomed in on her iPad screen. “Bougainvillea. To symbolise their new campaign. I am working on different shades and colour contours to have a choice of collaterals ready when I join work next week.”

“Hmm…” he swiped the screen, unraveling the whites, the lavenders and then the rosy dusty pink bougainvilleas. “What’s the campaign?”

“A love that blooms briefly. Ephemeral.”

His eyes whirled up to her. Until that moment, Avantika hadn’t realised how close that concept hit home. A moment passed. A moment looking at each other, probably the kids they had once been.

“In that case,” he broke eye contact, using his long forefinger to swipe the screen back to the first mockup. The deep fuchsia pink one. “This one.”

“Why?”

“Among all the colours, this one leaves a lasting mark, however briefly it blooms.”

16. Araj

“This is tougher,” she giggled, poking the bicep that rested on the hand-rest between them. The lights had dimmed and their dessert utensils had been cleared. The staff had visited thrice to check if they were ready to have the beds made but they had just been unable to stop talking.

“My polo practise has gone up from an hour a day to five hours a day.”

“Your poor horses,” she cooed.

“They love it.”

“Gopi doesn’t play anymore but he has all the gossip.”

“He is getting married to Kresha, isn’t it?”

Avantika sputtered. “In December. And Kresha has turned into the bridezilla! You know what she started doing last week?”

“What?”

“She saw some reel for brides-to-be to have some glowing skin and hair. Ghee in hot water on an empty stomach. She has been having it delivered to her room every morning and drinking it down. Blehhhh. Ugh,” she shuddered. His quiet laugh reverberated across to her through that bicep her finger was still poking. She poked it harder.

“Seriously though, this can’t be natural. It’s steroids or protein powder or what?”

Samarth sighed, pushed his wrist up and unbuttoned his cuff. Her eyes widened, trained on the blue shirt sleeve that he rolled up in neat, clean folds.

“What? You’re showing me?”

He kept rolling until the sleeve met resistance at the bulgiest part of his bicep. And then, Avantika’s stomach caught fire, because he folded his arm and flexed — “Go on, test it.”

“What test it? It won’t be written on it no, ‘Hey, Ava, it’s me, Steroid bicep.’”

Samarth grabbed her hand and set it on the bulge. It wasn’t as big as she had imagined it under his shirt. It was also very, very hard. She felt him relax his muscles but it remained hard.

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