The Billionaire and his Painter (Riansh FF)- Episode 1

Chicago

Riddhima rushed through the hallways, mumbling sorry for the nth time when she hit another student who was carrying a bunch of books and had not seen her running a marathon.

He wobbled a little on his feet in an attempt to stop the papers that he had so meticulously arranged last night scatter on the ground.

He turned to look at the girl in front of her who had abruptly halted and was the cause of the situation. Eyes wide in shock and beads of sweat on her forehead highlighted her struggle since morning. Her hair was braided from top. The shirt over her tank top was unbuttoned and reached her hips teaming up with the pair of black joggers. A satchel hung at her side with the strap across her body and small blotches of yellow and red painted her tee.

Riddhima felt apologetic when she saw the combination of tension and anger cross his face. “I am really sorry but you see I’m in a hurry.”

She tried to walk past him suppressing the guilt growing inside her. She knew she should help him but the lecture was important. The guest today was important.

She had been waiting for this moment for very long. One year to be precise. She wanted to present her art to him. Worry and anxiety had been her best friend since last night. She couldn’t sleep thinking what if her project got rejected. What if the professor did not approve it. But she needed the money. It had been difficult to survive in an unknown city on her own.

But there is no right time to be reckless. Few hours before nine in the morning, her eyelids felt heavy and drooped. She wanted to work on her other unfinished projects, hoping that at least one might get selected. But she didn’t realise overwork leads to over- exhaustion. If she hadn’t kept the ultra-loud alarm clock of her own voice, she might not have even woken up in time.

Ridhima had barely managed to braid her hair to look appropriate for the ocassion. She had fallen asleep in her class and had to run to the gym to shower. The worst, she had to repeat her blotched clothes.

‘This might just show my hardwork.’ She had thought, fooling herself.

When she tried to walk past him, he grabbed her wrist stopping her midway. His brows raised in a question. “Where are you going?”

“I’m sorry buddy, I need to go.” She tried telling, her voice sounding desperate. “It’s urgent.”

He however, didn’t let her budge. “Don’t you think you need to pick these up first?” He pointed to the ground without moving his gaze from her.

Ridhima felt irritated and looked at her wrist watch. She quickly bent and grabbed the papers before almost shoving it to him. “There you go.”

His eyes didn’t stop seething however, his jaw unclenched. “If you are in such a hurry, you should better be more careful with your steps.”

Ridhima felt a rush of annoyance in her veins at his remark. “I didn’t ask for your advice Mr.Whoever you are.”

She finally looked at him properly, examining. He was wearing a navy blue sweatshirt paired with light washed jeans and white shoes. He looked young, around his mid-twenties.

Ridhima felt guilty when she admired his features. He wasn’t bad looking. Not at all. His hair was slightly wavy, the locks dishevelled in a good way. His eyes were hazel brown, like hers but it adorned his features. He was tall and she hated how he looked down at her.

‘I don’t need to feel guilty. Vansh left me. And I am free to admire anyone.’ She internally persuaded herself. But her heart disagreed as it started beating rather quickly thinking about him and his memories.

“I am Kabir.” The man stretched his arm to shake hands. His voice burst the bubble she was in and brought back her to reality. Giving a quick glance to her watch, she mumbled a “I don’t care.” and ran.

***

Hope you liked it.

Don’t worry fellas, Vansh will soon make an appearance.

Drop in your thoughts in the comments and let me know if you liked it.