AUTHOR'S POV
"Good morning, class. I'm Chhavi Sharma, Assistant Professor from the Department of Mathematics. Starting today, I will be your maths lecturer for the semester."
Chhavi Sharma, a young woman of twenty-five stood at the podium with poise. Her long, jet-black hair was braided neatly, trailing down her back, brushing the hem of her pale cotton kurta. Her figure was petite but the moment her gaze swept across the room, shoulders straight and voice firm, the room filled with young minds couldn't do anything more than paying attention to her presence.
Her soft almond eyes scanned the rows and after she made sure everyone had settled down and the hush had deepened, her lips curved into a subtle smile.
And, with that she began introducing the curriculum over the microphone against the podium.
Just as she dwelled into her job, in the farthest row of the middlemost column, a pair of storm-dark eyes followed her every movement.
He sat with his arms folded, legs stretched, the usual smirk absent from his lips. His stare wasn't curious. It wasn't admiring. It was consuming. As if he was struggling hard to learn her facial feature by heart, in the scarce time of forty- minutes.
She had no idea.
No idea that it wasn't a coincidence the former professor was suddenly suspended overnight.
No idea that every detail about her- her schedule, her address, her routines had already been fed into a folder on his desktop long before she stepped into this room.
His eyes didn't blink once. He was afraid she would vanish if he did so.
His head tilted ever so slightly as he leaned back in his chair.
DRISHYE'S POV
She's so pretty! Does she even realise what she does to me?
She is my sickening little desire, slowly becoming my addiction. She's bad. Very bad for shooting the dopamine through my brain without any warning, making me yearn for more. Bad little evil.
She is the terror. She terrifies me. I'm terrified she'd make me do bad things for her.
But don't we do the atrocious for the lady we love?
I have already ruined a man's career in one night. For her.
And I'd do it again. For a look. Just from her.
Hell, for nothing at all.
If she senses the static in the air when she walks past me, she'll feel it jolt down her veins.
Her presence alone has made me lie. Manipulate. Destroy. All without touching her once.
That's what she does to me. She's not cruel though. She's...unaware. Blissfully, tragically unaware.
And that is what makes her dangerous.
Because she doesn't have to try. She walks into a room and I forget that consequences exist.
I watched her pause mid-sentence. Her cherry lips stopped moving.
Her pretty brown eyes met mine. Like smoke curling into a still woody forest. Finally.
"That man in blue, please stand up."
I heard her say.
Me.
She was staring directly at me. My pulse slowed. Not quickened but slowed as if my entire being wanted to pause and savour the moment. She noticed me.
"Yes, the one with grey eyes. You."
She doesn't know my name. Yet.
But she will. Oh, she will.
I stood slowly. The class turned their eyes in my direction but I only saw her.
"Yes, ma'am."
Her brows lifted, just slightly.
"What're you staring at?"
"You."
The room fell into an eerie silence. A few students shifted in their seats, uncertain whether to laugh or hold their breath.
But I didn't look away. I couldn't.
She was caught off-guard, just for a fleeting second. But she recovered fast. Blinked once. Straightened her spine.
"What was I speaking about?"
"Limits."
I replied without missing a beat.
"What exactly about limits?"
She asked, confident that I wouldn't be able to answer.
"The introduction. Using epsilon and delta."
She nodded once and turned back to the board.
I watched the curve of her back as she wrote against the board. And I smiled.
I was paying attention. To everything she said. How can I miss it when she's the one speaking?
She turned back, looked back into my eyes and her tongue pressed against the inside of her cheek.
"Eyes on the board, Mr...?"
"Drishye."
I answered.
"Sit down."
She continued with the lecture but I knew I'd rattled her.
While I was already high on the effect I had on her, she looked composed. Unaffected.
She avoided my gaze for the rest of the hour.
Did my gaze make her feel uncomfortable? That wasn't the intention.
My eyes weren't meant to haunt, they were meant to admire.
The class ended after twenty minutes of me watching her avoid me, and questioning myself.
Was I being a creep?
As the bell rang and the students began to shuffle out, she calmly gathered her notes and markers, stacked them neatly and walked toward the door.
She walked out without glancing back.
I ran down the stairs from my bench, my heart pounding against my ribs. She was just a few feet ahead. Her braid swung gently, hips swayed in that serene
I ran up to her.
"Ma'am-"
She stopped and slowly, turned.
Her eyes had a flicker of surprise in them. And I couldn't believe we're so close.
"Yes?"
Her professional tone made my heart race faster.
I opened my mouth and for a second, I forgot why I'd come after her.
Her scent lingered in the air, hitting my nostrils like drugs. Euphoric!
She raised a brow urging me to talk.
"I- I'm sorry if I had caused you any disturbance...in the class. Apologies, madam."
She seemed to assess me for a second longer than necessary.
Then she nodded.
"Alright. I accept your apology."
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
"Which means I did creep you out..."
A pang of guilt struck my chest. Shame curled in my gut.
It was wrong. So very wrong. I shouldn't have-
"You didn't mention that while apologizing."
She interrupted.
"I assumed."
"That's where you're wrong." She explained. "You should never draw conclusions based on assumptions. You need to prove them before you conclude. Simple math, you see."
I let out a soft chuckle.
"So everything is maths?"
"Everything is!"
She replied instantly, without skipping a beat.
That made me chuckle again. I clasped my hands behind my back and asked, watching her with quite bewilder in my eyes.
"So, Madam. Did I creep you out?"
"So we're not assuming?"
She raised a brow. Her lips had a sly smile. She was trying to tease me. Oh Rose!
"If we assume, wouldn't it take me time to prove it wrong?"
She burst out laughing, palming her face as her shoulders shook, her eyes squinting with mirth.
And, like that I concluded that none else can be as beautiful as she is. Not even if God himself comes down to the earth to prove me wrong.
She had no idea what she did to me in a single second of joy.
"You didn't creep me out, Drishye!" She prompted. "Now go. You'll be late for your next class."
She ended it with a smile and walked away.
I felt every nerve under my skin dance in joy.
You should allow me to let you know how much I admire you, Rose. How much my brain aches to memorise your voice, the lines of your skin. How much my body burns to be near you- just near, not even touching. How much my heart...my twisted, volatile heart wants to kneel at your feet for a smile.
You walk around with that scent of yours that makes my lungs greedy.
You haven't touched me. Haven't smiled at me twice. You barely know my name.
You're not mine. But you will be.
Someday, you'll look at me the way I look at you. Not out of fear. But because your soul will finally recognise its madness in mine.
And when that day comes...
You'll understand that everything I've done or will ever do, was just a prelude to loving you.
Truly. Fully.
Irrevocably.
⋆｡°✩₊ °✦ ‧ ‧ ₊ ˚✧₊ °✦