chapter 2

That man was one of his bodyguard-

Rudra suddenly snatched his bag from samira's hand, making her flinch in surprise.

“Rudra, did you put a cooker in here or something? Why’s it so heavy?” she teased, narrowing her eyes at him.

Rudra clutched the bag close, walked over to his bodyguard, and discreetly handed him a gun hidden inside. Once the exchange was done, he returned to Samira with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah… you’re right. I stuffed it with clothes since I’m going home to my family,” he lied smoothly.

Samira raised a suspicious eyebrow, but shrugged it off and went to get her laptop bag scanned. Rudra followed, and after security cleared them both, they boarded their flight.

When they reached their seats, Rudra’s was empty, but Samira found an older man sitting in hers with his young son beside him at the window.

 “Uncle, excuse me… this is my seat,” Samira said politely.

The man scowled. “What do you want?”

“This is my seat,” she repeated, calm but firm.

“Can’t you see I’m with my son?!” the man snapped aggressively.

Samira frowned, about to check the seat number on his boarding pass, but before she could move, Rudra whispered, “Don’t.”

Samira turned and said "I can manage-".

Rudra cut her off, holding her hand. His voice dropped cold as he addressed the man,"oye khada ho,apni seat pe ja or apne bete ko bhi le ja!".

[Rudra said in cold tone to that man,"hey stand up, go back to your seat and take your son as well".]

The cabin fell silent. An air hostess hurried over. “Sir, is everything alright?”

Without taking his eyes off the man, Rudra said evenly,"this man is not letting my girlfriend sit in her seat".

Samira’s eyes widened—girlfriend? This wasn’t the Rudra she knew: calm, quiet, collected. This side of him was sharp, commanding, and it unsettled her.

As that man stood and go back to his seat with his son mumbling "Aaj kal ke nojawan".

[Man was mumbling,"youth nowadays".]

Samira sat in her seat and she was staring rudra's face.

Rudra said with small smirk on his face "you look impressed".

Samira nodded "impressed? Yes. Amused? Definitely".

 Samira pulled out her phone and showed Rudra pictures of her university, chatting animatedly. He knew every corner of that campus already, but instead of interrupting.

He listened.

After a while, she caught him staring. “Are you even listening?” she asked in a low scolding tone.

He said "yeh".

Samira said ,"then tell what I was saying?".

Rudra hesitated. “Uh… maybe about the… appearance of the university?”

“Aha! Got you!” Samira grinned triumphantly. “I was telling you about my bestie who also studies there.”

Even though, rudra knew about everything about that but he stayed oblivious.

He asked ,"oh, your bestie? Who?".

Samira gave him side eye," I told you, her name is aradhya".

His fake realisation,"ah, yeh yeh".

“Anyway,” she said, “I’ll head to my university, and you’ll go to your house.”

Rudra nodded but sighed,"yes madam ji".

Samira smiled.

Samira pulled out a small bag of cookies from her tote and handed it to him. “Here. You can eat some now, and take the rest home.”

“You made these?” he asked.

She nodded.

“How long is the flight?” she asked next.

“Two and a half hours.”

She got excited "oh yeh~".

Leaning back in her seat, she drifted into a nap. Gently, Rudra tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, his gaze softening.

While she sleep, rudra was into his own thoughts.

He thought,"i don't know how long I can keep this up".

He glanced at her, "I don't wanna lose her".

He sighed and leaned back and her hand in his hand. 

---

A few hours later, the plane landed. Rudra shook her gently. “Wake up, Suko.”

Samira stretched, her excitement bubbling as she gathered her things. She was patient enough not to cause chaos, but her energy was impossible to miss.

“Where are your bodyguards?” she asked as they walked out. 

“They didn’t come. The others are waiting outside with the car,” Rudra replied.

Samira laughed. “Damn, feels like you’re some kind of celebrity.”

He cleared his throat lightly. “Kinda.”

Outside, a sleek Mercedes-Benz waited for them.

Samira was shocked. She said "omg, my favorite car!".

He just smiled a bit.

“So… are we going to your house first?” she asked.

“I thought we’d drop you at your university,” he said.

She said,"right".

And with that, the car pulled away toward her university.

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