Page 21 of Reckless Hate

A couple of years ago when she complained to her mother about her stepfather’s inappropriate comments, her mother had accused her of being jealous. So, she had stopped complaining.

Although Samantha knew it wouldn’t make any difference, she thanked God that Sohan was a boy. She didn’t know if she could trust her stepfather with his own daughter.

Her stepfather was the reason why she turned sexually frigid. Unlike girls her age, she didn’t have any sexual urges or feel attracted to the opposite sex. In fact, anything related to sex turned her cold.

She frowned as she recalled the strange quivers she felt when Ved Simha was around.

It is just hatred towards him. Nothing else.

She wasn’t attracted to her former best friend. She hated him.

***

To distract herself for the rest of the weekend, she didn’t order food from the cafeteria or from any of the restaurants outside the main campus. Instead, she had groceries delivered and cooked meals in the apartment kitchen. She made enough so even her roommate could have some.

The roommate was excited when Samantha asked her to help herself to the food.

“You are a wonderful cook!” Anita Nair said while digging into the creamy chicken and rice casserole with caramelized onions.

“Thanks.”

Anita Nair’s face brightened. “Your mother must really be an excellent cook if you can make dishes like this at your age.”

Samantha didn’t say anything. Her mother barely knew how to boil an egg. But it was because of her mother’s lack of cooking skills and neglect that she had to learn cooking at a young age.

“So, were you born in France?” her roommate asked.

Samantha didn’t reply. She took the peach and apple pie from the oven and placed it on the countertop to cool. The entire kitchen filled up with the smell of cinnamon and butter. She looked at her roommate who was looking at her eagerly waiting to strike up a friendly conversation.

“The pie tastes good with vanilla ice cream,” she told her roommate. “There is a carton in the freezer.”

With that, she went back to her bedroom and shut the door.

She knew her roommate must be disappointed about her snubbing attempts of friendship or small talk. But being disappointed at the beginning was much better than getting hurt.

She let out a sigh. And then opening the patio doors to her balcony, she sat in front of the sewing machine and worked on a dress.

But even as she vowed to keep her enemy out of her mind, her eyes went towards the balcony doors to see if he would climb into her room again to warn her off.

He didn’t come the entire weekend.

CHAPTER 11

It was Monday, Samantha’s second week at Simha university.

She put on her earphones and once again went on a run at six in the morning. She noticed that the campus was nearly empty. Most of the students must have spent the weekend partying and staying up late.

She could have gone too because she had a car. But it was a car gifted by her father. The keys were delivered to her apartment.

I hope you enjoy your gift. Drive safely.

Love, Papa.

She had ignored the message and her father’s gift. She vowed never to use the car which was currently in the university student garage at an assigned parking spot.

Pushing away thoughts of her father, she finished her run and returned to her apartment and got ready for classes. She ate weekend leftovers for breakfast before stepping out of the housing unit to face another week at Simha.

She knew going to the cafeteria would mean facing Ved Simha again. And she didn’t want to face him. She was determined to ignore him.

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