Bound by Law

Bound by Law || 25- Not What He Seems

"Good news. I called up Zahra and she said it was fine. Jai can come as well."

"Oh, um, that's great," I said, plastering a smile on my face. If Jai was coming, then he'd do nothing but criticise and insult me.

How fun.

"Yeah," Gavin mumbled, distastefully. "Great."

"Gavin?" I questioned, troubled to the sudden shift in tone.

"Huh–oh, right, well I'll see you guys in a couple of minutes?"

"Uh," I furrowed my eyebrows; it must have only been my imagination considering he sounded so cheery instantly. "Yes, um, see you then."

After hanging up, I told Jai that he could come and then walked back to my room to finish getting dressed.

I looked in the mirror and smoothed down the pleats of my formal and fancy maroon sari. I had the loose end of the drape worn over my left shoulder, but I had wrapped it around my waist first and so wore it in a way that it didn't completely bare my midriff because I wasn't comfortable with showing my skin to others.

My hair was hung over my left shoulder and pinned the front part of my hair back with a maroon rose shaped clip. I didn't know how to put makeup on so instead, I went basic.

I used some moisturizing cream and powder for my face and only put eyeliner and bright red lipstick on, accompanied with a small bindi.

I think I look nice!

It was the first time I had ever thought kindly about myself, especially not after the incident.

Plus, I knew that I'd never be beautiful like a lot of women out there, but putting this sari on gave me a boost of confidence and pride that was buried deep inside me.

Stepping out of my room, I walked down the stairs, spotting Jai fumbling around with the cuffs of his suit.

He was wearing a black velvet suit that was sharp-looking, and well-fitted with a white dress shirt and no tie.

The first couple of buttons were undone, giving a display of his collarbone a little bit. His attire seemed to be casual but there was an air of class surrounding him.

Hearing my footsteps, he looked up at me and stiffened. His eyes widened a fraction and his mouth parted slightly and I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable.

I hope I look okay.

His gaze roved over my face and my outfit, before he tore his eyes away as if I had disgusted him.

His face was stoic as he faced the small mirror put up on the wall, and continued fixing his cuff.

I wasn't expecting to be complimented by him, but I thought I looked nice so his reaction perturbed and hurt me.

Frowning to myself,  I fumbled with my fingers awkwardly as we walked towards the car. We were heading to Gavin's house to pick him up. Ross has gone earlier and Gavin would have gone, but he stayed back so that he could come with me.

The silence was almost unbearable so I pretended to be asleep. After what seemed like a long, torturous drive but was actually only a few minutes, we had reached Gavin's house.

We got out and walked towards the front door, me more excited than Jai. I rang the doorbell and after waiting in silence for about a few seconds, the door was opened.

I was greeted by Gavin who was wearing a simple black suit with a black dress shirt. It complemented his blonde hair that was gelled back and made him look both mature and more handsome as his hair stood out.