*Viraj*

Strawberries and coffee. That's the first thing I smell.

I groan and stuff my face into the pillow and the smell of strawberries gets stronger.

Aslesha.

I jerk up from the bed and flinch. Fucking hell this headache! Mai itni daaru bahot saalo baad peeya.

I slowly open my eyes and look at the surroundings. This is not my bedroom obviously.

The first thing I see is a big book shelf filled with novels. I'm at Aslesha's place.

I put my head in my hands as I remember the events of yesterday. I called Aslesha.

Shit shit shit!

She came to pick me up. She took care of me. She told me that she's not with Neel anymore. I- I kissed her in bed. On her long beautiful neck. I told her she's beautiful. No. I told her she's fucking beautiful. And then we almost kissed but.. what am I missing here?

The scar! Yes.

Those were definitely stitches. I'm not sure whether I saw it correctly. But ab mai nashe me nahi hu, sahi se dekh lunga.

And now, I have to face her.

Fuck!

Kyu mai hamesha uske saamne pagal jaise harkate kar ke khud ko embarass karta rehta hu? Kyu kyu kyu? Ugh!

I want to look around her bedroom. In her wardrobe and drawers and stuff. Pata toh chale ke iski life ab hai kaisi. Lekin mera aisa naseeb hai ke taak jhaak karte hue bhi pakda jaaunga. Forget it.

Dammit uske papa? I guess he's not home because kal jab hum yaha aaye tab the door was locked. Haashh..

I go out to the living room and see a pillow and blanket on the sofa. So she slept here and let me sleep in her bed. I feel a weird feeling in my chest.

I go to the kitchen and see her. She is not facing me. Drunk Viraj and sober Viraj, ek baat pe toh agree kar hi sakte hai.. that she's fucking beautiful!

She's wearing a long kurti and her hair is damp from the shower falling in curls almost down to her lower back.

She's wearing earphones while cooking and humming a song.

I listen closely.

Yaad hai mujhko tune kaha tha
Tumse nahi roothenge kabhi
Dil ki tarah se aaj mile hai
Kaise bhala chhootenge kabhi..

Oh.. one of my favourite songs by Mohammed Rafi ji.

Teri baahon mein beeti har shaam
Bewafa yeh bhi kya yaad nahi?

Why do these lyrics seem so relatable?

Kya hua tera vaada.. woh kasam woh irada
Bhoolega dil jis din tumhein
Woh din zindagi ka aakhri--

She suddenly looks back and catches me staring and stops singing. Great great! Just great!

Beautiful bol le. Kiss kar le. Ghuur le. Aur wapas dil tudwaa le.

"I've made masala dosa" she says. "Vo extra toothbrush hoga washroom me. Rudra thodi der pehle aaya tha. Tumhari bag deke gaya kapdo ki".

"Rudra aaya tha? Kab? Mujhe uthaya kyu nahi?"

"Ek ghante pehle. Vo tum itne shaanti se soye the ki.." she says, stopping mid-sentence and turns away.

When I enter the kitchen after brushing my teeth, the breakfast is ready. I desperately need coffee. I don't even ask her but she gives me a mug.

I drink the coffee. It's too strong. But I don't mind. I remember her asking maa to teach her to make coffee. Chalo at least ek chiz hai jo mai usse achhi banaa leta hu.

She takes a sip and makes a face. "Kitni kadwi bani hai yuck! How the hell did you drink it?" She asks and throws away the coffee in the sink.

"Thik thi" I say and frown.

For a long moment we stay silent. She keeps looking anywhere and everywhere but not at me. Should I say thank you for yesterday. Maybe I should say sorry. I kissed her. And I was on top of her. I was going to kiss her lips. I was going to..

I need a cold shower.

"So aunty kaise hai?" she asks suddenly.

"Thik hai" I reply.

Again there is a long.. long pause.

"Tumhare papa kaise hai?" I ask.

"Thik hai" she says.

Ek time tha jab humari baate khatam nahi hoti thi. Aur ab dekho.

"Tum ye week kya khana chaahoge. Just give me a list or something, I'm gonna go grocery shopping today" she says.

"I'll come with you" I say without thinking and her eyes land on me.

This is not the answer she expected. Neither did I.

"Mujhe aise pata nahi chalega. Store me jaaunga tabhi I'll understand" I explain and she nods.

"I don't think vo island pe koi store hoga bada sa. Aur yaha city area me jaayenge toh log tumhe chain ki saans lene nahi denge" she says.

"Mai arrange karta hu kuch. No problem" I tell her.

"Fine. Mai ready hoti hu" she says and gets up.

"Aise hi achhi lag rahi ho" I say and internally slap myself. Kal ki ab tak utri nahi kya meri? Her eyes widen and she turns away and starts cleaning the dishes.

I remove my phone to make some calls. Let me show her what I'm capable of.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

*Aslesha*

I don't know where Viraj is taking me. From the corner of my eye, I look at him driving his car.

I don't know from where did this car appeared in front of my house. But Viraj didn't want to come with me on my scooty. For obvious reasons. He made some calls and asked for a car.

This morning was awkward. Does he even remember what happened yesterday. I don't think so.

I sigh and look out the window at the passing buildings and houses.

Aise hi achhi lag rahi ho.

A smile touches my lips. I'm wearing a long front slit white kurti with pink leggings. It's simple but cute.

"We're here" he says unbuckling his seatbelt and I look out to see a small store. Not really small actually. I get out and a guy in uniform comes rushing towards us.

"Good afternoon sir. Aapne jaise kaha tha pura store khaali kar diya hai. Jab tak chaahe use kar lijiye" he says and my eyes widen.

Viraj thanks him and enters the store and I see his smirk getting bigger and bigger.

Wow. He loves being powerful, doesn't he?

He takes a cart and starts walking through the aisles and we both start dumping stuff into it. Vegetables, dairy products, snacks, spices, drinks, vagera vagera.

Almost 45 minutes later we are done. Viraj pays at the counter as the old man keeps gushing over him.

Viraj behaves kindly towards him. Toh ye snobby behaviour sirf mere liye hai. We leave the store and that man is still standing outside. They have a little talk and then we get in his car.

"Bahar se kuch khaate hai" he says. I don't even want to say no.

I thought Viraj wanted to eat here. But no. We go back to the island on his personal bow rider which I'm falling in love with. There his car is ready. Is this guy a magician.

It's not magic. It's the money.

When Viraj stops the car and I look out, my eyes almost pop out of my sockets.

'Something Fishy'.

He brought me here! We came here last time. After bungee jumping. I remember this place really well.

It's still like I remember. Small and cozy and it has a retro like vibe to it. We sit in a corner and nobody is here other than us.

"Yaha hum order nahi de sakte. Thaali serve karte hai aur-"

"Koi bhi fish hoti hai jo bhi vo subah pakad ke laaye" I finish his sentence. "I remember".

He looks at me for a really long moment and I'm not able to look away. What is he thinking?
I wish his face was expressible like before. Ab iske dimaag me kya chalta hai kuch nahi samjhta. It's like he's always wearing a mask. Not letting anyone see his emotions.

"Vi-Viraj Sachdev?"

We both look away and see a teenage guy around fifteen looking at Viraj in awe. I guess he's the waiter here. I smile.

"Hi" Viraj smiles at him.

"Aap sach me yaha ho?" He asks still awestruck.

"Haa sach me. Ab kuch khilaaoge bhi? Bahot bhuk lagi hai" he says.

"Ha ha" that guys says and runs into the kitchen.

"How does this feel?" I ask out of curiosity.

"What?"

"This" I say looking at that guy. "Everyone knows you. Follows you. Wants to be you".

"Overwhelming" he says and pauses. "But I love it. Some parts of it. There are some people who love me and their love is just so pure and innocent. Some treat me like I'm some animal in a zoo. The first thing they do is throw their phones on my face clicking selfies and pictures. I hate that. That's the part I hate. Aa ke baat karo, hug karo, chalega. But don't treat me like an animal" he says and I nod.

I've heard a few times about him being rude to his fans and stuff. I know he won't do that. Logo ko bhi samajhna chahiye that just because he's a celebrity, doesn't mean he owes you pictures and autographs.

The food arrives and we eat silently. It's delicious. That same old lady comes out of the kitchen and I smile at her.

Kitni pyari jodi hai, she had said that day.

She wears her specks and squints her eyes. "Daadi ye Viraj Sachdev hai" that guy tells her excitedly.

"Kon Viraj Sachdev?" she frowns.

"Arre indian cricket team me khelte hai ye" he says looking worriedly at Viraj but Viraj just chuckles.

"Mai kaha TV dekhti hu" she says weakly and looks at me and smiles. "Mujhe toh bass itna yaad hai ke pichli baar bhi ye dono saath aaye the. Kitni pyaari jodi hai na Bittu" she says touching both our cheeks and then kissing her fingers.

My cheeks go red and I look down. "Sorry sir. Daadi vo-" that guy, whose name is Bittu I guess, starts speaking.

"Shaadi ki ke nahi tumne?" she continues and my cheeks become more red, if that's even possible. Ground, please swallow me up.

"Hume nikalna chahiye. Khana bahot achha banaa tha daadi thank you" he says and stuffs some cash in that guy's hands and rushes outside. I follow him. We get in the car and run away like our asses are on fire.

Viraj enters his bedroom as soon as we reach and slams the door close. I sigh and massage my head.

Wow.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

I'm restless the whole day so I decide to bake something. Baking calms me down. I make cupcakes. When I remove them from the microwave Viraj comes out.

Khushboo se hi aaya hoga. I start icing them. "Mai bhi karu?" He asks.

"Yea sure" I say and hand him the icing tube.

He draws a smiley with one eye big and the other one small. Then he looks at the icing I did on the cupcake and frowns.

"Tumhara wala tube achha hai. Mujhe vo do" he says and I control my laughter.

I give him mine and the other cupcake he designs becomes more shabby.

"This is so unfair" he says and keeps the tube angrily.

I chuckle. "I'll show you" I say and stand in front of him and hold his hand. "Press it lightly" I say and draw a star.

"See" I say and turn to look at him but he's staring at me. Umm..

"How did you get this scar?" He asks and I step away from him.

"I told you yesterday na. It's just a scratch" I say.

"Do you think I'm dumb" he asks.

"No. I think you're not engaged" I say directly and he's caught off guard by my answer.

"I am" he states.

"Okay. Toh tum loyal nahi ho" I say.

"Hu mai!" He glares.

"Do you remember yesterday?"

He looks away. "Yes. And I'm sorry for that. I was not in my mind. I was drunk for god's sake" he says and I scoff.

"Ya right" I say.

"I'll invite her for the ceremonies that are starting next week. Fir believe ho jaayega na" he says.

My whole body lights up with jealousy.

"Ha bulaao na" I say.

"Jyada baat ghumao mat. Vo scar ka bataao chup chap" he shouts at me.

"Mujhe nahi batana. Bhaad me jaao" I glare and start walking away.

"I'm your boss! Show some respect" he yells and I turn to look at him.

I plaster a big fake smile on my face and say, "Fine. Kripya karke aap please bhaad me jaaiye. BOSS" I say and get into my room and slam the door shut.

Where did all this energy come from?

It's not energy. It's jealousy.

Dekhti hu ab next week kisse laata hai. Nahi laaya toh bass fir. I'm gonna tell him about the scar. Aur fir bahot tadpaaungi usse. Asshole!

~•~•~•~•~•~•

This is a shitty chapter I know. But my exams are coming soon and there are some family problems going on in my life. The next update will be after 11th June when my exams will get over. The next few chapters are important and we're nearing the ending. That's it.. Ily.