"Ruhani baby, please let me drive the car. You don't even have a driving licence." The old driver pleaded to his boss's daughter.

"Girdhari uncle, don't underestimate my driving skills. I am an instant learner." Ruhani reassured the old man and accelerated the car.

"Baby, don't drive so fast. This route has a lot of traffic, you may accidentally hit a car." The old man warned her, but his warnings fell on deaf ears.

"Girdhari uncle, don't be so paranoid." Ruhani confidently looked at her Girdhari uncle who was at the verge of a heart attack seeing her amazing driving skills. Note the sarcasm.

Those five seconds. When Ruhani diverted her attention from the road to the old man were crucial. Because the car had neared a signal. The signal showed red colour. And the car, moving in front of Ruhani's car, halted on seeing the red signal. However, Ruhani didn't.

And that's when it happened. Crash!

Ruhani hit the black car.

Girdhari Lal quickly held his chest. And Ruhani looked at the car she accidentally hit.

"I had told you, Ruhani baby." Girdhari gave her accusing looks.

"I didn't know it will actually happen." She said innocently with an almost crying face.

"You don't even have a driving licence. You can get fined, or worse, arrested." Girdhari Lal went paranoid.

However, Ruhani wanted to escape the situation without putting up a fight or a drama in the middle of a road.

"Girdhari uncle, cool down. Listen to me carefully. You are my driver, that you actually are. You are having a heart attack, which actually seems true. So hold your chest and let me handle the situation. Okay?"

"Okay." For once Girdhari Lal trusted Ruhani's non-existent skills. Because she was the best at faking tears.

And soon the driver of the black car came out in full mood to fight and create a scene. He pulled up his sleeves while reaching their car. But before he could start uttering colourful words, Ruhani began her drama.

"Bhaiya, I am really sorry for the damage. But my driver uncle is having a heart attack. I was in a hurry and accidentally hit your car. Here, take this money for the damage," She handed him some notes, "And let us go."

Girdhari Lal decided to join the drama as well.

"Beta, only a driver can understand a driver's pain. Please let us go. Or I'll die before watching the faces of my grandchildren." He said it with so much pain that the other driver had tears in his eyes.

"No, no, uncle ji. Madam, you please take him to hospital." The driver requested.

"Thank you." Both, Ruhani and Girdhari Lal smiled at the driver who went back to his car while praying, "God, give such caring employers to everyone."

And when he was gone. Ruhani and Girdhari Lal had a good laugh while driving back home.

"Ruhani baby, you are a troublemaker. I am not going to let you drive this car ever again."

"No problem, Girdhari uncle. But don't tell anyone about this little accident. Tell them some drunkard is responsible for it." She pleaded to the old man with a cute white moustache.

"Okay, I'll make up a story." He agreed.

🕊🕊🕊

"Chaanu Di!" Ruhani entered her cousin's bedroom wearing a beautiful pink dress, putting an end to whatever arguments her cousins, Chahana and Angad, were having.

"How do I look?" Ruhani twirled around in excitement.

"Oh, you look stunning, Ruhi." Chahana smiled.

"Where are you going, by the way?" Angad asked out of curiosity. He just loved to interfere in his sisters' matters.

"To the whatever party both of you are going." Ruhani replied while waving down her hand.

"And who told you to accompany us?" Angad asked a little rudely with his hands on his hips.

"Well, I told myself to accompany both of you." But Ruhani didn't mind, because she desperately wanted to attend the party. And by the way, she thought of Angad as nobody but an annoying person.

"You are not coming with us!" Angad declared.

Ruhani looked at Chahana with a pouty face.

"Angad, let her join us. It's your college reunion. I won't be familiar with anyone there, so Ruhani and I will stick together and pass the time." Chahana suggested.

"Di, it has a couple entry." Angad reasoned.

"Oho, Angad, I'll take care of that." Ruhani said confidently, waving the matter off.

"How?" He asked irritated of her. This particular thing about her waving things off as nothing irked him to no end.

"I'll do something to get entry, naa." She whined like a kid.

"Angad, let her come." Chahana kept on insisting. Ruhani was her sweetheart cousin.

"Alright, but if they didn't let you enter then I won't be able do anything about it." He warned her for the last time.

"Okay." Ruhani readily agreed.

🕊🕊🕊

Ruhani was leaning against the car, standing all alone in a deserted parking lot. As Angad had warned her, the gaurds did not allow her to enter. And now she was waiting for a miracle to happen.

"Oh, God, please do something!" She pleaded internally.

"Are you Chahana's cousin?" And she heard a masculine voice.

Ruhani turned around to find a curly-haired guy standing in front of her. She wasn't really good at describing facial features, but he was a handsome specimen.

"Yes." She nodded.

"She has sent me to get you inside. Come with me." He seemed polite and frank. So she didn't hesitate and followed him inside the party venue.

"By the way, I am Jodhbir Agnihotri." He introduced himself with a charming smile.

"Are you related to Jashn Agnihotri?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm his cousin." He nodded, the smile not leaving his face.

"Wow! I am Ruhani Shekhawat. Chahana's cousin." She grinned and forwarded her hand for a handshake. Jodhbir gladly accepted her friendly handshake.

"I see, our cousins are supposedly together." He said while looking around for Chahana, "I can't find Chahana. Can you please call her?" He asked.

"Sure." She pulled out her phone and made a call to her.

"Hey, Di. Where are you?" She asked as soon as the call was picked by Chahana.

"Ruhi, I have some urgent work to get done with. And don't try to find Angad. That idiot is nowhere to be found."

"Then what would I do here all alone?" Ruhani whined like the kid she is.

"Is Jodhbir present around you?"

"Yes." She nodded while looking at him, who in turn got curious about what the two cousins were discussing.

"Ask him to drop you home."

"Okay," Now that was the only way out. She didn't have a driving licence. Over the top, her reckless driving will directly land her into a hospital for granted.

"Take care. And call me once you reach home," said Chahana.

"You also come home soon." And the call ended.

Ruhani looked at Jodhbir, who was waiting to know what Chahana said.

"Jodhbir, can you please drop me home? My cousins are nowhere to be found and I don't have a driving licence." She was internally pleading, "Don't say no. Don't say no."

Jodhbir had no intentions of becoming someone's person chauffeur. But Ruhani genuinely needed his help. And he couldn't even refuse because they were going to meet each other a lot once Jashn and Chahana will resolve their differences and get back together. So he agreed with a nod, "Alright. Let's go to the parking lot then."

Ruhani passed him a megawatt smile before uttering a loud thank you that literally deafened his eardrum for a nanosecond.

Jodhbir maintained his smile and walked out of the party. Ruhani followed him to the parking lot.

As they neared the long queue of luxury cars, something clicked in Ruhani's mind. There was a black Rolls Royce parked at the end of the queue. And Ruhani's subconscious mind was telling her that this is the same car she had hit hours ago.

But who cares? It's not like she was going ride in that car.

However, her heart went paranoid when she saw Jodhbir walking to the very same car and the very same driver, whom she had fooled with her fake tears, came out of the driver's seat.

"Sir, you came early?" asked the driver to his boss.

"Mohan, I have to drop an acquaintance home. C'mon, get inside." Jodhbir told the driver.

Now the driver, whose name was Mohan, looked at the said acquaintance and instantly a big smile came on his face.

"Arrey, Madam Ji, it's you!" He gave her a welcoming smile.

At that moment, she felt guilty for fooling him. But then she thought to herself, "Why am I feeling guilty? I didn't harm him or anything. I even paid the money for the damage. Just because I wanted to avoid creating a scene in the middle of a road does not make me a bad person. What you did was not wrong, Ruhani. There's no need to feel guilty."

"Mohan, how do you know her?" Jodhbir asked in curiosity.

"Arrey, Sir, she is a very nice person. Her driver had a heart attack. She herself drove him to the hospital. On the way she accidentally hit your car that I was driving, but she even paid for the damage." Mohan told the entire story in a praising manner.

"Oh, I see." Jodhbir nodded.

All the while, Ruhani was feeling uncomfortable. She wasn't liking the way she was being portrayed as a saintly woman when nothing like that happened in reality.

"Can we cut the conversation, please? I am feeling homesick out of blue." She interrupted.

"Yeah, sure." Jodhbir nodded, getting an idea that she was feeling uncomfortable with the praises thrown at her. So he signalled Mohan with his eyes to get in the car while he himself opened the door of the backseat for Ruhani.

"Please have a seat." He smiled.

By this point Ruhani was wondering how this man could smile so much. Doesn't his jaw starts aching with the smiley facade he keeps on all the time? But she kept her thoughts to herself and quickly sat inside the car. Shutting the door after her, he sat on the passenger's seat. And Mohan began the ride. Ruhani told him the address. The journey was quiet. Jodhbir had turned on the music to avoid any further conversation as he was done trying to act like a friendly person.

And Ruhani very well understood his dual nature. There was something about his aura that told her he is faking the smiles and the friendliness. So she kept quiet, looking outside the window to pass her time.

"We have reached the Shekhawat mansion." Jodhbir announced once the car halted in front of the iron gates with tight security.

"Oh," She quickly got out of the car while continuing, "Nice to meet you, Jodhbir."

"Likewise." He smiled one last time before the car sped away.

The main gate was opened by the security gaurds and Ruhani entered the Shekhawat mansion. She was passing by the lawn when she saw her uncle Angraj strolling bare feet on the grass.

"Ruhi Beta, why you came so early from the party?" He asked.

"Umm... Bade Papa, I wasn't feeling well there. The uncomfortable environment was getting on my nerves so I decided to return." She lied.

"Okay. Did Angad drop you home?"

"No. Jodhbir did. He is Jashn's cousin." She smiled.

"Jashn's cousin? You mean Shashank Agnihotri's son?" He asked in a very strange manner.

"I don't know, Bade Papa." She shook her head.

"Alright... eat dinner before retiring to bed."

"Okay, Bade Papa. Good night." She greeted him before entering the house through the glass doors connected to the lawn area.