I filled my plate with almost everything I saw on the buffet and made my way towards the tables. As expected, I got late and every seat looked occupied. I roamed my eyes around the diner and spotted Surbhi.

Unfortunately, she was busy in a conversation with her teammates, and there was no vacant spot beside her. So, I waited for some time, and then my eyes landed on my crush. Priyaank.

I quickly walked in his direction and grabbed the spot beside him; on his right. When Priyaank noticed me, he gave me a small smile and asked me why I got so late. I made a silly excuse that I lost track of time, and he continued eating.

I acknowledged my other team members who were sitting there, but my smile faltered when I saw Mahek sitting across from us. She was not looking happy, and I knew why. She must have tried to sit beside Priyaank, and he must have refused indirectly.

I gave her a tight-lipped smile and focused back on my plate. I talked to my team leader in between and kept acting like an idiot. I was sure that if I kept behaving like that, he would find out eventually.

He was telling something to the guy beside him, and I used that time to admire him. He was a little taller than me and lean in build. His fashion sense was quite good too. I hoped he wasn't already taken.

As I was daydreaming about all the scenarios, I felt a hand on the top of my head, and my head was twisted to the front in a snap and bent down.

"Focus on your food, Sandhya," Ved said sternly and plopped down beside me.

I glanced at him and furrowed my eyebrows. "Why are you sitting here?"

"My will," he deadpanned.

"This is not your table," I argued.

"So what? It isn't like your name is written here."

I pursed my lips at his reply. He shrugged his shoulders, and I gave up. There was no use arguing with him. Why did I always forget that? I sighed and moved my eyes to the food in front of me. Meanwhile, I felt Mahek's blazing glare on me.

I ignored her, just like the others were doing. I tried to talk to Priyaank, but Ved would disturb me everytime. He said a lot of irrelevant things, and if I wasn't surrounded by so many people, I would have stabbed him with the fork.

"Oh Ved! Your plate is empty. Wait, I will bring some more food for you," Mahek chirped and started getting up from her seat after giving him a million dollar smile.

"Did I ask you to?" Ved snapped and fixed her with his cold stare.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Mahek. She was stunned by Ved's reply; her cheeks turned a shade of pink, and she blinked rapidly. I glanced at Ved who was looking at her with narrowed eyes-it didn't look good.

Mahek slowly shrunk back in her seat and pouted. Everyone started murmuring, and she poked her food in annoyance. I looked at her in disappointment, but felt bad too. She was just offering her help, but Ved shot her down rudely.

Then again, she didn't deserve any sympathy. I forgot who she was. She would never get tired of making passes on guys even when she had a boyfriend.

What the hell is she doing here? Shouldn't she be with Shree? She should be with her boyfriend instead of wooing other guys. But who am I kidding? I don't expect anything else from her.

I turned my head towards Ved when he poked my right cheek with his index finger. He was smiling widely, showing his perfect white teeth, and his eyes were twinkling. I just stared at him for a minute in disbelief. He was glowing like a light bulb.

"Why aren't you eating?" he asked.

I quickly averted my eyes when I realised that I was gaping at him. I got reminded of our childhood; he still had the same smile. That thought resulted in me smiling myself, and I shook my head.

My mind was definitely going kaput.

Ved nudged me with his knee, and I looked at him. "What?" I asked.

He pointed towards my plate and grinned. I raised an eyebrow, and before I could realise what he meant, he pulled my plate towards him and settled it between both of us. He didn't wait and started noshing.

I gave him a flat look, and he warned me that he would finish it all off if I didn't eat. Again I didn't see any point in arguing with him, so I joined him and we finished our-I mean my food-in no time.

I sensed Priyaank getting up beside me, so I also decided to get back to work with him.

"I am done," I announced and got up from the seat.

Ved grabbed my wrist and pulled me back so strongly that I almost fell down from the chair.

"Where the hell are you going?" he interrogated.

"Back to work. I am done eating," I lied. I was still hungry, but I didn't want to waste more time.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I know your diet, Sandhya. If you don't eat, you will faint and then others will have to do your part of the job. Do you really wanna put pressure on your teammates?" he blackmailed.

"Yeah, man. Eat up. If you fall unconscious, we will blame you," one of the girls agreed with Ved.

"Yes, Sandhya. We already have a burden as it is," one guy said while throwing a glance at Mahek.

"Make sure to eat properly. We have loads of work pending" another one added.

I looked at all of them, and they told me to fill up my stomach. I gave in and assured them that I would not bail out on them. As my plate was empty, I told Ved that I would get myself another filling.

But I didn't need to do so. Ved grabbed the plate from Karthik's hands who was about to sit beside him. Ved told him to get another one for himself and thanked him for bringing the meal for him.

Karthik gave a baffled look to him and everyone laughed. Poor boy. Ved motioned for him to go, and he punched Ved on the shoulder.

"I love you, Karthik. You are so caring," Ved joked, and Karthik left to get himself another plate while laughing himself.

Ved pushed the dish towards me and monitored my eating. I was really glad to see the various items in front of me. Since I had already filled my previous plate with a lot of things, I couldn't accommodate the ones Karthik had brought.

"I thought you didn't like mushrooms," I mumbled when I saw Ved eating it.

"Now I do," he replied as a matter of fact.

"Okay."

Karthik joined us after a few seconds, and Ved conversed with him. I tried not to eavesdrop, but it was hard to do so when I was sitting so close to them. By Ved's tone, it looked like he was reprimanding Karthik.

Though I got curious, I didn't get involved; it wasn't my place to say anything.

I got up to leave when I had finished eating, and Ved also decided to return back to his team. But Karthik stopped him and looked at him with his puppy eyes. He was still eating, and there was no one to keep him company.

"Don't leave me, bro. I thought you loved me," Karthik said pensively.

Ved rolled his eyes and smacked him behind the head. Both of them started laughing, and Ved sat back on his chair. I couldn't stop myself from laughing too. I liked their interaction; it made me miss my friends.

I decided to leave the guys by themselves and joined my team again. They had started the work, and I noticed that we indeed had a lot of ground to dig. So, without wasting any more time, I picked up the shovel and started removing the soil.

Priyaank came beside me and gave me a water bottle. I thanked him, and he shot me a sincere smile. It looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. I didn't think much about it and continued shoveling while chatting with other girls.

Suddenly, I was pushed from the back and landed in the mud. I fell on my knees, and I stopped myself from getting fully covered in soil by placing my palms on the ground. I looked back and saw Mahek twirling her hair around her fingers.

"Slut," she commented, and I scowled at her.

Priyaank scolded her for her childish behaviour, but she ignored him. She refused to do any work, and our team leader seemed to be losing his patience. The girls who were talking with me yelled at Mahek for being a pain in the ass and got in a fight with her.

When everyone turned against Mahek, she lost her shit. She picked up a bucket full of muddy water from the ground and splashed it on me. She crossed her limits. I was fucking angry, but instead of thrashing her, I came up with something else.

I stepped in front of her and gave her a huge smile. "I want to hug you," I said.

She gave me a weird expression and moved away. I stepped forward, and she threatened me to stay away from her. I enjoyed her reaction; it was far better than smashing her.

Before she could escape, I grabbed her in a tight embrace and pushed her in the mud. I joined her afterwards, and others burst out laughing. I made sure to cover her designer dress with as much soil as I could.

Priyaank was also enjoying and didn't complain. Mahek started crying and pushed me away. She jumped out of the pit and started dusting herself. I was about to pass out from laughing too much. Mahek shot a glare at me, and I gave her a mischievous look.

She realised what was on my mind and ran off. I quickly followed behind her, and she kept running like a mad man. We crossed the ground, other teams looking at us in amusement. I chased Mahek, laughing like a maniac.

She stopped when she spotted her boyfriend exiting the main doors of the resort. He jumped in fright when he saw Mahek. She went to hug him, but he made a disgusted face and stepped away.

"Who the fuck are you?" he yelled.

"Baby~ It's me!" she cried.

"Mahek?" Shree asked in bewilderment and started laughing.

She stomped her foot in anger and pointed towards me. "She did that!"

"What? Sandhya, you again?" He tried to sound serious but was failing miserably.

"I was complimenting her for her hard work." I shrugged.

He told Mahek to stay away when she tried to get closer to him. "Baby, I just had a shower. You will spoil my clothes," he complained.

"Looking nice for the first time, Mahek," Shreyas commented as he joined us.

"Doesn't she look so pretty?" I joked and high-fived with Shreyas.

Mahek was covered in mud from head to toe; she was unrecognisable. She fisted her hands and stormed away. Shree went after her, but didn't touch her. That was more hilarious.

I went back to my spot after having a nice laugh with Shreyas. I told my teammates that our burden had left, and everyone sighed in relief. Priyaank decided to not bother with her as she was wasting his time and not helping at all.

We exchanged a smile, and he patted my shoulder. I felt my ears heat up. I thought it was because of my handsome team leader, but it wasn't so. I quickly snapped my head to the left when I sensed a very familiar pair of eyes staring holes in me.

Ved was looking at me with a shovel on his shoulder and a weird expression on his face. I could literally feel the rage even from the ten meters of distance between us.

I gave him a confused look, and he ran his right thumb across his neck horizontally, motioning that I was dead.

What the hell? I didn't remember doing anything to piss him off! Was he angry that I troubled Mahek? Ummm... I don't think so as he didn't seem to be that much fond of her.

He shot me a warning look and looked away. Priyaank waved a hand in front of my face and asked me what was the matter. I shook my head and dismissed the topic. Though I was worried about what Ved meant by that gesture, I decided to brush it off.

After all, it was Ved I was talking about. He would find any way to mess with me. Maybe he was just fooling around again. There was no need to worry.

Hope so.