We all got back to the hotel and sat in the common room.

There was also a sauna outside where a few of the boys were having a "recovery session"

"Jasprit chachu ka birthday hain na mama tomorrow?" Ziva says in her cute voice.

"Oh my gosh, yes! Mahi she's right." Sakshi says

I smile slightly. Wow, his birthday is tomorrow and I'm going to give him a very special gift. I look around to see if he is here.

"Shanaya why are you smiling?" Ritika asks me. "Oy hoyyy"

I click my tongue. "What even-"

"Don't try to act all shareef and all, we know what's going on ;)"

"Yeah bhabi" Yuzi says. Hardik and him high five each other.

"Bhabi?" The other boys say in unison.

"Shanaya and Jasprit????"

"The heck?"

"No way!"

"Where is he anyway?" I ask, trying to change the topic.

"He's gone for a shower" Bhuvi says. "Why don't we plan a party?"

"No shiittt Bhuvs you genius." Hardik clapped his hands sarcastically, everyone laughs while he dabs.

Just as we began engaging in a deep discussion about how to plan this, a figure appeared at the door.

"Shanaya. Can I have a word for a minute?" My father was at the door.

My smile turned into a frown. I feared what this talk was going to be about. It had been 3 days since that incident at the Shard and I did not want to talk about getting married to a random guy again.

The room became silent as everyone looked towards me as I got up slowly.

"Be right back. You guys carry on."

"Yaar inka kuch chakkar chal raha hai kya?" Rahul says after I've left

"Arey yaaar, Lo, you're a little late. Date wate bhi ho gayi bhaisaab ki" says Hardik as he just manages to avoid a light punch in his abs.

"Accha?"

"That's why he kissed the ball yesterday. Hmm..." virat smiles to himself.

"Y'all know what this means. Wedding belllssss...." Aesha says, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Honey let's first plan Jasprit's party and you can decide your outfits later Alright?"

"Shikhar!!!!"

They laugh.

💗

"So Shanaya. We're going back to India tomorrow."

My head shoots up. I can feel my eyes pricking. We can't go tomorrow. No way.

"I thought you said next week."

"It's been a week since I said that."

"I - can't. I'm not ready to go back."

"Why? Because you want to stay with that boy?"

"Dad no. Just stop."

"Regardless of anything, I want you to do something."

Wtf is he going to say omd

"I want you to spend tomorrow with Abhishek before we go back to India. Before your wedding."

As he says this, a young boy comes from behind him.

My eyes seem to freeze in their sockets and I swear my heart stopped beating for a second.

It was Abhi! The same Abhi who had almost molested me.

Well shit.

"Hey." He says, putting out a hand for a shake.

I stare at it hard, without budging.

"Shanaya." My dad says firmly.

Unwillingly, I somehow slip my hand into his hand, wanting to quickly just shake it and leave, however he squeezes my hand tightly, without taking his eyes off me.

I stare back at him, hard. His stone cold eyes seem to almost hurt heart.

"See you at the Bubble. 5 pm." He says through almost gritted teeth.

He seemed to send a chilling vibe through me: almost with the intent of devouring me, feeding off me, his predatory nature reminded me of the comfort that Jasprit gave me. No. I cannot marry him. Not Abhi.

After he lets go of my hand, I run back to my room and cry, soaking my pillow.

"Hey Shanaya." Shalini's hand rested on my back.

I look in the mirror at my messed up hair and dark eyes, with tears stained across my cheeks.

I can't live without him.

Just a few minutes later there's a knock at the door and I look through the hole in the door to see who it is. Me and Shalu exchange glances in worry. A flash of concern strikes our faces.

"Its Jasprit. How am I going to talk to him?" My voice is whimpering as I speak to Shalu. My hair literally looks like I've strolled out of Hurricane Katrina and my eyes are bulging out of their sockets.

"Shan, open the door, fast!" He says, knocking again. "I need to tell you something."

I swallowed the painful lump in my throat and replied.

"J-just a minute! Coming." I say, quickly flicking my hair back and forth until a decent bun forms and I wipe my eyes with a towel as I rinse my face.

"Abey yaar tum koyi shaadi ki tayari kar rahi ho kya??? Why so much time?" Jasprit sounded excitedly impatient.

I quickly patted my face and opened the door, with a huge smile on my face.