Everyone else looked at them, confused. The audience must've taken it as a part of the step because they convinced themselves while the other dancers kept glancing at them.
"Why did you pull me close?" Nisha asked as he held her hand, twirling her around.
"This isn't the choreo!" She spoke again. 

Yet, all he gave her was a light-tipped smile, "Just go with the flow, Nisha." 

They continued with the dance, syncing with the others. And she wasn't sure if it was a pleasant matter how they kept getting close all of a sudden.

As the song ended and everyone walked out, Atif asked, "What the heck did you two do?" 
Nisha didn't reply, she just shrugged, holding her chest. 
She was exhausted from all that dancing by now and her heartbeat wasn't turning normal. Her palms sweat and she doubted it was for the choreography. 

Because every time she looked at Kabir, her heart leapt. 

It lunged towards something she had no idea of. 

She barely knew him, yet felt so intense it was starting to confuse her.

"I forgot the choreography," Kabir spoke, which was a clear lie. Because no one bought it.

Seeing all stares at him, he sighed, "Okay. I acted impulsively. It made the choreo look unique. Check the recording. Since we're in the middle, it looked different." 
"Now the aunties are spreading rumours you both secretly got married," Wahi spoke, sighing. 
Nisha frowned, "What on earth—"
"Anyway, guys. We have some more performances." Ajay interrupted. Everyone nodded and got on the stage again.

Nisha smiled at Priti who looked at her impressed. She mouthed, "You go, girl!" 

She chuckled and showed her a thumbs up but gulped as soon as her gaze fell on her mother. Why was she glaring at her? 
"Nisha, I think Maa is mad." Adil spoke as Nisha replied, "First of all, address me with respect. And I don't know. I think so too." 
She sighed but before she could dwell on it, the next songs were played.

They danced to Balam Pichkari and Teri Ore. Finally, a goof song named 'Chander Baatti'. 

After they were done, loud claps echoed around the venue as everyone cheered. All the cousins from both sides were enjoying themselves.

Everyone was going to the stage, applying some holud/haldi on the bride and groom, feeding them sweets and clicking pictures. 
"Nisha!" She heard her mother call and frowned, rushing to her, "What's wrong, Maa?"
"You don't know? The cake hasn't arrived!"
"What do you mean? It's been 2 hours of the ceremony already!" 
"I don't know. Call the confectionery. They were supposed to send it by 7:30. It's past 9 now." 

Nisha quickly called the confectionary, moving aside to a corner. 

Getting no response, she sighed. 
"Why are they not picking up now?" 
She patted her fingers on the phone nervously and looked around when a voice startled her once again.
"What's wrong?"

There was Kabir, standing near her with a confused look. The calm yet curious look in his eyes somehow raised a feeling of self-awareness within her.
"Why are you everywhere?" He chuckled at her remark, "I saw you holding back tears at a corner of the ceremony so..." 
"Oh." Was all she could manage to say.

Her throat was tightening as she dialled the confectionary's number once again. If they didn't pick up, she'd get bashed. Most importantly, Priti would become downcast.

"What's wrong, Nisha?" Kabir's face turned worried as she looked at him, "The cake was supposed to arrive at 7:30 but it's past 9 now."
"Did you call them?"
"Thrice by now." She looked at the calling screen and then at him. 
The dark-haired male tapped his chin with his index twice and raised his brows, "How far is the confectionary?"
"It's 5 minutes from our house." 
"And from here?"
"I think... approximately 20 minutes by car. It's not that far." 
"Ugh, we have bad traffic in this country as well."

"Not really, the streets are quite empty today," She asserted, earning a nod from him, "Then we could pick it up from the confectionary!" 
"But who's going to go? I'm not allowed to go alone—"
"I can go with you."

She stared at him, wondering if his brain cells were working fine. He would go with her? 

"Then who's going to host the guests?" Her question didn't seem to faze him. 
He shrugged, "To begin with, we haven't even done much. It's the elders doing it. And those idiots are there too." 
"Still—"
"If you keep thinking too much here, then it'd be past 10 yet there would exist no cake." 
"Right." She nodded, finding logic in his words. 

He was logical, often.

"So we go together now?" She asked as he nodded.
"I could take someone else too. You don't have to take the trouble."
"Stop worrying. It's also my best friend's Holud. And we're both in charge of management so, we'd solve the issue together, right?" She didn't oppose him further, seeing the confident look in his eyes. 
How was one so confident? 

She'd never be able to have that much confidence. Somehow, it made her feel a little sad, that she lacked the confidence someone else could gain so easily.

But she didn't have the time to dwell on those internal conflicts. She had to work fast and smart.

Soon enough, she informed her mother about it and rushed outside with Kabir. 
"Can you drive?" He asked as she ignored his question, opening the car door.
Seeing his consistent stare on her, a sigh escaped her lips, "Um... get in first. We can sort that out later." 

As they both got into the car, she started buckling in her seatbelt as he once again interrogated, "Can you really drive? Just making sure." 
"Look, I failed twice but I learnt properly." She said casually but feeling the sudden change of atmosphere, she looked up to find Kabir staring at her blankly. 

And the next thing she knew, she was in the passenger's seat. 

"Don't you ever dare think of driving again? Not with me in the car." He threatened, side-eyeing her as she sighed, "Come on. I only failed twice because I was busy focusing on more important aspects of life, such as studies." 
He sighed, turning on the engine. 

"Can you drive?" She asked back, arching a brow. He gave her a lopsided smile, "Thankfully, I passed on the first test. And living in the States for 6 years without a driver's license would be troublesome for anyone." 
"Oh well. Right." She looked out of the window while he briskly started the car. 

She mentally thanked God for the empty streets. Even a 10-minute journey would take up to 2 hours due to the extreme traffic of the country. 

"You know, the cars are overtaking us," She spoke, awkwardly glancing at him from time to time.
"That's not allowed." His frown made her smile. 
"You know, this isn't the States. Nobody here really abides by these rules of maintaining car distance on roads to avoid accidents. There's a reason our country is one of the most road accident-prone." She stated, making his head turn towards her briefly. 
"Right. I forgot these..." He sighed.

"It's fine, though. I wonder why you'd return here." A mumble escaped her lips.

She watched him rotate the steering wheel, taking a left. His hands had veins visible on them. 
And it wasn't the creepy veiny hands but they actually looked hot. 

Her eyes kept roaming back to his hands, but she looked away realizing it wasn't quite a moral act. 

She surely wasn't that immoral. Or maybe she was — she wouldn't admit it.

"The States is nice. Better technology, better everything. But at the end of the day, they're just a country like ours. Maybe it's us who need to work on improving our living standards. But truly, there's nothing as warm and homely as the Indian subcontinent. As strange as the people can get, they feel more familiar to me. I missed this place there." 

Honesty reflected in his statement in a way that made her smile.

"Desi roots are painful to hold onto, but they're everlasting. Isn't it?" She responded.
"You get me well." 

She watched a soft smile form on his lips — that made hers brighter. 

Because he looked really good when he smiled, as much as she'd love to avoid the thought. The crinkle at the corner of his eyes that formed due to his genuine smile didn't go unnoticed by her.

"Is it a left or right from here?" He asked.
"Oh, it's a right," She replied.

"You remember all roads well?" She asked, making him smile. 
"I used to imagine the roads every time I would lay at night there. The States is quite crowded, unlike many other foreign countries. But there was still something missing."
"Those strange guys on bikes at every corner of the roads?" She asked, eyeing a few guys their car passed. He didn't reply for a moment until she heard him laughing.
"Stop making me laugh."

She chuckled back, "I was just saying..." 

"Have you always lived in Bangladesh? Never planned to go abroad?" He asked. 
"I wanted to. I even got a scholarship but Dad didn't agree. He was really emotional and... I aborted the plan, that's all." 
"Do you regret it?" He asked. 
"Sometimes, I do. I could have better jobs and income. Instead of working for a company here, I think it'd be better if I did this abroad. But it's fine, I made so many memories in return. And, I think I developed a better relationship with everyone in recent years than I ever had before." She smiled, leaning on the seat. His gaze turned to her for a brief moment. 

"Everything happens for a reason, they say." He murmured in a low voice that she caught successfully. 

"Where do you live, Kabir?" She asked, not wanting the conversation to stop. She didn't even bother to continue conversations with people but she enjoyed chatting with him. 

He was comfortable to talk to. As chaotic as they could get, she loved the peaceful chat they were having right now.

"I live 2 blocks away from Shams." He replied, his face forming a strange expression when she gasped, "That close? How come I never saw your mother before?" 
"You're not curious why you didn't see me?" 
"You were in the States for 6 years, right? I got to know about Priti and Shams roughly 5 years ago. She kept it a secret from me. Can't blame her either, I used to be a snitch." 

He chuckled lightly, "Well, you're right. You probably didn't see my mother because you were busy sneaking around to make them meet." 
"Right..." She smiled, "It's crazy... it was just 5 years ago I was discovering my sister's been dating for years and then got involved in so much sneaky stuff to make them meet. Now, they're getting married."
"I remember Shams crying to me when they broke up."
"He did?" She gave him an astonished look.

He pressed his lips, "Don't tell Priti, that's a secret. Shams wasn't someone to seriously love someone, he always joked around with girls, until he met Priti. That was when I saw him changing. I didn't believe in love until I saw their pair." 

"Same, Kabir, same." Her eyes twinkled, the delighted faces of her sister with her husband flashing in her mind. 
"Growing up in a country like ours, where love or dating is always seen in a bad light and is considered to be a private matter. But when the desis love, it fails any love Netflix could ever demonstrate." 

He enthusiastically nodded.

"We're here." He spoke as she looked outside. 

She almost forgot about the purpose of this drive. Or, completely.

They both got down and entered the confectionery.
"Excuse me? I have been trying the confectionery's number for some time now. There's no response. We had a reservation for a Holud's cake tonight at 7:30." 

The receptionist looked at Nisha and then at Kabir, immediately rushing inside after a formal small talk. After a while, he came out and said, "Oh my, sorry ma'am. The cake was about to be delivered but as per the staff saying, the box fell accidentally and they are preparing another one. It's almost done though, ma'am. Rest assured."
"Could've contacted us." 
"Ma'am, we tried but the call kept going too busy. And, our telephone is under repair, as you can see. Today's just a troublesome day here. Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll give you a special discount for this, ma'am." 

She sighed, "Who cut the calls?" 
"We can see that later." He leaned in closer to her, whispering into her ear. She shifted at the feeling of his hot breath near her.  
"O-Okay..." 

"How long will it take?"
"Just about 5 minutes. We were about to deliver it as soon as it was done." 
"Okay." She nodded, heaving out a deep sigh.

"Why is everything so troublesome?" She asked herself. 

He watched her for a few moments before giving a small pat on her shoulder and whispered, "It's fine. Everyone's busy applying Haldi, by the time we reach there, the sweets will be nearly over." 
The temporary warm touch of his palms soothed her tensed shoulders. Somehow, his scent that was lingering around her for such a long time was comforting. 

Even though his hand remained on her shoulder for not longer than a few seconds, she felt an imprint of his touch on there, her heart squeezing momentarily. 
There was nothing wrong in the way his hands tapped her shoulder ever so delicately. It felt just right.

She felt relaxed despite the building of negative thoughts inside her brain.

Maybe it was a sort of Kabir magic he was doing. But she felt more relaxed than she ever had.