| NAINA |

"Come on, Naina. Pick up the call. Let's see what he could do!" Charlie whisper-yelled.

"Are you sure?" I arched an eyebrow and let out a sheepy grin while she nodded positively. I swiped right and had the call on speakerphone mode. "Hello?"

"Are you okay?" There he was! My oh-so fucking sweet boyfriend. "Naina, are you there? I asked whether you were okay or not."

"Yeah, I am alright. I'm a superhero, am I not? Nothing can hurt me," I spat that savage reply I always wanted to say when someone asked this while the ladies in front of me laughed like there was no tomorrow.

"Naina, please! Tell me what happened," he begged. And surprisingly, I enjoyed it.

"Well, if proposing to the girl you never want to marry in front of your girlfriend and knowing that you are lying doesn't count, then yeah, nothing happened. I'm just overthinking," I said as curtly as possible. But trust me, this was the reply I never expected I would say so.

There was silence as loud as an atomic bomb explosion in World War 2. And soon, the silence died just as he came up with a stupid phrase. "Naina, try to understand things from my point of view. It's not always easy to--"

"Yeah, I must know it's not always easy to reveal your illicit affair to your family. As if I never had a family to deal with, isn't it?" I interrupted. Trust me, it was tired as fuck to listen to this every single time.

He sighed as loud as the loudest fart and said, "Listen, Naina. I could understand how angry you are, but--"

"Fuck off!" The drunk self in me re-emerged as I yelled at him with saline tears in my eyes. I blew my nose and continued my yelling spree. "Fuck off! Fuck you! Fuck your fucked-up excuses! Fuck your people-pleasing! Fuck you and your fucking fucked-up intentions, Dr Angad 'I Am So Fucking Hot' Sharma!" Yeah, I know I used the word "fuck" ten times. But he deserves a million.

I knew I was not a fool to let him talk for yet another minute. Hence, I disconnected the call in one go. Then, there I was, melting like an ice cube in the Sahara while I was wrapped in a hug from Charlie and Mumma.

"Hey! Stop crying like a crybaby," Charlie taunted. "You did a great job, Naina. Stop crying."

"I... I wish I could cut him off from my life as easily as disconnecting this call," I confessed and continued sobbing.

"It's okay. It's okay, Naina. Sleep well. Let's talk tomorrow. Okay? Go," Mom commanded while I hesitantly got up from my place. Just as I could take my mobile to my room, I saw the screen flashing with Angad's name on it. "This guy has certainly got some balls!"

Mom connected the call, took a deep breath and said, "The subscriber you're trying to reach is currently being happy. Please ruin her mood later." With that, the call disconnected again and handed over the mobile to me. "You will sleep well now. Good night!"

***

FOUR DAYS LATER...

Agra needs no new introduction since I got used to it before. I have seen the city. This was the place where I witnessed my Romeo Montague. And this would be the place where I had to see my People-Pleaser boyfriend.

Meeta, as always, welcomed me, Mumma, and Charlie with a permanent smile that was never aware of the storms she was yet to embrace. She was never aware that I was the storm she had to embrace.

She embraced her storm with a bone-crushing hug and shrieked, "Welcome to the Gala, bro! Thanks for being here. You make it so special for me." Only if she knew how special I could make it for her.

"If not for you, then who else?" I said it with a chuckle.

"Give me the bag, guys. I'll escort you three to your room." Meeta snatched the bag from Mumma and marched forward. But then, she stopped midway while we saw the tornado standing in front of us.

"Hi, ladies," Angad greeted with his trademark, heart-melting smile. "Do you need my help as well?"

"No, thank you. We can manage." Charlie crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow.

"No, I insist." Angad snatched the bag from me, had them on his shoulders and walked towards the entrance without waiting for anyone.

Charlie glared at me as if to ask, "Where did his fucked-up self go?" While I couldn't help but just shrug.

I ran towards my tornado while he stopped on his way. I guessed he must have heard me running. He turned while I was inches away from feeling his breath. He raised his eyebrows, which was (I hate to admit, but) so cute.

"I thought you were going to tell me something." So, hi! Meet me. I'm Naina, the most shameless girl of the century. My biggest achievement is running behind a guy whom I fought with the previous night.

"Me? What? I thought you asked me to fuck off. Was I dreaming last night?" He let out a scoff and crossed his arms while I carried my bag he dropped it on the floor and walked forward. He followed me and called, "Naina, wait!"

"What?" I shouted back without turning forward.

The sound of his footsteps stopped as he uttered his favourite word. "I'm sorry."

"You're not," I sighed.

"I am." I heard his footsteps closer.

"You are not," I stressed out the sentence as much as I could.

"I said I am," he stressed out the sentence as much as I did while I felt his hot breath on my neck. I looked around to see if anyone was spying on us, and it was negative.

"Now that you are sure about it--" He paused there and held my right wrist. "Look at me and tell it." He twirled me in a way I could melt in those eyes which can melt things harder than his heart. "Say it," he whispered.

"I..." Words refused to get out of my mouth. I felt our bodies brushing each other effortlessly while I tried to speak something.

Just then, he tilted his head, like he was to kiss me. My mind had the urge to pull him right away and go to my room. But why does the heart even exist if it doesn't contradict the mind?

I stood still and let him do the playing. He stopped as he was a micrometre away from my lips. Then, he changed his direction to the right and landed his delicate lips on my cheek.

You should push him away, Naina.

I know.

You MUST push him.

Yeah, I know.

He doesn't deserve you.

But we deserve THIS.

I enjoyed the moment, to be honest. It was as if we were basking in the moonlight at the Taj Mahal, not as if we were at the place where he would get married to my best friend at the end of that week. I was basking under his love when the tiniest corner of my right eye spotted a middle-aged, stout lady staring at us, which forced me to push him and walk away. I turned back for once and saw the lady glaring at us while Angad had his doe-eyes on me. I wanted to laugh at his expression but suppressed it for the anonymous, grumpy lady.

***

Upon receiving the message from the official wedding WhatsApp group for the bonfire that night, I got prepared for it with a white sleeveless cotton dress with my peach flip-flops and a tiny white daisy I spotted at the resort.

Charlie and Mumma had their identical white dresses on. Charlie was in her white sweatshirt with all the song names of Taylor Swift's 1989 album written, a pair of faded blue torn jeans, and white sneakers. Mumma wore a white saree with a matching sleeveless blouse. She may be fifty-two but she looked like twenty-five in that saree.

"You look hot," I chuckled and gave a peck on her cheeks as we made our way to the lawn.

"You look like you're carrying my genes." Mumma, in turn, kissed me on my forehead. We reached the lawn and met the Sharmas and Grovers around the bonfire.

Meeta was the first to greet us as she got up from her place and escorted us to our seats. I saw Abhi seated opposite me along with Angad. The former greeted me with a smile that was warm as sunshine while Angad winked at me with his trademark "cute smile".

Soon, I saw Angad getting up from his place and he sat to my left, which was unexpected (in a good sense). I held his arms and leaned on his shoulder while Angad's cousin Meera mocked, "Looks like someone can't stay away from his lover. Right, Angad?" I thought her scoff was meant for us. But I realised Meera misinterpreted it as I saw Meeta seated to his left. Nothing else was going on. None of their hands were on the other's. A community of ants could easily reside between them.

He looked at me in a way that tempted me to shoot a smile. Though we never talked, I knew my eyes were doing that for him and it was the vice versa for him. I knew he sat near me only for my sake and not for Meeta's. I knew he loved me. I knew Meera misinterpreted everything, just like every other member of the Sharmas and Grovers. I knew that he knew I still loved him. And he knew that I knew he still loved me.

I turned away from him while he was busy dodging Meera's comments. Goosebumps started creeping through my arms. All of a sudden, my lungs became tighter as I saw Abhi getting up and approaching Charlie. She handed him something and he ran towards the rooms while I shifted my focus back to the group talk.

After a few moments of my battle against the weather, I felt a coarse yet comfortable thing lying on my back. I turned back to see Abhi shielding me with a white woollen cardigan. "Put it on. It will help you," he whispered near my ears while I wondered since when was he so nice to me.

"Thank you," I greeted and wore the cardigan.

Angad, who noticed this, shook hands with Abhi and said, "Thanks, bro," while wrapping me with a side hug. Abhi, bowing humbly, left the place while Angad locked his eyes with mine. The soft romantic hues of orange from the fire exposed how soft he can be to me without giving a fuck about the world as his forehead met mine, disabling me to look at him but anywhere.

Well, then that I had jinxed it, the gap between our foreheads increased as his eyes fell to our south. He looked at how men react when they meet their toxic exes. And obviously, I had to look at who he was looking, then know how fucked-up were we.

And yeah, on a scale of one to ten, we were fucked-up to eleven. Since it was the same lady who saw us doing romance in the afternoon that day.

Except that we didn't know back then that she was nobody but some relative of Meeta.

If any girl instead of me was in my shoes, she would have freaked out. She would think of ways to escape the situation. But instead of freaking out and escaping, I chose to settle there and let the destiny play the game.

"At least, she would reveal the truth which Angad was hesitating to reveal," I thought while rubbing my palms and letting out a smirk like the ones who hear their favourite item number in public.

***

So, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for my month-old hiatus. I was suffering from writer's block and extreme laziness, which was why I couldn't update. And... Here I am!

And... See you soon (for real, guys)!

Song Courtesy: Ik Vaari Aa from Raabta