| ANGAD |

THE NEXT DAY...

That was the day every *young* man waited for. Yes, it was the bachelor party. That night was the last for me to enjoy everything as a bachelor. Then, I'm all Meeta's.

I wanted to mention Naina there, but then, I chose to surrender to my fate.

The party was at seven in the night, yet I could see everyone preparing themselves since the previous day. We had our bachelor party at Roadies Club while the bachelorette party at Thor Hotel. Yes, they had planned it at separate bars owing to safety purposes.

Abhishek, Meeta's cousin, chose to stay with me throughout the wedding week. I felt comfortable and easy with that man around me, even though he was from the bride's family, that I might end up making him my groomsman. Though I hated him for swooning over Naina, I developed a bond with him when he stepped out after knowing our relationship.

A relationship that was only a past.

"Are you ready, Angad?" As if on cue, it was Abhishek who spotted me looking at nothing and thinking about everything. I pointed my chin while he repeated the question and added, "The time is six. Go on!"

"Yeah," I whispered and shot a genuine smile at him.

"Bro, are you okay?" His forehead wrinkled after guessing that I was not in the moment.

"Yeah, I think I am."

***

"Cheers!" Abhishek and I clicked our shot glasses of vodka and gulped in one go. It was not the first, but the sixth shot for us. I became drunk before our fourth shot, but there was Abhi, who was still sober after this shot. "Bro." I looked up at him as he called me. "Are you okay?"

And with that, I knew I was whining loud enough to gather everyone, including the dog at the entrance, to my side. "Bro, shh!" Abhishek whispered in a pacifying way. Perhaps, he felt the same way as I did. "I asked whether you're okay or not."

"I'm not okay, Abhishek. I'm so fucked-up!" I held my shot glass tight and glared at it. "I had let my girl go. My first love."

Abhishek stammered as he asked, "Your girl? What happened with Naina, Angad?"

"She left me." And all of a sudden, anger bubbled inside me. I was so angry that anyone would suspect me of being affected by bipolar disorder. "That girl left me."

"Oh, shit! I'm so sorry, bro. Did you try talking to her?" He placed a palm on mine.

"I did. But she was not ready to listen to me."

"Abhi!" We heard a voice that was quite far away from us. As we looked back, we saw that it was my cousin and Abhishek's friend, Akhil. "Come with Angad. You both haven't danced yet."

"Wait for a while, man!" Abhishek yelled back at him and whispered to me, "As if he's all ready to dance. Buffoon!" He looked at my distraught face and asked, "I think you need to loosen up. Come, let's dance."

"No, Abhi," I slurred. "I would loosen up only if I'm here. Please leave me alone."

"But what am I supposed to do when they call you?" He pointed at the men who were dancing like there was no tomorrow. "Come on, tell me!"

"I don't care, Abhi. But, please! Cover it up for me, man!" I rested my head on the black bar table.

He sighed and walked out of the place while I was looking at those happy people dancing. I was the groom. I was supposed to be the happiest person in that bar. But others were enjoying it as if they were the groom.

I kept staring at every face until I felt my thigh vibrating. I realised that it was my mobile. I took them out and opened WhatsApp, via which an anonymous number had sent an attachment.

It was a picture. A picture of a man and a woman inside a car. It looked like more of a footage from the car's black box. The interiors were dark, yet there was a sufficient amount of light due to the radiating neon lights from a nearby place. The man and the woman were on the verge of kissing each other. Both of them were unmistakably similar. And that was what made tears overwhelm me, my blood boil hard, and my senses semi-sobered.

My eyes looked up and the first thing it did was to scan for my soon-to-be groomsman's face. And I ran to him while yelling, "Abhishek! You motherfucker!"

As we were a centimetre away from each other, I took a clear peek at his fucked-up face and introduced him to the floor. As he was about to ask what happened, I sat on his abdomen, bent down a little, and gave him a handsome amount of punches on his nose and cheek alternatively, with much force.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

And it went on till I reached the overall count of ten.

I pulled his collar and shouted, "Why the fuck did you do that? Why? Why did you kiss her, asshole?"

His eyes held a good amount of fear and panic as he tried to speak. But, all he could do was whisper. "I'm sorry, Angad. It didn't happen voluntarily."

"Sorry, huh? Do you feel sorry?" I delivered another dozen punches strong enough for blood to splash on my face. "You knew about us, didn't you?" There was no answer. "You motherfucking shithole! I asked whether you knew about us when this happened. The answer, you filthy bastard!"

After letting out a deep exhale, he said, "No."

Okay, he might have said that he didn't know about us back then. But, why didn't Naina stop it?

"I wish I had a loaded gun right now." I let out another sigh and asked, "You're sober, aren't you?" He nodded a yes with much difficulty. "Drive my car for me," I groaned and got off him while he frowned cluelessly at me. I bent down, pulled his collar to get him up, and screamed, "I asked you to drive my car for me since I'm drunk. Go on, you fucked-up asshole!"

He got up with much effort without my help, which was something appreciatable. But, appreciating him was the last thing I wanted to do that night.

All I wanted that night was to be served with justice. Even if Naina was my ex.

***

"You rather stay here," I whispered to Abhishek and got out of the car, standing at the entrance of Thor Hotel. After asking for help from many strangers, I reached the spot where the girls were enjoying themselves. The first girl I met there was Khushi, Meeta's colleague.

"Ummm... Khushi," I slurred and blocked her path. "Did you see Naina anywhere?"

"Naina? Do you mean, Meeta's friend?" Khushi inquired while I nodded my head. "Ummm... I saw her there." She pointed at the upstairs. After much effort, I spotted a familiar girl in a black sequinned bodycon dress and instantly knew it was Naina.

I jogged to her and called her, "Naina." She looked back at me and with that, her face lost that smile. And for the first time, I liked how she had a panicked face. "We need to talk."

"Are you drunk?" She crossed her arms.

"So what?"

She sighed and replied, "Never mind. We'll go that corner," while holding my hand and taking me to a sofa in the right corner of the room. Yet, we didn't sit on that sofa. "What would you like to have?"

"Justice," I replied with the most straight face possible.

"What?"

"Did you kiss Abhishek?" I asked that question I always wanted to ask. "Naina, tell me whether you kissed Abhishek or not."

She had no response. Instead, there were tears in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to sob, but suppressed it. She sniffed her nose and replied, "That's none of your business."

Bam! I knew it. I saw that coming. Any girl would reply so if a man like me comes up with that sort of a question. "It is. You were with me when you kissed that bastard." She never spoke after that. "You cheated me, Naina. After all that I did for you. How could you...?" I let out a solitary sob while she stood like a stone.

"Angad, you're being too delusional lately. There's nothing between--"

With that, I let out my angry self as my palm met her delicate cheeks. There it was, the crowd went in silence.

"Angad, what's going on?" I heard another familiar voice behind me. I looked back and saw that it was Meeta. "What did you do, Angad?"

I was prepared to leave that spot, not before warning Meeta, "Ask your friend to be a girl."

But before I could leave, I saw that slut going downstairs, without saying goodbye to her friends.

***

Ewww! What a man Angad is! Forget women, even a donkey wouldn't marry this guy. No wonder Naina left him.

But, guys! Here we go with the good news! Would've, Could've, Should've is two chapters away from its ending! *claps*

Best of luck, everyone! See you soon!

Song Courtesy: O Bedardeya from Tu Jhooti Main Makkar