Reyansh

The alarm woke me up at 5:00 am sharp and I started my morning routine - hardcore exercising and jogging, then getting ready for the day, and finally preparing breakfast for my brother and me. Lastly, I left a gift on the dining table for Krish on account of it being Holi (Indian Festival) today.

Before leaving, I decided to check on Krish and to my utter surprise loud groaning and some womanly noises were coming from his room. I had no intention of seeing my brother doing something untoward that would surely make me wanna throw up.

But he was my little brother and I had to be the responsible one as always and besides Krish was aware that any such "extra curricular activities" were not allowed inside our house, he could rent a hotel room like any other young adult.

So, I gathered my strength and opened the door to see him doing push-ups with his headphones on and singing along to Taylor Swift. It brought a smile to my face, that was strange, because nowadays I rarely ever smiled or felt true joy.

I decided to startle the little gym rat, cause why not?, after all wasn't it my job to annoy and scare my little brother from time to time. To let him know, who's still the boss around here, not like he needed any reminding.

The little shit screamed, when I threw a glass of cold water on him and I screamed, "Happy Holi" (Holi is a festival on which we throw water and colour on friends and family), now that was fun!

Krish whined loudly, "Bhaiyaaaaaaaaa (Brother), why did you startle me like that?, I could've had a heart attack."

I laughed at him and called him a "Drama queen", and then walked out of his room only to find him chasing after me, to throw a retaliatory glass of water on me and all it took was a stern glare and that stopped Krish in his tracks.

I could not afford to play "Holi" with him today, I had to look sharp for my meeting, the one I had been looking forward to for a very long time. All my hard work and scheming was going to pay off, I was gonna "accidentally" bump into Kyra Oberoi and be her "saviour", if all went according to my plan, which it obviously would because 'Reyansh Alex Kapoor's' plans never fail.

I told Krish, "I have prepared your favourite breakfast, warm it before eating and go to college on time."

He cheekily smiled at me and replied, "Aww, you really do love me."

I rolled my eyes but did not acknowledge that because there was no doubt about it.

Standing near the main door, I turned back to look at him and sternly said, "I want you to come back home no later than 12:00 am."

He came towards, made those puppy dog eyes and said pleadingly, "But Bhaiya (brother), Jake is throwing a Holi party at his farmhouse."

I narrowed my eyes at him and playfully said, "That's why you have until midnight to party with your friends, Cinderella. But I want you back home before the clock strikes 12 o'clock otherwise I'll turn into the evil stepmother."

Krish laughed, "That is mean yet hilarious. Then I'll have to ask my Prince Charming, no.. no.. my Charming Princess to save me from you."

I shook my head at his antics, "You do that. Also, I've left you a little something on the dining table."

The distraction tactic worked, he ran to the table and brought back a shiny gift wrapped box with a giant smile on his face.

With pure unadulterated excitement he asked, "What is this? What have you brought for me, Bhaiya?"

I smiled at his enthusiasm and said, "Open it and you'll know. Message me if you liked it, but now I've really got to go."

Even with the door shut, I could hear his excited and loud voice, seems like he liked his gift. Giving him so many instructions and constantly worrying about him, made me feel like I was a mother hen and he was my baby chick. Though he'd always remain a baby to me.

I was going to give Krish the live I deserved, but didn't get. I was going to make sure that he would have every single thing that he desired and give him the best possible life, I could.

Holi was being celebrated in full swing in our city, the festival of colours was a major Public holiday and the streets would be packed with people. Therefore, most of the main roads would be closed for celebrations, leaving the few people travelling by car to take back roads and narrow alleys to reach their destinations.

In one particular alleyway, a surprise awaited Kyra Oberoi, one she would least expect as this city was basically run by her family and only someone with a death-wish would dare to ambush her. But no worries, me - her knight in shining armour was going to rescue her and introduce myself to her, all in one power packed and unique meet-cute.

.......