"Ready?" Nisha wriggled her eyebrows behind. Chuckling, I shut the eyeshadow palette and turned to look at her. "I knew this black dress was a killer. And damn, your new room." She let her gaze wander around the new room of mine. It was the opposite of my old room, much more stylish, and the books of shelves were behind my bed, rather than being on the opposite.Kabir had argued what if an earthquake came and they fell on my head. The creative mind of his."Your dad has a good taste," She commented.Bending down, I caught hold of my wedges and tied them to my feet. "Thanks for helping with makeup.""Never mind." She waved her hand in the air. "I love dolling you up. You say nothing while I do it. Apart from my brother warning me to not cake your face.""What?"She giggled. "When I was leaving, he warned me if I caked your face with makeup, he will steal my canvases. He loves his natural bookworm too much.""Oh." Too warm. Too hot."What natural things are you both doing?" She smirked.
"Nice dress." My smile froze on my face as I stared at her from the mirror. "From where you got it? Maybe I can go there?""Zara."She clicked her tongue. "Too costly for me." She chuckled, and stood next to me. "Was it costly for you? Of course, it wouldn't be.""You can ask Dhruv. He'll get you one, but why buy?" I faced her with a mocking expression. "His mother is a fashion designer. Her clothing is trendy."To my surprise, she laughed and nodded, "I have a share of them. My boyfriend loves showering me with gifts. Dhruv was wrong. You have a fire in you. An angry fire. But anyone would have it after that thing.""What thing?" I asked quietly, nails digging into my wrist.She gave me an innocent look. "Your past? Have you forgotten with Kabir? And damn, he's so delicious." She took her lipstick out, applying it to her lips. "What does he like? He works out, isn't it? Why is he with you?" She passed a disgusting look at my arms. "He must be crazy. No matter how handsome he is, he's
"Alina, where were you?"Placing the glass of water on the counter table, I swirled to look at Meena Auntie, standing at the door of the kitchen, worry etched on her face.Gulping the water, I answered, "Club and then dhaba. Nisha's party. I forgot to tell you. Sorry. You were busy with work and I was getting late." Leaning against the counter, I stared at her worried face. "Didn't papa tell you?""He went to his room after coming back. Your parents fought.""Oh. Is everything okay?" As if it was something new.She shrugged her shoulders, stepped forward to settle next to me. "Don't you think it's late for you to come?""Got late. Why? Papa said something?" I asked urgently. "But he had said the curfew starts at midnight." I opened my phone and checked the time. "Fifteen minutes are still there.""Nothing," She replied. "You never stay out this late.""Blame my friends." I grinned. "They love night outs." And I had to convince Kabir to drop me home before midnight because dad would've
"Damn, Alina, be my girlfriend," Nisha whistled as I stepped inside her house. The pages clutched in her hands fell down as she shamelessly checked me out. Was Kabir right? I mean first, this girl bought me a lingerie—a sexy lingerie—and now she was checking me out without thinking how creepy it appeared. "I wish I was a guy.""Shut up." Walking next to her, I nudged her shoulder. "Where is your brother? He has been teasing me since he saw that girl.""You shut up." She placed her hands on my shoulder, checking my red and black Patiala suit. Blushing under her gaze, I swirled my gaze to some other part of the hall. I had never worn a suit in my entire life, felt too weird and out of me. "The fitting is great. You look hot.""Kabir—""Leave my brother for a second. You know what?" She grinned. "I want to see his reaction. Come. He's playing pool with Rahul."She started dragging me upstairs, ignoring how hot I felt at the particular moment as if the heat was prickling at each side even
"Something cold?" Kabir enquired, pushing his spaghetti plate in the middle of the table. "Do you want to eat more?"I stared at my plate and shook my head. "Stomach full. Yes, something cold. Ice-cream?""Sundae?" I nodded, cleaned my mouth with the cloth before placing it back on the table."Ask them about almonds."I opened my phone to go through the stuff but turned to look at the stare burning through my back. Since we had sat down in the restaurant, a girl was glancing at me again and again as if I had committed a crime. Whenever I would look back, she would change her gaze. Maybe I was overthinking and that girl was looking at something else.Shaking my head, I faced Kabir and smiled. "I just remembered. Papa asked you to come tomorrow." His hands halted at the cleaning cloth placed over his mouth and he stared intently at me. "For breakfast."He placed the cloth back on the table. "Have I done something? Why he wants me to come?"Shrugging, I said, "He asked me in the morning,
"Kabir—" Nisha started speaking from the kitchen."Not now." Fuming, he walked downstairs, ignoring Nisha's and my voices from behind. Opening his room door, he entered and closed it shut. "Sit there." He made me sit on the bed."I don't want to!" I shouted. "I want to break up with you! It's hurting me!""I was a jerk once!" He shouted back, opened his cupboard and took his camera out, placing it on my lap. "I was hormonal, okay? I am not proud of what I did with her. I came out of the hostel and joined the school. Everyone was talking about girls and that stuff." He paced back and forth. "I wanted to see what was so special about it. Everyone was trying, hiding it from their parents. I wanted to be a hero in their eyes like yes, I did it before every one of you.""Yes, what she said was the truth. Yes, I asked her and broke up when she was refused. Yes, I made her my girlfriend to sleep with her. Yes, I booked a room in a hotel. But then, I met you and everything changed.""You met m
***"Cut the fruits. Avoid pineapple. Make sure there are watermelon and apples. And cornflakes. The milk should not be boiled. No almonds and peanut butter to be placed on the table at all." Moving around the kitchen, I checked the cornflakes boxes and clutched my forehead. He hated those flavors. "Do we've eggs and bread?" The maid nodded. "Get that! Fast!""Alina, what are you doing?" Swirling, I found Misha, leaning against the kitchen door frame, smirking. "Since you became the maid of our house?""Shut up." I caught the egg tray and bowl. Breaking them, I asked for milk and vanilla extract. "Kabir is coming for breakfast. He's very specific about his breakfast.""How you know?" She taunted. "It's like you're living with him." I tensed under her words and swirled the mixture together, ignoring she was standing behind me. "Just joking. What are you making?""French toast. He loves them." I nodded for the maid to start the stove. "Make a cup of black coffee. Not too strong nor too l
[ K A B I R 'S P O V ]"Kabir." Hearing her voice, I turned around in the middle of the hall and stared at the one person I had been waiting to talk since the moment Alina confessed to me. "What are you doing here?" She came forward with a smile. "Alina is not here.""It doesn't matter. I wanted to talk to you.""Me?" She nodded at the seats. "Sit."Taking an armchair, I faced her Meena Auntie and wished from inside that my suspicions were wrong. Alina wouldn't be able to go through this hurt. It would shatter her into pieces, and those pieces I had no idea how would I help to pick it up. She loved her Meena Auntie too much."I wanted to talk about Alina," My voice shook a bit but took a control."You want coffee?" She offered. "Cold coffee.""Yes. Thank you." She smiled warmly at me and guided one of the helpers to make a glass of cold coffee. "I don't like talking in rounds. So, I will go to the point. When did you come to this house?""What do you mean?" Her sleek eyes cut through