(Unedited)🙏🙏😔

Sidharth goes inside Mittal house. He enters his room and finds his wallet and phone kept on the table. As he goes to change his clothes, he touches his pocket and pulls out the content.

Flashback:

"Mittal, take these two packets of peanuts.", Shehnaaz gives him two packets.

"Huh? What for? I already ate. I don't want more.", He says.

"It isn't for you. It's for Mittal Daddu. I have so many packets and it's obvious that I ain't going to waste any food. So give it to him. Rest I will give it to my family.", She says.

"Hmmm.. okay..", agrees Sidharth.

Flashback ends.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yes?", He asks.

"Sir, Your Daddu is waiting for you at dinner table.", The butler informs.

"Yes, I'll join him in 5 minutes.", Tells Sidharth.

The butler nods and goes out. After a while Sidharth goes to the dinning hall, where Somesh was seated on the chair meant for the head of the family and he sat beside him.

"Good evening Sidharth. How was your day?", Asks Somesh

Sidharth reminisced the entire day. The day which started with lot of work pressure leading to annoyance, followed by his chase to meet Shehnaaz, bus ride, eating momos from street vendor, breathing fresh air on beach and sitting on shore eating peanuts while watching sunset. A subtle smile lingered on his lips which his grandfather notices and smiles.

"Looks like your day was very sweet and memorable one.", Says Somesh.

"Aa... Ummm.. It was okay daddu. Here take this.", He says giving the peanuts packet.

"Huh? Peanuts? Where did you get it from?", Somesh asks totally blown away.

"Daddu, how does it matter? Let's start the dinner.", Says Sidharth.

"Hmmm.. you reminded me of my youthful days. I used to take your grandmother to beach on date during her pregnancy. We used to sit on the shore and enjoy eating peanuts while watching sunset.", Somesh sighs reminiscing his past while Sidharth remembers his evening spent with Shehnaaz.

The Butler serves food onto Somesh's plate and then moves to serve Sidharth.

"Not for me. Get me green tea instead.", Says Sidharth. The butler nods and leaves.

"What happened Sidharth? Aren't you feeling well? Why aren't you eating?", Asks Somesh out of concern.

"No daddu, I am fine. I had eaten momos few hours back. I am full. I just came yo give you company", He says.

"Oh! Thanks Sidharth.", Says Somesh.

The butler gives him the tea and Sidharth sips it.  The dinner was done with some minimum chatting between the grandfather and the grandson before they disbursed to their respective rooms.

Somesh calls Ramesh once he reaches his room.

"What were you doing Ramesh?", Somesh asks.

"Shehnaaz had got peanuts, I was just eating it.", Ramesh said.

"What a coincidence, even Sidharth has got the peanuts for me. Wait a minute, were they together? Because Sidharth never got something like this for me earlier.", Somesh pondered.

"Huh?", Ramesh pondered too.

"Did she had her dinner?", Somesh inquired

"No, she said she ate momos and hence full.", Said Ramesh.

"Wow! Then it it's confirmed that both met because even Sidharth skipped his meal because he ate momos today. Congratulations Ramesh, they are dating!!", Says Somesh excitedly.

"Yay!! Congratulations to you too. I am so relieved because I was feeling guilty that I forced Shehnaaz faking illness to marry Sidharth.", Said Ramesh.

"Let's celebrate this happiness. Will meet tomorrow at our regular college day adda (place)", says Somesh.
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Sidharth was busy working in his office to clear his backlog from yesterday. He calls Shehnaaz to inform about the delay.

"Hello Saxena", he answers

"Hi Mittal, where are you?", Shehnaaz asks.

"I am almost done with my work. Could you speak with Kiran and inform him what needs to be done until I come?", He asks..

"How can I meet him alone?", She asks.

"He is a human being not a cannible that he will eat you. And if you are forgetting then you have been coming to meet me alone as well since past 8 days.", He says.

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye.", Sana disconnects and sighs. She was standing outside the restaurant waiting for him since it was an unknown place to Sidharth.

"Ms. Shehnaaz?", Asks a man who approaches her. She looks at him.

"Yes. Kiran, right?", She asks.

"Yes. Kiran Taneja", He asks forwarding his hand for a handshake.

"Hi, Shehnaaz Saxena", she says shaking hands with him.

"Your name is as beautiful as you. May I?", He asks holding her hand.

"Huh?", She looks at him confused.

He plants a soft kiss on the back of her palm. She was taken aback. She slowly pulls out her hand cursing him at the back of her mind and walks inside the restaurant

"Allow me.", He says pulling her chair back.

"Thanks", She rolls her eyes and sits.

"Mr. Mittal?", He asks.

"He is running late. He asked me to talk to you and he will join us shortly.", Says Shehnaaz.

"Okay! Sounds cool. I am happy to have the company of a gorgeous lady though.", He says.

Shehnaaz plastered a fake smile. The waiter takes his order while Shehnaaz decides to wait for Sidharth to order.

"Let's talk of business without wasting much of our times. It's a short assignment. So basically, we want you to act for us.", Says Shehnaaz.

"At your service! I am a born artist. What's the role?", Asks Kiran with curiosity.

"Boyfriend or a lover boy.", She says.

"Wow! My favourite genre, romance. May I know who will be my co-star?", He asks.

She stares at him cursing behind her mind and smiles.

"Me.", She says.

"Oh God Gracious! It will be my pleasure to romance a dazzling beauty like you.", He says looking at her.

"Listen, will need to audition you and there are no retakes so your acting needs to be perfect. Our producers would be seated in some similar restaurant and you would have to act like as if we are on our date. If your job impresses them than will give you a bigger role later.", She doesn't disclose him the real reason just to not let out their plan.

The waiter gets his order.

"Perfect! No worries. I am a pro and charmer in this role.", He says.

"Audition is tomorrow. Will message you the place and time.", She says looking at her watch.

"Sure!", He says staring at her.

"Excuse me! I need to make a call. Enjoy your food.", She says and goes outside. She dials Sidharth's number.

"Hey Mittal, did you forgot that we have to meet?", She yells as soon as he picks up the call.

"Hey! Chill Saxena. I know. Why are you screaming? Did you eat something?", He asks.

"Aaa... No.. I was waiting for you!", She says gulping her saliva feeling surprised to find Sidharth speaking calmly despite of her yelling at him.

"I am almost there. It's a new place for me so a little lost. Will reach in.. (to the driver) how much time? Aaa.. okay.. yes Saxena, 5-10 minutes. Until then order something for me as well. By the way, how is your Kiran?", He asks.

"Shut up Mittal. He seems odd and thinks very high of himself. I felt like he was already into his character and trying to hit on me.", She says.

Sidharth laughs loudly.

"Good for you Saxena. You like bearded guy right? What if he impresses you and after breaking our engagement, you might want to hook up with him.", Says Sidharth.

"Mittal..", she scolds.

"Fine Saxena. Go and order something. See you.", He says and disconnects.

She looks at the phone and shrugs. She strolls outside for sometime because she wasn't comfortable to sit with Kiran. She looks at the watch, it had been 10 minutes since she had called Sidharth, he wasn't there still. She rolls her eyes in disappointment and goes in.

"Will it take more time for Mr. Mittal?", Asks Kiran.

"I don't know. You can leave if you wish because we've already talked about the work.", She says.

"Okay. Will see you tomorrow. Nice meeting you Shehnaaz.", He shakes hand with her and kisses the back of her palm again.

Sidharth observes them while walking inside. Kiran gets a call and he leaves while talking on phone without noticing Sidharth. Sidharth approaches near Shehnaaz, who was holding her head in her hand and sitting.

"Your fake bearded boyfriend seems to be very romantic", says Sidharth.

Shehnaaz glares at him. He gulps down the saliva in fear. He looks at the soiled plates on the table which was being cleaned by the staff.

"Oh! You ate so much already Saxena without waiting for me?", Says Sidharth trying to divert the topic.

"Mittal, why did you come even?", She asks sarcastically. The waiter keeps the bill on the table assuming that she will leave after paying the bill as Kiran had already left.

"Aaa.. to pay the bill.", Says Sidharth picking up the bill.

"Rrrrrr..", Shehnaaz was irritated.

Sidharth pays the bill while Shehnaaz kept glaring at him. The waiter returns him the card and Shehnaaz gets up and goes out.

"Saxena... Wait.. Saxena..", Sidharth rolls his eyes and goes behind her.

"Mittal, it's 7:28pm already. Your 7:30pm recurring alarm will ring shortly.", Says Shehnaaz.

"I am sorry. I was really held up with work since I had backlogs from yesterday.", He says standing infront of her with his hands spread out to block her way. She stares at him with her hands over hips. He makes a puppy face.

A subtle smile lingered on her lips which soon turned into a frown when his recurring alarm went off.

"Bye Mittal", she says by ducking down and passing through his under arm. He curses the alarm and turns it off. He finds her standing at the bus stop. He runs towards her and stands beside her huffing.

"Saxena, I don't know why I am running behind you but for now come I will drop you home in my car atleast.", He says.

"No, thank you Mittal. I have a bus pass.", She says super sweet tone to show sarcasm.

He looks at her with puppy eyes. The bus arrives and she gets into the bus.

"Saxena..", he calls her.

"Do you want to get in?", The conductor asks him. He looks at his car and then at Shehnaaz, who stares at him with a smirk from inside while occupying the seat.

"Yes", he nods to the conductor and gets into the bus. Though there were few vacant seats, he goes and stands beside Shehnaaz and stares at her while she ignores. Sidharth calls the driver and asks him to follow the bus.

"Give me a pass", says Sidharth giving conductor the money who approached him.

"No, give him a ticket until Subhash Rao Circle.", She says. Sidharth smiles at her.

"There's a seat behind", says the conductor giving him the ticket and change.

"She is my fiancee.", Says Sidharth pointing out at Shehnaaz. She looks up at him in surprise and he smiles. She smirks and looks elsewhere.

The person sitting beside Shehnaaz gets up and goes near the door to exit. Shehnaaz slides closer to the window and Sidharth sits beside her.

"Full or empty, these buses are still very hot.", He says removing his jacket and loosening his collar. Shehnaaz ignores him and continues looking outside.

She remembers the dressing room incident few days back and how he fainted in heat. She turns and looks at him. The sweat beads were visible on his forehead. She gets up and looks at his legs blocking her way out. He looks at her perplexed.

"Are we there yet? We just got in few minutes back.", Says Sidharth.

She glares at him and he gets up allowing her way to go out. She gets down at the next stop and he follows. She walks behind the bus where Sidharth's driver had stopped his car. She tries opening the door of his car which was locked. She looks at Sidharth who smiles and nods to the driver to unlock the door.

The driver unlocks the door and she gets into the car. Sidharth climbs in from the other side and stares at her.

"Subhash Rao Circle, Madam's house", says Sidharth to the driver. The driver nods and starts driving.

"Why are you frowning sweetheart?", He asks.

She stares at him for calling sweetheart.

"Sorry!", He says.

"I am hungry", says Shehnaaz. He laughs and she glares at him.

"Okay sorry but what was the need of walking out of the restaurant when you are so hungry? Plus even I am famished but you ate alone in the restaurant.", He said.

"Mittal, where is your common sense? I said I am hungry which means I didn't eat. That soiled plates were my fake bearded boyfriend, Kiran's.", She says super annoyed.

"Oh!! So you are angry because I addressed him as your fake bearded boyfriend?", He asks.

"Ofcourse!! Firstly, I didn't like his behaviour and next was you who came late and used such words.", She said.

"And your hunger was a cherry on top.", he adds.

She nods with a frowns.

"Driver, stop at the Vada Pav Stall there.", Says Sidharth.

She stares at him in surprise, he was behaving differently today. The driver  stops at the vendor and Sidharth gets down and goes to the other side to open the gate for her. She gets down.

He himself orders for 6 Vada Pav.

"Extra spice for me in 2 plates", says Shehnaaz and he smiles and nods to the vendor.

"Extra Spicy", The vendor passes two plates. Shehnaaz picks it up and goes on to occupy the concrete fence on the footpath.

Sidharth gestures his driver to come and gives him two plates to eat. The driver was taken aback since this was the first time in his career that Sidharth had given him food to eat.

Shehnaaz observes him from far and smiles to herself. Sidharth picks up his plate and comes back to sit with her. She was looking at something in her phone. His phone beeps and he keeps the plates beside Shehnaaz and pulls out his phone. It was message from Shehnaaz.

He looks at her.

"Why are you sending me message when I am just beside you?", He asks.

She stuffs vada pav into her mouth without answering him. He shook his head and opens the message. It was pictures from yesterday's beach visit.

He laughs loudly looking at the pictures where they were eating momos.

"When did you take this pictures? It's so beautiful.", He asks showing her the picture of him standing on the shore.

"I wanted to send you these yesterday itself but I couldn't as I had exceeded my data limit after watching a movie with Riya.", She says

"You like watching movies?", He asks.

"Yes, I love them. Action, Romance, drama, sci-fi, thriller all genres except horror. I get scared of ghosts.", She says.

He eats his vada pav.

"Hmmm..", he hums listening to her.

"Tell me seriously, don't you watch movies at all?", She asks.

"Hmmm.. I tried watching few times but it was boring. Besides I don't have time.", He said.

"So what do you do with friends?", She asks.

"I don't have any friends as such. On weekends I play golf with my business partners or clients.", He says.

"And what do you speak to them? Business and Finance?", She asks.

"Hmmm", he nods yes.

"Mittal, it isn't the movie which is boring, it's your life which is boring. You need to add some friends to spice it. Watching a boring movie with friends can make it interesting as well.", She says.

"How do you make friends?", He asks.

"Huh?", She starts laughing.

"Mittal, you are asking questions like an alien. Speak to people something other than business and finance, indulge in activities other than earning money, you will connect with people and become friends.", She says.

"Basically, have sessions like us. So will you be my friend?", He asks.

"Ofcourse! If we can't be life partners, then we can surely try to be friends.", She says.

He smiles and nods.

"Okay, listen get your daddu to the Taj tomorrow. We need to act quick since just 5 days are remaining for the marriage.", She says.

"Hmmm.. you seem to be in a hurry to run away from me.", He says.

"More than you I need to get this Kiran's work finished soon. He looks like a headache.", She says.

"We can change him, if you aren't comfortable.", He suggests.

"Another day will be wasted behind this. Let's move ahead with the plan. Will tolerate him for few minutes.", Says Shehnaaz.

"Fine!", Agrees Sidharth.

"Let's go now, else I'll be late.", Says Shehnaaz.

They both board the car and he drops her home.
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To be continued.. ❤️❤️

A little longer chapter than usual.