5. The Moral Compass.

   BLOWING OUT A SIGH, I walked into my office. It bustled with people endlessly. Honestly, I just hated crowds but I pretended not to. Crowds always made me feel lost, like I was losing my identity when I stood among them.

  It was probably because back in highschool I was always a following shadow of Nikita. During every ball night, a guy would ask out Nikita first, and then if she refused — the offer would come to me. I knew I was not as beautiful as her. Flawless skin. Delicate tendrils. Enticing smile. I was just average when I stood next to her.

  I just shook my head to clear my thoughts. She was my best friend; she was good at heart and that's why people loved her. I was shrewd in highschool, somewhat undesirable.

  Did Virat always loved Nikita? I had no idea about it. We hardly talked, hardly interacted except for our very infamous fights.

  The last night Virat and I spent together, he told me he would help me with my plans. He loved Nikita, after all. Why would he leave an opportunity if it somehow made Nikita his endgame? They looked perfect together, definitely compatible. I had thought of a couple of ideas on how I could play the cupid between the two.

  I entered my cabin, and saw how messy my desk was. I felt completely awful, looking at it. Taking a seat, I just sorted out the messy array of papers and photographs on my desk. After I complete the task, I took out my binder to make a list of things I could do to make Nikita and Nikhil break up.

  I usually planned things out before executing them. It helped a lot to note down the ideas and plans that swept across my very own flustered mind. I wrote down, Things I can do to break N-N.

  I laughed at the irony. Scientifically speaking, the Nitrogen-Nitrogen bond was one of the strongest bonds in Chemistry because it had an unbreakable triple bond. I just silently hoped that was not the case with Nikita and Nikhil.

  Nikhil's income came across my mind first. He owned a restaurant in the suburb which had a decent reputation. So if I could probably somehow ruin him financially, maybe Nikita would have second thoughts about the wedding. Or at least it could get postponed. I noted down restaurant, with an asterisk, first task.

  God, I sound like Satan's sister, I made a disgusted face. Okay, all this is for Nikita's well-being.

  Her happiness is what mattered the most after all.

  Second came Nikhil's string of ex-girlfriends. Nikhil had a lot of affairs before Nikita. So if someone could just pop into the scene, Nikita might feel insecure and jealous. Blast from the past, I noted down quietly.

  The last bet would be Virat. After the second plan, Nikita would be broken— damsel in distress with an utterly broken heart. And that's when the hero — a.k.a, Virat would enter and play the knight and share her pain. After that they would probably fall in love, and get married. Virat, I noted down.

After noting down all the plans, I got back to my work. I had to edit three albums today, it was a shit load of work. Sulking groggily on my seat, I stared at my laptop blankly. I could hardly concentrate because of the whirlwind of thoughts coming across the back of my mind. It mostly involved Nikita and Virat.

I wasn't exactly jealous because Virat loved Nikita — I knew she was lovable, but I just wondered why he loved Nikita. Was it just her superficial beauty that downed his heart? Because Virat and Nikita were hardly accomplices. They hardly talked, let alone doing things which would seed so much love in one's heart. Ugh. It wasn't my call to define his love superficial anyway. I could see how his eyes would light up whenever he talked about her to me. It was love. It didn't matter what exactly ignited the feeling. 

Exhaling a long held breath, I began with my work finally. It somewhat brought peace to my mind and I stopped thinking about everything else. Contrary to what I had thought earlier, it just took me three hours to edit the albums. I transferred all the files to a disk, and leaned back on my seat. My hands covered my face as I let out a long yawn. The work felt of double magnitude because of the whizzing thoughts. 

When I was about to shut the lid of my laptop and leave my cabin, I see a Skype call on my laptop's screen. Virat. I answered the call in a heartbeat, too desperate to talk to him.

Virat waved at me. He was wearing a grey sleeveless nike vest which showed the tattoos on his arm —  glistening because of the sweat beads which were present on them. He looked cute more than sexy because of the black-rimmed glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. Virat mostly preferred contact lenses, so seeing him in specs was a little weird. Without them, he would come across as a hot guy when he sat like that with tousled hair and sweaty arms. But now, since he was wearing them, he looked adorable.

"You're literally ogling at me like I'm your pizza. I know I look irresistibly hot after a work-out, but you're irking with those big-doe eyes and wide-open jaw." Virat broke the silence, a smirk forming across his lips.

  I choked onto my saliva, wildly gasping for air as I furiously blushed. Oh God, I wasn't  ogling at him, was I? My mouth felt dry as I looked at him, chewing on my lips. "I wasn't staring at you," I refused, looking away from the screen. 

  It wasn't like I liked — as in liked liked — Virat Kohli. I was just adoring him like the other girls did. Nothing grand and different by any sorts. And nothing close to wanting him and trailing behind him.

  "What were you staring at then?"

  I frowned. "I was just thinking," I half-lied, meeting his gaze. Virat gave me a quizzical look, his thick eyebrows knitted together, and a pout covering his lips. I sighed, realizing I was delving too deep into his features. Something was definitely wrong with me. It hardly used to matter how he looked earlier. Ugh, fuck whatever this is. "You know, about you and Nikita? I've made quite a few plans." I told him, bracing myself for his reaction.

  Happiness. It was quite evident on his face when a smile spread across his lips as he dipped his head forward, sounding interested. "What have you thought?"

  "Can we meet up anytime soon? I heard you were in Mumbai." Read. On Twitter. For fuck's sake what was I thinking when I followed one of his fan-club?

  "Um. Okay, stalker," he remarked, throwing me a wide, amused grin. My cheeks tainted red in embarrassment, as I realized I'd made an utter fool of myself in front of him. Why was everything so cliche around him? I hated cliches.

  "I wasn't stalking you. I just happened to come across the news on Twitter. Some crazy friend of mine is a hard-core Viratian." I lied obviously, flicking my hair back confidently.

  "Can I get her number?" he asked, smirking.

  "Why? Got over Nikita already?" I retorted sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him.

  "Okay, let's talk business. Can you come at my apartment? If I move out of mine and come to yours, tomorrow's headlines would probably be about us dating." Virat chuckled, and I couldn't help but give him a reclusive nod. He was right. I couldn't afford link-up rumours with him. Especially when I was engaged to marry someone else.

"Alright. Just ping me your address and time." I agreed, giving him a feeble smile. Admittedly, I was nervous about meeting him in real person.

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye," he waved me a goodbye. I waved at him too, left absolutely flustered when he disconnected the call.

  What was wrong with me? I hate to admit, but I was acting all hormonal around him. Maybe because I wasn't physical with Advay since a long time. We need to spend sometime together. I had to suppress these stupid sparks inside me before they grew into something more.

  Now, Nikita and Virat have to unite. I needed it more than I ever wanted.

-

   I SMILED AT ADVAY.

  "What are you doing, Anu?" he asked innocently, as I kissed down his neck. 

  "Nothing for you to worry about," I replied, when he shuffled, his lips now moving smoothly against mine. My feelings for Virat—or whatever it was—just diminish into nothingness as Advay kisses me. Advay gripped my waist the next moment, and dipped his head backwards. 

  "Something's wrong," he told me, looking at me. "Tell me what it is?"

  "It's nothing, Advay." I breathed out slowly, giving a peck on his lips. "Okay, I've to really go now. I'll see you."

  Advay's eyes flicked in my direction with astonishment. "It's 10 p.m. Where are you going, Miss. Sharma?"  

  "Boyfriend," I joked, giving him a sarcastic smile. Advay rolled his eyes at me which made me add, "It's just a friend. He's quite a nyctophile, so..." 

  "Okay, I understand. I'm just worried for you. It's quite late."

  "I know." I replied, leaning onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know I should be really spending time with you considering you're going Kolkata tomorrow. Sorry."

  His hand grazed my cheek, caressing them lovingly. "It's okay. I love you."

  "I love you too, Advay."

  "Take care," he smiled at me.

  I nodded at him, and sighed deeply when I stepped out of my apartment. Advay was going to leave for Kolkata tomorrow, and I should really be spending some time with him. Ugh. Virat was seemingly a threat in our relationship. An indirect one, but still quite a threat.

  When I hopped inside my car, and chugged the engine, I was really nervous. Of what? Meeting Virat. I didn't know how I would react to him. Do I just ditch him and go back to the bed with Advay?

  Ugh, okay. Calm down, Anushka. Virat is just innocuous. He's not a threat to your relationship. You are just being paranoid about everything. 

  I started the drive, following the GPS which showed Virat's residence. To calm down my nerves, I decided to switch on the music system. Superstar was playing, and I chuckled at how Taylor Swift and I had an unsaid connection.

This is wrong but I can't help but feel like
There ain't nothing more right babe
Misty morning comes again and I can't
Help but wish I could see your face
And I knew from the first note played
I'd be breaking all my rules to see you
You smile that beautiful smile and
All the girls in the front row scream your name.

So dim that spotlight, tell me things like
I can't take my eyes off of you
I'm no one special, just another
Wide eyed girl who's desperately in love with you
Give me a photograph to hang on my wall, superstar.

  Surprisingly, the song did calm down my nerves as it somehow reflected tension in my mind. I didn't matter to Virat at all. I was just another girl in his life who he wouldn't want to see a while later. Probably a stairway to Nikita, that's all I was to him, and maybe that's why he was acting all sugary around me.

  We had our selfish reasons for which we had teamed up together.

  He wanted Nikita in his life.

  I wanted Nikhil out of the scene.

  When I reached Virat's apartment, I was back with my cool head. Sighing, I stepped into the building. The security officer didn't question my arrival probably because Virat had already instructed them about me. Sighing, I stepped into the elevator promising myself that I won't react stupidly around him.

  When I knocked at his door, my knees had gone all jell-o as though my feet had liquified. So much just for a meeting. Virat opened the door, and I noticed how his hair looked so dishevelled. And how he was wearing shorts showing off his muscle-toned legs. Jesus Christ.

  "I hope it wasn't trouble for you, down there." Virat opened the conversation. I darted my eyes from the back of his legs to his back-faced trunk. He was pouring water in the glass, evidently showing how hospitable he was, and how sexy his back looked.

  "Nope, it was all good." I replied nervously. 

  "So what's the plan?" he asked, turning around. He sauntered towards me, handing me the glass. 

  See, it has always been all business for him. Stop worrying for no reason.

I found my confident self back fortunately as I give him a wry smile. "Every month the famous food blogger, Mr. Naresh Aggarwal visits a restaurant to review it for his own blog and a magazine he works for. And guess who's turn it is this time?" 

"Nikhil's restaurant?" he posed a question in return.

  I nodded at him excitedly. "So if this review turns drastic or something, we can probably cause him financial woes."

  "But this is crazy, Nush. I mean, we're doing so wrong to him."

  "No. It's just his payback, for leaving behind so many girls... heartbroken. And it's for your love too," I retorted, as he plopped down on the sofa. I was revolting in my mind too, thinking this was too satanic of me. But I realized if this could save my best friend from a disastrous alliance, so it be. Fuck conscience.

  A small groan escaped my lips when I stumbled on the rough contours of the carpet, falling onto Virat's lap. He let out a loud whimper when my entire weight was on him like a thunderbolt. "I know I'm horribly clumsy. And very, very, very stupid." I mentally face-palmed, realizing my palm was held against his chest. Our breathing was too erratic as his hands were splayed across my bare thighs. So much for wearing a short dress and pair of stupid heels and an undeterred carpet.

  "But like I said, you're cute. In an awkward, trip-over-your-own-feet kinda way." he said, a mischievious grin playing on his lips, his face too close to mine.

  "Th-thank you?" I replied, getting up from his lap and straightening my dress. I wasn't used to compliments, especially the ones which called me cute. "But I know how much you hate me. So doesn't make any difference."

  "I don't hate you, Nush." Now what was it with the nickname? He was calling me Nush for the second time.

  "Oh come on, Kohli. You confessed it like... in the most romantic city in the world. That you hate me." I pointed out, finally taking a seat beside him without any eccentric mishap.

  "Nah, it was the foetus me, Sharma. Right now, if you ask me — I'll say I like you, quite a lot," he smiled at me, then chuckled at my amused expression. "I mean, I like spending time with you. You don't come under the category of the giggling and blushing girls who I can call annoying. There's no animosity for you even though you're annoying because around you I can be myself."

  "You mean your dorky self."

  "Right," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me. I laughed, feeling at ease as the tension in my heart finally stopped.

  I wasn't just another wide-eyed girl for him. Maybe a friend now.

  Our relationship wasn't solely out of selfish motives. The realization brought an ocean of relief to my mind.

  "But do you realize, you fall everywhere quite a lot for an adult. You can literally fall yourself to death," he remarked, raising his brows at me.

  My eyes didn't leave his for a second as I replied, "Maybe I just fall around you, Virat."

  "Hain?" he asked, an adorable expression on his face. He looked cute when he was confused.

  "Nothing," I shook my head, finally smiling. "Let's discuss our next line of action for our target."