Sushant Rajput as Parth Ahuja

~

Friday came sooner than she would have liked. There was anticipation both from the exam and from the dinner later on. The exam, she could control. She had studied and was prepared. The dinner? She had no idea what was going to happen.

Will we be able to pull it off?

Her exam ended at 4:30. She was supposed to go over to his house for dinner straight. Due to traffic, it took her a good hour to get there.

Other than Neha's parents' car, there were two others. They weren't Arjun's or anyone in his family. She could tell that as they didn't have customized license plates putting their last name on display as if they were the only Mehta's in the entire world. Well, they might be the only one with the crazy amount of bank balance. She wondered who else was joining them for dinner, since this was supposed to be family only. She was only here because she had known Neha her whole life and in many ways, they felt a part of the same family.

She rung the door bell and one of the servants answered. She knew some of the workers since she had spent some time there during the planning for Neha's wedding. Recognizing her, the maid let her in without asking any questions.

From the living room, perhaps, a voice called out. "Who is it, Donna?"

She came into view and saw everyone in the living room. Neha let out a tiny squeal and jumped up, taking her in a tight hug. It forced her to drop her book bag on the floor, not expecting her to do that. "You're finally here!" She exclaimed, making her shift from right to left to keep her balance. "I missed you, girl."

"Sure you did." She replied, chuckling. "You were on your honeymoon. You need to stop lying."

She slapped her arm, pulling back. "Just say it back."

"I missed you too." Sanam reciprocated while rolling her eyes, aware that arguing with Neha whenever she was in any of her moods - happy, sad, or mad - wasn't a good tactic.

"You're late." Neha pointed out, hands on her hips.

"Blame traffic for that." She muttered, and walked past her to sit next to Rahul, taking Neha's spot. "Hey Rahul, since you're going to have to deal with her the rest of your life, I offer my deepest condolences and whenever you need my help, you got it."

"You're the best." He commented while grinning at her, knowing it would only rile up his wife further as he put his arm around her in a side hug.

Sanam adored the kind of relationship the couple shared.

Neha huffed and went to sit next to Arjun, where the only other empty spot was left. Sanam looked around the room, and greeted the parents. Then she saw unfamiliar faces, three guys, and she figured they were either Rahul or Arjun's friends. One of them slapped the back of Arjun's head. She looked at him, to find him already looking at her.

Arjun exclaimed, "Oww!" and turned his head sideways to glare at his friend

She asked, glancing away from them. "Um, is it okay if I freshen up? I've been on campus the whole day."

Arjun stood up, offering, "Oh yeah, you can use my bathroom. It's the best."

She raised her brows at him. A bathroom is a bathroom. Besides, she believed every single place in this mansion of a house would be the best.

"Bull." One his friends muttered.

Mrs. Mehta scolded, "Josh."

He mumbled, "Sorry, aunty."

Mrs. Mehta spoke to her, "Go ahead, Sanam. Take your time. I'm sure you must be tired."

She passed her a smile of gratitude and followed Arjun after picking up her bag. As we are walking up the stairs, he asked, "How was the exam?"

She was slightly surprised that he remembered. "Um, it went okay." She answered, recovering from the pleasant surprise. It always felt good when someone remembered something that was briefly mentioned. It made her feel as if it mattered to him enough to listen and remember. 

He opened the door to his room, stepped in, and moved to the side to let her in. She gaped at the size of it. "Woah, this is like the size of an apartment."

"I wouldn't go that far." He commented, but they both know he was trying to be modest.

She suddenly asked, "Hey, how come I didn't see you around any of the times I came over before to help plan the wedding?"

He went silent, and the playful spark that was always on his face disappeared as well. She felt as if she had crossed a line.

"Sorry, you don't have to answer that." She let him know, looking away to not put him on the spot any more than she already had. "I'm just gonna..." She trailed off, pointing towards the restroom. When he continued to remain silent, not looking anywhere in her direction, she mumbled, "Okay," and turned around to disappear into the washroom.

She'd never seen him silent. He always had an answer. In that way, he reminded her of her sister. The only other time he had been silent when she had hugged him, but that one was out of surprise. He was off his game then. Right now seemed to be a completely different matter.

He had secrets.

Suddenly, she realized that he had built up walls of his own.

He may seem the carefree type on the surface as the guy who was always happy, doing his own thing. Underneath that exterior was a guy hiding his complex layers.

~

Sanam returned downstairs within fifteen minutes. The females were bringing things out to the dining table and setting it up. The guys were talking sports. She didn't find Arjun with the group though.

Mrs. Mehta asked Anaya, "Go call everyone." 

Instead of going, she yelled at the boys to get in, and then asked, "Wait, where is Arjun?"

Rahul answered, "In his room. He's not hungry. He'll have dinner later."

Sanam found that weird, but no one questioned it. Shrugging, she was ready to go along with it when she paused. She wondered if Rahul was lying. She had just came from his room. She hadn't seen him in there.

"Sanam, come. You have to try this sweet I made for the first time." Neha ushered her away to the dining table. For the time being, she pushed him to the back of her mind and focused on dinner and socializing as she sat in between Neha, and a friend of Arjun whose name she remembered to be Parth.

Not thinking about Arjun didn't last long however, since in a few minutes, he came over. Anaya commented, "I thought you weren't hungry?" She was about to sit across Sanam, when he stopped her by the elbow and nudged her to the chair next to it.

"Changed my mind." He gave her a smug look, misusing his authority as her older brother and forcing her to move to a different chair. She retaliated by showing him her tongue. "Thanks for preparing my plate though."

"That is mine." She huffed and pulled it away from him and in front of her. He tried to take it back, but it didn't work. She slapped his hand away. He had to frown at the end, get an empty plate from the spot next to him, and start filling it with food. 

It was one of the things Sanam liked about this house. They had plenty staff around. When it came to the dinner table though, they served themselves. They did have a cook hired, but they brought out the plates and food themselves. This was when they really were a family, a normal one that didn't seem to have as much wealth as they really did.

She couldn't recall the last time she had dinner with her entire family together. Before college when she still stayed at home, everyone would simply eat at their own convenience. Mostly, it would just be her and her sister Esha. And even if there was a forced one during someone's birthday, barely any words would be exchanged that could be classified under civil. Even a simple comment would turn right back into an argument.

She looked up feeling a kick on her leg. Arjun seemed to realize he had kicked her, and apologized, "Sorry, I was trying to kick the ass next to you."

She looked at Parth who was smirking back at him, "What can I say? I love playing footsie with Arjun. It's fun."

She almost choked on her food, hoping they were only joking. Mr. Mehta suggested, "Boys, tone it down a bit. It's not just us tonight that you hold no filter."

Josh whined, "Oh come on, uncle. It'll be a boring dinner otherwise."

Parth seconded, "Exactly, who is going to make everyone laugh?"

Mr. Mehta shook his head, realizing he couldn't do anything to make them behave otherwise. The tablecloth kept on shifting, letting Sanam know they were back to kicking each other. She wanted to tell them this was a dinner table, not a soccer field.

To save her from being kicked, she pulled her feet back and under the chair, for when they think they are kicking each other, they don't hold back on the force. If it accidently hit her, it was going to be painful and sure to leave a bruise on her.

~

The parents were all in the living room again, talking business and the latest politics after dinner. The youngsters piled up in the game room which was well equipped with air hockey table, pool table, basketball hoop, and a few other things Sanam didn't know the names of. It could very well be a mini arcade.

They took turn playing air hockey for some time, before going over to the theater room. Sanam told herself she should stop being surprised by now. While they decided on a movie to watch, she pressed Neha to see pictures from her honeymoon. After convincing for about two minutes, she handed over her phone. Sanam already knew the password.

"What are we sneaking into?" Her heart jumped, startled at Arjun's voice next to her. She had been too engrossed in swiping through pictures to notice him come over. Everyone was by the shelves fighting over a movie.

"Just pictures." She answered. He leaned in and she figured he wanted to see them too. She moved the phone so it was in the middle and he could see without leaning over.

"Aww, that's cute bro." Arjun yelled out to get Rahul's attention at one of the pictures. It was of Neha and Rahul on a beach. It would have been like any other picture, expect, Rahul was putting this handmade necklace of shells around her neck while she had taken a selfie of him doing that.

Rahul realized they were looking at the pictures, and he swore before warning, "Hand over that phone."

Now, they were both curious as to what other mushy things were in here. Arjun declared, "Quick, hide it."

Sanam did just that. She hid it behind her and glued herself to the chair. She knew Rahul would only ask her to give it back. He wouldn't try to snatch it away. "Come on, Sanam. Please. Don't you love me?" He tried to sweet-talk.

She gave him a pointed look, "You can do better than that."

Arjun chuckled besides her. Rahul glared at him, "Dhokebaaz." (Traitor)

"What are you going to do about it?" Arjun teased his brother back, and when Rahul tried to lunge at him, Arjun did a very manly thing. He grabbed Sanam and put her in between them as if she were his shield. Rahul instantly stopped, scowling at Arjun who was hiding behind her.

"Seriously?" She asked, turning her head to the side, amused at Arjun's actions.

"You see a better option?" He questions back. She actually could, but she didn't get a chance to tell him that as his friends come over.

"What are we fighting about?" Josh asked.

Arjun sneakily took the phone from her hand and hid it in the back of his pockets. "Nothing, you guys picked a movie yet?"

"Yup." Parth answered as Neha was putting it in the DVD player.

"About time," Sanam commented, and proceeded to sit where she was previously. Arjun cleared his throat, stopping her. He nodded towards the back of the theater room. For a second, she was confused. He insisted, and remembering he had the phone, she followed him. Everyone piled up in the first two rows.

Parth jumped over to sit next to her. "You two are up to something." He whispered as the credits started to roll. "I want in."

"We're up to nothing." Arjun hissed back. "Now get lost and let us watch the movie in peace."

"Liar, liar pants on fire." Parth gave him a pointed glare, calling him out on his bullshit. If Sanam didn't know any better, she'd take the lack of maturity in their language to be equivalent to a 5 year old.

Anaya snaps at them, "Shut up you two love birds."

Sanam held back a laugh when both the guys gave her a pierced expression. Even though the lights were off, the glow from the screen was enough for Sanam to see that. Parth stood up and walked around to go sit next to Anaya, giving her a hard time for snapping at him.

Anaya held her own though.

Sanam turned her attention to the movie. A few minutes passed by before Arjun bumped his shoulder into hers. When he knew she had his attention, he moved slightly to retrieve the phone from his back pocket. He lowered the screen brightness, but ofcourse, he didn't know the password. He handed it over, and she punched in the number code.

The screen opened to right where they left off: the picture at the beach. Once again, she held the phone between them. She had to constantly bite the inside of her cheek. Her jaws were starting to hurt from all the smiling and grinning. She hadn't done anything this sneaky in a while, and it was beyond fun.

Her shoulder shuddered involuntarily when she felt his fingers tug strands of her hair behind her ear. She turned her head to him, and he whispered, "They were, um, in the way."

"Right." She muttered and tugged them behind again, even though he already did a good job of it.

Someone shushed them, but she couldn't tell who. She continued swiping. Arjun snickered at a few, and so did she. It was hard not to. These were private moments between Neha and Rahul and they shouldn't be prying. The reason Sanam used to ease her guilt was that Neha did give her the phone.

She blinked up when Rahul spoke in a not-so-happy tone, "Are you two done already?" He'd figured out what they were doing.

Neha spoke to him, "Aww, its okay baby. We all know you love me. No need to hide it."

He made a face, and she kissed his cheek just to lighten up his mood. It did the trick. Then, she turned to us, "Now, hand it over."

Sanam gaped, "But I'm not done!"

"Honey, I love you, but you've teased my husband enough." She said it in a blunt tone that could fool others, but not Sanam. Neha was simply showing Rahul she was on his side. Sanam could read between the lines: a.) forward them to her later, or b.) let her have her phone another time. Arjun might not get to see them, but either way, Sanam would have gotten to see them.

Sanam locked the screen, and got ready to sit up to give it to her when she felt a hand on her thigh. Arjun stopped her from getting up. She looked at it, and then at him. He took it from her, and handed it over himself, putting his long arm to use.

"Stay." He whispered in her ear afterwards, when he had sunk back into the chair.

He seemed to have figured out that since they weren't going to keep watching the pictures, she was going to go sit up front. She seemed to realize that he was right. They had their own mission to think about as well. To make it believable, she should stay seated next to him.

So, she stayed... and so did his hand on her thigh. For the first few seconds after settling back in the recliner seat, she didn't do or say anything to indicate it. Then, it started to get awkward and uncomfortable. She shifted her leg slightly, but he didn't seem to feel it since his gaze stayed glued to the screen in front.

Chuck this.

She gave up on being subtle about it. She put her hand around his wrist, and he looked down. She had to lift it. When it dawned on him, he pulled back himself. His fingers curled in, and it told her what she needed to. He hadn't been aware of his strayed action. The way he fidgeted in his seat, she could tell an apology was on its way. Not wanting to attract attention to them, she slightly nodded back at him to let him know it was fine.

It wasn't intentional on his part. She wasn't going to give him grief over it.

Halfway through the movie, Neha's mom came in. "Neha, we're going to get going now."

Everyone quickly bid them for the night and returned to the movie.

Sanam sighed inaudibly and rested her head back on the chair once again. The seat was comfortable, and she was tired right now after the lack of sleep over the week as she spent long hours studying. She wouldn't have minded leaving the movie mid-way so she could catch a few extra hours of sleep tonight, which wouldn't technically be extra since she would be making up for the sleep she lost over the week. Just thinking about sleep was making her sleepier. She had to stifle a yawn by clenching her jaw. Only, it didn't work since she found herself dozing off.

She unwillingly opened her eyes when someone turned on the lights once the movie ended. Her eyes burned at being woken up abruptly. It felt like barely five minutes, but it was obviously a lot longer.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Neha commented, her face was right in front of her.

Sanam scooched further in her seat, her heart jumping. "Dude." She scolded her. "You don't jump up like that in front of people who are sleep deprived."

She laughed, "Come on, stop drooling on Arjun and get up. Mom already called three times asking why you weren't home yet."

She lifted her head to realize it had been on his shoulder. Wait, drool? Neha almost made her check, for which she disliked her. Way to embarrass me.

"What time is it?" She muttered, searching her pocket for her phone. It was closing to eleven in the night. No wonder.

"She's going to kill me." She muttered, and stood up in a rush. They come out to the living room to say their good byes and thank Mr. and Mrs. Mehta for having her over for dinner. Just as she was going to walk towards the front door, she realized her bag was still in Arjun's room. She didn't bring it down after changing. "Oh, my bag."

Neha teased her on getting old and being forgetful as she made her way towards Arjun's room. She tried to turn the knob of his door, but it didn't budge. She turned to see Arjun coming up the stairs.

She looked at him curious, "You keep your room locked?"

He informed, "One of the doors in the room lead to my study, and as much as I like the staff my mom's hired for cleaning, I like my things to stay where they are." That, Sanam understood. Even she don't like it when people moved her stuff, even if it was messy and it should be cleaned. It made it harder to find things when she really needed it. Atleast when she had left it in a mess, she could recall where in the mess she had left it.

She got her bag and put it over one shoulder. "Well, um, good night."

Just when she passed him, he stopped her, "Hey, listen."

"Yeah?"

"About what you asked earlier... I was out of the country for the past year. If not for Rahul's wedding, I hadn't really planned on coming home. The plan was to leave after the wedding."

She took in a breath at that piece of information. He stayed and moved back from Manchester to New York because of what she asked of him. He put her problem over his personal issues. She was clueless of what to say. "I... uh..."

His eyes were soft as he said, "You don't have to say anything. See you later, drive safe."

She nodded and wished back in a parting, "Bye."

She started to leave, but apparently, people didn't want her to leave. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was stopped again. This time, by Parth.

He had his arms crossed across his chest, looking in a defensive position. "Don't play around with him."

"What?" She asked, not understanding what he was saying.

He elaborated, "All the flirting you two have been doing tonight. If you're just going to hurt him later, stop right now."

Now, she understood. He was talking about Arjun and her. Well... atleast it's a good thing that people are starting to notice, right? No, she still felt the need to defend herself and correct him. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know girls like you, okay? You put your careers and own selfish motives ahead of everything. He's been hurt enough by girls like you. He doesn't need more of that in his life." Parth was protective of his best friend. Somewhere, it made her feel something. Perhaps, guilt?

Am I not doing this because of my selfish reasons?

She took a step towards Parth to let him know she was serious and she wasn't going to get intimidated by his warnings. "I'll say this only because I get that you are looking out for your friend. I wouldn't hurt him ever, or anyone for that matter. I'm not that kind of a person. You have me confused with some other kind of girl."

He looked off-guard. He didn't expect a girl like Sanam to give him a fit answer. She was aware of the kind of impression people got of her. They took her to be a goody-two shoes the way she was around elders. That didn't mean, however, that she can't throw things back at people her own age. She was the way around elders only because she respected them. That didn't mean she let just anyone walk all over her.

"Good night." She walked past him, bid bye to everyone else again, and then walked to her car. She dumped her bag in the back seat before getting in the driver seat and walking off.

She had been worried about tonight, but it went by pretty smoothly. There were a couple hiccups, with asking that personal question to Arjun, and ending with this confrontation with Parth. Nevertheless, it wasn't as bad as she had been making it out to be.

~

authors note;

ah, the romance is brewing ^_^  or atleast, they're faking it really well. What do you all think of Parth? I love him! And Josh. But, Parth more. And Sushant... so many hot pics of him out there..! I couldn't pick but I tried by picking a playful one :P

Arjun's secrets... any speculations after what Parth's revealed? 

This guilt is going to drown Sanam... hope you're excited for what's coming!