A/N: This is a bit of a short chapter but... New characters update!!! We have Tiger Shroff playing Gaurav, Disha Patani playing Nayara, Kriti Sanon playing Ishita, Rohit Saraf playing Raghav and Dhairya Karwa playing Samar. Cast list will be updated in a bit because there's still one more character I want to introduce but not in this chapter.

***

The moment the bell rang, Aarav leapt out of his desk and bolted straight for the door. His teacher was definitely not happy about it and he was sure he would hear about it tomorrow. At this moment, he didn't care. He had to get to the fountain and make sure Kavya was not in any imminent trouble. When he spotted her casually chilling and scrolling through her phone, an idea crept into his mind. He sneakily tip toed up to her in an attempt to scare her but instead, she had turned around and spotted him.

"Hi," Kavya waved from a distance.

"Hi," he responded. Aarav was slightly annoyed his plan was thwarted but he couldn't reveal his intentions. There is always next time. "My friends are on their way."

"Ok," she replied. "How's school?"

"How's school?" Aarav scoffed. "What are you? My mother?"

"Excuse me?" Kavya felt offended. "I was trying to be nice."

"Whatever," Aarav shrugged and pulled out his phone. What was taking his friends so long? He was scrolling through his contact list, wondering who he should text when suddenly, he heard a phone camera shutter go off. It was Kavya.

"What are you doing?" Aarav questioned.

"I'm sending a my parents a text," she answered, stating the obvious.

"That is not a text," he protested. "That is my picture. What are you doing with my picture?"

"I'm just letting them know you're here," she explained. "Or would you prefer a selfie?"

"I'd prefer if you'd ask," he replied, annoyed. "Have you heard of consent?"

"Fine," she huffed. "But you look so adorable."

Is she for real? And where are his friends?

"Puppies are adorable," he asserted. "Some kids are adorable. I am not adorable. Never call me that again."

However, he did sneak a look at her phone and had to admit that it was a good picture.

"Aarav!"

Finally!

The pair turned to find a group of students beckoning them over.

"Come," Aarav said as he pulled Kavya over. "Guys, meet Kavya. Kavya these are my friends."

They took turns greeting each other as Aarav introduced them. First, there was Gaurav, then his girlfriend, Nayara, followed by Ishita, her younger brother, Raghav and lastly, there was Samar, the friend who ditched him at the movies.

Aarav, Gaurav, Ishita and Samar were in the same class while Nayara was a year below them. Raghav was the youngest being another year below Nayara.

"So," Ishita said. "Do you know which class you're in yet?"

"11B?" Kavya answered, recalling what the admin staff said earlier.

"No way!" Nayara exclaimed. "We're in the same class."

"Yay!" Aarav fake cheered. "Chalein (Let's go)?"

"Geez," Gaurav complained. "Chill. We're going. Why are you in such a rush today?"

Aarav ignored the comment and led the group to the designated pick up spot.

***

After dropping off Shreya at home, Rohit made his way to the office. By the way he was stomping around, Aman guessed there was major trouble.

"Rohit," he muttered. "Is something wrong?"

"Does it look like there's something wrong?" Rohit retorted, his jaws were tight.

Aman decided to drop the topic and instead followed up on the latest legal dealings with the company. That should hopefully calm him down?

"As you can see," Aman showed him a presentation on his computer screen. "The Arora and the Desai Groups are also trying to make a bid for the same plot of commercial land."

"Ravi Desai is a family of Shreya's isn't it?" Rohit asked.

"He's her uncle," Aman replied. "Her mother and Ravi's wife are sisters."

Rohit nodded.

"Anyone else attempting to bid?" Rohit inquired further.

"The Declans, J&S and Sitara Group," Aman added. "But the rumors are that it's down to us, Arora or Desai."

"The Arora and Desai Groups managed a join venture in the past so I'm worried about that happening again," Rohit remarked.

"Would it be wise if...," Aman trailed off. He knew this was a risky move to make considering Rohit had just warned him about getting Kavya involved. "If you brought Miss Kapoor to the Merchant..."

"I've already asked Tania," Rohit curbed that thought. To be honest, what Aman suggested wasn't a bad idea. If he had Shreya by his side at the Merchant Guild party, he could show the Desais that despite their history with the Aroras, he was actually part of the family. Hopefully, he could deter them from working any further. Unfortunately, after today's interaction with Shreya, Rohit wasn't quite sure he wanted her to be in such close proximity.

"Rohit," Aman started and by his tone, it didn't sound like good news. "Could you at least consider this? You said it yourself that the Arora and Desai Groups could partner up and that would be a catastrophe for us. If not as a friend, then take my advice as a lawyer. I'm sure if you explain it to Miss Jain, she'll understand. It's only business after all."

Business. For the business. Rohit could do that. He would tolerate Shreya for one night if it meant helping his business.

"Get my secretary to call Miss Kapoor for me," Rohit agreed. "When she agrees, let me know. I'll work things out with Tania."

"Right away," he answered and left the room to get Rohit's secretary.

***

When Shreya received a phone call from Rohit's secretary asking her if she was interested to accompany him to a party, she was utterly confused. Why couldn't Rohit ask her to the party himself? Moreover, they had spent half a day together. Why didn't he mention that? Shreya thanked the secretary and told him that she will consider and personally inform Rohit.

Suddenly, her phone rang again, pulling her out of her daze. It was Deepak.

"Hi Shreya," Deepak spoke. "I assumed everything went well with Kavya's school admission?"

"Yes," Shreya replied. "Thank you so much for everything."

"Don't worry about it," he said. Deepak's tone then changed, he was a lot more serious. "Shreya? I didn't just call to check up on Kavya's admission. I actually would like to ask you for a favor."

"Sure," Shreya responded, curious as to what warranted such a change in Deepak's voice.

"There's this Merchant Guild party," he revealed. "I'm not sure if Rohit's told you about it but it's coming up next week and I don't quite have a partner to attend with. Usually, it's my father that goes to all these events but for this one... He decided that I would go on his behalf."

The Merchant Guild party again...

What was with these men and their obsession with needing a woman by their side?

"Deepak," Shreya sighed. "I'd love to but I can't. Rohit's asked me to go with him."

"But I thought Rohit was going with Tania?" Deepak blurted out.

Tania... Shreya had almost completely forgotten about Tania. Wasn't she his girlfriend? Why didn't he ask her?

"I don't know," she mumbled into the phone. "I'll clear things up with Rohit and I'll get back to you?"

"Sure," Deepak accepted. "I'll wait for your call."

"Is there anything else?" Shreya asked.

"No," Deepak answered. "And oh, don't worry about Kavya. They're apparently watching a movie at my house right now. I called Aarav about a few minutes ago and got quite an earful."

Shreya laughed.

"Poor thing," she cooed at him.

"I have to get back to work now," he announced. "Talk to you soon?"

"Ok," she replied. "Bye."

"Bye," Deepak said then hung up.

***

A/N: There's sooo much to unpack in this chapter. Kavya meeting new people, Shreya being related to Rohit's competition, Rohit choosing Shreya over Tania, Deepak's phone call... There's still that unsolved tension between Rohit and Shreya as well as Shreya's secret. I'm so tempted to spill all the chai!!! 😝😭🙃🤫