Ananya's POV :

"Congratulations, Arjun and Dulquer! They assembled the bicycle in the least time period!" Roma said vivaciously.

I had to say this. For two guys who hated each other Dulquer and Arjun had been a good team. But this was also bad. Arjun seemed to be going forward and forward. He was either a winner or a runner up in almost every competition. If this was what was going to continue he most definitely had a chance to win this competition.

"Well done!", said Roma again. Everyone clapped mildly, "With this, we wind up the fifth level of the competition! And I have good news - since all of you have performed greatly this week there will be no elimination!"

There was much louder applause for this than the previous time. One of the guys wolf whistled. I couldn't make out who it was.

"And as you have already been told, tonight you have a special dinner in hall number four, hosted by our sponsors. Please be on time".

That instantly had Shilpa rambling about some special perfume she was going to use for the night.
            
                                    ~~~~~~

"Hey are you done getting ready?" Arjun banged on the girl's room door at six that evening.

"Yes baby!" said Rubina, who had finished her makeup to the last detail. I'd stuck to my new routine. I was observing Rubina as best as I could.

She had been hogging the bathroom for so long that none of us others had hardly done anything yet. In today's 'Who is the more make up obsessed useless bitch?' competition between Shilpa and Rubina, Rubina had won.

"No you, idiot", I shouted out to Arjun.

"Well, mom just called me Ananya. She wanted to talk to you. She asked you to call her back", he said.

I was still in a bathrobe. I slid open the door by a slit and took a quick glance at my brother. He was dressed ceremoniously.

"I'll call her. And by the way, don't you look dashing!" I said sarcastically.

"I didn't bring shoes to match this", he complained indicating his bright red full sleeved shirt.

"There are people who have no shoes at all, brother!", Oviya's voice came from the bathroom. The girl wouldn't spare anyone even when she was peeing.

I grimaced at Arjun and was about to shut the door when Rubina came up behind me and pulled it fully open, "Wow Arjun! You look great babe! I'm ready too", she said

"Shall we go down together?"

"Of course. And you look stunning!" he said looking at her heavily made up hair, flashy off shoulder purple top and a black skirt in undeniable approval. But there was nothing special about that look of approval. It was like he was looking at just a girl on a billboard, not his precious girlfriend.

But I instantly brushed aside the thought. Arjun had stood up for Rubina when I bitched about her. Arjun is no dilwale type and wouldn't do things like that unless he was really fond of someone.

"Let's go babe", said Rubina, taking hold off Arjun's arm. I shut the door on their faces.

I got into my outfit, which was rather plain compared to the other girls' dresses - just a white printed shirt and black jeans.

I sat in front of the mirror, trying to do something with my hair to make up for my unglamorous outfit as I dialled my mom's number, put the phone on speaker and placed it on the dressing table, "Hi mom! Arjun told me, you wanted to talk to me".

"Yeah" I heard mom say "But it's nothing specific really. I just wanted to check on you. How are you getting on?"

"I am getting on fine. All good mom. Are you still in the hospital?"

"Yes I am. I am taking the night shift as well, today. Is Pooja nearby?"

"Hi aunty!" Pooja came up behind me as she looked at the mirror and carefully slathered on some lipstick.

"Hey dear! You good?" asked mom.

"Yes aunty. A little bit nervous though".

"Don't be", said mom being mom as always. Pooja gave a nervous giggle. "Alright then, have fun tonight, both of you. I'll see you girls when you get back", said mom.

"Bye mom", I said and hung up."Shall we go?" asked Pooja adjusted the strap of her top. She was also wearing jeans but at least her top was pink and shining with sequins.

"Do you think I should have brought something more chic?" I asked Pooja.

"Less is more An", said Pooja leaning into the mirror and adjusting her hair, "Let's go".

Shilpa and Oviya were already out. And we followed suit.

By the time me and Pooja walked into the hall, things were already going on in full swing.

Oviya was dancing inside. Shilpa and Raghav were..well.. doing their thing. I looked for Kishan but couldn't place him in the dim light.

There were so many unfamiliar people in black suits, silk sarees and flashy skirts and they were all apparently from Chennai's high society. To be honest, I felt intimidated. Sure my parents were rich, but not the party throwing, night club going, kind of rich.

I had seen this kind of scenario only in Hindi serials where the millionaire businessman hero throws a party for his colleagues, which is mostly his own engagement or reception party, because, well, every hindi serial has a minimum of ten weddings and the same couple gets married at least three times usually after a bout of memory loss or a divorce.

Mothers were feeding toddlers, young children were playing hide and seek and running up and down the hall, older kids were dancing or hanging out by the bar and the middle aged crowd sat in groups chatting.

But it looked like only I was feeling intimidated. Arjun was on the other end with a glass of soda in his hand, laughing and chatting with two older guys (both of whom had glasses of beer in their hands - I was glad Arjun hadn't resorted to that as well, because with my brother, you never know).

Arjun apparently knew the two guys and was visibly enjoying himself, acting like he did this everyday.

And then I noticed.

Rubina was not with him.

Hmm.

I looked around for her and spotted her sneakily exiting the hall.

Finally! Something for me to do.

I waved and gestured to Pooja that I was going out. She nodded absent mindedly. I ran after Rubina.

She hurried down the stairs and I followed her. She was soon out of the hotel building. She walked into a car that was waiting right outside and shut the door. But the car didn't move. It just stood there.

I decided to make a bold move.

I walked up straight to the car. The windows were drawn up and I couldn't see the inside. I rapped sharply on the window, "Please open up!" I said. Someone rolled down the window and I gaped at what I saw.

Rubina was canoodling with the guy I had seen at music city! Khiran or whatever that asshole's name was.

Rubina looked as if she wished the car seat would open up and swallow her.

"Ananya! Man, I'm really embarrassed", she finally said flushing red with humiliation as she opened the door of the car and stepped out.

"You are embarrassed?" I snapped "You have embarrassed everyone else, you bitch!".

She didn't appear annoyed or upset. In fact, she appeared so genuinely guilty, that I felt bashed for a second. Khiran on the other hand, looked totally perplexed.

"I see there's no point in lying anymore", Rubina said "Ananya, my romance with Arjun was fake".

Oh My God! So Shilpa had been right! I couldn't believe Rubina had actually gone as far as this!

And I had another sinking feeling.

"Does Arjun know?" I asked.

Rubina sighed and bit her lip. God!

"You know, your brother was always ready to do what was best for him", she said, "But he wouldn't go as far as this. So I had to do it my way".

"But why?" I asked numbly.

"Don't you see Ananya?" she said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world "I'm not fashionable like Shilpa, strategic like Oviya, chill like Pooja or smart like you", I ignored the transparent lack of genuinty in her vague compliments as she went on "I had to have  something."

"And you couldn't think of anything else other than flirting with my brother", I completed for her.

"I'm sure he won't be that hurt" she said casually, "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he'd already guessed. Your brother is much sharper than you give him credit for, you know".

I gaped at her. I really couldn't find anything to say. I turned my back to the duo and started to walk fast. Rubina didn't bother to call me.

A drizzle started all of a sudden and I broke into a run and dashed straight into the hotel and upstairs to the party hall.

On the way up, I was sure I saw my favourite mystery guy rushing towards the same hall that the party was going on. He was quite ahead of me. But for once, he didn't perk me that much. How did it matter that there was some guy in black walking up and down the hotel? I was more keen on another mystery right now.

What was this Rubina girl talking about? Arjun seemed so honest when he spoke to me about Rubina. How would he not be hurt?

Though, I wasn't exactly all for Arjun's ideas, I couldn't help feeling sorry for him right now. I mean, the things that the guy had to go through before he got into showbiz!

Once I was back inside the hotel, I called up Arjun wondering if he would actually pick up. He did.

"What do you want?" he said irritably, "I don't particularly feel like having a leisure chat with you right now".

"No Arjun, this is important! I've just been out", I started.

"And?" he asked irritably.

No. I couldn't do this on the phone.

"Arjun. Please come out of the hall. We have to talk. Come to the..er..girl's bathroom".

"Girls bathroom? Are you crazy? What happened?" he asked but I had already cut the line.

I walked out of the hall and into the girls bathroom and found Arjun already standing there looking curious but displeased.

"What?" he snapped.

"Arjun, you need to forget about that Rubina", I said urgently "She was pulling a truce. She is still with that boyfriend of hers - she's with Khiran! I just saw it!".

Whatever Arjun had expected, it wasn't this. He blinked. But then I noticed he didn't look shocked. On the contrary, he looked guilty.

"I know", he finally said "I mean, I found out. The girl's a real bitch".

"What? When?" I wanted to know.

"A few days ago", he shrugged.

"What?" I asked again stupidly, "But you acted like nothing happened!".

"Yeah", he replied looking sullen, "But what was I supposed to do? Throw a temper tantrum? Fight her?"

"You should have confronted her. Or at least told me", I muttered.

"What was the point? I couldn't possibly expect undying fidelity from her. She's not my wife. I always knew she was a total jumper. And now I come to think of it. The whole thing was more of a hindrance than a help".

I gaped at Arjun. This was not what I had expected at all. I was trying to wrap my head around the whole thing, when Arjun surprised me further by saying, "It's probably a good thing".

So Rubina had been right. My brother wasn't hurt.

"So what are you going to do now? Break up officially?"

"Break up officially?", Arjun chortled "We never dated officially in the first place. It was just goofing around and a few hook ups. And here's a reveal. We helped each other get into this competition. Her parents wouldn't pay for her so I did from my pocket money. In turn, she got us the registration forms from the organisation. So we're even. And now, I guess we'll just drift apart smoothly".

What in the world?

I sighed. How many more emotional excursions would there be before this competition ended?

First Shilpa, then Rubina. Both of them had managed to figure about my brother, what I hadn't been able to. It made me realise what a naive duck I was and how little I knew my own brother.

"What? Anything else?" Arjun goaded me impatiently.

I shook my head.

"Okay listen, I really want to get to the chicken fried rice before it's over so now please don't start giving me a lecture or anything".

"I won't", I said wearily, "Shall we get back to the hall then?"

"Yes please", he said, "I dread to think of what would happen if I was found in the girls bathroom with a girl".

"I am your twin sister", I muttered.

"Which makes it worse", he said pushing open the door.

We came out of the bathroom and had just shut the door behind us when I found that we were face to face with Roma.

She stared at us. "What's going on?" she asked disbelievingly, "That's the girl's bathroom! What were you doing there?" she swelled at Arjun, though I noticed that she looked less alert than her normal self.

Probably drunk.

Arjun's face changed colour to almost match his shirt.Then Roma looked at me and I looked back as innocently as I could. She really seemed to have had a lot of wine and her gaze was far from sharp.

After what seemed like a staring match, Roma finally seemed to conclude that nothing outrageous could have happened, "Whatever! Make a move now", she said. And we ran.

By the time we went back inside, the waiters had started serving. I spotted Kishan sitting by himself at one of the tables. I went and sat down next to him.

"Hey!", I said "Where were you all this time?"

"Hey!" he said looking up at me and brightening, "You look lovely"

I grinned "Don't tease me. I'm the most unglamorous person in this hall right now".

"So? I didn't say anything about glamour. I said you looked lovely", Kishan said.

"Thanks", I said shortly.

"And by the way we're twinning", he said pointing at his own white shirt and black jeans. Duh! How come I hadn't seen it? I foolishly wondered if this was a sign.

"I still wish I had brought something more dressy", I said distractedly.

"Don't worry. Everybody is too busy with themselves to notice anybody else. Plus, you're definitely not badly dressed. So if you're self conscious please don't be."

"Of course I'm self conscious. These parties and stuff make me so dizzy", I said.

"Well gatherings are not everybody's thing. It's normal to feel like a fish out of water", he said kindly.

"Fish out of water? I feel like a fish on Mars!"

"A rather hot fish", he said.

Now what? Nobody had ever called me hot before other than Pooja, that too only in the Instagram comment section. A guy, that too, a guy that I'd enormously been crushing on for weeks now, calling me hot was too much for me.

So I was automatically grateful when I was spared from giving a reaction, by the merciful arrival of a waiter with two bowls of spring onion soup. He placed it in front of us and we started on it.

"Did I hear someone say the G word here?", Dulquer popped in suddenly and sat in uninvited.

"Yes yes, we were talking about glamour", Kishan said with a serious look "And I can see yours is increasing everyday".

Dulquer ignored the comment and helped himself to a glass of water.

"If this competition hadn't been there, I would be at home doing my Maths homework", I said.

"Maths homework?", Dulquer snorted "You're great. You do homework. The last time I did homework, I was seven or eight".

Kishan and I grinned at each other seeing Dulquer's pompousness.

"Well I do it out of fear of scrutiny", I said sarcastically.

"From whom?" Kishan asked smiling, "Rekha mam?"

Wow! Kishan had remembered even my maths teacher's name. And I was certain, I hadn't mentioned it more than twice or thrice to him. I knew I wouldn't be seeing him for another two weeks but I couldn't help it. I smiled back widely.

A/N: Hey babes ❤️ It's been more than ten days since I last updated. So if you're here after almost two weeks, thank you so much ❤️❤️

From the next chapter we get back to the family scenario for awhile as it's been a long time since we saw the doctor couple, Janvi and Arav. Hope you enjoy that too ❤️