| NAINA |

Me: You spoke to your dad, as in? Was it about us?

I was alert when I read Angad's message, "I spoke to Dad." I straightened my posture, sat cross-legged on my sofa while sipping some Frooti, and paused The Perks Of Being A Wallflower playing on my TV.

Angad: I was almost there to tell everything. But something stopped me.

"Fuck!" I muttered under my breath, and my blood boiled out of disappointment. Renee was right. He is of no use when it comes to these kinds of stuff.

Me: Very good.

Angad: Sorry, Naina. I told you I tried. But I didn't feel like breaking his heart. He was so cheerful at that time.

Me: That was the right time to tell everything, Angad. You can't go and tell him when he is mad. Had you told him, his reaction would have been comparatively less aggressive.

Me: You should have told him, Angad.

Angad: I said I am sorry. Would you have told your dad about us if he was cheerful?

Me: Of course. I will.

No message from him for a while. Perhaps he was reflecting on what happened. I placed my mobile near me and proceeded to watch the movie. A few seconds later, I heard a pinging sound from my mobile. I thought it was a message from Angad, but no.

Charlotte: Hey!

Charlotte: Is ATG the airport code for Amritsar?

Me: Yeah. Why did you ask?

Charlotte: Just asked.

Charlotte: What if I boarded a flight to Afghanistan, presuming it to be the flight to Amritsar?

Me: You deserve it.

It wasn't until I reread the message that the realisation hit me hard like a basketball.

Me: Wait! So, are you coming to Amritsar?

Charlotte: Get ready with my mushroom penne. I'll be there tomorrow at 8 A.M. to relish it.

On the other hand, I finally received three messages from Angad.

Angad: Why aren't you texting?

Angad: Are you mad at me?

Angad: I said I was sorry, didn't I?

Me: I thought you were busy. After all, you're the groom, right?

Angad: It's no use being a groom when the bride is upset with you. And yeah, I'm currently busy calming down my bride. ;)

Me: No girl would marry you if you weren't this good at flirting.

Angad: Thanks a lot. I want no girl to marry me. I was born to flirt with you. Only with you. So, it's much better if I marry the girl I flirt with.

Me: Yeah, I know. You focus on taking steps forward rather than flirting with me.

Angad: Fine. Mom is calling me. I have to go.

Angad: Miss you, Desi Girl.

Me: Angad, wait!

Angad: What happened?

Me: Please do this faster.

Angad: I will.

Charlotte: Hey! Are you there or what?

The Lord of Flirting made me forget that I was texting with my friend who would be close to me in a day.

Me: Sorry, bro! Something came up suddenly.

***

THE NEXT DAY...

"What happened next?" Charlotte reacted to the tragic story of how Renee caught me red-handed with her brother.

"She said she won't be supporting us for too long. She wants to end the drama soon." I was done narrating my tragedy.

"Though she seems to be snooty, she is right. I guess it's good to end the shit as soon as possible." There was a silence as Charlie was having her beloved mushroom penne. "Ummm... Naina. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Since when did you become so formal, Charlie?" I inquired.

She chuckled lightly and said, "Okay. Well, the question is... How do you feel right now?"

"How do I feel, as in? I feel okay. I feel great since you have come. What are you even talking about, Miss Brown?" I questioned.

"I mean, how do you feel about your relationship? What do you think about it? What do you think about Meeta?" Her eyes were concerned that I shouldn't misinterpret her question. She was concerned this question should not be a leading factor for a fight between us.

"Are you asking whether I'm guilty of cheating my best friend?" I rephrased her question in a much simpler way. She tried to nod no, but she ended up agreeing to it. "I am. Every day. Every minute. Every passing second makes me question why I am doing this. I hate myself for this. I..." I couldn't talk anymore. The tears welling from my eyes did the answering part. I couldn't help but let out loud sobs and feel weak. My guilt strangely went up the graph and reached its peak. "I wish I could tell her everything. I wish I could give Angad a tight slap and ask him to fuck off. I wish I could unlove him easily. But..." I sobbed and tapped my legs rapidly. After noticing the sudden change in my demeanour, Charlie cuddled and patted my head while I wailed. "I don't want to be the other woman in a relationship. I would rather die--!"

"Shhh! Keep quiet," she whispered in a threatening way. But the threat was comforting. It was like the threat moms used to give if their kids refused to eat food. I loved the way her tone sounded. "Don't worry. Stop worrying and start working. Okay? I'm glad my friend has a sense of what she is doing. I'm happy she doesn't need someone to advise over every minute stuff." She broke the hug and added, "Keep this up. Keep your senses in the right place and do accordingly."

"Thanks for understanding me, Charlie," I thanked.

"Friends don't thank each other," she replied, not before clicking her tongue. "Anyways, what are your plans?"

"I'm not sure. But first, I should take things forward and confess everything to Meeta as soon as possible. No matter what. Though I love Angad, it's not that I will be sacrificing my decades-old friendship with her. For that, I should take things forward without relying on anyone. Especially Angad," I affirmed with firmness shedding in my tone.

"Why? What about Angad?" She questioned, clueless about what happened between him and his father the previous day.

"Don't ask. He was such a dickhead yesterday," I cursed.

"What do you mean, Naina?"

"Yesterday, he had a conversation with his father. It seems like his father brought up Meeta as a topic. He tried to tell him everything about our affair, but he didn't. He says something stopped him. He didn't want to disturb his father's cheerful mood. What an asshole did I bring home as my boyfriend!" I narrated the sad story that happened yesterday. "I discussed this with him while you texted about your arrival."

"Oh!" Then, she went with her thinking mode until I decided to bring up Violet as the topic of our morning talk.

"How is your girl, by the way?"

"Violet is fine as always. I dropped subtle hints about how much I loved her. And..." She looked down and paused to simp Violet in her dreamland and flaunt various colours of the coy blush on her cheeks.

"And?" I asked enthusiastically.

"I'm positive that she loves me as well." She looked up finally with a lovesick grin.

I hooted and beamed, "That is great news, Charlie! Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Were you in a mood to see me ranting about my crush?" Her face dropped as she was done saying this. Mine as well.

"But you could have told me," I tried to beam and smiled.

"I'm sorry." She shrugged. "Anyways, what should I prepare for the breakfast?" She got from the sofa and tied her hair into a bun.

"No way, Charlie!" I scowled. "I want to live for years. If you are already fed up with life, you prepare food for yourself."

"Nee, please! Stop kidding around. Violet said my food tastes like home," she bragged. Though I wanted to ignore it, I chose to do the shipping like a teenager.

"Oh! Did she taste your food already? I guess the next step is tasting you. Right, Charlie?" I mocked.

"Oh, shut up, Nee!" She threw the pillow next to her on me while I heard Barbie Girl playing in my house out of the blue. We laughed while she yelled, "Change that fucking ringtone first. That will prevent insults from a kiddo."

"Shhh! Keep quiet, Charlie," I instructed and took my mobile to see the Caller ID. And my face straightened the moment my eyes fell on the screen.

"Who is that?" Charlie asked after seeing the change in my expression.

"Meeta." I showed my mobile screen to her. "Keep quiet," I whispered and picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Naina! Are you busy?" She asked as if she was talking to a stranger or a new friend.

"Erm... No," I replied.

"Then, what the fuck are you doing there? Come to my house. Right now," she commanded in a tone that couldn't be decoded easily. She sounded neither too friendly nor too aloof. And that made me imagine things.

"Yeah, sure. Ummm, mind to tell me what's that?" I asked.

"Don't scold me for this. Okay?" Her tone was friendly at that time.

"Okay, I won't." I chuckled and tried to calm down my overthinking self.

"Well... I feel like doing window shopping right now. So... Could you please come with me? Angad and Abhi too are coming," she requested in a childlike tone while I took time to decide.

I didn't want Abhishek there. Not with me, particularly. If we were left another moment together, he would be on his knees for an apology. And I didn't want that. But she said Angad was coming. Perhaps he would ask me to take his mobile from the car as an excuse to separate me from Abhi. He would annoy me for illogical reasons to ensure I didn't spend another micro-second with Abhi. He may not be brave enough to confess things to his father, but he is smart enough to protect his girl.

At least, that was what I believed.

Praying to Angad, I replied, "Sure. I will be there in half an hour," and disconnected the call.

"What happened?" Charlie asked in a concerned tone.

"Shit is going to happen. But only God knows whether it's good shit or bad shit."

***

"Please, Naina! Let's go inside," Meeta whined in front of a boutique when I refused to go inside. "I mean, just look at that gold saree. Don't you think I will look good in it?" She pointed at the mannequin draped in a gold sequin saree and a sleeveless blouse.

"Yeah, but you said it was just window shopping. And we had got into more than five shops because of you." I'm sorry for being so rude. The truth is that a shopping hater and a shopaholic can never survive together on a shopping day. Especially a lazy douchebag like me... Duh, never!

"Please, Naina. Please, please, please!" She begged with her eyes doe like a cartoon panda, melting my heart like a golden caramel.

"Okay." I pretended to agree it half-heartedly, but come on! Who could say no after she begged so cutely?

"Thank you so much, babes!" She crushed me like how sugarcane juicers crush those long and lean sugarcanes. "You are the best." She broke the hug and my bones and looked at the boys to say, "See? This is why I want my best friend to be here. Let's go!" She exclaimed and hooted while we followed our shopping mentor.

I, who stood between the man who kept loving me and the man who loved me, was moved to the left, all thanks to Angad's effort. I noticed Abhi looking at Angad with an encoded glare while I couldn't see Angad's reaction. He must be either smiling like he knew it all or glaring at him, equally mysterious as he was.

"Ummm... Meeta," Abhishek called the girl who forgot the outer world and was immersed in her 'I am searching for an eye-popping saree' world.

Meeta looked at him and asked, "What happened, Abhi?"

"Angad and I want some dresses for us. Shall we go and shop there?" He sought her consent while she nodded a yes and waved a green flag.

I saw the men climbing upstairs. Angad looked at me for a final time while I looked at him as if to say, "Be calm around him." He subtly nodded a yes and vanished from my sight.

"Do you need my help, Meeta?" I turned to Meeta and asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Glad you finally asked it," she chuckled and continued searching.

I went towards her and pretended to search for a saree while my mind was thinking stuff. I thought it was the best time to confess it all. She looked happy. She looked like she wouldn't overreact if I confessed. Well, there is no such thing as overreacting in her case. The secret with me deserves any reaction, even if it was an overdose of an overreaction.

"Meeta," I called her and exhaled deeply through my mouth. She looked at me, innocence dripping in her eyes. She looked like a naïve five-year-old kid to me. She pointed her chin at me as if to ask what it was while I couldn't swallow my saliva. Then, I felt the pain of Angad while trying to confess things to his father. "I want to ask you something. Shall I?" She nodded a yes. "Okay. Just imagine this situation. What if you find out one day that Angad and one of your friends were having an affair?"

"Excuse me?" Her reaction and tone went in full swing.

"I asked you to imagine. What will you do when you find that out? Will you break up with that friend?"

***
W

hat should be Meeta's response?

Hit your responses, and stay tuned for more and more drama! The next chapter is waiting for you with a lot of drama. Trust me.

See you soon!

Song Courtesy: Janam Janam from Dilwale.