The gang made their way to the infinity mall right after having lunch at Sahil's. The place was well decorated for Christmas and New year. As soon as Tapasya entered the mall, she grabbed Ruhaan by his arm and rushed to the 3rd floor of the mall. The rest looked at each other with confusing looks on their faces.

Adi:(shrugging) It's Tappu, guys. She goes nuts when it comes for shopping.

The rest chuckled. Shanu tugged at Sahil's arm.

Sahil: What do you want, love?

Mitali: Ugh! Don't do that!

Shanu,in an attempt to annoy Mitali more, said,

Shanu:(sugary sweet voice) I want a red lehanga. Would you buy me one, sweetie pie?

Mitali: Okay, seriously, you are making me sick!

The others laughed. Adi turned to Mitali and said,

Adi: Would you like to buy one too, cutie pie....

Mitali: NO.

The gang chuckled even more.

Anu: Vaise Shanu Tujhe red lehanga hi Kyu chahiye? I mean, kahi Sahil k sath vahi Shaadi karne ka irada to nahi hai?

Shanu's cheeks flushed and Sahil awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Shanu: Chup kar, Anu. Kuch bhi bolti rehti hai.

Mitali: Aye haye! Kisike chehre ka nikhar to dekho!

Shanu:(blushing more) Stop it!

Daksh: Acha chal...ab isse pehle ki Shanu ka tamatar sa muh aur lal ho jaye, hum bhi upar chalte hai. Shopping karni hai ki nahi?

The others nodded in agreement and walked ahead.

Ananya was mostly quiet the whole time. Something was bothering her but she didn't know how to put it. You know how sometimes you have a weird feeling that something bad is about to happen. That was exactly what she was experiencing. But she didn't want to tell her friends about this. They were so happy and she didn't really want to spoil the atmosphere.

She was distracted by the sudden murmur beside her. Two girls, probably high schoolers, were standing next to her and discussing something. She didn't want to eavesdrop but she caught some parts of their conversation.

Girl 1: She seemed to be a long experienced one. I swear to God if what she said becomes true, then Arjun will be mine by the end of this week.

Girl 2: Come on, Aisha! Don't be silly. Tarot readings are almost never true! And anyways, Arjun is a hard target, even for your standards.

But Ananya didn't pay head to whether or not the girl was worthy enough for this Arjun guy. The point was that there was a tarot card reader somewhere in the mall and she had to meet with her.

She quickly excused herself from the others and went out to look for the tarot card reader.

It wasn't much of a hunt. The counter was at the end of all the shops. It was beautiful decorated booth , enclosed with curtains on both sides. Ananya took a quick look around to see if anyone was there, but then finding no one, she stepped inside.

The inside of the booth was decorated even more. A lady sat on a chair opposite to the empty chair in front of Ananya. She looked at the lady dubiously. She had envious long black hair and  her hazel eyes lingered on her. She smirked and indicated to the seat in front of Ananya. Ananya gulped and sat down. She took a deep breath. The lady placed some cards on the table.

Lady: I could say by the look on your face that you desperately need a reading.

Anu: ( trying to act indifferent) Me? No,um.... absolutely no...

Lady: It's okay, dear. I understand.

Ananya didn't know how to respond to that. She looked here and there.

The lady smiled and said,

Lady: Pick a card dear.

Ananya looked anxiously at all the cards. She again took a deep breath and picked a card. She gave it to the lady without even looking at it.

The lady examined the card for a moment and then looked at Ananya. By the look on her face, Ananya could tell her intuition was right.

Lady: Dear, as I see it, you are about to experience a major change in your life in the span of the next few days.

Ananya: Is that change positive or....?

The lady smiled and said,

Lady: Yes and no. Some of it is positive but some......

Ananya fidgeted with her fingers in nervousness.

Lady: Look,one thing I can say for sure is that these changes are going to bring prosperity in your life. But the process is going to be difficult. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Ananya nodded, not really sure what to say.

Lady: The only thing that you need to remember is that your decisions are going to shape what would happen. So think twice before doing anything. And remember, no matter what the circumstances are , you are gonna have a confidante by your side.

' A confidante?', thought Ananya. Who could it be?

After a few pleasantries, she paid the lady and walked back to where the others were, all the while thinking about how the next few days were going to turn out to be....

           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gang was welcomed at the venue with garlands on the 24th of December. It was a Five Star hotel, just by the sea shore. The view from the rooms were breathtaking. As they stood in the lobby with their luggage, they were greeted by the groom and bride. They had taken an early flight to make the arrangements were done properly.

Kavya: Hi guys!

Gang: Hey!

Sahil hugged his brother and said,

Sahil: I still can't believe that you are getting married!

Jai: Same here!

Kavya playfully smacked his arm.

Jai: Guys, guess what? Aaj raat ko cocktail party hai!

Adi: Wow! Cocktail party ke liye princi be allow kaise Kiya?

Jai: I honestly don't have an answer to that. Pata nahi Dad kaise maan Gaye. But whatever the reason is, the best thing is that we get to party.

"YEAH!!",the boys roared. The girls laughed.

Kavya: Ha inko to bas bahana chahiye party karne ka!

Jai: Mere saare friends aaj raat ko aane vale.  I promise you that this party is going to be lit!

Adi: I can't wait!

Mitali chuckled softly.

Jai: Acha anyways guys, tumhare luggages already rooms mein rakh diye Gaye hai. Kavya will show you girls your rooms. Aur boys tum mere sath Chalo.

Adi: Jai, uh......humare rooms paas paas to hai na?

The boys gave each other knowing glances. All of them wanted to ask that.

Jai: Tum or Ruhaan ek room mein , aur Sahil aur Daksh dusre mein. Good na?

Sahil: Uh....Bhai I don't think Adi meant that.

Saying that, he whispered in Jai's ears,

Sahil: Humare rooms girls ke rooms ke paas hai na?

Jai smirked and looked at the boys, who looked at him sheepishly.

Jai: Ha boys, tum jaisa chahte ho bilkul vaisa hi hai! Don't worry 😂😂

Kavya: Eh yeh Kya code word mein baatein chal rahi hai tumlogo mein?

Jai: Don't worry, jaan , main Tujhe sab Bata dunga . Abhi hum inko inke rooms Tak chor de. Vapis Tere cousins ko bhi pick karne jana hai.

Kavya: Whatever!

The gang followed them to their respective rooms. The rooms were in the following order-

Room 401- Adi and Ruhaan.
Room 402- Sahil and Daksh.
Room 406 - Mitali and Tapasya.
Room 407- Shanu and Ananya.

Ruhaan: Tapasya aur Mitali ko ek room mein deneka idea kiska hai?

Adi: Ha ! Pata Chala Shaadi Tak ek dusre ko kacha chaba Gaye yeh dono!

Tapasya smacked his head.

Adi: Ow!

Taps: Gadho jaisi baatein mat kar! We are not junglees! Hum ache se reh lenge!

Mitali: Exactly! Bas agar Queen B ko mere kharato se problem Hui to.....?

Taps(horrified): Tum kharate Marti ho?

Mitali: Just kidding yaar! Tum to serious ho gayi! Don't worry, mein tumhein Tang nahi karungi!

Taps:(sigh) Same pinch!

Saying that, they both laughed out loud.

Ruhaan: Arey vah inki dosti to abhi se ho gayi!

Adi: Vaise Tappu ,Tere paas abhi bhi option hai. Agar tu chahe to him swap kar sakte hai. Tu aur Ru Aram se apna honeymoon yahi Mana Lena!

Ruhaan's cheeks flushed as Tapasya smacked Adi's head once again.

Adi: OW!

Taps: Tere muh mein kuch rukta hai ki nahi?

Ruhaan: (whispering in Adi's ears)  Aur Tujhe Kya lagta hai, mujhe  Teri chronology samajh nahi aa rahi! Tu Tapasya k sath isiliye swap karna chahta hai taki Tujhe Mitali ke sath time spend karne ko mile! Kyu sahi kaha na Maine?

It was Adi's turn to be embarrassed. His face changed into a bright crimson.

Adi: Kuch bhi mat bol!

Ruhaan: Matlab maine abhi jo bhi kaha voh Sach hai , right?

Mitali: Kya Sach hai?

Adi:(flabbergasted) Kuch nahi Mitali! Inside joke ,tum nahi samjhogi!

Mitali eyed him suspiciously but then let it go as Jai announced,

Jai: Anyways guys, aaj raat ke liye ready rehna! The party starts at 8. So don't be late!

Adi: Aye aye captain!

The gang laughed and said,

"Tera kuch nahi ho sakta!"

Who's ready to party?!!!

Hey guys, here's an update! I won't be able to update for a while now so I'm leaving you guys at a cliffhanger. Sorry (not sorry) for that by the way!

What do you think is going to happen with Ananya?

What is about to happen at the cocktail party?

And most importantly, will these eight  be able to overcome what's about to happen?

Please don't forget to vote and comment 👍

Love you loads ❤️
Bosedisha