~Next Day~

Everyone was busy helping with the preparations for the mehendi function in the evening. While the  girls laughed and looked through the mehendi designs ,the boys were busy tending to their respective partners.

Handing over the plate of snacks to Sahil, Mitali looked around her ,only to spot Adi dancing with Trisha, along with some other aunties. She rolled her eyes and looked away.

Mitali:(murmuring to herself) What does he think of himself? He'll dance with some random chick and I'll be all over him, begging him to be mine?! Nonsense! Aisa kya hai uss chipkali mein jo mujhme nahi hai? Jab dekho uske sath chipka rehta hai!

Daksh, who was busy on his phone, hearing the murmur , decided to venture. He was surprised to find Mitali, huffing and talking to herself in a soft murmur.

Daksh: Mitali!

Mitali was snapped out of her trance. She looked at a confused Daksh behind her.

Mitali: Huh?

Daksh: Why are you talking to yourself?

Mitali: Oh it's nothing! It's a hobby. I do it quite often!

Daksh threw her a quizzical look.

Mitali: Hey, leave that! I wanted to talk to you about something.

Daksh nodded, munching on a candy bar.

Mitali: What's the deal with Ananya?

Daksh's face dropped. He didn't really know how to respond to that. It was true that he had danced and enjoyed with Ananya yesterday, totally forgetting about what had happened earlier but he hadn't really had the chance to talk to Ananya directly. He hadn't really seen her after the function.

Daksh: Well, I was about to ask you. Do you know where she is?

Mitali:(raising a brow) Uh....no.....I mean, Shanu said that she woke up early today and went for a jog. I don't really know where she is.

Daksh thought for a moment and suddenly it struck him.

Daksh: I think I know where she is.

Mitali looked at him questioningly.

Daksh: Come with me.

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tapasya sat in her room , choosing her outfit for the event. She was going through her outfits when suddenly her phone buzzed. She picked it up without looking at caller ID, and answered,

Tapasya: Hello?

Person: Tappu beta?

Tapasya's face lit up in a second. She grinned and answered,

Taps: Dad!!!

Introducing Rajat Tokas as Kunal Dhanrajgir, Tapasya's Dad.

Kunal: Bachhe aap kaise ho?

Taps: God, Dad! It's been so long since you called.

Kunal: What are you saying Tappu beta? I called you three days back.

Taps: But that's three days! You know that I cannot stay without talking to you for so even a day.

Kunal:(laughing) I know, bachha! I'm so sorry! I was busy with some work. But don't worry, I have something that would make you happy.

Taps: Really, what?!

Kunal: Uh uh. If I tell you that, how would it be a surprise?

Taps: Come on, Dad! You know I hate suspense!

Kunal: Well , you will have to wait for this one.

Tapasya was about to argue more but she was suddenly interrupted by Ruhaan's arrival.

Ruhaan: Babe, you in here?

Wow , classic timing Ruhaan!

Tapasya covered his mouth before he could say anything further. Ruhaan looked at her questioningly.

Kunal: Beta , who was that?

Taps: Uh....uh.....Dad, it's just Ruhaan.

Kunal:(getting defensive) Kabir's son? Ruhaan Shergill? What THE HELL is he doing in your room?

Taps:(confusingly) Dad, calm down, why are you freaking out so much? Remember I told you that I'm attending the Dean's son's wedding. So Ruhaan is also here to attend the wedding. What's going on?

There was a pregnant pause on the other side. Tapasya looked at a confused Ruhaan, who gave her questioning looks.

Taps: Dad?

Kunal: Huh ,yeah......yeah.But he called you babe, right?

Taps: Uh.......no.....he didn't. That was the TV.

Kunal: So why don't I hear the TV now?

Taps: Uh....well, he came and switched it off. Dad, why are you being so weird, what's going on?

Kunal: Huh? Umm....... nothing...... It's nothing, um.......

Taps: Dad ,you okay?

Kunal: Yeah, perfect. Listen I have to go, alright? But.....uh......just stay away from him, alright? Okay , bye.

Before she could say anything else, her Dad cut the call. She looked at her phone in confusion and then at Ruhaan, who was busy signalling her to remove her hand from his mouth.  Tapasya quickly removed it.

Ruhaan: You know I really think humnein tumhare Dad ko humare baare mein bata dena chahiye! Yeh chup chup ke jeena mujhe pasand nahi!

Tapasya didn't respond. She was still weirded out by the conversation.

Ruhaan: Babe? Kya hua?

Taps: Pata nahi, Ru. Dad kafi weird sound kar rahe the phone pe. I mean, before you came he was alright. He was telling me about this surprise that he was going to give me. But when he heard you, he suddenly started acting weird.

Ruhaan: They are Dads, Tapasya. They are weird.

Taps: No, Ru. Something's not right. It almost felt like he was hiding something. And then in the end he told me to stay away from you. Why would he do that?

Ruhaan sighed softly and placed his palm comfortingly on Tapasya's cheeks and said,

Ruhaan: Babe, it's fine, alright? There is nothing wrong. He heard me calling you babe. Now tell me which Dad would like if someone called his daughter 'Babe'? He was just worried about you, okay? It'll all be fine when you tell him about us. I'm sure he'll understand.

Tapasya smiled and nodded.

Taps: And when would that be?

Ruhaan: What? Telling your Dad? Bolo to abhi kar du!

Taps: Acha?

Ruhaan: Ha bilkul! Ruhaan Shergill kisi se darta nahi!

Tapasya:(chuckling) And since when did you become so courageous?

Ruhaan smiled and touching the tip of her nose , said,

Ruhaan: Sangati ka asar!

Tapasya giggled and said,

Taps: I love you, you dork!

Ruhaan: I love you , meri sherni!

Tapasya giggled at his nickname for her and rested her head on his shoulder.

She knew that if she had him, she would never have to worry about a thing!

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mitali: Okay one last question. Why are we hiding behind a pillar again?

Daksh rolled his eyes as Mitali shot him her 10th question.

Daksh: Mitali, that's the 10th time you've asked me that!

Mitali: Yeah that's because you didn't answer my last 9 questions properly!

Daksh: Psst.......we are spying, okay?

Mitali: On whom?

Daksh: Ananya and Ishaan.

Mitali: What? Why?

Daksh: Well you wanted to know what's the deal with her,right? So here's the deal.

Mitali: You've clearly mistaken my point. I wanted to know what's going on between the two of you not spy on her and go behind her back.

Daksh: What do mean the two of us?

Mitali: Well, the fact that you're hopelessly drawn to the distressed damsel and cannot stop hawking at her for a split second!

Daksh:(high-pitched voice) What?! Are you........ I am not hopelessly drawn.......

Mitali: Save it, Daksh. I've seen the way you look at her. There's no point in lying.

Daksh just looked at her with  widened eyes. There was no way she could know that he was in love with Ananya. After a long pause,

Daksh: How did you.......

Mitali: I tend to know a lot of things. It's one of my other hobbies. No biggie.

Daksh still contemplated the whole matter and managed to blurt out,

Daksh: You promise.......

Mitali: I'll not say a word to Ananya.

Daksh: Dammit! How did you know what I wanted to say?

Mitali: Like I said. I tend to know a lot of things. Now focus. What are we looking at here?

Daksh hesitated before blurting out,

Daksh: Well, yesterday, when you asked me to look for Ananya, I came to look for her here, in this poolside area. And I saw her. But she wasn't alone. She was with.........him.

Mitali looked at him, as though picking her next words.

Daksh: (noticing mitali's gaze on him) Anyways, I saw them arguing about something. I couldn't really understand what they were talking since I was standing quite far. And then she saw me. I was mad at her for even talking to him, so I just took her by her arm and brought her to your room. We didn't really talk much after that.

Mitali: And you think that she's in here now with him?

Daksh: (hesitant) I mean..........as much as I hate to think that, but it could be a possibility.

Mitali: Well, then what are we hiding behind a pillar for? Let's go find her and stop her from making a mistake!

She quickly stepped out when suddenly Daksh held her hand from behind and said,

Daksh: Mitali, she's not a kid. We can't just ask her to stop talking with someone just because we don't like them. She knows what's good for her. If she makes a choice, it's her decision. Let her be with whoever she wants to be with.

Mitali: Daksh! Do you even hear yourself right now? This isn't you talking! This is your alter ego talking! Your ego is hurt because you saw the girl you love talk to someone else! Someone who is clearly not good for her! And so your ego is resisting you to protect the woman you love!

Daksh looked at her, realisation finally dawning upon him.

Mitali: Daksh, being grumpy isn't going to get you anywhere. So step up! Be a man and stop Ananya from falling into the clutches of that bastard ! Because deep down inside, you know that you want to. If you really love her, you would do that! And if you don't I will, because I am not going to sit and watch my friend drown in the depths of repentance for the rest of her life.

Daksh: What if she's still in love with him?

Mitali looked at him and sighed heavily.

Mitali: Daksh, the guy's fucking engaged. His fiance is the sweetest person I've ever met after Ananya. I mean I cringe at how wholesome she is. If Ishaan cheats on her with Ananya, do you think that would be right? And would Ananya do something like that to somebody?

Daksh nodded slightly in agreement.

Daksh: You're right. God, I was such a fool! You know what? Let's go find her and talk to her.

Mitali: Finally!

They both smiled slightly and stepped out. As they were busy looking for Ananya, Daksh's eyes suddenly spotted a familiar face. And as he recognised the face , his face went pale.

Mitali came up to him and tapped on his shoulder.

Mitali: Why are you standing like a statue?

Daksh didn't utter a single word. He just kept staring at the scene in front of him.

Following his line of sight, Mitali finally found what he was looking at.

At the other side of the pool stood Ananya and Ishaan, talking. It almost felt like they were age old friends who were meeting after ages. They were giggling and talking.

Mitali looked pityingly at Daksh, who was almost at the verge of an outburst. She gulped and looked back at Ananya and Ishaan. And what she saw was something incomprehensible.

Ananya was wrapped around in Ishaan's arms and he was busy caressing her hair.

It was as though no one else around them existed........

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys so here's an update!

So it seems like problems have already started to pop up in the core 8's life! And what's more frightening is that it's just the beginning.....

So guys, if you liked the chapter and are excited for the upcoming chapters , please vote and comment!!!!

Love you loads,
Bosedisha