Now playing-Wish You Were Sober by Conan Gray
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To say Abhishek Sharma was popular among girls was an understatement.

Girls hovered around him like bees.

Now, was a perfect example of the statement as the music blasted in the club, the party lights beaming as he sat near the bar, with a glass of beer in hand, leaning in to talk to the blonde who'd been trying to get her hands on him for hours.

But that was not all that irked Ira.

She'd seen this far too many times, this sight was nothing new for her.

What irked her was, his unbreakable eye-contact with her as he spoke to the blonde girl.

He stared at her with a certain sort of an intensity that made a shiver go down her spine.

A slow smirk danced on his lips, almost as if aware of the shivers he was sending her way as he took a sip of his beer, mainting the eye contact.

She gritted her teeth, tearing her gaze away from him, having an overwhelming surge to empty a glass of champagne down his pretty white jacket.

She'd do anything to pull a Shanaya Singhania from Student of the Year.

But alas, she was too kind for her own good.

" Do you wanna dance?" She looked up to see Ishan grin down at her.

Her brows knitted together, confused as her gaze fleeted all around him.

" Where's Adi?"

" Would you find it too hard to believe that she's sent me here?"

" What-why?"

" Hold up, you should leave. I'll dance with her." Shubman offered and Ira's eyes widened in horror as she shook her head vigorously.

There was no way she was dancing with Shubman Gill.

She knew far too well, the reason behind his insistance.

" I'm not dancing with you Shubman." She crossed her arms against her chest, narrowing her eyes at him.

" Oh c'mon, please?"

Ira shook her head firmly as she spotted Sara dancing with an old friend.

" If you're so jealous, man up and ask her for a dance instead. Stop using these cheap tricks." She scoffed before turning away.

" I'm not jealous!"

" Sure you aren't. You've also definitely not glared at that boy like you want to bury him deep underneath the ground. Shubman, you honestly gotta admit your feelings. Any blind person can tell you're down bad for her."

" Rich coming from you Rawal. And any blind person? Then what is she? Some alien? She thinks I hate her."

" Well anyone would. You acted like a prick. You can't expect her to think otherwise then."

" Ought you be so annoying every time?" He sighed, shooting her a glare, elicting a miffed chuckle from her as he stormed away.

" Dance with me." A demand that came her way had her look up again.

It was the same guy she turned down a day ago.

" That's not even asking, and I refuse."

" I said, dance with me."

" And I said no Brad!"

" What will you take to stop playing hard to get?"

" Excuse me?"

" C'mon Ira, we both know you want me twice as much as I do."

She scoffed out a sardonic chuckle, still quite in disbelief as she began shaking her head.

" Want? You? I've better standards Brad."

In a moment of fury and offence, he stepped forward, about to grab onto her wrist, but earned a punch in return on his nose instead.

" Stay away from me!" She warned as he cradled his nose, letting out a cry as blood flowed down.

" YOU BITCH! YOU BROKE MY NOSE!"

" You deserve it." A calm, familiar voice cut in, a silent warning laden in his tone as he stared down at the boy with a now broken nose, his eyes that were twinged with bemusement earlier, were now blank and cold.

" To begin with, you did not even bother asking her for a dance. You demanded it. When she refused, you got on her nerves and later made an attempt to manhandle her. She simply defended herself. A no, is a no Brad. Now scramble away before I give you a broken jaw to match your broken nose."

Shooting Ira one last glare, the boy was out of the place in no time, with his friends accompanying him.

" Are you okay?"

Her nose wrinkled slightly at the smell of alcohol.

She realised he'd had quite a few shots.

Stepping away, she gave an imperceptible nod, not meeting his eyes for the look of concern would surely have her heart flutter.

This is so pathetic, I am being so pathetic.

" Fine."

" Dance with me then." He murmured, his voice a soft whisper, more of a plea that did have her heart flutter.

" I'm not dancing with you Sharma. I refused to dance with Brad, what makes you think I'll dance with you?"

" 'Cause I'm not Brad, and I'm a gentleman."

" Gentleman?" She scoffed.
" A gentleman, asks a lady if he has the permission to dance with her. Doesn't demand it. You, darling, are anything but one."

A lopsided smirk stretched wide across his lips as he reached out for her hand, taking her by alarm as he gently held it upto his mouth, his lips brushing against the back of her hand.

" Please dance with me Miss Rawal." He murmured, pressing a feathery kiss on the back of her palm.

And before she could respond, he swept her away to the dance floor, a hand on her waist, the other one gently fixing her dress' straps before he twirled her around.

She caught Ishan, Aditi, Shubman and Sara grin back at her as he pulled her in again.

Momentarily distracted, she saw Sara swat Shubman's hand away and walk away from him, and he followed her.

Maybe, someone was confessing tonight.

A grin spread across her lips.

A cold hand on her bare back snapped her out of her staring reverie.

" You seem quite interested in Shubi's love life."

" And that concerns you because?"

" He's my best-friend." He shrugged.

" And?"

" Nothing." He shook his head.

" You're awfully quiet today Sharma. Is it the beer?"

He laughed.
" Doesn't sit right with you does it?"

" Definitely the beer." She gave a confident nod, expecting a retort, but received none, surprising her.

He simply smiled, as he leaned in,
" The next time you wear backless to a party, it's either me going to jail, or me losing self control, So come with a warning."

His warm breath kissed her skin, her breath hitching at the proximity as she felt a jacket wrap around her, and Abhishek twirled her one last time before walking away from the dance floor.

" You jerk-fuck you!" She called after him, feeling enraged and he turned back, his lopsided grin strengthening her veneer of fury.

" Sure, when?"

" Fuck off!" She gave him a harsh smack, which barely hurt him and peals of melodious laughter broke in as she walked away from him.

Her gaze flickered down to the apple watch strapped on her wrist.

12.00 a.m.
3rd December

Her eyes slightly widened.

Another one, any minute now.

She had to reach home.

As soon as possible.

As she began striding towards the elevator, Sara rushed towards her.

" Let's go home!"

Ira stared at her for a split second.

The white cardigan wrapped around her pretty black dress with sequins stood her out.

She arched a brow at her, a silent question with the action as the girls stepped into the elevator and Sara sighed softly in response.

" Shubman gave me the cardigan." She shrugged.
" He practically draped it around me, despite my resistance."

Ira's brows raised high up, a bemused expression morphing on her face as she tried biting back the grin that danced on her lips.

" What?"

" Saru...you don't get it do you? It's third December. Heather Day. Rings a bell?"

Sara stood still as the elevator door opened with a chime, her eyes widening, genuinely flabbergasted.

" So that's why—that bitch, just wait till I—"

Ira dragged her cousin out before she could do anything more.

" We need to reach home! As soon as possible!"

" Rudy's not even home Ira!" She murmured as she practically forced herself to unlock the car.

" He's not?" Ira frowned, feigning oblivious and Sara snorted.

" He declared clear and loud that he'll be spending the next two days at Tara's place."

She let out a fervent laugh as she looked away.

" Yeah?"

" Ira, don't play dumb. I know why you want to get home so soon." She said shooting her a look as she started the car and Ira sighed, shrugging.

" Fine fine. I want to get home to see who this sweater sender really is okay?"

A look of triumph spread across the older girl's face as she drove past a street.

A tranquil silence spread in the car until Ira decided to end it.

" What did Shubman say to you?"

" He didn't."

" Matlab?"

" He said nothing. He was initially arguing over me dancing with Sid, when I shut him up, he looked like a depressed puppy. He followed me around like one, and just handed me the cardigan before I left."

Pressing her lips in order to stifle her laughter, Ira could perfectly envision Shubman Gill appearing like a sad, lone puppy because his owner did not give him attention.

The sight of the six foot tall man tailing after the 5'2 brunette like a puppy made her want to giggle.

He could probably impersonate a puppy, and he was going it quite well.

As they reached their condominium, Ira rushed to take a good look around.

Her brows knitted when she couldn't spot it, but when Sara gave her a slight nudge and pointed towards the enormous brown paper package in a corner, the girl's eyes lit up like crackers.

" Mr.Incognito seems to be in quite a good mood this year eh? That package is huge."

Ira ignored her cousin as she attempted to lift it up but ended up dragging it inside instead.

" Y'know, if I were you, I'd probably be creeped out by now."

" Why?"

" I mean imagine receiving sweaters every December from someone you don't even know! As romantic as it sounds in stories, twice as creepy it is in real life. How does he know your address, how does he know your name?"

" I agree but I always feel like it's from someone I know. And it's just last year and this year I got it at home. I'd get it at the uni mostly, or somewhere out."

" Just as bad." Sara pointed out.
" How does he know what your location is? My dear cousin, as much as I adore the sight of you happy, I also worry for your safety."

" I know I know." Ira sighed, well aware that Sara was right.
" That's why I wanna know who he really is. So that I can confront him. Do you really think he could be a stalker?"

" Maybe." Sara shrugged.
" But maybe, like you said, it's someone you know. But that someone doesn't want you to know that he's the one sending this."

" Why?" Ira mumbled.

Giving her a playful grin, she cupped her hands near her lips, raising her voice.
" Hey Mr.Incognito! My little cousin here wants to know what your reason behind going incognito is! Come out from your hiding place and reveal yourself!"

Almost as if on cue, the door bell rung, and Ira froze, looking at Sara.

The cousins exchanged glances before Sara finally rose to her feet walked to the door, opening it revealing Abhishek and Shubman.

" What're the two of you doing here? At this hour?" She arched a brow, demanding an answer.

The older boy gulped, trying to form an explanation and Abhay snorted at his best-friend's faltered composure before his favourite woman, and he gave him a pat, stepping forward to answer.

" Rudra wanted us to drop you home. You left without telling a soul—"

" We told Aditi." Sara cut him off, and Abhay gulped, nodding.

" Well she was too drunk to answer. Ishan took her home. So we, being considerate, drove all the way here to see if you're okay or not, aren't we true gentlemen?"

Sara arched a brow, her gaze flickering between the best-friends before she snorted and shook her head.

" Yeah sure you are. But the thing is, I fail to understand what made Rudra ask you. He's got trackers in our phone. Besides, he has an AI that helps him track us down if the trackers aren't working. Our cousin's a geek. He needn't ask someone to check on us."

Abhay's eyes slightly widened at Sara's words, his gaze flickering to his best-friend with a silent plea to rescue him.

But Shubman simply shrugged, a proud look on his face which Abhay knew far too well before he sighed and turned back towards Sara before searching for Ira in the room.

The black-haired girl had now squatted down near the enormous parcel she'd received, trying to unpack it, perfectly unbothered about the new unwanted guests.

Sara turned back to take a good look at what the Sharma boy was looking at, and a hint of a smile spread on her lips, with yet another bemused look as she realised quite soon, that it was the package he was staring at.

She let him stare for a minute longer, before clearing her throat.

" Come in if you've anyway come all the way here?"

Shubman appeared rather pleased at the idea but Abhay shook his head, breaking out of his staring reverie as he caught the look in Sara's eye, the look of amusement, the look of realisation, and he stepped back, concealing his alarmed expressions, wondering if he'd given anything away from his facial expressions, and she'd caught it, given how sharp she usually was, leaving out her love-life.

" Thank you for the offer but it's too late. We'll leave."

" Alright." Sara nodded, glancing back at her cousin who did not even bother to look up from the parcel, she was still unpacking, grumbling about how many tapes did it have.
" Good night then, drive safe."

" Night." The two gave nods, and walked away and Sara shut the door.

" You didn't even wish him good night." She teased as Ira rolled her eyes.

" After the stunt he pulled on the dance floor? No thanks, I'm good. He really loves getting on my nerves."

" And yet, you love him."

" And yet, I love him." She agreed.