Life is... Beautiful?

Chapter 14: Fight or Flight

After that night, Rakesh had been a bit more bold in his interactions with you. He now knew that you felt the chemistry between you two - all you needed was a little push.

You, on the other hand, were not as receptive to his subtle advances, oftentimes rejecting his offers to go out for lunch or come hang by the office by making up some excuse. It helped that the Miss India Preliminaries were approaching, meaning that Paru was in full preparation mode, and you had to be there to help her. You hadn't seen much of Padhu either, but you knew she was probably also very busy. 

The day you all got your plane tickets (Paru adding you and Abhi as her two guests), you called Padhu, asking her if she wanted to go to the airport together. 

"No y/n, Lakshmi, Satya, Srinu, and Nagaraj are driving, and I don't want to be stuck with my parents. Srinu's still not talking to me, so I'm going to try and figure out what his problem is," she said. 

"Okay no problem, I'll see you there! Bye!" You cut the call and continued packing your suitcase. You'd only be there for 2 days and one night, so you only really needed a small duffle bag, but being the overthinker you are, you ended up with a small suitcase's worth of luggage.

"I'm so nervous,  I can't even eat right now," Paru was saying, pacing the room. You sighed, grabbing her shoulders and holding her in place. 

"You're going to do great," you said, making her meet your eyes. "You've prepared so much these past few months, and you've put in all of the hard work you possibly could. And if you don't win, I'm going to burn the entire Miss India institution to the ground," you added, making her chuckle. You gave her a big hug, rubbing her back. "I believe in you, so believe in me that believes in you." 

"That makes no sense."

"It made sense in my mind, and that's the only thing that really matters."

---

You, Paru, Suresh, Ajay, Rakesh, and Nagi were at the airport, standing in the line for security, when you saw Abhi, who you immediately pulled to be with you guys.

"I still can't believe we're in business class," he was saying. Rakesh and the others were side-eyeing him, clearly holding back their laughter. 

"Nah for real, I can't wait for the free chocolate," you joked, ignoring them. Once you got through security, you felt your bag pulled from your hand. 

"Let me." Rakesh took your suitcase from your hand, refusing to give it back as you made grabby hands at it. You gave up, sitting in your terminal seat. 

"I'm gonna go use the washroom," you announced. Paru got up to join you, and the two of you quickly made your trip and came back. 

"Can I ask a question?" Ajay asked. "Why do girls always go to the washroom together? Like can't you guys go alone?" You and Paru gave each other a look, before answering. 

"That's a secret, we'll never tell," you said.

"XOXO, Gossip girl," Paru finished, the two of you fake-giggling obnoxiously, putting an end to any questions. 

You soon boarded the flight, finding your seats. 

"I knew the business class was too good to be true," you said, looking around as you waited to get to your seat. "It looks exactly like economy, but with more leg space. What a scam," you lamented. Paru sat down, and you went to go sit next to her, only for Suresh to get there first. 

"y/n, sit here." Rakesh patted the seat next to him. You looked to Paru and pouted, moving to sit next to Rakesh. Abhi was in the seat in front of you though, so that was nice. Ajay and Nagi were sitting in the same row as you and Rakesh, and were directly behind Paru and Suresh.