Strangers?Or Not? ONGOING

Chapter 8

All this time, I must have been staring at her. God, she was pretty. It was clear as day that she did not have any makeup on, except for probably lipstick, but she looked like a goddess. It was the kind of effortless beauty you come across very rarely. She had the kind of grace and elegance you'd expect to see in like the royal family. For some reason, she reminded me of Aditi Rao Hydari. The only actress I know who looked so pretty doing practically anything. Both of them were the kind of people who would never have any bad pictures. Whatever face they made, they would still look good in the picture. She was currently catching up with Rohit and Vishal. She was so friendly with them. That's when she turned towards us.

"Hey guys! My name's Saishree. You probably already know this but Anquit and I are engaged to be married in December." She said before extending her hand to Shreya. Shreya introduced herself and Saishree moved on to shake hands with me. Well, the three of us were sitting next to each other in a line of sorts so she was going from person to person.

"Hey, I'm Ishvika,"

Saishree turned to Anquit, raising her eyebrows at him, "From junior college?"

Wait, what? Oh right, they're getting married so they must know everything about each other.

"Yes, the very same," I replied before he could even react.

I wonder if she knows that we're ex-boyfriend and girlfriend.

Then she turned towards Pragya who shook hands with her before saying,

"Pragya, also from junior college,"

She chuckled before responding with a "Guessed as much,"

As the night continued, Saishree engaged in conversation with all of us. And not even for a minute did it feel like we had just met. It felt like we'd known each other our entire lives. Nevertheless, it was clear that Anquit and Saishree were head over heels in love. They could be sitting at two ends of a 100-seater dining table and you would still be able to sense it. It was visible in the rapport they shared. Both of them always knew what the other was thinking. They were completing each others' sentences throughout dinner.

About half an hour later, all of us were on our way back home. The three of us had parted ways with the others at the mall. We stayed not very far away from each other so we got an UberPool. I was checking for any mails from the office on my phone when Pragya asked the both of us, "So, what do you think about Saishree?"

Knowing this was going to be a long discussion, I kept my phone away.

Shreya must have been speaking for the both of us when she said, "She's so good yaar. Did you see how pretty she looked?" (Yaar: Dude)

Pragya also agreed, "Yes, it was like 'Stop with the good looks already ma'am, we're fucking dying here,'"

"Yeah, she's got showstopper energy, and she doesn't even realise it," I said.

"Haina, she turns heads; and doesn't know she does." Shreya agreed with me. (Haina: Exactly)

Pragya was talking almost animatedly by now, "Exactly! And she has no ego about it. Matlab itna down-to-earth kisi ko nahi dekha hai aaj tak." (As in I've never met someone who's so down-to-earth)

We both agreed with her. By then, Shreya's stop was near and she bid the both of us a good night before alighting from the taxi. As we took off from her place, I saw Pragya looking out the window, as if staring at something in the distance.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Kya soch rahi hai?" (What are you thinking?)