A Flight of Love

Chapter 16 - Dinner is Served

Akshara trampled her way away from the dimly lit corner and towards the main hallway where Kairav was standing with Vansh in tow.

"Ji, bhaiya?"

"Where were you, Akshu?"

"I...I was with Shefali di. And we bumped into Parth Jiju and his brother, Abhimanyu. So Di and Jiju left together and told us to follow them."

"Toh phir Abhimanyu kahan hai?" Kairav asked.

And just like the devil, Abhimanyu appeared from exactly the same dimly lit hallway as she did, raising brows of suspicion from Kairav and Vansh. Akshara looked away to avoid eye contact from her brother's questioning gaze.

Abhimanyu walked out to see Kairav questioning Akshara about him. He came to a stop beside Akshara, giving her a glance to see if she was alright before bringing his attention towards Kairav.

"Abhimanyu, tum bhi wahise aaye jahan se Akshu aayi thi? Chal kya raha hai tum dono ke beech?" Kairav inquired, looking between Akshara and Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu glanced over to Akshara who was trying to avoid eye contact from all ends. He knew that if he had to answer Kairav's questions, he wouldn't be able to lie. So he was going to pass to baton up to Akshara and she could handle it however she liked.

"Bhaiya, I told you, Parth Jiju wanted some privacy so we were just lagging behind. Bas, aur kuch nahin."

Akshara knew her brother was going to see through her lies, especially one as terrible as hers, but she had no option. "Ab bas, let's go. Nahin toh hum dinner ke liye late ho jayenge."

Akshara turned Kairav around and placed one of her hands on his back and the other on Vansh's back to push towards the poolside where the big family dinner was about to take place. Unconsciously, she placed a hand on Abhimanyu's forearm to drag him forward as well but stopped midway when she realized what she was doing. She looked up at his face to see him staring at the hold she had on his arm with a soft teasing smile dancing on his lips.

She immediately moved her hand away from Abhimanyu's forearm and hid it behind her back, embarrassed. Abhimanyu suppressed his chuckle and leaned in next to her ear.

"You can hold me arm any time you want. You don't even need my permission." He whispered, his voice, low, seductive making Akshara's cheeks turn a bright crimson in colour.

Akshara felt the heat creeping up on her collarbones when she suddenly remembered the mark Abhimanyu had stamped on her neck. She quickly moved to cover the mark on her neck as Abhimanyu moved ahead to catch up with Kairav and Vansh.

"Bhaiya, you all go, I'll catch up to you."

"Ab kya ho gaya, Akshu?"

"Nothing bhaiyaa, I just forget something in my room. You all go ahead, I'll join you shortly."

Akshara gave a reassuring smile to Kairav and Vansh. Abhimanyu kept a watchful eye on Akshara who returned his hard stare with minimal eye contact.

Akshara waited till the men were out of her peripheral before taking out her phone and looking into the self facing camera. The outline of Abhimanyu's mark was clear and daylight against her skin and turning darker by the second. Perils of worry outlined her forehead as she contemplated what to do.

~*~

Abhimanyu listened in boredom as the rest of the table surrounded by the Birlas and the Goenkas chirped on about the wedding preparations and the upcoming events.

Manish Goenka and Akhilesb Goenka were busy going over the budget with Anand Birla and Harshvardhan Birla while Suhasini Goenka also known as Mimi was also busy reprimanding Mahima Birla about the significance of traditions in a Goenka wedding much to his Tayji's chagrin who looked as if she was going to stab Mimi any time with the butter knife she was clutching. Swarna Goenka meanwhile was trying her best to play mediator between the two woman.