Cellophane

xvi | efficient

“I'm not whining. I don't whine.”

“That's not what I remember from the day you got drunk.”

Ishita stopped in her tracks and turned around. “I told you to forget it ever happened!”

“Did I agree?” He grinned — a smug grin that made Ishita want to tug him closer and kiss it away. He was infuriating and beautiful at the same time. It was fucking with her mind. She couldn't seem to get any mental peace around him.

“Asshole,” she grumbled and turned around. Jai grabbed her wrist and spun her back to him. “What are —”

He knelt on the ground and untangled the golden embroidery on her pants that had gotten tangled with the strap of the heel she was wearing. His hair was soft — she knew it without touching it. She wanted to run her hands through the strands. “You'll trip and fall and make a fool of yourself. Then again, you'll blame me for it.”

Ishita's heart hammered against her chest at how gentle he was with her and how his cold fingers brushed her skin lightly. Goosebumps dotted her skin. She hoped he didn't notice. “I would because it would be your fault for inviting me here in the first place.”

“All employees are invited, Ishita.”

“You were the one who hired me in the first place for me to get invited here.”

He sighed and stood up. “You're just proving me right, astronaut. Let's go before my mother thinks I ditched them for work.”

“Have you?”

“I love my parents too much to miss it. I just dislike their need to see me married.”

“Understandable. Parents do consider marriage the ultimate success in life. They should know that it's only paving the way for doom.”

Jai seemed surprised by her words. He didn't know Ishita had such thoughts about marriage. In her defense, he never asked her about it.

They entered the hall and the crowd went hush and stilled. Jai was used to the attention but he had forgotten to warn Ishita. She stepped closer to Jai, as if to hide behind him. He took her hand and squeezed, before smiling at her. It's okay, he wanted to convey. Ishita took a deep breath and steeled herself as did her grip on Jai's hands before she let him go. The crowd watched with bated breath, already weaving new stories about the two of them. But honestly, Jai didn't give a fuck about them. He stopped a few good years back.

“You must be Ishita,” A woman with black hair that was too shiny to be real stepped forward. She was of average height, having familiar brown eyes that Ishita had seen on only one other person — Jai. She was dressed in a sunset orange silk saree and had a mysterious smile. Neither warm nor cold.

“Um, yes,” she said, glancing sideways at Jai to help her out. “Nice to meet you.”

“Ishita, this is my mother. And the man who's talking to a crowd of wannabes over there is my father. You must have seen him on the internet somewhere, surely,” he said, and Jai's mother smacked his arm lightly at his words. Jai smiled but the rare moment broke when his eyes fell on a guy about Jai's age. He walked over to them and stood in a stance that screamed arrogance. Ishita didn't like him instantly. The smirk on his face didn't help either.