CLICHÉ

6.1 KIARA

'Can't you do it faster.' I screamed.

'Wait Bro!' Abhishek responded from the locked room.

Rahul and I had the same expressions. It's like being in an examination hall where you look at your friend, he looks at you, having the same disappointing look of having no clue what to do next. Here, the only difference was; It wasn't an examination hall but it was Abhishek's flat.

'Are you ready?' I asked again after 5 minutes.

'Just a little while.' Abhishek said.

'Come on! we will be late.' Rahul yelled.

'I said 'wait up, bitch!' Abhishek yelled back.

'We are going to die... waiting.' Rahul whispered.

It was Tuesday. Lilly's concert. It was supposed to start at 9 but sheer excitement made me dress up at 7 pm. I don't want to be late. But my friends didn't seem to care. Abhishek is one of those guys who gets finicky about choosing clothes. I hate it.

The watch kept on ticking like a timebomb. My brain started doing calculations.

It's been 1 hour since Rahul and I arrived at Abhishek's flat. After this we also needed to go at Naina and Kiara's apartment to pick them up too; which will take another half hour. Then the drive to the concert will require 25 minutes.

Before restlessness could kill me, the door opened.

'How do I look?' Abhishek asked finally coming out.

'Better than him.' Rahul said pointing towards me.

'Not funny. I told you a hundred times on our way here. These jeans weren't my first pick.' I barked.

In addition of being late to the concert, I had one more apprehension. All of my pants, on that very day were gone for dry cleaning so I had nothing to wear accept a skin tight jean. It didn't look good on me. Quite frankly, it looked more like a girl's jeans with my tiny 'chicken' legs stuffed in them.

'Tell me, seriously?' Abhishek said.

'You look alright. And you know what, I think that you might get lucky tonight.' I said.

'Really?' Abhishek face lit up.

'Yes. One girl will definitely give you a... Wink.' I said. Rahul burst out laughing.

'That wasn't funny.' Abhishek hissed.

'It was, if you ask me.' Rahul said looking at his watch 'Anyways, we need to go.'

'Alright, I guess Naina might have messaged you a lot by this time.' Abhishek looked at Rahul.

'Huh' Rahul said indicating a 'yes'.

'But I didn't hear your phone beep.' I said. 'Usually, you get tons of messages. Is everything alright?'

'Yes bro. Everything is alright. She's just busy so no text. Nothing to worry about.' Rahul said, but his face told a whole different story.

'I see' I don't want to drag him.

He kept starring at his mobile with a frown on his face. I suppose he was still fighting with Naina. It's been 4 days since I saw him talking to Naina. I don't care much, but I just don't want their fight to ruin this night.

'Let's go.' Rahul said getting up from the couch.

****----***------****

'What took you guys so long?' Naina asked, voice laced with bitterness.
She seemed to be in a cynical mood. Abhishek and I waited for Rahul to reply. Rahul remained quiet.

'Sorry! my bad.' I finally said. Don't want the situation to get any weirder.

'Yeah sure, like you were the reason.' Sarcasm dripping in her voice, Naina glanced at Rahul. The latter, fixed his eyes on the steering wheel.

'Anyway, let's get in now.' Kiara said as she got in the back seat with me and Abhishek while Naina sat in the front with Rahul. The car got back into motion.

'And what do we have here!' Kiara noticed my jeans. 'Chicken legs, ha.' She said trying to suppress a grin.
I gave her a cold stare.

'Whatever.' I said.

Kiara wore a dangling golden earring with a matching bracelet. She had a light make-up on. A strapless shoulder dress hugged her in all the right places. Her beautiful mid-waist long hair, fluttered a little. She had a red lipstick on, making her lips appear fuller than usual. I cannot see anything to taunt her for. She looks beautiful. A little too beautiful.

'They are cute though!' She said, quickly pinching my cheeks.

Abhishek shot me a look as if to say 'sure! You two are just Friends'

'I told you a million times, not to do that, Kiara.' I said, annoyed.

'Ok... someone's little angry. Why are you acting weird?' she looked at me, trying to place a hand on my thigh.

'Nothing. We are late, that's it. Nothing else.' I said my anger slowly dissipating.

'Relax, it's just a concert! And who told you about this 'concert' anyway. I mean, I never heard about it before.' she said.
'It's low profile, not famous. A friend invited me.'

'Which friend?'

'Forget about that. First, tell me, are those new earrings?'

'Thanks! Atleast, someone noticed.' She said looking at Naina. Naina ignored the sarcasm.

'It suits you.' I said. she smiled.

Kiara started talking with Abhishek. I didn't know why I deflected the topic of Lilly's concert. Maybe I just don't want to talk about it. I am still confused about Lilly, and what she means to me. I need some time to figure it out. And until than it would be better to not tell anyone about Lilly.

I don't want them to poke their nose in my matter. Certainly not Kiara. It's none of her business. I shouldn't feel obligated to tell her about Lilly. It's my issue.

Then why do I feel guilty.

Feels like I am hiding something from Kiara. Forget it. Maybe I am just overthinking it.

Forget about guilt. Focus on tonight. Focus on meeting Lilly.

I checked the time.