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The day arrived soon and Kathy had already packed her bag. She came out of her room wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans, a full sleeved grey T-shirt with a jacket in one of her hands and a pair of sneakers in her feet. Her hairs were tied up in a high pony-tail and she had put some mascara, a thin layer of eye liner and a light pink shaded lip gloss. She smelled very feminine and chic.
Ronnie, who was waiting for her in the living room, wore a red sleeveless vest teamed up with a thick black hoodie, a dark wash jeans and a pair of sneakers. His brown eyes were covered with a pair of dark colored shades and he set his hairs in some funky look using some gel. He smelled fresh and looked very hot and young from usual.
"Ready?" he asked her. She looked at him and smiled.
"You look nice!" she complimented him, making him smile.
"I always do!" he replied as he got up.
"Where are your bags?" she asked him, ignoring his reply.
"They are already in the car, let’s go now!" he said. They walked out of their house and sat in their car.
"Everyone's waiting for us at Vinnie's place!" Kathy informed him and he nodded. They drove to Vinnie's house in silence and reached there after 20 minutes.
"Hey guys!" Kathy yelled.
"I'm so glad you made it in time!" Suzie said as she hugged Kathy.
"She took more than an hour to get out from the room!" Ronnie sais as he shook hands with everyone.
"Oh really? Who took more than 15minutes to set their hairs?" Kathy asked.
"Shut up you two and let’s go. I do not want to miss the sunrise!" Mona yelled.
"Ronnie...you drive Kathy, Vinnie and Suzie. I'll drive Monish, Riya Aarav and Mona. Now let’s go!" Raj said and they all walked towards the parked cars.
Ronnie's car filled with loud female voice, screams, squealing and laughter as the girls happily chatted about anything and everything under the roof. Their loud voices turned in to hushed whispers when began gossiping and bitching about random people from their school and college days.
"This is so unfair...I'm not driving with you girls while coming back. You people talk so much! And girls can you please stop bitching about random people?" Ronnie said when these girls did not stop talking.
"You won't drive me home?" Kathy asked, pouting.
"Kathy, I think he’s bored of you now...maybe he doesn't like you anymore!" Suzie patted her friends back from the back seat.
"Are you really bored of me, Mr. Shenoy?" Kathy asked dramatically, making Ronnie roll his eyes.
"Shut up girls, just shut up for a while!" he said.
'So far, so good' he thought and smiled.
Lonavala was only 2 and a half hours away from Mumbai and with the way Ronnie drove, they reached pretty earlier than expected.

"It’s quite cold here, right now!" Kathy said as she walked out of the car.
"What else do you expect Kathy, its December!" Vinnie said. Kathy wore her jacket and rubbed her hands to warm herself a bit.
"Do you want my jacket also?" Ronnie asked her as he parked the car and stood next to her. They waited for others as Raj's car had still not reached to the decided location.
"Ronnie, all you're wearing is a sleeveless vest underneath your jacket, so don't even think of giving it to me; you wear it, I'm okay." Kathy told him.
"Alright, I'll go get registered and get rooms keys." Ronnie said and went inside their hotel.
"Where are those idiots?" Suzie said as her teethes clattered in the cool morning air.
"I'm sure Mona will kill Raj if she misses the sunrise!" Vinnie laughed.
"That'll be a treat to watch!" Kathy added. They turned around when they heard a horn and Raj's car made an appearance.
"Finally! What took you so long?" Vinnie asked.
"This stupid guy did not get his car serviced!" Mona yelled and punched Raj on his arm.
"Aww...come on now, hurry up or you'll miss the sunrise. Let’s freshen up and meet here in 15minutes!" Kathy said and turned around.
"Hey, you alright? You look pale!" Monish asked her as he walked next to her. Kathy looked around to see where Riya was and found her talking to Aarav.
"I'm good, just a little cold!" Kathy replied, feeling uncomfortable. She looked around, her eyes searching Ronnie.
"Where's Ronnie?" Monish tried talking to her once again.
"I’m right here. Let’s go freshen up" Ronnie smiled and walked close to Kathy. The walk towards the rooms was awkward for Kathy as she was flanked by guys on either sides and none of them tried to talk.
"Let's meet at the entrance in 15!" Ronnie said as they reached their room.
"Alright. See you in 15!" Monish smiled and left them.
"That was so awkward." Kathy mumbled.
"Trust me, it was!" Ronnie replied, making her look at him.
"Why do you hate him so much?" she asked as they got in their room.
"I don't hate him." He simply replied. Kathy raised a brow at him and he sighed.
"I don't hate him, it's just that I don't like him!" he elaborated.
"Why?" she asked again as she took out some clothes from her bag.
"You have 10 minutes to get ready!" Ronnie said, changing the subject.
"I'm going now but I need an answer later!" she replied and walked into the bathroom. He ran fingers through his hairs and took a deep breath.
'This is going to be a long weekend!' he told himself and got changed in a comfortable T-shirt. He grabbed a jacket and he was ready to leave.
"I'm ready, let's go." Kathy said as she came out from the bathroom after sometime. This time she wore thick warm clothes.
The gang headed towards the sunrise point and waited for the sun to come out. Orange-red hues covered the sky; the birds chirped and flew across from one hill to the other. A round ball of fire slowly showed its face as the cool air surrounded them. Silence filled in the atmosphere as they saw how the sun slowly came out from behind the grey clouds and illuminated the area.
"Wow!" Mona said; her eyes glued at the scenario in front of her. Kathy began clicking pictures and captured every beautiful experience in her camera.
"I'm hungry!" Vinnie said after a while and the guys suddenly became alive.
"Let’s go and eat at that Dhabba we saw while coming here!" Aarav said.
They ate their breakfast at the road side Dhabba at the base of the hill and took on to the next destination- The Tiger’s Leap.
"Trust me Ronnie, you'll never get tired of this...it is heaven!" Raj said as he casually placed his hands around Ronnie's shoulders. They made their way to the hill and sure enough, Ronnie became speechless on reaching there.
It had a vast empty ground with a shop in the corner and a few cars at the side. The edges of the hill were surrounded by fences made of thin cylindrical pipes. Ronnie saw all this only when he took a tour of this place because it was very foggy all over the area. It was not possible for one to see anything beyond two feet from they stood. Cold air and clouds enveloped him and it really felt like he was walking on a cloud. The air was a lot stronger and cooler. He could see the foggy smoke that left his mouth, the moment he opened his mouth.
"Wow...this is heaven indeed!" he said and looked around. He carefully took a few more steps ahead and walked around the ground.
"He he...this is so cute, don't you think so?" he heard Kathy's voice from somewhere and walked in that direction. He saw Kathy holding Monish's hand and showing him some white colored rabbit when he reached there. Ronnie fumed when he saw them together and cleared his throat to call attention.
"When did you go there?" Kathy asked when she noticed Ronnie standing in front of her. She turned to look at the person who stood beside her and gasped on seeing Monish.
"I-I thought you were him, I'm sorry!" Kathy told Monish. He laughed and ruffled her hairs.
"It's alright babe!" he said, making Ronnie grit his teeth.
"I'll go now, Riya's waiting for me!" Monish said and left them.
"Let’s go and join others!" Ronnie said moodily. Kathy grabbed his wrists and stopped him.
"Gosh Kathy, why are your hands freezing? What is it that you want to talk about?" He asked when he saw her fallen face.
"I did not pull him here...I mean, I did but I thought it..."
"Hey love birds, join us!" Vinnie came and pulled Kathy from there.
"Ronnie lets go and have some tea or coffee." Raj said and dragged Ronnie.
The next stop was jungle trekking. The gang began walking together and passed the forest like hill to reach at the Bushi dam on other end of the hill. Kathy cracked jokes and fooled around while walking with Mona, Raj and Aarav. Monish walked with Riya and Suzie while Ronnie walked through the jungle area, keeping an eye on Kathy all the time.
"Stop staring at her like that!" Vinnie whispered. He was shocked for a second but then got over it.
"What are you talking about?" he said looking away from Kathy.
"I don't know why, but sometimes I feel that there's something unusual, something weird about you two! You both do not look like normal young couples who are in love." Vinnie said. She was always observant and being Kathy's best friend for years helped more.
"What's your point?" he asked looking at her.
"See...I know that she fell for Monish at some point of time but they are friends now. I can sense some kind of tension between you three. I know you're only looking out for her but…" Vinnie said.
"Can we not talk about that, please?" Ronnie asked her and she nodded.
"What?" Ronnie asked when she started laughing suddenly.
"Don't turn around right now but Kathy's looking at us and by the looks on her face...I can say that she is really jealous." Vinnie said.
"No don't turn-" Vinnie tried to say but Ronnie turned around ignoring her and there was Kathy with her friends but staring menacingly at Vinnie.
"She really hates you right now!" Ronnie said looking at Kathy who was still unaware of his eyes on her.
"I don't know why, but it’s always been me who made her realize and accept something which she never understood...but make sure, you never tell her that you saw jealousy in her eyes because that will make her cautious and she'll distance herself from you." Vinnie said looking at her friend lovingly.
"Wow! You know a lot about her... About me and her! Why didn't ever you object?" Ronnie asked impressed by the girl who walked with him.
"I observed you two from the start and I thought may be the whole marriage thing must have made you both anxious. Kathy was never that kind of girl who'd settle for any random guy...but I noticed distance, hesitance, awkwardness between you two even after marriage which was really weird for a couple who were in love but I also noticed that you looked after her, you cared about her and took a stand for her against your own parents...I started seeing respect and admiration for her in your eyes; it soon changed into love!" she smiled and Ronnie stood there speechless.
"She is really lucky to have you as her friend." he said after a while as he still kept staring at Kathy. Kathy felt his eyes on her and quickly turned around. She lost her balance at that moment and fell down on the ground. Before Ronnie could run towards her, Monish rushed towards her and comforted her. Ronnie saw them talking and giggling as she got up and started walking with him. He felt anger boiling in him.
"Stop reacting like this...you'll push her away from you!" Vinnie scolded and he took a deep breath.
"I don't like to see him anywhere near her!" he mumbled.
"They have been friends forever...you cannot do that to her, she has always been dependent on him!" she explained.
"I'll change that!" Ronnie said firmly as his eyes stayed fixed on them.
The day progressed and they finished trekking. The gang reached the dam and got seated at the steps to enjoy the cool water at the lowest region of the dam. Ice cold water fell on their bodies and took away all the tiredness. Soon they walked out of those steps as their bodies began shivering due to cold.
They headed towards a play ground after a light lunch and decided to play Volleyball. Ronnie gritted his teeth as Monish and Kathy were in one team and against his. He tried his best to win all those games. They played until late evening and everybody had smiles on their faces by the end of the games...everybody except Ronnie.
"You need to calm down...I think you both need some time away from the crowd." Vinnie told Ronnie when she noticed him in a bad mood.
"I think you're more of my friend now!" he smiled.
"Why thank you!" she smiled back.
"Can you somehow bring her to my room tonight? I don't want to attend the campfire. I really need to talk to her." he asked her.
"On one condition...two actually!" she demanded.
"What?" he asked looking at her.
"You have to tell her about your feelings today..." she stated.
"Second condition?" he asked.
"Promise me that you two won't be too loud tonight!" she giggled looking at his shy expression.
"We will only talk tonight!" he blushed a bit.
"Aww...you're so cute!" she laughed, pinching his cheeks which only turned redder.
"Uh-Um... Please lock the door from outside; I don't want her to run away from me!" he said hesitantly.
"Okay jiju!" she smiled and walked away.
Ronnie turned around and saw an angry Kathy standing a few feet away from him. He smiled at her but she narrowed her eyes at him.
"What's going on between you two? Don't you dare hit on my best friend!" she whisper yelled.
"She is sweet. I like her!" Ronnie replied her casually.
"She is seeing someone." she said, smiling proudly.
"I thought she enjoyed my company today!" he teased her.
"Whatever." she huffed.
"Relax. There's nothing going on between us, unlike you and Monish!" he stated seriously. Her face burned with anger at that comment.
"Stop that now!" she warned him.
"Fine." he replied and walked away.
"Hey man, let’s eat something!" Raj told Ronnie.
"Guys, we can go have dinner now...campfire is waiting for us next!" Aarav called the rest of them.
They walked in the hotel's dining area and sat in the far corner of the room. They ate their dinner peacefully as most of them were tired and hungry. A lot of food and drinks were ordered and the boys ate like pigs while the girls were soon full.
"I'll go sleep now as I'm really tired and kind of cold!" Ronnie informed Raj and excused himself from the table after dinner. Kathy wondered where or why he disappeared.
The rest of them walked towards the campfire site at the back of the hotel, talking about random things. The girls giggled when a few hot guys walked past them, winking at them.
"Uh-Kathy, can you please accompany me to my room, it’s getting cold and I'll need my jacket now!" Vinnie asked her. Kathy first looked at her suspiciously but nodded when she didn't see anything weird in her expressions.
"We'll be right back!" Vinnie informed others and started walking towards their rooms. They reached to the elevator after walking through the ground, dining area and reception area. Vinnie literally dragged Kathy in the corridor and pushed her towards her room.
"You go check up on him once, I'll come back in 5!" she told her casually. Kathy sighed but still knocked the door and Ronnie answered the door after a few seconds.
"You came in early...come in!" he said. Kathy debated if she should get in but then walked in anyways.
"I just came up here with Vinnie and thought maybe I should check up on you." she said and looked towards the door. She stood up when she saw Vinnie approach their door but Vinnie being Vinnie locked the door on her face.
"Open the god damn door Vinnie." Kathy screamed as she began hitting the door.
"It seems like she won't open the door tonight. We're locked here!" he said after she tried for some more time.

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