Love Takes Time {Completed} {#Wattys2017}

22. Last Dance

         He gathered up courage to do something he had never done before in his life. The song that was playing ended, and the guy who was dancing with her walked away. Next song 'Tonight I 'm loving you' by Enrique Iglesias started playing.

I know you want me

I made it obvious that I want you too

So put it on me

Let's remove the space between me and you

Now rock your body (ooh)

Damn I like the way that you move

So give it to me (ooh)

'Cause I already know what you wanna do

               Before anyone else could come and ask her, he went and stood in front of her and asked in his sexy voice "May I have a dance with you?" She looked at him. He was standing in front of her. So close to her, and his bright eyes were looking at her. Her heart beat so fast, and all the love for him came rushing fore and collected into tears in her eyes. She knew he said something, but she was so caught up in his face that she missed what he said.

             "What?" she turned her face and asked with her ears to him . He leaned in closer with his mouth almost touching her ear. "May I have a dance with you?" he asked again in a soft voice. All the blood rushed to her heart and it felt heavy with the weight of heightened emotions. She kept her head turned away not wanting him to see her eyes which were about to shed tears. She didn't know what to do. There was no way she could control her heart from beating fast. There was no way she could control her tears from falling. There was no way she could bring herself to pretend that he meant nothing to her when he actually meant world to her. There was no way she could dance with the boy she loved so much, standing close to her and looking into her eyes for six minutes without any emotions, holding back the feelings to hug and kiss him. What was she going to tell him to why she was crying while dancing with him. That she was so overwhelmed with the thoughts of never seeing him again that her eyes couldn't stop. What she could not say, her eyes and her beating heart will tell him. What she tried to hide from him for so long will be out there for him to see to what. Nothing. No way, she could let him peek into her heart. What will he think of her? She wiped tears from corner of her eyes with a finger as if something got into them. She gulped the saliva stuck in her throat. "Sorry, my feet hurt," she excused herself and walked away.

                 He stood blank for a moment realizing what just happened. He couldn't believe she crushed his dance request with her feet. He felt she caused him wound with the word 'sorry' that is supposed to heal instead. He thought they weren't complete strangers, but she just reduced him to one. He tried not to judge her but he felt hurt and stressed. He could feel the pain building in his heart. He goes out looking for Yash. When he finds him, he asks him for his packet of cigarettes. He smokes one sitting on a rock outside near the building, running his fingers through his hair pressing his scalp over and over.

             Shanaya had never thought he would ask him for a dance. Shanaya felt sad that she had to turn him down when she actually wanted him to be there near her.  If only she was the same girl who could control her emotions in his presence. She consoled herself with 'whatever happens, happens for good'. "What good could possibly be there in it," she asked herself. She wanted him to not forget her, if not remember her. Now, he was never going to forget her because there was no girl born who could turn him down, and she just did that.

            Abhimanyu goes back to the dance hall after smoking. He surveys the hall and finds Shanaya happily dancing with a boy from final year. He noticed she wasn't even wearing pencil heels. He was sure her feet didn't hurt and she lied to him to not dance with him. He felt the girl he loved so much stabbed him in chest a thousand times. He stands in corridor with her in view and watches her dance with other boys. He wanted himself to suffer more pain as a punishment for going so blind in love with her to not see how she always avoided him. She didn't even take lift from him. First time in his life, he went wrong in reading someone. The girl he thought was in love with him wasn't in love with him at all. All along it was only him in it. He always thought he could never be a victim of one sided love because any girl he loved would surely love him back. Turns out, he was. She didn't even want to dance with him. He felt pain and anger at the same time.