Broken Strings...

Chapter 8.

       "Radhika."

       "WHAT! WOW! You did ask her! Cool. I like you both together."

       "Puch to liya hai. Per kuch pata nahi hai ye ball ke bare me (though I have asked her, I don't have any idea about this whole ball thingy)."

       "Arey bhai! Chinta kaiko when Praveen is here!( Why do you worry about that when I am with you!) lets go to the tent and I will give you a whole lecture on this."

              *****

       7:45 pm. My wrist watch flashed its digits. Before leaving the tent, I turned back again and asked,

       "Bro, do I look fine!?"

       "Yesh dude! How many times am I going to reiterate those same words to you! Just trust my skills and go. Your girl would be waiting. You probably don't want to be late." Praveen said and handed me a small bouquet of red roses.

       He had lent me his coat and had helped me get ready, taught me some common etiquettes and jammed some confidence into me (I guess. Otherwise how am I even walking!).

       Right outside the girls' camp, I saw Radhika standing along with a group of girls. One of the girls saw me and nudged Radhika, making everyone fall silent and Radhika to turn around. She wore a little red dress, had let her hair open which was just guided off from her face by a red hair band, smoky eyes, her lipstick had the opportunity of decorating her lips. I might have looked funny, gaping at her like that, as her friends started giggling. As I approached her, she said in a soft whisper,

       "Hey there!"

       "Hii. You simply look gorgeous." I couldn't resist complimenting.

       "Oh! Thank you!" she said, tucking a strand of hair at the back of her ear.

       "Shall we?" I said offering my arm.

       "Sure!" Her expression showed she was impressed (YAAY!). She waved her friends and put her hand around my arms. Only if time could have been frozen!

       "By the way, you too look fabulous!"

       "Oh do I?"

       "Yes. Completely!"

       "Thank you, miss."

       As we neared the hall, slow music floated into our ears. She opened the other to disclose a room full of dim blue light, couples moving around swiftly to the slow music being played at the other far end of the hall. At one corner, there was a small bar sorta and the food counter. We exchanged a look and as we stepped in, we were offered two masks by the volunteers- a red one for her and a silver one for me. I helped her put on her mask and then escorted her inside. The band was actually playing some nice music. Radhika met a friend of her. They exchanged those girly greetings before Radhika introduced me to her and the other girl introduced her boyfriend. After few minutes of talk, the other party headed towards the dance floor. Silence was again beginning to set in between us when I asked her,

       "Shall we also?" and put forward my hand, inviting her to dance. She gave a shrug and put her hand in mine. Once on the floor, I lifted her other hand and placed on my shoulder. One hand placed lightly over her small waist, the other grabbing her palm and slowly moving to the rhythm was a moment in making which was going to be one of the most precious moments.

       Adheer halted. He positioned his hands exactly in the same way as his description. A small smile spread through his face as if he was able to relieve his memories in that dim, ugly cell of the central jail; while he again continued narrating...

       "You are an expert in this ball thing! I must say I am impressed." Radhika said.

       "Thank you mam!" I said still moving to the music.

       "This music is so good!" she said casting a look at the band and then placed her eyes on mine.

       Those brown eyes reflected half red glow of her mask and half grey glow of my mask. The most intoxicating thing of the world, her eyes. The most seducing thing, her lips. The cutest thing were those little palms and as I held them, I felt to be the most lucky person walking this earth.

       I got pulled out of my world of admiration as her eyes shifted somewhere behind me. I turned my head slightly to find the nerdy-debate-competition-boy standing there. HE DID NOT LOOK NERDY ANYMORE! NOT EVEN 0.0001%. He had every girls eyes on him. From the studious look to this dashing look! Appearances are deceiving. Though I and Radhika were moving rhythmically, both had our eyes on him. He had people surrounding him like a celebrity but his eyes seemed to me rapidly scanning the crowd. When he saw Radhika, his eyes stayed a bit longer. From then on, I found him staring at her frequently and smiling. I felt confused and when I saw Radhika, I found a sheepish smile on her lips.

       "You both know each other!?" I couldn't help but ask.

       "Umm... Yeah sorta. His name is Yash. He had come upto me after the delegation and we had some chat." Her voice was filled with a new enthusiasm. "And you know what? He is such a nice person. The thing you call beauty with brains. I didn't expect friendly attitude from him after the way he had thrown questions at us. But then he came out and praised us a lot. His words were so well selected." Her voice seemed dreamy for a second but she adjusted herself.

       "Oh! I see this Yash boy has impressed you quite a lot?"

       "Yeah, I guess." She said and shifted her eyes back to him as I felt a nerve tighten at the back of my neck...

A/N:

HELLO SWEETHEARTS! Here goes our next chapter. We hope you liked it.
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