Unfazed

67. Cookie Dough (Deeksha)

"That gives me 27 so far – what about the element of surprise?" I ask. I wanted to win, so bad.

"As much as I hate to say this... Deeksha, the cheesecake and the apple tart surprised me. 8 for surprise" he says and I pump my fist into the air with a "YAAASSSS!!"

Soon, all the people following me on various social media, saw a video of an apple tart eating Dev Sanghvi, saying "Deeksha Bhalla. I hereby admit that you are the Queen of desserts", with the most heartbroken face ever. Of course, I captioned it "Guess who won the bet to choose the best dessert?" – but that's irrelevant.

Chilling in the balcony of Dev's flat after we finished the desserts and cleaned up, he hands me a cup of chamomile tea before asking, "Are you ready to talk about why you were upset?"

I knew this was inevitable – but this was Dev. I could trust him not to tease me about things that matter. "Harsh.. Is my best friend. The only one I've had all along. At least, from my end", I say, at length.

"Yeah – and you are his", Dev affirms.

"I'm not so sure anymore, Dev", I say, unable to believe I was finally letting it out to someone.

"Wait – what do you mean?" he asks me.

"Like – I don't know. I've been feeling like he's keeping something from me these days. Suddenly, he's all 'protective' about me in everything I do – more than usual. And also.. it was probably nothing", I conclude.

"Also...?" prods Dev.

"I couldn't sleep for a long time the night you and Harsh told me about your history. I was walking down to the kitchen when I heard Harsh talking to Alana over the phone. I only heard her name being mentioned and him asking her not to cry. At first I thought it was a one-time thing, but he has seemed distant with me since then. I.. I don't like it", I ramble and then pause to take a sip of the tea.

"Which is why you can't seem to help having your suspicions about Alana and even now, don't fully trust her. That explains a lot", he says, as serious about this as I was.

"And I feel silly – I do, but then, I can't help miss Harsh. Like, I know I'm busy these days with work too, but if Alana tries to take Harsh away from me", I say but before I can finish, Dev adds, "You will destroy her."

I smile sheepishly, but then it grows into a grin when he adds, "You might be surprised to hear this, but in such a case, I will help you."

He chuckles lightly for a bit and in the wind, his usually 'set in place' hair flies into a disarray that is no longer formal and suits him better. "Dee, I don't mean to take a side here, but look at it from Alana's end. She is being accused from all the directions for something she did out of desperation, a long time ago. Harsh sees that therefore, supports her. I think somewhere, he is also guilty about my whole issue with him where he refused to talk to me and isolated me. So he doesn't want to repeat that."

I nod, glad for the new perspective. "Hmm – I know. But then."

"But then, even if he ever chooses to take things forward with Alana – because let's be honest, there is clearly some sort of chemistry there – you have every right to look out for him, but in the long run, you won't forgive yourself if you stand in the way of him being happy."

"I hate that you're smart. And also, right... sometimes, you're right", I say as I lean over the parapet of Dev's balcony on the highest floor of the building.

"Hmm.. Let's see. If you give me one chance to prove I'm right all the time and I do, what do I get in return?" he asks.

"What do you want?" I ask, playing along – thankful for the lighter mood.

"When I prove to you that I am right all the time, I want you to let me take you to my favourite place in the world", he says.

"What is that? The gutter?" I ask and he shakes his head at me in disbelief. "You're impossible", he says – something he has been saying to me a lot, off late.

"Fine", I say, "provided you prove to me that you are right in the one chance I give you".

"I want to use the chance now", he says, pushing himself off the railing he was leaning against, next to me. "You may", I say with a flourish.

He takes a step backwards and spreads his arms outward casually before adding, "Back at Premium, I saw you eye the cookie dough. So I made an assumption that if I buy you some and offer it to you about now, you will agree to binge on cookie dough with me, while surfing through random things on TV."

He steps forward again, closer to me, with a smug look on his face, asking, "Am I right, Deeksha? Or... Am I.. right?"

"Ugghh – Fine. When are we going?" I ask, racing to his fridge before he can get to it.