The Ruined Rainbow

CHAPTER 56

"Hi, can I call you later?" I said bleakly, hoping she would understand the signal, but she straight away rejected my plea, and said, "No."

"How's Munnar treating you?" She asked brightly.

"Um, good?"

"Okay, any events, so far?" She asked excitedly,

"Well, the Mehandi ceremony is going on."

"That's not what I meant!" She said hotly, "I meant if anything happened between you and Sahil?"

I glanced at Sahil uneasily, who was giving me a how-long-will-you-take look, "No."

"Ayesha! You can't be this boring!" She complained.

You ruined a moment! I wanted to say, but I settled with a "Hmm."

"Fine, I'll call you tonight. And I would want every minute detail. Agreed?"

Sahil suddenly got an idea, and he began tickling my neck with his free hand. "Ye- hehe, " I laughed, and Sahil did that again,

"Is he there around you?" She asked excitedly, and I looked up at Sahil, who gave me another tickle.

"Yeah," I said, managing to keep a straight voice, with so much background disturbance. 

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" She squealed frantically, and so loudly that Sahil stopped his tickling. Her voice was clearly audible to anyone who was around us.

"Who's it?" Sahil asked, and I hastily replied, "No one. I mean, " I coughed, before correcting myself, " no one important, "

Instantly, both Sahil and Akanksha repeated my sentence, in unison,

"No one important? " Akanksha asked fiercely.

"No one important?" Sahil asked, confused, "Then why -?"

"Um, Akanksha, can I call you later? Please?"

"Fine!" She granted generously, "But I want all the details, get it? What happened tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night too! And the exact descriptions with no skipping details and-"

"Bye!"

I sighed and looked up at Sahil, who was giving an amused reaction. Instantly I asked, "How much did you hear?"

He smirked, "The last line for sure, "

"Oh!" I said, blushing furiously, and trying to find some interest as though why the sky was blue.

And at last, my eyes travelled to the wedding manager who was ordering his workers to work faster. They were setting up the stage, nearby, throwing the rose petals from the top, on the scene, decorating it.  Wow, the roses look so red today.

Sahil took an abrupt step forward, and I instinctively took a step back, hitting a pillar. He again stepped forward, and I looked at him in surprise. Yet he did not stop and took another step forward, almost killing the distance between us.
Gently taking my hands, he said, "You have my name written?"

"Yeah," I said nervously.

"Can I have a look? " he asked, peering over the intricate patterns of the Mehandi, on my hands. I extended the fingers of both my hands in front of him, and he took over my right side first.

Bringing it closer to his face, he began raking his eyes from the top of the hand to the bottom, searching for his name and a dreamy smile spread over my lips.

I watched his eyes scrunch up in concentration, and disapproval, as he quite didn't find his name for the first time.

"Give up?" I asked softly.