Song of the Chapter: Gun Gun Guna
Jai:
"Where are we? What's happening?" I asked as we entered the 5-star hotel Ritwik more or less dragged me into.
"You'll see." He said as we entered the elevator and gave him a glare. He simply shrugged. Go figure.
My phoned dinged in my pocket. I took it out and noticed that it was a text from Kritika.
Kitten-Happy Birthday Love 💖
12 AM
I was going to respond but the lift doors suddenly opened as Ritwik took away my phone and walked away to god knows where.
"Ritwik!" I yelled as I followed him and just as I entered a dark room, I heard shouts and the lights went on.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone yelled as I looked around. All of my close friends and family were there. I look around a bit more and noticed Kritika up in the interior balcony of the what seems to be a ball room. She had a big smile on her face and I instantly knew that she planned all of this.
"Happy Birthday." My mom said as she and dad pulled me into a hug.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.
"We never returned home, we were staying at Ritwik's place." Mom shrugged.
"Only because she was making everything Navya was asking." Ritwik said as he returned my phone. We chuckled.
Kritika:
I watched as Jai mingled with everyone.
"Hey crazy." Vasu said as she came up beside me.
"Takes one to know one." I replied as we giggled.
"How's married life treating you?" I asked as she smiled.
"Well, we are more or less still in the honeymoon phase." She grinned as I chuckled and shook my head. I heard someone clear their throat and turned around.
"Shanaya." I smiled as I hugged her and laughed when she didn't hug me back.
"I hate you." She mumbled as I pulled back and chuckled. Let me get this straight, she hates socializing and she hates physical contact. Give her both and she will hate you too. But not me.
"Oh pulease you love me." I said as she looked at me. Then she turned towards Vasu, completely ignoring me.
"Hey Vasudha." She said with a smile.
"Her Shanaya." Vasu replied as I gaped at Shanaya. Ok fine then.
"I'm leaving." I announced and turned around.
"Woman I was kidding." I heard Shanaya say as I turned around and glared at her.
"You know I hate it when you ignore me." I said with folded arms.
"And I hate being in public." She retorted. Before I could say anything, her husband Vince came up behind her.
"Hi Kritika." He said with a smile.
"Hi Dr. Drunk." I teased as he shot a look at Shanaya. She shrugged.
"I had warned you that I tell her everything. You are the one who didn't mind." She mocked and I giggled as they continued quarrelling.
"Where's Riti?" I asked to Vasu. Right on cue, I feel someone breathe down my neck.
"Boo." They said making me jump and I turned to see Riti laughing at me.
"Idiot." I muttered as I took deep breaths to calm my heart.
"You're face." She gasped as she and Vasu laughed.
"Shut up." I mumbled.
Jai:
I looked up to see Prakriti hugging an angry looking Kritika. My eyes roamed her figure. She was wearing a purple top with floral design which ended above her belly button and a plain high waisted purple skirt which reached her ankles. Her hair was open and she didn't wear much makeup or jewellery except for the bracelet I gifted her.
"Bro you are so whipped." Prateek teased as I glared at him.
"Says the guy who was whining about his marriage two seconds ago." I retorted causing him to sigh.
"But dude, two years is too much time to wait. Can't they find a closer date?" He said again as I looked at Drew.
"Exactly." I nodded my head at Prateek making Drew laugh.
"You know what your mom said. It's either exactly two years later or two days later. And that would have been a big no since your parents want the both of you to finish your internship. Even if you will finish it this year, Prakriti still has a year more." Drew said as Prateek sighed.
"But still." He mumbled making us chuckle.
"Be right back." I said as I walked away from them and towards the stairs. When I reached the top, I saw Vasu, Prakriti and Shanaya talking, Kritika nowhere to be found.
"Hey girls." I greeted as I approached them.
"Happy Birthday." They said as each of them gave me a hug.
"Thank you. Hey, do you know where Kritika is?" I asked as they smirked.
"Feeling empty?" Shanaya teased as they chuckled.
"Fine then." I shrugged and turned but they stopped me.
"Ok ok. She went to the bathroom in the room I rented here." Shanaya said as I smiled at her.
"Room number?" I asked.
Kritika:
I came out of the bathroom and noticed that the bedroom was dark, not how I left it.
"Shit." I muttered as I made my way to the door. But before I could open it, I felt someone tug me and I fell into a hard wall. My fighting instincts suddenly sprang up, but I pushed it down when the familiar cologne reached my senses.
"You would have seriously gotten your ass kicked if I didn't recognise your cologne." I said as I wrapped my arms around him. I heard him chuckle as he pulled me closer.
"Well, I guess it is a good thing you know me so well." Jai said as he switched on the lights behind me.
"Ya, you better thank your lucky stars. Because then I wouldn't be the only one with a faulty anatomy among us." I joked as he gave me a 'really?' look. I shrugged.
"Thank you." He said as he kissed my forehead.
"For what? For not beating you up?" I asked.
"For planning this." He said. I would have denied it, but realising how he practically saw through my lies, I shrugged.
"You're welcome." I replied.
"Let's go?" He enquired, holding my hand.
"Wait no." I said as he led me to the door.
"What?" He asked confused.
"I don't think I should be with you." I said as he look at me with shock.
"What?" He asked as I realised what I said.
"No! Not like that. I meant if I stay with you now, during the party, all your focus will be on me. And now I want you to be completely yourself without your friends and family and I don't want to be a distraction in between. The next hour you will spend without me and after that, the whole day you are mine." I explained as he sighed.
"You scared me." He growled as he pushed me against the wall, his fingers grasping my waist just below my top's hem. I gasped and closed my eyes.
"Jai." I whispered and gulped as he ran a finger over my stomach and shivered as he ran it in circles just above my belly button.
"Yes?" He asked leaning in and peppering kisses along my throat.
"We-" I started but cleared my throat since my sound was too high pitched.
"We need to go. They must be looking for you." I said but he simply ignored me. So I made one last attempt.
"Naveen! It's not what it looks like!" I yelled making him pull away and turn. Just as he was distracted, I pushed him and ran around him.
"Kritika!" I heard him yell as I giggled and ran outside.
Jai:
Just as I was scolding myself for getting distracted, I heard her voice.
"Make sure to lock the door when you come out." She grinned and ran before I could catch her.
"I'll get you soon." I said and shook my head as I made my way outside.
———————————————————
"Are you tired?" Kritika asked as we entered my home.
"Nope. And anyways." I said as I tugged her wrist and pulled her towards me and her head crashed against my chest.
"I have to punish you for that stunt you pulled at my party." I said as she giggled.
"Let me make it up to you then." She said as she pulled away and walked towards my room.
"Where are you going?" I asked as she walked past my room to the free storage room beside it.
"Open it." She said nodding at the door.
"Why?" I asked as she tsked.
"Just do it Jai. It's your gift." She said as I sighed and listened to her.
"What is- Holy Shit." I said as I switched on the light and looked around. The previously box-filled room was now completely transferred into an art room.
"Surprise!" Kritika yelled as she jumped in front of me and waved her hands around.
"Your mom told me how you love to paint whenever you are free but were too busy to actually do it regularly so I just designed you a room for it. You just need to come here and make your next masterpiece." She said with a big grin as I looked around.
"I-" I started but closed my mouth when I didn't really know what to say.
"Do you like it?" She asked with a bit of doubt on her face. I shook my head and pulled her into my embrace with a big grin.
"I love it so much. I love you so much." I said and leaned in. Before I could actually kiss her, I heard the elevator ding and my parents and Jaya walk into my penthouse.
"Why?" I groaned placing my forehead on hers as she chuckled. She placed a kiss on my forehead and pulled away.
"I should go. Anki and Adi must be waiting for me." She said as I nodded.
"Oh don't pout. I'll be here when you wake up." She said as I grinned.
"Then I guess I'm waking up really early." I said as she laughed, the sound making my smile wider.
"Good night Birthday Boy." She said as she gave me a kiss on my cheek.
"Oh please, you know I'm not a boy." I said as she walked towards the door.
"That's right. You're a full grown baby." She quipped and before I could do something about her sassiness, for the second time today, she was gone.
Kritika:
"Hi mom." I said as I entered Jai's penthouse in the morning with Anki and Adi.
"Hi kunju." She said as she hugged me. When she pulled back, she looked at Anki and grinned.
"Hi Anu." She said.
"Hi Aunty." Anki replied.
"Ready?" She asked. So what's happening is that, Mom and Anki are the 'food critics' among all of us. Which ended up with them choosing yesterday's party's food. From starters to desserts to the big two tier cake, they were the ones choosing everything. Which ended with them planning a fun day with each other.
While mom and Anki had formed a great bond, Adi and Dad are a whole another story. All they have been doing for the last couple days is talk about Adi's start up and Dad's own starting years at JV Industries. And they also share the love for golf.
"Hey Uncle." Adi greeted Dad who came out of the kitchen as soon as Mom and Anki were gone.
"Hi Adi. Hi Kritika." He said as I smiled.
"Hey. Let me go check up on Jai. You two have fun." I said as they smiled and left.
After I heard the ding of the elevator confirming that they left, I made my way towards Jai's bedroom. I was going to enter when I heard sounds from the art room. I smiled and made my way there. The door was open so I entered without knocking.
"Oh my god." I gasped, my eyes wide, my jaw slack as I looked at the painting in front of me.
"Kitten." Jai called out but I couldn't turn my eyes away from the painting which looked fresh.
"Kritika." He said and I had no option but to look at him when he cupped and lifted my face.
"Jai I-" I trailed of, not knowing what to say as I looked at the painting again. A painting of me, to be definite.
"I-It's beautiful." I stuttered as I felt myself tearing up.
"Not as beautiful as you." Jai said as he placed a kiss on my forehead. I pulled back slightly and walked towards the painting. The painting was like a close up of my face, looking realistic yet artistic. Each stroke was done with perfection. Each little detail. The small mole below my lip, the brown specs in my eyes, the small red dot of my bindi right between my eyebrows.
"How long have you been painting this for?" I asked as I turned towards him.
"A few hours." He shrugged as I exhaled and looked at the painting. I opened my mouth, but simply shook my head not knowing what to say.
"Is this how you felt when I showed you the art room yesterday?" I joked as he chuckled.
"I was much more surprised." He said as I shook my head.
"Nope." I said and smiled.
"I've made your favourite upma for you." I said.
"With lots of mustards?" He asked as I shot him a look.
"I've dumped a whole cup of mustard. Happy?" I asked as he smiled.
"Very." He said as I simply shook my head.
Hey Guys. So sorry for the late update. This is a special update to celebrate a special occasion. Cause guess what? My Plus One exam results came in yesterday and I got a 99.42% *cue screaming.
PS:-Did anyone else from India get to watch ads for coins because of a 'geological error'.