Anushka
I comb my hair softly as I listen to my friend Pranathi telling me about the trip she went on recently. We have been friends since college where we had a lot of common classes so we spent a lot of time together.
"I know the food looked so good in the pictures you posted," I exclaim, picking the phone up as I talk so she can hear me.
"It was Anushka, like I can't even tell you how much I ate," She says, going on a little more about that as I start to put on my jewelry. My outfit is pretty casual, consisting of a pair of light blue ankle-length jeans with small rips at the knees and a short sleeve t-shirt that is coral pink in color and is cinched with drawstrings on both sides of my body. I leave my hair down and use a small hair elastic to tie a small ponytail in the back of my head to make a half up half down look.
"Yeah, I think I can do dinner on Wednesday, my last meeting is at 3, so I should be out at 4 or 5 at the latest," I tell Pranathi as we plan a time to meet up this week.
"Yeah I'll text you once I check my schedule too," She replies before we say bye to each other and I hang up and set my phone down. I swipe some peppermint chapstick over my lips and grab my crossbody bag off my dresser and take my phone as well. I put my bag over my shoulder and keep my phone in my hand before I glance at myself in the mirror one last time and walk out of my room.
Genelia's room door is still closed so I am guessing she is still getting ready while Nitya and Samantha are sitting at the dining table.
"You look so cute," Samantha says as I walk towards them with a smile on my face.
"Thank you my sweet Samantha, so do you," I reply, squeezing her cheek softly with a giggle as she rubs her cheek with an annoyed grumble. Nitya laughs with me as Samantha shakes her head and pouts, complaining how she just did her makeup.
"I didn't mess it up, it still looks good," I reassure her, tapping her shoulder as I take my phone out of my purse and set it down in front of me.
"Ahem, ahem," Nitya coughs into her hand, which is made into a fist, as she uses her other hand to twirl a piece of her hand around her finger.
"So sorry sorry Ms. Nitya you looked beautiful as per usual," I say and Samantha follows me by saying, "You look so pretty Nitya, green really is your color." Nitya dramatically wipes fake tears under her eyes before bursting into laughter along with us.
"Ok, ok we can just all agree we are a hot group of friends," Samantha blurts out as she plays with the bracelet on her wrist looks between the both of us as we nod.
"My legs are going to be so sore tomorrow after playing 3 hours of volleyball today," I complain, resting my head on my arm softly as I look at Nitya who is on her phone.
"Same, I'm gonna be so shaky tomorrow," Samantha says, agreeing with me as we talk about our early morning. Genelia stayed over with Ram, so just the three of us got up pretty early to go play volleyball at the sand courts nearby and we lost track of time and played for so long. Even though we are complaining, we are all for sure happy we got a good workout in and got to play together like old times sake.
"Sorry, I took so long, did I make you all wait," Genelia bursts out of her room and walks towards us.
"No you're fine, we just got ready a little early," Samantha tells her, as the three of us turn to look at an out-of-breathe Genelia.
"Ok, ok then just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready," Genelia tells us before turning around to walk back to her room.
"There's no rush Genelia calms down," Nitya says to Genelia as she hurries back into her room to finish getting ready.
"I'm excited to see them," Nitya says to us, as she twirls her phone around in her hands.
"All of them," I ask and raise an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to say something but she just looks down at her hands for a second before looking back up.
"Yeah, we're all friends, why would I not want to see them," She replies, looking at Samantha who just turns to look at me, a smirk now resting on her lips.
"Yeah but there's one of them who you aren't just friends with right?" I cover my mouth after Samantha asks the question to hold in my laugh, and Nitya does the same but looking at her fingers and frowning.
"Yup," She exclaims, clapping her hands together as her head jerks up and she smiles widely.
"Who?!" Samantha and I both scream at the same time, inching our heads closer to her to wait to hear the confession out of her mouth.
"Samantha, Anushka, and Genelia! They aren't just my friends but they are my best friends!"
Samantha and I lay back in our seats groaning as she laughs pointing between the both of us that we fell for it.
"Haha so funny; nobody is laughing," Samantha says, rolling her eyes as she gets off the chair. I just shake my head, my energy rush slowly going away and my calmness coming back to me.
I sit on the table, talking to Nitya for a few more minutes as Samantha bustles around the kitchen eating some snacks and joining in on our conversation ever so often.
"Ok, we can go I'm done," Genelia calls out, as she walks out of her room, lightly closing the door behind her. She sets her purse down on the corner of the island and Nitya and I get up as well and stand around the island across from her.
"I need gas for my car anyway so let's just go take it and get gas on the way," Samantha tells us, as she fishes her phone out of her purse and glances at it for a second.
"Sounds good," I say as I put the long strap of my purse over my head and on my shoulder so it rests across my body.
We all grab our things and walk out of the apartment, and walk to Samantha's car parked a few feet right of the apartment building door.
I get into the backseat with Genelia and Samantha and Nitya sit in the front.
"Drive controls music," Samantha says, pushing Nitya's hand away from the controls at the front of the car.
"So annoying," Nitya mumbles as Genelia taps Nitya's shoulder from the back just to annoy her a little more. She turns back for a second, glaring at Samantha before she whips her head back around, her curly hair swinging around in the air.
"They said they'll start in a few minutes," I read out, looking down at my phone where Mahesh just messaged the group of us 8.
"Yeah, apparently Nithin and Prabhas wouldn't wake up," Genelia says with a small laugh, looking up from her phone for a second as Samantha takes a turn out of the apartment complex.
"No surprise there," Nitya says and we all agree, laughing as we continue to read the messages from the boys out loud for Samantha to what and for us to make comments on.
Nitya
"I need some candles, I've used up all of mine," I say out loud as we all stand in a huddle to figure out what stores to go to. It's been about 10 minutes since Ram, Prabhas, Mahesh, and Nithin got to the mall and we are all just making a plan on how to go about things. We were thinking of splitting up for a little to do the specific stuff we have to do, then get back together to walk around and leisurely shop.
"Yeah so we can meet at the food court, eat lunch, then walk around together," Prabhas says and we all nod at him, looking at each other as we start to split up. Honestly, it's mostly us girls who have specific things to do and the boys are just tagging along, but it'll be time pass for them, so it's ok. The candle and scents shop I need to go to is on the third floor whereas everyone else is mostly on the first and second, so I turn around to start walking towards the escalator to make the journey upward by myself.
"Wait, I'll come," I turn around when I hear a voice, Nithin's voice, calling out from being me before he catches up to me with a jog.
"I thought you're going with Prabhas and Mahesh," I ask, looking back at everyone else walking in the other direction than us.
"Nah, I was, but um, I didn't want you to go by yourself," He says, standing beside me as he runs his hands through his styled hair. I look down at my sandals for a second before looking back up at him with a hint of a smile.
"Come on," I nod towards the escalator a few feet away from us and start walking towards it.
He walks beside me until we get on the escalator when he stands behind me as we go up.
"Did you all do something last night," I ask him, turning my body slightly so I can look at him as we get off the escalator.
"Nothing, why?"
"You all woke up late so I just didn't know if there was a reason. Well, not all of you, just you and Prabhas right," I ask, looking up at him as flat sandals do nothing for my short height compared to his.
"Is it a crime to sleep in," He asks me back, raising his eyebrows as a slight smirk grazes his lips.
"Yeah, why did I ask. I should have known you wouldn't do anything useful anyway," I say, turning to my left to meet his frowning face as he puts his hands up in the air.
"Hello! I do useful things when I have to. Everyone needs a break," He exclaims, walking a little close to me as we get stuck in a small group of people walking in the opposite direction as us.
I open my mouth to say something, but my words just get caught in my throat as I am slightly pushed to the left by someone making me lose my balance. My body makes contact with Nithin's and I feel his arms go around my shoulders tightly as he puts my back upright and looks at me for a second. Our eyes lock as I tuck my hair behind my ear and feel the goosebumps raise up all over my body, his stare on me making my thoughts all jumbled and my words all fumbled.
"Uh, um, Ni-thin, Nithin, I'm, uh, I'm sorry. Some, Someone pushed me so," I breathe out, biting on my lips as I look down for a second, mumbling curses at myself under my breath for totally being an idiot in front of me. When I get the courage to look up at him, his body is very close to the railing and a youthful smile is on his face. His head is tilted slightly to the side as he keeps his eyes on me, looking at me so deeply that I feel lasers shoot through my body from his eyes.
"Nithin," I put my hand on his shoulder and shake his body slightly, trying to get his attention again as his eyes just follow me and his smile just flashes at me.
"You're so stupid I'm going," I say, letting go of his shoulder as I turn around to start walking away from him. I glance down at the floor, trying to see the reflection of his shoes coming behind me on the floor beneath me, but I frown when I am met with nothing but the mirror image of the lights above me. I lift my head up and turn back, but a frown immediately comes onto my face when I don't even see him back where he was before.
"Where-," I stop when I feel a tapping on my right shoulder and I jerk back slightly, shocked at the sudden touch.
"Gotcha!" He smiles, his hands shoved in his pockets as he bumps his arm on mine in a playful manner. I roll my eyes, but the annoyance on my face very quickly fades into amusement and then joy as I smile, walking faster to watch up with him.
"Is that something you do to all girls or?" I look up at him, blinking my eyelashes for an answer as his gaze shifts from in front of us to at me. He doesn't say anything for a second as we walk into the store and are greeted by someone working in the stores.
"No, I have something different for everyone," He replies, raising his eyebrows up as he confidently struts beside me. One of his hands is in the pocket of his jeans with just his wrist peaking out so I lightly smack his wrist as I roll my eyes.
"Antha scene unda neeku?," I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I give him a half smile, walking ahead of him slowly. He covers his mouth, bending back a little as he dramatically looks around, acting severely offended. [Translation of Antha scene unda neeku: It's more of a slang saying "Are you really all that".]
"Just look at all this," He says, gasping as his finger points at his body and he moves it up and down from his face to his chest. I just shake my head, and reach out to take a light pink candle off the shelf and take off the lid to smell it. As I bring my nose near the candle, I freeze up and stare at the shelves in front of me. The smell of the candle and the coolness of the glass in my hands no longer interests me.
Even though I just shook my head and ignored Nithin's praises of himself and his playful nature, I know that's not what is inside of me. When he pointed at himself and moved his finger up and down his body, thank god I looked down and looked away from him because if he would've seen my face, he would've seen the face of a tomato.
I wish I could've have mentally taken a picture of that moment because he looked so so good. With a boyish smile on his lips and his eyes a little crinkled in the corners but holding the twinkle of childlike innocence in them. And as for his body, all I can say is that the form fitting shirt that he is wearing today is doing wonders for his body, sticking to him like a second skin and not leaving much to my imagination.
I mean, yeah I've seen guys I think are cute or hot, but it doesn't stop just there with Nithin. He's the kind of person I love being around, who's always so happy and carefree, making me always smiling and joyous. I truly become a child when I'm with him and even the littlest things like a "Hi" from him or a phone call before bed, it all just feels like a dream.
"Thinking about me Nitu." I blink my eyes a few times before looking up at Nithin who has an arm on the wall as he leans forward towards me.
"What?"
"I said, thinking about me, Nitu?" This time when he asks, his voice is low, making me gasp and lose hold of my breath for a second as his face is a lot closer to mine. I close my mouth, looking up at him as I grip the candle against my chest tightly. He holds eye contact for a few seconds before his hand reaches out to tug one of my curls softly as a teasing smile beams on his face.
"My new nickname for you. Do you like it," He asks, taking the candle from my hands to smell it and he scrunches his nose immediately.
"Too sweet," He says, shaking his head as he hands it back to me, making me laugh at the face he just made.
"First of all, no I don't like that nickname, it's weird," I tell him, putting my finger on his chest so he looks directly at me and not around the store we are in.
"And second I'm getting this candle because I like the smell." He waits for a second before taking the candle from me, holding it in his arms and walking forward.
"What's wrong with Nitu? I like it." He frowns at me, waiting for me to turn around and look at him instead of looking at the dark green candles on display.
"Nitya is fine pichi, don't call me Nitu," I tell him firmly, as I put my finger in the air between our faces before using it to tuck my hair behind my ear. [Translation of pichi: crazy]
"I used to have a Ritu, but that's over with, so Nitu reminds me of her," He replies, raising his eyebrows up as he grins at me, and scratches his jaw. I frown, looking down for a second before my frown turns into a pout.
"Really, you're comparing me to your other girls," I say, shaking my head out of annoyance as I grumble to myself and walk away from the corner he is in.
"Calm down, I said it's in the past. Anyway you have to get used to this, I have lots and lots of girlfriend stories to tell you." I ignore him and keep walking forward, putting two more candles in my basket so I now have four in there.
"Why are you telling me then, go find another girlfriend and tell her," I bitterly say, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop myself.
"Nithin!" I gasp as he grabs my wrist and suddenly drags me back to the corner we were in before.
"Well, I've found her, but she's not my girlfriend yet." I walk away as fast as I can, looking down as my face now scrunches up and my teeth grind together roughly.
I slam the basket down on the cash register counter, making the cashier look up at me and quickly take the stuff in my basket to start scanning them. I should have not even asked him that, it's just gonna make my mood worse to hear him talk about his stupid girlfriend.
"Thanks," I say to the cashier as I take the big brown bag from her as she just nods at me.
"Can I tell you now," He asks me as we walk out of the store and I close the zipper of my purse before I look up at him.
"Chepu." I look up at him, my hands clasped together as one of my arms weighs down due to the bag resting on it. He sighs for a second before nodding ahead for us to slowly start walking together. [Translation of Chepu: Tell me.]
"I haven't known her for too long, but even the short time I've known her I've felt an attraction to her. I want to talk to her and make her laugh and tease her a little and even hold her hand, I just like being around her," He says, his eyes going between the floor and the ceiling as his lips permanently mold into a smile.
I look down as he talks, not able to look at him as he so happily talks about someone else and I hate myself for it. We have no relationship but friendship yet I'm being so possessive of him and instead of being happy, I'm wanting him for myself which I know is wrong. I want him to talk about me like that, with his face beaming with joy and his body taken over by the thoughts of his lover.
"As a person, she compliments me perfectly. When she needs to she'll scold me a little, but secretly smile even as she's irritated. She'll laugh at my stupid jokes and reply back to my messages with just as many emojis as I send to her," His hands are in the air as he enthusiastically speaks, speaking about the one who has taken over his mind and soul.
I look up from the ground and at him, waiting for him to look back at me and I scrunch my eyebrows together. We do those things, where he texts me with a bunch of emojis and I text him back with the same amount, and I always roll my eyes but burst into laughter right after when he says his cheesy jokes. But, it's not as though there's a rule written that he can only do it with me, I'm sure he does it with everybody, including this mystery girl. We briefly make eye contact as I see his shining smile through the corner of his eye before I look down again, waiting for him to finish his speech and end this misery I am in.
"She's always messing with her eyebrows, especially when she's thinking, and her hands are always trying to fix her hair which already looks so beautiful."
I have to be dreaming or just plain out delusional because that's me! He's talking about me! He has to be because that's a habit I've had since I was a child, where I always touch my eyebrows and he points it out when I do it too. My head flicks up and he looks down at me, smirking slightly as he starts to see the blush now forming on my cheeks.
"And as for her looks, I could stare at her for the rest of my life and it wouldn't be enough. Her smile is so big and her whole face lifts up when she smiles, making me smile too. Her eyes are these nice big ovals that compliment her heart-shaped face and her slim nose. And my favorite is her hair," He pauses for a second and I gasp as we lock eyes and I feel everything in me slowly leaving and being handed to him, especially my heart.
"She's got this nice thick hair which rests on her shoulders and is so stubborn so I'm always having to stop myself from pushing it behind her ear. Her curls are so different from everyone else's and I love it even when they are messy and left free, moving around as she does and bouncing up and down like my heart when she's around," He finishes that with a smile as I unclasp my fingers and reach up to touch my eyebrows but stop when I remember what he said, making my hidden shyness come out.
"You've said everything about her but her name," I whisper, stepping closer to him as our steps slow down near a pillar and our hands inch towards each other. Before his hand, his face comes towards mine and his mouth gets close to my ear, so close that I can hear his deep breaths tickling the side of my face and unleashing the chain of butterflies in my stomach.
"Nitya."
Prabhas
I'm starting to regret my decision of sitting down by Anushka because I have not been able to focus on anything but her. Just from today itself, there are so many things I could say about her and it wouldn't be enough.
As soon as she met up and we first made eye contact, a smile has been on my face since, because a smile is always on her face. The pink shirt she's wearing is such a beautiful color and matches the pink on her cheeks, making her look so cute. Her hair is mostly down, falling gracefully on her shoulder like waves, but the small pieces are pushed away from her face, letting me see her face even better. She doesn't have a lot of makeup on, but she has just enough to show her best features and I can't help but say that I feel like I'm in heaven. Her eyes, just her eyes itself are so mesmerizing how they open up widely or roll around or close up a little when she laughs.
"Prabhas," She says, nudging my shoulder, making me shake my head as I look back at her. She hands me her phone and I raise my eyebrow, asking what to do with it.
"Write your order so I can order it," She explains and I nod, holding her phone carefully in my hands as I type.
"I'll come with you, just so you have help to bring everything to the table," I say, giving the phone to Ram who is sitting beside me.
"Ok," She says back to me, softly as she gives me a small smile, just with her lips, before she turns away so she is facing everyone.
"Aren't Nitya and Nithin acting differently," She whispers, her body leaning forward toward me a little. I blink a few times, trying not to get distracted by her sweet perfume before we both look across from us. Nithin has his arm across the back of Nitya's chair and he's occasionally glancing at her. She's just talking like normal, but her back is towards him, and their chairs closure, looking a little more intimate than just friends
"Something happened when they were together huh?" She nods at my question, giving me a bright smile, showing her teeth this time as she sits back up, and looks towards them.
"Nitya, since when were the chairs so close," She asks, raising her eyebrows as her voice goes up two pitches and her arms cross over her chest. I look at her and then look down as the biggest smile blooms onto my face after seeing her do that. She's so cute, how she talks, with her eyes doing a lot more of the talking than her actual mouth.
"What," Nitya asks, sitting up more and putting her arms on the table with a frown. Nithin is still sitting back with his arms back and his body relaxed but his eyes are on the girl in front of him.
"You two seem a little cozy is what she said," Mahesh says, adding onto Anushka's words as he leans towards the table too and Samantha, who is sitting in between him and Anushka turns to smile at Anushka.
"You all are sitting by each other, why are you picking on us," Nithin says, shaking his head at the 12 pairs of eyes now on them, waiting for the couple to say something.
"Us," Genelia repeats, her eyebrows high as she moves her eyes between the two of them.
"Us is a general term," Nitya replies, defending her and Nithin, both who are sitting up right, not an inch of them touching each other.
"This is never going to end, should we go order the food," Anushka says to me, or legs touching slightly as her knees peeking out from under the table.
"Yeah let's go," I get up before she does and slip my phone into my pocket as she gets up as well and walks behind me. I glance back at her and see her pulling her shirt down and putting her purse back over her shoulder before she walks faster to catch up with me. Her phone is in her hands as we stand in line at the burger stall, waiting to order our food.
I turn around because I'm standing in front of her and we smile at each other when we both look up at the same time.
"Are you going to Sai and Tanisha's wedding," She asks me, turning her body so we are facing each other and my back is towards the burger stall.
"Did they decide on a date?" She nods at my questions before opening her mouth to speak up again.
"It was supposed to be in 2 months, but they moved it back so it's 6 months now," She explains and tells me that the wedding is taking place in Shimla and is a 5-day long celebration.
"I'm sure my mom knows she just hasn't gotten a chance to tell me yet," I explain to Anushka who nods and starts walking a little bit forward as the line keeps moving.
"Yeah I'm excited cause I haven't been to Shimla yet," She says and I smile, watching her talk as her eyes light up and her eyebrows stand up high.
"Yeah and we'll have some familiar faces right," I say, moving a finger between us as she nods, looking up at me with a twinkling smile.
What was previously just a wedding of someone I knew, is now going to be the most exciting 5 days of my life when I get to be with Anushka. By then, I know what we have is only going to strengthen and being in such a love-filled environment, maybe something will happen between us.
One thing for sure, I'll be the happiest because I get to see all the outfits she wears, from saris to lehengas to kurtas. She'll be so happy dancing and being in her natural element and I can't wait to watch as she twirls around and compliments each step with the glow she brings into the room with her bright smile.
I have time till then, 6 more months, where I can be with her here and just spend time with her in the presence of our friends and the little community we have formed.
I walk a few more steps ahead and before we can say anything else, we are called up to the counter to place our order. I take a step back as Anushka holds her phone in front of her and slowly reads off each item written in her notes. I smile as she talks to the worker very clearly and precisely, in perfect Hindi with a little bit of English here and there, before she moves to take out her wallet.
"Should we just split it, so I can pay for us boys and you can for you four," I ask her, moving so I'm next to her and my body is towards her. She shakes her head and takes her wallet out of her purse and unzips it.
"He already put the order in one transaction. It'll be hard to change it so it's ok," She says, smiling as she hands her cards to the guy behind the counter and taps her shoe as she waits for him to process the payment.
"Here maam," He hands her the card back and the machine in front of him beeps. We walk off to the side of the stall where there is an arrow signaling for us to wait here until they call our order number. I lean on the wall as Anushka adjusts her wallet into her purse and takes her phone up before looking at me.
"That's like a week that I have to take off right," I say, rubbing my forehead slightly as I look at her, taking the topic back to the wedding. Anushka gets pushed a little closer to me as a crowd of people stands where we are so we are now having to stand closer together.
"I think I'm going to try to get a flight a little late so the first day I can go to work then to the airport because then it's just four full days off and the last day is a Friday anyway so I'll fly back home sometime Saturday and have the weekend to rest," She says, our eyes staying on each other as I smile a little at how perfectly she has everything planned, even 6 months in advance.
"Yeah that sounds perfect," I reply, not able to say anything else as I note down whatever she said in my head to try and do something similar; maybe even try to travel on the same flights as her.
"Order number 47!" We look up at the counter as a couple goes up to grab the bags from the counter and Anushka glances down at the receipt in her hands before looking up at me, "We should be called soon."
I nod, looking back at the counter and I see a bigger group of people join the couple and start walking towards us to get to the tables. I feel Anushka's hand graze mine as she looks down at her phone, but she doesn't seem to notice so I just try to act like I didn't feel anything. Act like I didn't feel her soft touch my hand, her long fingers graze my bigger ones and the rings on her fingers push against my skin lightly.
"Oh my gosh Anushka!" I look up when we hear a few squeals coming from a distance and it's from that group of people who just got their food. They come to stand across from us and the girls immediately pull Anushka into hugs. She just gives them a smile before side hugging the guys as well, some of them who look her up and down before looking at each other.
"It's been ages, how are you," One of the girls asks, standing by Anushka with her arms on her hips.
"I've been good, what about you all? I see you are all still friends," She says, looking between the big crowd who all just nod with big smiles.
"Yeah we went to college together right so we were friends through all that and even now," One of the guys explains as he runs his hand through his gel-styled hair.
"Is that your boyfriend?" I look away from the guys and in the direction of Anushka when I hear that question asked.
"No, he's just a friend," She says before looking at me so I introduce myself to all of them and they nod amongst themselves.
"Damn, so if you're still single do I get my chance with you?" I turn slightly to the left at the guy standing a few feet away from Anushka that asked that question. My fingers squeeze together as I hide my fist behind my back and keep my eyes focused between them.
"No thanks," Anushka replies casually, shaking her head as she looks at the girls giggling at the interaction between them. They seem to be pretty comfortable with each other and what he was doing was for sure flirting, so that makes me wonder if they had something in the past like a relationship or him trying to impress her to be in a relationship with him.
I let out a sigh and turn to look towards the burger stall as I see a bunch of bags being placed there. The worker starts calling out numbers and the second to last number he calls out is ours.
"Our food is here I have to go, but it was nice seeing you all," Anushka says, stepping away from the crowd of people and standing beside me before exchanging waves with them. We walk together to get the food and we each take a bag and turn around to walk back towards our friends
"Sorry if that was awkward for you," She says, looking up at me as her bottom lip is being pushed down by her teeth.
"No, no it's not a big deal at all," I reply, hoping to reassure her to wipe the crinkles off her forehead and replace them with crinkles by her eyes.
"Okay good," She says, now giving me a smile as the weight of her worry now lifts off her shoulders and she walks more comfortably now.
"Here you go!" Anushka puts the bag down before I do and then we take our seats beside each other as everyone digs in.
"Did you guys order the food or make it and bring it to us," Nithin asks, as he snatches his food out of the bag with an annoyed face.
"Yeah sorry there was a big line," Anushka says immediately as she reaches to grab a napkin for herself and then puts one beside me. I keep my eyes down and smile, watching her as hands graze the napkin softly as she sets it down before she goes back to arranging her food.
"You don't need to apologize to him, he can wait a few minutes," I say to Anushka, but loud enough for everyone to hear, especially Nithin. He throws a fry at me which lands on the table making Nitya hit his arm as she scowls at him.
"Such a child, see," I add, laughing as Nithin glares, not bothering to wipe the side of his mouth that is stained with ketchup as he continues.
I turn to look at Anushka, and the smile on my face grows even louder as I see her laughing as she shakes her head, mouth open and everything. Her hair is falling around her face and all the laugh lines are on display, sculpting her face into one of a beautiful statue.
I close my mouth and grip the cup in my hand tighter when she stops laughing and now keeps her face still as she looks at me.
She nods her head up slightly, her eyebrows doing the same as she frowns a little. I just shake my head, giving her the smallest hint of a smile before turning back into the table to join in on the conversation between everyone else.
Hey everyone! Sorry for the filler chapters, but I want to just develop the relationships and the characters first, and slowly focus on Prabhas and Anushka so there won't be huge events (like proposals, weddings, trips, etc) happening in the chapters for a while (unless I get a good idea or change my mind which happens really often), but I hope you all still enjoy reading these kinds of chapters.
- Ag :)