Chapter Forty-Four
"You are my chief commander and I'm your queen."
× SAHIL ×
"Vivian, go get a pack of coffee from somewhere, please" I heard Ananya tell Vivian for the second time and he already declined the first time.
"My brother's reception is going to start and you are sending me to buy coffee? How would you feel if I missed your reception?" He questioned her back and she made a face.
"I would feel blessed to see you are helping someone who is coffee-deprived." After completing the sentence her face rested with a pout and after a second she glanced at me with hopeful eyes.
"Sahil," I shook my head as soon as I heard my name.
"No," she showed her puppy eyes to me and I whined.
"Please," She blinked her eyes rapidly acting like she was the most innocent kid in the world.
"Why do you want coffee in between the reception?" Kirti asked her, getting irritated by Ananya's constant rant on coffee.
"I am feeling very sleepy, I couldn't sleep last night properly-" She was cut off by someone.
"Sahil Bhai?" I narrowed my brows in confusion when Rahul took my name suddenly. Vivian and Kirti started laughing sharing a hi-fi and after realising, they made a face. I glanced at Ananya only to find her face shocked and red. Then the realization hit me.
"What nonsense?" I muttered out and glared at Rahul.
"Maine toh kuch bola hi nahi" He hid behind Kirti and shrugged.
[I did not say anything]
"So, I couldn't sleep last night because of some work, and now I feel sleepy. And tonight, because of some personal work, I'll have to stay awake late at night." She said highlighting the work word again and again, and looked at Rahul awkwardly.
"Work, hmm" It was Dinesh this time. Ananya glared at him the hardest.
"Demon, baby," She said in the sweetest voice possible with a smile on her face and continued the next words with a straight face, "Shut up"
Why would she call him baby?
Do they share a bond like mother-son?
"Somethings burning, guys" Kirti interrupted and kept staring at me with a teasing smile.
"Do you know what is burning, Sahil?" I rolled my eyes at her tease.
"Okay, important question, Who would you choose first, Coffee or Sahil bhai?" Rahul asked while looking at her and she went into a deep thought for a moment.
Why do I feel like she would trade me for a coffee?
"Coffee and Bhai mei zyada kya hi fark hai, Raatko dono hi jagakar rakh sakte hai" My mouth hung open at Vivian's statement and I looked at him in disbelief. Everyone burst out laughing.
[Coffee and Bhai do not have much difference, both can keep you awake at night]
Why is everyone making some or other dirty statement today?
"Sharma gaya, Sahil," Dinesh said probably after noticing my red ears.
[Sahil got shy]
"I wonder if he is this shy at night-" He started and was cut mid-sentence by his best friend, Ananya.
"Go spend a night with him, you will understand"
"Nah, I don't do threesome" These words came out of his mouth and I did not exactly find that statement funny for some reason, meanwhile everyone else kept laughing.
"Get a filter, Deven" Ananya told him in a strict voice.
"And do not repeat this kind of joke too" I added in a serious voice and everyone stopped their laughs.
"Deven bhaiya, he doesn't like dark jokes a lot," Preet said and Ananya and Kirti burst out laughing loudly while I broke into chuckles. The reaction on Deven's face was priceless.
Serves him right. Go Preet, brother-zone him.
"Preet, do not call me bhaiya, how many times should I tell you? I, I feel old when someone calls me that" Deven whined in a voice filled with disappointment.
"Aapko dekhkar bhaiya hi nikalta hai, kya karu" Preet confessed with innocence filled in her voice and I couldn't suppress my laughter this time.
[After looking at you only bhaiya comes out of my mouth, what should I do?]
The way she roasted him without even understanding the meaning.
"Come on, Demon. I don't want you to end up in tomorrow's newspaper with headlines of a heart attack. Let's go" Kirti said trying to control her giggles and patted Deven's back. Preet looked at them in utter confusion.
I want to tell her but I promised Ananya that I won't. This is trouble.
"Oye, chamatkar," I mumbled softly and poked her arm to get her attention. Almost everyone else was busy talking. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows but I didn't stop poking her arm, so she swayed away my hand with a light glare.
"Speak," She said when I didn't continue but rather tried to make a cute face.
"You still want coffee?" I asked her and nodded her head vigorously her eyes full of hope.
"You'll go and buy?" She asked me and I shook my head. Her face lost its color within a second.
"Let's go to the nearby cafe" I suggested. Her face lit up again but then dried for a moment when she asked.
"What about Abhinav's reception?" She asked back.
"We'll be back before anyone knows" She did not reply and thought something.
Today is our last day together, we will meet after months. I don't want to spend a moment without her today.
"So Your Majesty, will you come with me to have a cup of coffee?" I dramatically bowed down first like they do in movies and then went on one knee, forwarding my one hand in front of her and the other one behind my back.
"Your majesty will give it a thought" she replied with a face accent and flipped her hair. I kept staring at her antics and right when I was about to stand up, she placed her hand on mine.
"Don't get offended, I'm coming with you, my commander. Just don't let anyone in the kingdom know that I'm having an affair with the commander" She continued the act and linked her arms around mine after I stood on my legs and we started walking.
I love it when she does this.
"Commander? Really?" I whispered to her without an accent.
"Yes, yes, you are my chief commander and I'm your queen. How do you keep forgetting that, commander?" She asked still not leaving her character.
"Apologies, your majesty. But may I ask, where is your king?" I continued with this drama.
If this small play brings a huge smile to her face then I'd love to be the actor. Anything for her.
"Right now, I do not have a king. But the future king is standing right beside me, sneaking the queen out for a coffee date" Hearing her words, I chuckled lightly and pressed the button of the car keys unlocking it. We reached to the garage, where the car was parked.
She was about to open the door but I stopped her, "Let me do the honors, Queen"
"Sure, Commander" She had to control her laughter while replying to this but the smile on her face didn't leave.
I opened the door of the car for her and bowed once again dramatically while she got in. She chuckled at the queen treatment she was getting and enjoying.
I went to the other side and opened the door, settling inside quickly and I heard her say "That was fun"
A smile automatically formed on my lips after seeing hers. "Indeed"
Then she started the conversation and kept babbling about a recent romance book she had read, she told me the story, her reviews on it, etc, etc.
"Do you know he proposed to her in front of everyone?!" She exclaimed with utter enthusiasm.
"So is that a good thing or not?" She thought about the answer for some time.
"I personally do not like it, like what if she isn't ready? In front of everyone, she can't even reject him. I don't want the guy to vibe at champagne problems." I tried to focus on the road and not on the girl sitting beside me because I wanted to reach back home. But no matter how hard I tried, once in a while my eyes went towards her.
"What is that now?" I asked her and she gasped.
"It's a Taylor Swift song. But yes how would you know? You aren't even a Swiftie. But no problem, the story in it was basically that the guy got rejected by the love of his life so it's a sad song" She said I nodded my head and nostalgia hit me bad for a second.
"Okay, Miss Taylor Swift Ambassador," I said and she grinned at the name.
"Do you know what my favorite type of proposal is?" She asked me out of nowhere and I shook my head, applying breaks to the car. We reached the cafe already.
"Wait, I'll tell you" I heard her say before getting out of the car.
I was very much interested in this.
🦋
Midnight.
It was almost midnight and sleep was missing from my life right now. Our fake dating thing ends in 10 minutes. And tomorrow, she is leaving for Mumbai. I'll see her after months then.
Should confess her? Should confess her not?
I plucked the last petal of my eleventh rose, should confess her not. I picked up the last and my twelfth rose, the only hope in my life right now. All the petals of the eleven precious roses I wasted were scattered on my bed like my messed up scattered feelings.
Twelve roses because twelve is her favorite number.
I want to tell her about what I feel and how I don't want this to end. But the confession was harder because I didn't want it to be simple.
She deserves a special confession. But then again, what if I'll have to vibe to champagne problems then?
I heard the song right when I was free, it was sad, man. I don't wish to vibe on that.
I plucked the petals of the last rose to chant, and the last petal was,
Should confess her.
"I'll confess her right now!" I muttered firmly to myself. I don't want to wait for months, today is the last chance.
Either today or three months later. In these options, today sounds better.
"No more delay, you can do it, I can do it" I encouraged myself because there was no one else to do that.
I called Abhinav an hour ago for some motivation but he cut the call within a second. I understood that it was something important. After I overheard a small part of the conversation going on between Abhinav and Aditi a day before their marriage, I knew things weren't right.
You can do it, Sahil. You can do it, you can do it. You can do it.
Let me be my cheerleader.
I like you, chamatkar. And I want this fake thing to end because I wish to make it real.
Not that hard. Everything else will come with the flow.
Go, her commander. Go.
I went out of my room and reached in front of hers which was just beside mine. We are neighbors everywhere. I hope we become neighbors in every life too.
I knocked on the door once, twice, and thrice but there was no response. She said that she has some work so she isn't sleeping.
So where is she? Why is she not opening the door?
"Aarahi hu bhai, Thand rakho thodi. Shanti, Saburi, kuch nahi hai ki nahi?" She yelled from the other side and goosebumps arose in my body. The panic was real and so was the awkwardness.
[I'm coming, wait for a while. Patience, peace, do you not have anything?]
Sahil, run before she opens the door.
Man up, Sahil.
What the fuck man up? Why can't girls confess first? Why does it always have to be a guy? That is unfair.
What are we guys? Proposing factory?
But she has to like you, then only she will confess it to you.
Stop. You're making it worse for me.
The door opened leaving me no chance but to tell everything about her today. She stood there looking tired as hell in her black pajamas and a yellow Mickey Mouse T-shirt. Her glasses were on the top of her head, and her hair was in a messy bun.
My confidence was so mesmerized after seeing this beauty standing in front of me that it ran away.
She folded her hands and leaned on the door bombarding me with questions. "You? At this hour? What happened?"
"I want to tell you something" I admitted gathering every ounce of courage I have stored in my body.
Though it was very small and my hand was shivering, to hide that I hid it behind my back.
"It better be important. I have work" I nodded at her words and the world seemed to go slow for a moment.
Do or die.
I wish to die.
Death is easier.
"Chamatkar, I...." I started and mentally chanted God's name.
It's not that hard, Sahil.
But this is my first time proposing to someone. I'm not exactly experienced in this field.
I suck at sharing my normal feelings, how do you expect me to be vocal about romantic ones?
"Oye, Mr what nonsense, continue" My trance broke due to her voice.
I have never been so scared in my entire life. But the fact is I'm not scared of getting rejected, but rather the things after rejection, everything will get ruined. Even the friendship. Even the bond. I don't want that.
"I..." I whispered but she heard it.
"Yes, you.." Both of our eyes shined like a star in the brightness of the night.
This was my one last step, after this big step, everything would be fine. After this, I will have a person to spend forever with. The myth of the eyes showing emotions will become true. The chance to prove all the rumors about love is this. The missing puzzle of the life will be found. The sparks will fly. The broken parts will heal. And the stars will align.
"You're my best friend" The wrong words slipped out of my mouth at the wrong time.
Did I just friend-zoned her?
After the long ass paragraph you had prepared, what did you do? Friendzone her?
She had an appealing smile on her face as if indirectly telling me that she understood, that she knew, and that she reciprocated. The eye contact which was maintained till now along with the silence, was making me feel things.
She finally broke it, "Finally you gave me the position of your best friend. I'm so honored."
I smiled at it and the thought of her leaving tomorrow ran across my mind.
"I will miss you, my chamatkar," I said and she scrunched her nose.
"But I'll not miss you, my Softie."
"Oh is it?" I asked her just to confirm and she nodded her head.
"Before you start crying, I was kidding. I will miss you too. A lot" She said and turned around to glance at something.
"Just one minute and I'm no longer your fake girlfriend, my fake boyfriend." I didn't want it to end.
"I will miss flirting with you" I confessed hurriedly.
"I will miss teasing and irritating you" she added from her side.
"Main tumhe manana miss karunga"
[I'll miss convincing you when you get angry]
"Main ruthna miss karungi"
[I'll miss getting angry]
"Guys, tum chaar mahine ke liye dur ho rahe ho, chaar saal ke liye nahi" Kirti's loud irritated voice came from the room. Both of us ignored her.
[Guys, you are staying away for four months not for four years]
Staying away from her for just four months felt like four lifetimes.
I'm not even lying at this point.
"Okay, so one last hug as a fake couple" She suggested and I nodded.
"Bahar ja ke karo yeh sab, aur darvaza band karna" Kirti once again interrupted and with irritation as her facial expression, Ananya banged the door close after stepping outside.
[Go outside and do this. And yes, close the door]
After doing that, Ananya came closer to me and wrapped her arms around my back, I appreciated her action and reciprocated it quickly.
"So, bye-bye, fake boyfriend. I throw you out of my life," she said and I looked towards her head which was snuggled behind my neck, and let out a chuckle. "And welcome you again as a best friend"
"Bye, my fake girlfriend. I do the same."
*
~One night he wakes
Strange look on his face
Pauses, then says
You're my best friend
And you knew what it was
He is in love~
🦋
So that is where the reference came from, one of my most favourite song <3
And a qt chapter for you qts
Ik it was supposed to come at 8 and I'm one hour something late so sorry for that. 😭
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