"Kya baat hai?" Shehnaaz asked Sheena, noticing her friend a little zoned out.
"Kuch nahi. Gana complete karwane pe dhyan de." Sheena shrugged, getting up.
"Okay! Dekho sab, right leg aage. Thik hai? Montu, gana play kar." She said and turned to Sidharth, who was handling their music department.
"Aise kar Dipti, Sharara-sharara. Ab hath neeche karke, phir mai hoon ek sharara." She did the step and then asked everybody to repeat her.
"Do gaane aur hai. Pehle sikha dete hai, practice karte karte aa jayega sabko." Shehnaaz told her.
"Toh hum aage badhte hai, aaj raat dance prepare karke kal ek last practice kyuki shaam ko hi sangeet hai." Sheena told everyone, asking them to make it quick.
Sidharth was watching all of it with an amused smile, they seemed like they were on a mission. He'd steal glances from Shehnaaz every now and then.
"Montu gana laga." She told him and he hit the play button.
"Patanga vargi.. tu awein ud-di! Turn! Ho gayi munde di.." Shehnaaz waved her hands into the air as if she was flying a kite and then swirled before placing her right leg ahead and swaying her hips back and forth as she taught everybody the steps to their next song. Even one para from each wasn't as easy as it had seemed in the beginning. It was half past 2 in the night when they almost came to an end to their sequence.
She'd turn to look at him, gesturing to him to play and pause the song from time to time. Everytime she looked at him, she found him staring at her. Obviously it was because he was handling the music but at times it felt other wise. She couldn't take off her mind from the moment where she held his hands. They had made their way towards the terrace for the dance practice and pretended nothing really happened.
She wanted to feel his hands a little more, they were soft for a tough looking guy like him. She wondered if he was into skincare.
Her phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts. It was Gurjot calling.
"Kya hai?" She answered it.
"Sheena kaha hai?" Gurjot sounded a little serious.
"Yahi hai, le baat kar." She replied, walking towards her friend.
"Nahi, usko neeche bhej. Bolna peeche ke gate ki taraf aaye." He told her.
"Abe ye tumlog ke milne time nahi hai!? Ghar me guests so rahe hain Guru!" She walked away, towards the corner and scolded him. Her friends had always been that sneaky couple who wouldn't spare any chance to be together. But now was not the time.
"Ha, toh mai konsa unko jagane aaya hu. Dekh, baat karni hai mujhe. Bhej usko tu. Wo phone nahi utha rahi hai mera, dimag kharab karke rakhi hai!" He ranted out.
"Shaadi hai tumhari 3 din baad, aur abhi lad rahe ho?! By God!" She replied in a fed up tone and nevertheless whispered something into Sheena's ear that made her leave immediately.
"Di, kiska call tha iss time?" Dipti asked, wondering who was calling her at this time.
"Dost ka tha." Shehnaaz brushed her off.
"Bohot raat ho gayi hai, kal sabne jaldi uthna hai. Kal time nikal ke ek baar aur practice kar lenge." She told everyone.
"Shehnaaz." Sidharth called out.
"Ha?" She stilled at her place, feeling weird when there were people around them.
"Laptop." He replied, passing her the device and also the pendrive which had their songs merged.
"Thanks." She mumbled, following everybody out through the stairs.
"Mickey kaha gayi?" He asked when he didn't find Sheena around.
"Wo.. pehle hi neeche aa gayi thi. Washroom gayi hai." She lied smoothly, been doing that for years now. Covering for her best friend.
"Good night." She added, parting her way towards her bedroom.
"Sana?" Anju called from the hallway.
"Aunty aap soye nahi?" Shehnaaz asked her, looking down from the first floor corridor.
"Nahi, koi nahi soya abhi. Sab baith ke baat hi kar rahe the, kal ke rasam ki tayyari karne ke bare me. Tu Mickey ko bhej neeche, mai kabse awaz laga rahi hu usko." Anju replied.
"Aunty wo, bathroom me hai. Bhejti hu." Shehnaaz lied again.
"Tumhare kamre se hi aa rahi hu mai, nahi hai wo." Anju answered.
"Terrace me hogi fir, maine dekha nahi." Shehnaaz shrugged, trying not to look at Sidharth who was there.
"You sneaked her out." He concluded once Anju left.
"Shh!" She shushed him, dialing Sheena's number but it said that her device was turned off so she dialled Gurjot's number.
"Jhoot pe jhoot, you're smooth at it." He commented further with a smirk, watching her worry about the situation.
"Sidharth, you're not helping!" She replied and simply stood there.
"Hi Sana, mai tujhe call karne wali thi. Cover kar lena please, mai subha hone se pehle aa jaungi." Sheena answered the call and spoke even before Shehnaaz could talk.
"Bakwas mat kar, Aunty Uncle sab jag rahe hain!" Shehnaaz whispered shout.
"Kya?! Arey yaar! Sana, mai Dwarka ja rahi hu. Guru ke apartment me." Sheena replied.
"Kya karne?" Shehnaaz asked.
"Aur kya karne!?" Sheena replied in a duh tone.
"Behenchod! Shaadi ke baad jitni marzi kar lena! Aunty dhund rahi hai tujhe!" Shehnaaz almost shouted, Sidharth snickered listening to her talk.
"Abe, aunty aake dekh ke gaye jab tu kamre me nahi thi. Unko kuch baat karni hai, Mickey him fass jayenge! Jaldi aaa!" She added and hung up.
"I think tumlog already fass chuke ho." He commented.
"Sidharth! Jao na yaar!" She glared at him.
"Mai jau? Aur yeh drama miss kardu? No way dude, mai toh popcorn mangwane ka soch raha hu." He chuckled, leaning against her bedroom door.
It had been years since he saw Sheena getting scolded and bashed by her mother for being a complete spoilt brat. He had always loved every moment of her getting grounded for her deeds. Once Sheena had thrown his football away because he told her that she wasn't tall enough to play with him and his friends. The football hit a car passing by the building's compound and the driver had almost dashed into the children because of the unexpected ball on his windscreen. Also, his football got punctured when it hit the gardening tools after it collided with the car. That girl was a menace to the society when she was a child. What Sidharth enjoyed a lot was Sheena getting scolded up by her mother, even though he'd later let her play with him and his friends as a compensation.
Shehnaaz wanted to smack his handsome face and that beautiful smirk, he might surely lure her with his looks but he was only adding to the fuel at the moment.
"Oh, ab maza aayega." He whispered and Shehnaaz looked up, confused.
"Kaha hai Mickey?" Anju entered the room with a pretty angry face this time.
"Sana? Sach bol. Ye pehli baar nahi hai jo Mickey gayab hai. Mujhe kya bewakoof samjha hai?" Anju scolded Shehnaaz.
"Aunty, raste me hai. Aa rahi hai wo." Shehnaaz mumbled.
"Arey 3 din me shaadi hai! Ghar me mehmaan aaye hain! Tune usko roka kyu nahi?" Anju asked further.
"Aunty, isi ne Mickey ko kuch bola aur wo bahar gayi. Maine dekha." He interrupted.
Shehnaaz gasped at his audacity, he literally said that! She forgot each and every moment she spent thinking about him and wished if she could just step ahead and first his hair harshly.
"Aakhir tu rahegi toh Mickey ki dost hi! Lekin kam se kam tujhe samajhdaari dikhani thi." Anju stated, clearly disappointed at the fact.
"Mickey aaye toh usko mere kamre me bhejna." She added before she left.
"What the fuck Sidharth!?" Shehnaaz shouted once it was just the two of them.
"Problem kya hai aapki!? Why would you do that?" She shouted, pushing him.
"I was just having some f-" he replied but she didn't let him.
"This is not funny! Not funny at all! Get out." She stated, trying to push him out of her room.
"Acha, I'm sorry. I'll talk to her." He tried to make up when she was trying to shut the door on his face.
"Bhaad me jao!" She snapped at him. What frustrated her more was that she couldn't push him out of the door at all. He had walked himself backwards but stopped at the doorstep and he just wouldn't budge.
"What you did was not funny! Aunty gussa hai mere pe, ye mazak wali baat nahi hai. Mickey ko maine isliye jane ko kaha kyuki uski aur Guru ki ladai hui thi. I didn't know why and I felt that it was important that they sort it out immediately." She told him what bothered her.
"I didn't know all that, I said I'm sorry." He replied.
"Achaar dalu sorry ka?" She mocked him, trying to push him again and closing the door. But she mistakenly pushed the door a little too hard on his shoulder.
"Ow!" He flinched when the edge of the wooden door hit his shoulder.
"Shit." She was guilt ridden, realizing that he was hurt. She came forward to look at it but he grabbed her wrists and put them behind her back. She gasped at the unexpected move, she might have overreacted but what was he up to now.
"Kuch zyada nahi ho raha hai tumhara?" He asked her.
"Maine bola na, mai aunty se baat karta hu. Mana lunga unko." He told her as calmly as he could.
"Sidharth.." She replied, wriggling her hand constantly.
"Itni aggressive kyu ho jati hai?" He asked.
She didn't reply, wanting to create some space in between immediately because it was not nice. She had already tried to fight this weirdly insane crush that she had on him but this proximity wasn't helping.
She was almost pressed against him while he held her hands behind her back.
"Stop moving, mai hath chhod dunga." He told her and looked at her furious face.
Her brows were frowning, jaws locked and face was hard, he couldn't help but smile until his gaze fell upon her lips. Her plump, full, pouty and sultry lips had him completely distracted. He slowly left her hands, once she calmed down. He did notice the blush on her cheeks and hesitation in her eyes to be able to look at him.
She was worried and scared if anybody could have walked in while he pulled that stunt. Well, she wasn't very happy when he held her hand like that either but man, that move was so smooth. So hot. A part of her had gone crazy but another sober and sane part was mad at him.
"Koi dekh leta toh!?" She asked then.
"Toh." He shrugged carelessly.
"Mujhe mara wo chalega?" He asked her back.
"Arey, woh toh galti se lag gayi. Maine jaan ke nahi-" she replied.
"Nahi, kya farak padta hai?!" He interrupted her, bringing up his hand to stop her on the way. He liked how the tables had turned just in a few minutes and left.
"Sorry na! Arey suno toh!" She followed him out.
"You're acting like a child now!" She stated, once they were in another room.
"Oh, am I now?" He turned to face her, glaring at her with his big eyes.
"I admit, mai overreact kar rahi thi. Sorry." She chuckled.
"I don't want your sorry." He mumbled, grabbing his phone charger from the side stand, plugging it into the nearby switch board and leaving the room again.
She followed him nevertheless to the hallway to find Anju and Sheena standing in the corner.
"Yeh koi tareeka hai? 3 din baad chali jayegi na usi ke sath, rehna tabhi. Abhi kuch din raha nahi ja raha madam ko?! Abhi tere Papa ko batati hu. Raat ke 2 baje ghoomne ja rahi hai?!!" Anju scolded her daughter.
"Mummy please na. Sorry." Sheena apologized.
"Aunty, it's okay. Ab jaane bhi do, badi ho gayi hai wo." Sidharth spoke.
"Badi ho gayi hai toh bado jaisa behave bhi toh kare!" Anju commented.
"Aunty, please calm down. Aap pucho na kyu gayi thi? Zaruri nahi hota toh nahi jati. Aapka gussa apni jagah sahi hai, lekin ek baar uski baat sun lo." He suggested.
"Hmm. Bata kyu gayi thi? Aisi kya baat ho gayi?" Anju turned to ask her daughter. Shehnaaz looked at Sidharth, surprised and amazed how he convinced Anju just like that. Boy Sheena was right, the mother had always considered his words to be the truth like anything.
"Guru tabse shift hone ki baat kar raha tha, mai yaha se dur jane ke liye dukhi thi. Aur usko curtains kaise honge jaan na tha, maine chilla diya ke usko sirf apni padi hai toh wo mujhe manane aaya tha." Sheena sheepishly replied, her mother slowly came forward and caressed her head, understanding her point and hugging her slowly.
"Kaise kiya ye sab?" Shehnaaz asked him once they let the mother daughter by themselves.
"Aise hi." He boasted, acting as if he was very proud of himself.
"Aaye bade, 'Aise hi.' mujhe sab pata hai. Aunty Uncle just think very highly of you!" She told him as they walked towards their rooms.
"Tumhe bada pata hai?" He inched forwards and stood right infront of her, asking.
"Bye. Good night." She mumbled and almost ran away, fearing he might get a little too close again. Was it fear? Maybe. She just didn't want anybody to notice them or their banters or you could say that she wanted to keep in between them whatever they had. She didn't know his thoughts about them either so over all everything made sense like that.
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Hah! Finally!!
I'm sorry for being late.. I had a lot going on personally.. was not in the right state of my mind..
Anyways.. how was the chapter?!..
Anju kaisi lagti hai?
Sidharth and Shehnaaz ke alawa kon acha lagta hai??