The most annoying thing that god can do to you is, provide you with a notorious super annoying human, who actually is the devil in disguise of a man. Guess what? That's how I describe my sibling, the bane to my existence. Mind you, my older brother is exactly how I've described him, I haven't exaggerated even a bit. Don't let that 6'2 and gorgeous face, and pretty smile fool you, that's just deceptive.
He's just two years older than me but usually acts like my legal guardian. Right now, I have a date, but he has been asking various questions like - who was my date? where we were going? at what time I would return?
I don't understand what the hell is his problem!
Let's get you all a basic intro so you can understand my situation. Hi, I am Rishika I'm 20 years old. I live in Mumbai because I'm reading law at K. C. College. I live with my brother, Rishit in a two-bedroom apartment rented by our parents. We are originally from Punjab, our parents live there. We are in Mumbai for our respective colleges.
Now, as Mum and Dad aren't here, Rishit considers himself my guardian, I don't know who gave him the title.
"Rishika, you can't be out alone after 9 pm on a weekday!"
"Ugh! I told you Aarshab would pick me up and drop me off in front of the apartment! And mein choti bacchi nahi hu, aur 9pm? Seriously? Tu to midnight ke baad bhi bahar rehta hain, that too on weekdays!" I retorted. (Translation: I am not a kid | You stay out after midnight)
"That's different! Aur how well do you know this Aarshab, tu kya 2 week ki pehchan se hi log ko completely trust karne shuru kar rahi hai?" Rishit said trying to establish his point. (Translation: Have you started trusting people whom you have known for 2 weeks)
"Stop being f***ing paranoid! I don't stop you from going out with people, do I? And you being older doesn't give you the absolute power to control my life!" I said furiously.
"I am not paranoid, moreover I'm 2 years older than you, I'm just looking out for you, if something happens to you Mum will kill me."
"Rishit, come on she's not a kid. Besides uski boyfriend ne to bola hain ki use drop kar dega ghaar, and I'm sure she'll be okay," a voice said.
I turned to see that Rishit's best friend Vaibhav was leaning against the door frame of Rishit's room. Wait, he was here all the time? He heard it all! Oh god! But the fact that he was on my side, made me happy. Even though Aarshab and weren't boyfriend-girlfriend as of yet, I didn't correct him.
He walked up to Rishit and while dragging him back into his room he said, "Your brother's just worried, but he won't stop you from going out, right Rishit?"
"Fine, whatever! But Rishika I swear if you don't return home by 9! I swear-
"Shut up! Rishika go on, but be careful," Vaibhav said.
Rishika's outfit.
Once we had reached the restaurant, while opening the seatbelt, Aarshab said, "You look so pretty, did I tell you?"
"Do I now?" I said smiling also removing the seatbelt.
"So pretty," Aasharb said leaning towards me. Are we going to kiss? My god those eyes are so damn mesmerizing.
"May I?" he asked. His asking my permission made me realise he was the greenest forest ever.
We kissed. I'll be honest, I had never kissed anyone, so it was a completely new experience. After a few seconds of not knowing how to move my lips, finally, we were in sync.
Wow, that was pretty good. That's how you feel right?
Aarshab looked right into my eyes and said, "Wait, was I your first kiss?"
Blushing I replied, "Was it that obvious?"
"Wow! You've never had a boyfriend?" He asked.
"Nope", I replied shyly. Mainly I didn't want to have distractions in school, call me a prude, for all I care.
"That's not possible, because you are so pretty," he said while getting out of the car.
"Well I'm not that pretty, and yeah you are my first date...umm...basically," I replied while walking towards the restaurant.
"How's that even possible, with you being so pretty, anyone would want to be with you," he said in an amazed tone.
Opening the door for me he said, "Ladies first."
Damn, the dude is a perfect gentleman.
Surfing through the menu Aarshab asked me, "What do you want to eat?"
Scanning the menu, I replied, "What about Alfredo Pasta?"
"Nice," He said and told the waitress the order.
"Aarshab! What the hell are you doing here," A voice said. More on the lines of screeched.
The colours from Aarshab's face faded away. What the hell? Why was he getting pale at the question of that girl? The girl walked up to him and straight away slapped him across the face. Everything happened so fast that, I couldn't process what had just happened.
"A**hole, you said you wouldn't be able to go out with me because your mum was admitted to the hospital. And how did I even think you were being honest, after all, you have a track record of being a jerk! You are such a jerk," the girl screamed.
By this time all the people were looking at us. Is she speaking the truth?
"F*** off! I never said anything like that, moreover, I don't even know you," Aarshab growled out.
"Oh, now you don't know me? Do you want to play this game? I should have known what to expect from guys like you, play a girl, next day choose another one to play," she said. Turning towards me she said, "Darling I am so sorry this guy is a complete a**hole, don't get fooled by idiots like these, it's fine if you don't believe me, but I have proof."
"Rishika no, she's completely lying, I swear," he said in a pleading tone. What the actual hell! This definitely not how I had imagined my first date. Confused, I just stared blankly. The girl didn't seem to be lying, while Aarshab looked like real nervous, if he wasn't at fault, he wouldn't be like that, right? But what if he's not lying?
"Hey Rishika, Aarshab is a piece of sh*t, come on don't tell me you will buy this fake act of his," the girl said in an obvious tone.
"F*** you Shreya, you had to mess it up, didn't you?"
Wait he knows her name. What a fucking liar! Did he lie to my face? What did he think, I was just some naive random f***toy. The adrenaline rushing through me will be responsible for my next actions. I slapped him right across the face and turned to leave the restaurant not before giving Shreya a small 'thanks'.
30 mins later (Rishika is in a park)
How the hell did I get fooled? That too by a Playboy. What an A**! I still can't believe that that liar kissed me. I was so fucking stupid to think that we were actually in a situationship. Ugh! Well, I've been sitting on the swing of a park in that locality. Rishit would literally unalive the guy if he gets to know, so a better option - I'll return home in an hour. I'll say it was nice, but our vibe didn't match. Good planning right? I know.
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Vaibhav's P.O.V.
Rishika had indeed grown up. She went on a date, wow. Of course, Rishit had to be a dumba**. Once I heard she was going on a date, for some reason, I don't know what, but I felt that she shouldn't, maybe it was the protective-ness. However, unlike Rishit I knew we shouldn't be stopping her, it's her life, it's her choice, moreover she's a girl who can handle herself really well. Still, that doesn't explain why I've been checking the time. It was 9:10 pm, it wasn't that late, but still, there was this nagging thought in my brain- Why isn't she back yet?
Finally, at 9:30 pm I left Rishit's place and headed towards home. Rishika hadn't returned yet. Even though she said her "date" was going to drop her off, I couldn't help but worry. Don't read too much into it people, it was my brotherly protectiveness towards her.
I hadn't brought my bike with me today, so I was going to return home on foot. It wasn't really a long walk, 15 min max to max.
Once I took a turn towards my apartment, something, rather someone, in the park at the corner, caught my eye. Looking closely, I understood it was Rishika. Why was she here? Is she all right? I walked up to her with thousands of questions swarming my brain.
"Hey, kiddo? You here? What happened?" I asked. Now, don't judge me for calling her kiddo. She gets annoyed every time I call her by that name, and of course, I love irritating her.
Surprisingly enough, she didn't get annoyed, instead, she looked up at me and asked, "Vaibhav? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I live around the corner, so while returning home I stopped by when I saw you here. What about the questions I asked?"
Understanding that this conversation wasn't going to end soon, I sat down on the swing beside her.
"It's okay ig you don't want to tell me, but just say yes or no, He was a piece of sh*t?"
She nodded in agreement.
"Well if you know that, then there's no point feeling sad about it right?"
"I am not sad that he turned out to be that, I am sad because I was fooled into believing otherwise."
"That's okay sometimes, I don't mean him being a jerk is okay, I mean to say that sometimes you might make mistakes by trusting the wrong person, just learn from them, and don't let the same thing happen the next time."
Seeing that she didn't really look convinced, I added -
"You know even the body needs to be given a vaccine to create the memory of the pathogen so that the disease is prevented when the pathogen tries to enter the body the next time. So sometimes prior experience is important."
To this, Rishika laughed out loud.
"Ha Doctor Ji I understood," she replied.
"So, like why are you sitting here?"
"Yaar, Rishit ko to jantei ho, if I go home early he'll get suspicious and literally interrogate me and once he gets to know what happened, he could literally unalive the dude. So I'm not taking the risk."
"Rishit really is an idiot at times, but he really cares a lot for you."
"I know he has always been an overprotective brother. When I was 5, a guy from our colony gave me a paper boat as a gift. The next day, the boy didn't even talk to me, apparently my dear brother had threatened me," she said laughing.
"Let's get you home now, varna Rishit might assign a search party for you."
"Right, Chalo." Rishika did get up, but probably because of wearing those high heels she lost her balance, on instinct, I caught her in my arms.
"That is why you should not wear such high heels, you could have twisted your ankle," I said while she finally regained her balance, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, wait I'll just take the shoes off."
"Seriously I don't get it why do you girls wear these heels when it hurts your feet and after some time you have to take the heels off? I don't understand why torture yourself. Moreover, you aren't short, why wear that heel?"
"You won't understand, it is not about increasing the height, it's just...."
"Whatever, tu rukh yaha par, wait till I return, you obviously can't walk barefoot, all the way home. I'll go get my bike."
"Vaibhav, yaha see 15 min walking distance hai, you don't need to get the bike. Besides I haven't seen you ride a bike like ever, I definitely don't intend to die."
"Shut up, will you, do as I say ya I'll tell Rishit everything."
Putting her hands up in a defeated stance, she said, "Fine."
My apartment was right around the corner, and in a minute or two I got my bike. Heh! She doubted my riding skills? I'm gonna show her how good I am at riding. No pun intended.
"Wow! The bike is really good looking I have to say," she said amazed. I know anyone would be impressed by my bike.
"Hop on, "I said. Surprisingly enough she got on the bike readily. I didn't know she was comfortable with riding the bike, mainly because I had never seen her ride one. I don't know why, but I saw another random detail, her already short dress rode up a bit higher. Something I shouldn't have noticed. Nevertheless, I decided to ignore it.
Because of my speed, I suddenly felt Rishika's hand on my shoulders. For some reason, I actually liked the fact she did that. Again not thinking why.
We reached in front of her apartment in 5 minutes. Returning my helmet she said, "Thanks."
"No problem madam! Always at your service," I said mockingly. Rolling her eyes, she went into the building.
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Rishika's P.O.V. (Some months later)
"Yaar, you had to get sick today? Tujhe pata hain na how difficult it was to get the match tickets? Why the hell did you have to eat 4 packets of chips, followed by random food yesterday? Ho gaya na tujhe diarrhoea? I'll go to the match alone," Vaibhav said.
"Sorry yaar, mujhe pata nahi that aisa hoga, go on, go watch the match, we'll go together the next time," Rishit said looking sorry. This tennis game of words had been going on for a long time. I had been the sole mediator of this yelling match. Rishit was definitely an idiot. Apparently, Vaibhav's rich uncle had given him two tickets for the IPL match. Rishit and Vaibhav had decided to go there together, but of course, Rishit was down with diarrhoea now.
"I don't want to go alone!" Vaibhav said complaining.
"You know, I could go with you," I suggested. Probably he didn't want me to go with him or something, so he was quite surprised at my suggestion.
"Yeah good idea, take Rishika with you, can't promise she won't annoy you, but she can be good company."
"Ohk, fine!"
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Wondering how heartless I was told leave my sick brother at home? Don't worry he isn't that sick, moreover the best I could have done if I had stayed back, would be supplying him with medicines from time to time, and stop him from eating junk. Well he isn't a baby, and I had already made porridge in the afternoon, a lot of it was still there in the fridge and I had kept all existing the junk food in the house in my room, and had locked it. So technically I would definitely find him completely fine on returning home.
Through out the game, for the first time instead of being completely invested in the game, I happened to be checking out Vaibhav. Well, I'll be honest, I catch feelings really fast. Ever since my first date night, it was undeniable that we had gotten closer. Slipping some texts in between classes, and occasional conversations on coming across each other in the apartment, all had become normal. Let's say I did my part of the research, some would call it stalking, but I guess many people do the same, it can't just be me. The information I gathered - Vaibhav was single, he has been single since last year and from experience, I could say that he definitely wasn't a playboy, and he respected women, didn't treat them like sh*t.
My point is I have grown to like him. However, I am sure he doesn't like me that way, because I've never felt that vibe from him, moreover he probably thinks of me as his best friend's lil' sister.
We just got out of the stadium, and were proceeding towards the parking lot, where Vaibhav's racing bike was. Although I hate speeding, but whenever I sit on that bike, I forget all that.
"One of these days, I'll steal your bike, I swear," said as he got on the bike and gestured at me to get on it.
"Darlin' that ain't gonna happen, no one can separate me and my baby," he said smugly. 'Darlin' seriously? If you would have asked me a few months back, I would have found this nickname so cringe, that I might as well have thrown up. But right now, him saying it is making those butterflies in my stomach flutter.
Wondering whether I would make things awkward if I put my hands around his waist or not, I adjusted myself on the bike.
"Yea, you can put your hands around my waist, I wouldn't mind." What the actual fuck? Had I just said my thoughts out loud, or did he just read my mind? Whatever it might be, I was embarrassed to my core.
"Yaar, tui to tamatar ban gayi, you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone. (Translation: your face is as red as a tomato)
God! He must think I am a fool. God wasn't it enough that he someone heard my weird thoughts that you had to make me a blushing mess? Didn't find a better entertainment than causing my repeated embarassments.
"Start the bike, will you?"
"Without you wearing the helmet, hell no." Oh right the helmet. Once I had slipped it on, Vaibhav finally started the bike.
As a circled my hand around his waist, I felt his body go tense. Just as I was wondering whether I should remove my hands, Vaibhav adjust my hands around him with one of his hands.
Guess the butterflies had called over guests, because I felt the whole zoo inside me.
Being so close to him, I noticed certain details that I had missed before. Like- how he smelt like mint, how he has a piercing on his right ear, and oh! He has a tartoo at the back of his neck.
Wow! Dude is full of surprises. I tried to see the whole tattoo, but I failed, guess I'll just ask him about it some day.
Sorry people, I was so invested in observing the guy who's being visiting my mind for the past couple of weeks, I forgot to describe the bike ride. Yea we definitely moving with a high speed and I had no idea that it was allowed to be moving with this speed in Mumbai. Although this speed was temporary, because definitely we got stuck in traffic. And I swear to god traffic in Mumbai is fucking annoying. I noticed one thing, Vaibhav never spoke while riding, it was like he goes into this 'concentrate' mode. So when while stuck in traffic he asked me a question, I was caught off-guard.
"Done scanning me?"
"What? Why would I scan you?"
"Darlin' did you forget that there's a rearview mirror, and that a person can sense if he or she's being watched?" If I hadn't made a fool of myself before, I definitely had now. Rishika why are you so dumb.
"Hey, whats that tattoo about?" I said in an attempt to divert.
"Trying to divert me? Fine, but that doesn't change the fact that I know you've been paying a lot more attention to me, than you did before."
"Whatever," I said trying to imply that I didn't care or something.
"You would have to see the whole tattoo, if you want to know what's that about," he said.
Thankfully at this moment, the lights turned green, and the immense traffic started to move. Rest of the ride I tried looking at other things on the road, not wanting to be get caught while staring at him.
"Thanks, it was a great evening, you don't make a bad company," he said as I got down from the bike, in front of my apartment gate.
"I know," I said smugly.
"Erm....ummm... I have to tell you something," he said hesitantly.
To be continued...
-end of part 1 of 'Destiny'
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Hey people, I am really sorry for the late update, I promise, I'll publish the next part soon. When I started this story, I was still unsure about the plot, so you might find this part uninteresting, but I promise, I try my best.
Stay tuned, next part coming soon. I hope you had a happy reading.
-Adrita.
As always, feel free to share your criticisms.