A/N. Target votes before next update: 35 Votes
"Let me get this straight! You two are still selling the arranged-marriage plot, with the 'transitioning-into-physical-from-platonic' bullshit! Are you blind?"
Siya felt a sense of Dèja vu as she watched Divya pace her room. Shaking her head frantically in disbelief.
"Are you stupid?" She asked, pausing mid stride, then continued pacing.
"Divya! Would you please have a seat and we can talk about this like the adults that we are."
"Are we adults Siya? Coz you two are behaving like teenagers! Abhi is an idiot but I thought you'd be smarter! Are you an idiot too?"
"Divya! Do you have any idea how difficult this has been for me! I have never been in a relationship, and now I am making out with the most important person in my life! Do you have any idea how scary all this is? I'm not blind, or stupid or an idiot! I know something's there, and it is way beyond friendship! Now will you stop with the asinine questions and just sit down?"
That put a halt to Divya's incessant pacing, and she finally dropped on the bed beside Siya.
"I'm sorry Siya. I know I overreact sometimes. Plus seeing you two in what looked like an R-rated movie scene kinda sent me in hysterics. On top of it you told me the whole 'still-friends' angle and I got bummed. It gets frustrating to watch the two most oblivious people! I wish I could spell it out for the two of you, but that would be wrong. You've got to figure it out on your own."
"Divya, I'm sorry you had to see that. We didn't really plan for it to happen, things got out of hand. I just- I don't know what this is anymore. I feel different when I'm around him now. I know it is still Abhi, but now I imagine doing things to him, with him, all the time. He is standing there just like always, and all I want to do it rip of his shirt and run my hands down his beautiful body. My god, I don't know what is wrong with me!"
Divya's jaw dropped on hearing Siya's words. Her friend never talk about such things.
"Are you sure it's just physical?"
"No! That's the thing. I think I might have some feelings- okay a lot of feelings for him. Just everything about him seems to touch my heart. I just want to hold him tight and never let him go. I might be falling for him Divya! How do I stop?" Siya could help the sob rising in her throat.
"Siya? Why is that such a bad thing? Why do you want to stop?"
"Because he doesn't feel the same way!"
"How do you know that?"
"Because he said so himself. He said he would never be able to love anyone romantically. Because of the accident."
"So he said that, doesn't mean things won't change. I think they have already changed. The guy sends you flowers every morning. I have seen him personally pick the flowers early in the morning. He arranged a date that was straight out of a fairytale if you ask me! And the way he waited to give you the best first kiss I have ever heard of! I see the way he looks at you Siya. Like you are the only thing that matters."
"He has always looked at me like that."
"That right there should tell you the truth"
Could it be possible that Abhi liked her, as more than friends, and had been liking her all his life without knowing it? Just like she was slowly realizing these feelings that were surfacing for Abhi came from a spot that was always present within her, but she was to afraid to acknowledge. Dare she hope that his touches and kisses were full of longing and something more than mere lust? That she meant more to him than any other girl who had been part of his past?
He certainly hung the moon and the stars as far as she was concerned. If there was even a slightest possibility that he could love her, if there was even the slightest hope that he could return her affection, she would loosen up the tight hold she had kept on her desires for him. It wouldn't feel even the slightest bit wrong to give herself to him, because he would be as much hers as she would be his.
Now all she had to do was find out if what Divya said was true. She needed to find out if Abhi had some romantic feelings for her.
*
The week flew by quickly and it was the day of Abhi and Siya's engagement. Divya had decked Siya into the an elegant sharara which left her midriff bare and dipped slightly in the front. Siya was glad the red dupatta, although transparent covered her front enough for her to feel confident about herself. Divy helped her choose the right jewelry and had called her friend Misha who was the best makeup and hair artist in the fashion industry. Siya would have protested all the fuss if it wasn't for the amount of public reports that were going to be made about her engagement. Their family wealth and the company's standing had made them both far more famous than she had anticipated. Their marriage had become the talk of the town.
Siya sighed as she let Misha, the make-up artist do the finishing touches to her face, and took a deep breath before she allowed herself to look into the mirror.
"What do you think Siya?" Misha asked, looking excited.
"I-" Siya couldn't believe the beautiful woman in the mirror was she herself! She felt speechless.
"She looks splendid!" Siya jumped a little as she noticed Natasha in the doorway through the mirror. Natasha looked too beautiful for words. She was wearing a trendy black saree, with minimal makeup and no accessories. Siya felt a little jealous that she had to put in so much effort to look like this, while Natasha had barely done anything too look so good.
"You've done a great job by keeping her make up absolute minimum, just highlighting her natural beauty and adding the lip color to make her beautiful lips stand out. She looks like a modern day Indian bride, way too beautiful but elegant and strong" Natasha said, finishing her assessment.
Misha looked a little flustered by such thorough praise of her work.
"Thank you Misha! You have done a such a wonderful job! I almost can't recognize myself." Siya said, as soon as she found her voice.
Misha said it was her pleasure and went to join the rest to the grand hall downstairs where the engagement was going to take place.
Siya waited for Natasha to speak. She was a little taken aback by her sudden praise and was curious to know what was going on.
"Siya, I wanted to congratulate you. I know we haven't had the most easy relationship, but I wanted to make amends. I have been a little mean to you in the past, I am truly sorry for that. You must know growing up, I had a huge crush on Abhi, and I thought I could make him reciprocate somehow. But it was always you, it has always been you for him. He has only ever cared for you, and it took me a while to make my peace with it. You are a wonderful person though, and I would love for us to be friends."
Now Siya really didn't know what to say. She realized she had always known Natasha had a crush on Abhi. Oh.My.God. Her world came crashing down as she realized that she had been jealous of Abhi's attention to Natasha, not because Abhi was her best friend but because she had nursed a liking for Abhi for god alone knows how long! Siya remembered how she had felt when Abhi had confessed to her that he had a crush on Natasha.
###
She was lying on her stomach on her bed, reading 'Pride and Prejudice' for the fifteenth time when Abhi barged in. He was sweaty from football practice, when she meant sweaty, there were droplets of sweat running down his cheeks from his sweet soaked hair. Siya narrowed her eyes at Abhi. Her nose wrinkled as she took in his dirty clothes. It was 8:30 pm and he was home late.
"Were you rolling in the mud?" She asked him, as he dropped his bag and walked to her bed.
He shrugged, lately he had been doing that a lot. Shrugging that is. He had also started growing his hair a little. Siya had started noticing all the stares he got from girls in their class. He was definitely bigger than most boys of their class, tallest for sure. Almost as tall as Divakar Kaka and only at fourteen years of age.
She hated that he had grown so tall, yet she was still the shortest in her class. She also hated that she had to share her friend with so many others. So many girls wanted to sit with Abhi during the recess, as did his football buddies. She had ended up taking her lunch with Divy and Rohit today.
"Well, football practices are generally rough Siya. Not that I'd expect you to understand." He said plopping himself on her pristine white bed.
"Abhimanyu! Get off my bed! Abhimanyu! You're spoiling the sheets!" Siya shrieked, dropping her book on her bed and trying to swat Abhi off the bed.
Abhi just pulled her on top of him and started wiping all his dirt on her night clothes, which were basically loose fitting t-shirt and trackpants.
"Oh my god! What has gotten into you! I just took a bath you idiot! Now you've gotten my clothes and my sheets dirty!"
He rolled her so that he was now on top of her.
"Well, if you would've asked like an adult instead of screaming murder I might have complied. But you started swatting me like I was a bug. Plus you called me Abhimanyu. Serves you right."
Siya took in a deep breath to calm herself as a smirk appeared on his face. Abhi had started smirking a lot off late, it was part of his new found coolness. Siya thought it was stupid.
"Adult you say? You're behaving like a kid yourself! I'll have to take a bath and change the sheets you moron! Now get off me you big oaf!" She said, trying to push him off her.
Her words seemed to piss him off a little.
"You know a lot of girls would be happy to be in your position right now!" He seemed defensive and disgruntled.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
He waited a beat before getting off her abruptly and sitting on the bed away from her.
"It means that I could be spending my time with people who actually appreciate my company, rather than people who like to sit with other boys during recess."
"So you are calling Divy and Rohit other boys now? So mature indeed!"
Now he looked pissed off.
"You don't want to hangout with guys like Rohit! He is a huge sissy. It's a miracle he ever made it to the team. He is just a benchwarmer as opposed to someone like me, who is a striker."
"Are you for real? Can you hear yourself Abhimanyu! Rohit is a perfectly great guy, he is the math topper, and he won the gold in state level math competition. So he isn't as good at a stupid game. Big deal!"
Siya was so angry at Abhi, she wanted to shake some sense into him! It was so unlike him to say something so mean about a perfectly sweet guy like Rohit. This was not the Abhi she knew! What had gotten into him.
He looked mad, so mad!
"You know what? I don't care what you think anymore. I actually only care about one person's opinion, and she thinks my football skills are damn cool!"
"Really now!? And who is this person?"
"Natasha"
"Natasha Chaterjee!"
"Yes that's the one. The most beautiful girl in our year. And when she smiles, I swear the earth stops spinning"
There were too many emotions running havoc in Siya's mind!
"Good for you! You know what, take these sheets and put them in the washing machine. And be gone before I take a bath and get back to my room. You don't care for me? That's good, because I don't care for someone who thinks he is too 'cool' for his friends, and who forgets his friends when he is surrounded by all his new 'cool' buddies during recess!"
Siya cried as she took a shower, trying to calm herself. She tried telling herself it was just another fight, but this time it didn't seem like it. So she gave up and let the tears flow.
Abhi was the popular kid, while she was the so-called 'Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes', 'Miss-Know-It-All' or even 'Teacher's-pet'. Not that she thought any of those titles should have made her feel bad or an outcast. But no matter how much she thought she wasn't doing anything wrong by being the topper of the class, by getting all her doubts cleared, by not breaking any rules, she felt herself getting a little more isolated with every passing second.
All her classmates seem to have grown a wildness about them that she had not broken into. Only Divy seemed to stick with her. Not that Divy wasn't wild, she loved to hang out at parties and liked to talk about boys. She even had a poster of Pierce Brosnan on her wall.
She knew Divya from kindergarten, Siya's friendship with her had cemented ever since Siya had lent a crying Divya her crayon set, after Manav had broken hers. Divya had always been there for her from then. And Abhi had been there since they were babies.
Thinking about Abhi, she teared up again! Siya felt like she just lost a limb, and when Abhi called Natasha 'the most beautiful girl in our year', she wanted to hurl something at him. Her heart felt heavy and her ears were ringing, suddenly it felt like the end of the world.
###
Siya gasped. She had feelings for Abhi since they were children. Back then it couldn't have been a physical attraction, or attraction of any kind except...
No! She couldn't be...could she? Her heart was beating faster now. She was on the edge, if she fell over...oh god.
She took a deep breath to compose herself. She knew she had to let go of the grudge she held against Natasha, after all she was going to get engaged to Abhi, there was no reason for her to continue being jealous about Abhi's ancient feelings for Natasha.
"It's okay Natasha! I'm sorry too for the way I have behaved. I understand it must have been difficult for you to get over him, and I understand why you behaved the way you did. But all that's in the past. Let's be friends."
Natasha looked relieved. She came forward and hugged Siya.
"I'm sorry again Siya! But I'm so happy you found it in yourself to be okay with all of it! I'm sure it must have been tough for you with me living in the same house. It was too nice of you to let me stay. We are going to be great friends. I just know it!" She hugged Siya.
Somewhere deep down, Siya felt something was not quite right.
A/N. Hello my lovely readers! I am overwhelmed by the response I've been getting in the past few weeks! Love you all!
A big 'Thank you' to all my readers - the ones who have stuck with me from the very beginning, the ones who keep waiting for my updates and the ones who have recently binge read all the chapters and voted for each chapter😘😘.
I really wanted to wait till I reach 25 votes, but I know all of you have been eagerly waiting, so I decided to cave in!
But this time I'm going to wait till I reach 35 votes before I post the next update. More of Siya and Abhi romance in the next chapter.
Siya and Abhi's story is about to reach a huge speed breaker, hopefully it doesn't completely get them to a halt!
To all you silent readers, please comment and vote, I love to read the comments that let me know you are enjoying the story.
Thank you so so very much to all the readers who have voted and commented! I feel super happy after seeing such positive response!
Love,
Siya