The drive to the night club was quite silent for both Anika and Shivay, they hardly exchanged words between them. Anika was uncomfortable with the heavy silence and tried making small talk once in a while, but Shivay only grunted and curtly nodded in response, this made Anika even more awkward and she kept mum for the rest of the journey. Shivay on the other hand focused straight on the road and never even spared a side glance at Anika.
In the club, they had taken a corner booth, a little away from both the bar and the dance floor - they were a big group, and they wanted to slosh it out throughout the night, it was a tough week for all. Rudra sat at one end, followed by Tia, Shivay, Somz, Anika and Om, the couch was semi-circular and they all were chatting casually and having fun. Of course Somz was trying hard to ignore that suddenly flirtatious roomie of hers, who was seated right next to her, and who kept giggling seeing her uncomfortable! Women' she mentally sighed.
Tia sat there followed Anika with narrowed eyes as she sat chatting with Om, her heart wanted to hurl something mean at her, for being so close to her brother, but she remembered Om's caution and decided to keep quiet - she turned to Rudra and saw he was busy fiddling with his phone, then she turned towards Shivay, with all her charm, but Shivay wasn't looking at her, in fact he seemed to be deeply engrossed in hearing Om, Anika and Somz's conversation. Feeling irritated, she tugged at Shivay's hand and coaxed him to join her at the dance floor - though Shivay needed some more time and a few more drinks to loosen up, he agreed seeing Tia's adorably puppy face.
As Shivay and Tia left for the dance floor, Somz moved closer to Rudra, closing the gap between them - seeing Shivay and Tia leave, Anika looked at his retreating figure with a slightly disheartened look, but Om engaged her back in conversation before she felt too bad.
Somz moved towards Rudra and punched his arm casually, Rudra looked up in question, "Dude, what's bugging you? You're not right hain nah?" Rudra asked perceptively.
"Dude, you have fags on you? Let's smoke" replied Somz and pulled Rudra up and they walked out of the club. They were standing at the parking lot and smoking, but they weren't really conversing, since Rudra kept fiddling with his phone.
"Can you cut it out dude? You're behaving like a puberty hit chic, fawning over that toy of your's" muttered Somz in irritation.
"Ssup mate?" Rudra enquired, he looked concerned.
Somz didn't reply immediately. He needed to think this through - what was it that he was really feeling? What made him jittery, then he slowly begun, "Dude, it's Anne. She told me something, that's bothering me."
"What? Does she want to move out now? Did you make a move at her bro?" asked Rudra quickly.
"Shut the f**k up dude, it's not that" then he went on to explain how Anika wanted him to help her with her dress and when she got annoyed, how Anika went on to say that it's not natural for a guy to not feel attracted towards a half dressed woman. "Rudra, bro I was wondering...do you think..do you think I am gay?" asked Somz in a harsh whisper. He looked confused and vulnerable.
Rudra let out a laugh, "Dude get a grip. You are not gay! If you were, we'd be married by now" he laughed again, Somz felt better hearing him. Rudra continued, "It's just that, I am sure you have always seen Anne like a sibling, hence you aren't attracted to her. Don't worry, when you meet the right girl, you will figure out how straight you are!" said Rudra with a convinced smile.
"Bro, how are you so sure? Did you meet such a girl?" asked Somz with a frown. Rudra just smiled looking at him, and then it struck Somz, andhe looked at Rudra's phone accusingly. "Who's she?" he questioned, eyes shining in excitement.
"Junior from college - Priyanka, she is sweet. I like her." Smiled Rudra. Somz forgot his worry in thrill, his best buddy was in love! Now he needed to find a girl for himself too, that would shut that big blabber mouth Anika for good he thought.
***
Shivay and Tia were shaking a leg for a very long time, when Shivay thought he needed a break, and decided to go grab a drink, Tia followed. They were at the bar counter ordering drinks, when the shrillest of shrill voice screamed behind them "Tiaaaa" Shivay jerked around to see a very pretty girl hugging Tia like she was her long lost sister. She seemed younger than them, she had a pretty but childish face, she looked innocent and seemed to have a very bubbly persona. Tia returned the hug with an equally excited scream, "Mallikaaaa, babe how are you here?" she asked enthusiastically. "Partying with a few class mates babe, good to see you here, who are you with?" she asked and looked at Shivay questioningly, but before Shivay could answer, she answered her own question, "Oh, Shivay! I know you! You are our senior right? You also are a part of the college rock band nah? I LOVE your voice! Do you remember me? The girl you ragged at the beginning of the term? I was to get you coffee for free for an entire month?" she asked with a big smile on her face. "uh-huh" replied Shivay who obviously had no such memories, he remembered ragging a bunch of juniors but her face didn't stand out for him. But without paying much heed, she continued, "Tia, are you both on a date? Am I gate crashing?" she giggled unnecessarily. Had any other girl been so overtly friendly with them, it would have annoyed Shivay, but with Mallika he realized she was very immature and her behaviour was plain childish, he didn't mind - in fact he was liking her loud presence. Tia looked slightly awkward at Mallika's question, and looked at Shivay for answering - when none came, she replied back, "No no Malli, we are here with a big gang of friends, they are all sitting there" she pointed towards there table. Mallika turned around and followed her finger and her jaw dropped. "No kidding! DI" she exclaimed and went running towards their table.
"Di?" repeated both Tia and Shivay curiously and turned to see who Mallika was running to.
***
Anika and Om were sitting for quite some time chatting. Shivay and Tia wasn't going to return soon - that Anika had figured. But what was taking Somz and Rudra so long? As she sat their talking to Om, she knew she was boring Om - he was a nice guy, but unlike her, he was a fun person too - she knew out of sheer politeness, he wouldn't leave her, but she felt bad for him.
"Om, why don't you go and hang out with Shivay and the others? I am sure you will have a few friends in the dance floor - you guys are quite regular here nah." She asked gently. Om looked up at her, true he could see a lot of friends at the dance floor and he also had seen this really pretty girl glancing at him for long, but leaving Anika here, uncomfortable and alone - he didn't want to do that either.
"No Anika, I am fine - Yes I know a few people, but I can catch up later" he smiled.
"Om, I will be okay, and I promise you that I won't be bored - everything around me is too new to be bored here Om. You go enjoy, if I am bored, I will call you." She convinced Om. He nodded with a smile, "Okay, but promise me if you are even slightly bored or uncomfortable. You will call me? I won't be gone for long!" With that Om walked towards the dance floor - Anika saw him leave, she honestly did feel a little awkward and out of place, but she was also deeply engrossed taking in her new surroundings. It was when she was feeling a little comfortable sitting there watching people laugh, drink and dance, she heard a familier shriek from behind "Diii"
She quickly turned around to see a surprised Mallika dancing in excitement at seeing her there.
"Di! You are here? You are really here? You in a pub? That too with friends? Tia is your friend? How come you never mentioned di? Do you come here often? How is it that I never saw you? Oh, you are wearing my birthday gift wala dress? Di you're looking sooo sexy!" she finally finished. Anika laughed at her amused, she felt very happy seeing Mallika there, suddenly the place seemed friendlier. But of course, knowing Mallika, she never tried answering any of her numerous questions - Mallika never looked for answers for her questions anyway!
Then she came sat by her and scanned the empty six-seater couch and narrowed her eyes, "Di, where are your friends? Did they ditch you?"
Anika quickly covered up for her gang, "No no, they called me, but you know nah Mallika, I am too shy, I figured I wanted to sit for a bit hence" but while she finished her statement, she saw Rudra and Somz returning back, with relief she pointed at them and said, "Look, Somz is returning"
Mallika looked up to see her batch mates come and join them, "Hey Somz! What's up dude? Hi Rudra " she greeted them, both Somz and Rudra returned her salutations, and then Somz told Rudra that Mallika was Anika's sister. Mallika was quite a regular visitor at Anika's and hence she knew Somz very well, even outside class. They sat there chatting when Shivay and Tia returned too.
Tia looked at Mallika curiously and asked, "This weir---" then she glanced at Shivay once and corrected, "Mallika, Anika is your sister? Like your own sibling?" Anika looked at Tia and frowned, she didn't remember the last time when Tia called her by her name and not behenji. But Mallika didn't notice Tia's curiosity or Anika's frown, she chirpily replied, "Yeah babe, meet Anika di, my awesome sister - I didn't know you guys were friends yaar?" she asked all smiling. No one replied, and she never noticed. Soon Shivay got talking with Rudra and Somz and Tia went away to receive a phone call and the sister's were left to themselves. Mallika didn't quite understand why they all left her di alone even while around her, and decided to ignore it - she had this once chance where her di had come pubbing, she had to make it memorable. If not her own set of friends, then her friends would do the trick. She suddenly turned to Anika, "Hey di, why don't you come join my friends for a bit? They would start looking for me otherwise" and before Anika could respond, Mallika pulled her up and dragged her towards their friends. Anika turned around to excuse herself, Somz and Rudra nodded with a smile and Shivay, though silent, he looked a bit put off for some reason - Tia wasn't around, Anika was sure that was the reason.
Om was having a great time with the pretty girl who was glancing towards him all evening, but at the same time he felt guilty for leaving Anika behind - so after spending some time with Amaya, he excused himself for a bit to go check on Anika. But when he arrived at the booth, he saw everyone but Anika, upon enquiring Shivay had told him, "She has found other friends to hang out with" who knew why did he sound so irked. But Om was happy for Anika, anyways all had left her on her own - hence Om went back to Amaya for the evening after having a quick word with Shivay.
Shivay, Somz, Rudra and Tia were casually chatting when Shivay glanced towards the booth Mallika had taken Anika to. His eyes narrowed taking in the sight of a Anika who was clearly enjoying their company more than their's. She was no more, meek, she was laughing and kidding and seemed to be having a good time. Tia noticed his gaze and shifted uncomfortably next to him and then to draw his attention, she asked him to come and dance some more, but Shivay for some reason wasn't in the mood.
***
Anika never thought clubbing could be so much fun. Mallika was there that evening with a few of their school friends, Anika had known most of these guys and girls since their childhood - they would visit Mallika at home regularly, and that evening when they saw Anika di, there were all pleasantly surprised. Anika was not meek around them, she was laughing, and joking and sharing their childhood stories, she felt much more welcome here, much more warm. Then suddenly one of Mallika's friend Yash had asked her to dance with him - Anika was taken aback, but by Yash and Mallika and the rest of their friend's continuous insistence, she shyly gave in - a part of her wanted to dance too, for the sake of experience. She didn't know if she would ever be invited to return to such a place. So she decided to go dance. The dance floor was crowded and no one was noticing another, she felt comfortable and soon she was dancing away to happiness with Yash. Clubbing indeed was fun, she thought.
Tia was sitting and politely chatting with Somz and Rudra, though she was a little bored, she wanted to show Shivay, she bonded with Somz well - though mentally she found Somz really weird, her expressions were misleading. Shivay however wasn't noticing, he himself was a bit bored and decided to go to the bar and get himself a drink, he casually ran his eyes past the dance floor, when his mind did a double take - Anika was dancing with some guy, she was enjoying to the tee. Suddenly Shivay pulled Tia by the elbow and led her to the dance floor excusing themselves from Somz and Rudra. Tia, though initially startled, started smirking thinking, she must have impressed Shivay by getting along with Somz.
Soon they were in the dance floor, dancing and having fun, but Tia couldn't help notice, that Shivay wasn't very attentive towards her, he was just casually checking the crowd, though she didn't mind, as long as behenji was away from them, she was good - then her eyes fell on Mallika who was dancing nearby, she frowned, how did a behenji like Anika, have such a fun loving and fashionable sister?
Shivay was dancing with Tia, but he kept moving strategically, keeping a lookout for Anika, that guy just didn't seem right, and since when did Anika get all touchy with guys, he thought a little put off. Then he spotted her closeby, clearly having a good time with the guy - he moved Tia along and placed himself in such a way that Tia had her back towards Anika and he could face her. Now that he was in safe distance, he decided to keep an eye on her and not intervene unless it was required. Soon Mallika caught up with them and all were dancing crazily, when Shivay casually glanced at Anika to check on her - what he saw, made his eyes pop out in shock.
Anika was dancing happily with the guy and was completely unaware of the fact that the zip to her dress was opening slowly - it had come down a good few inches and she was of course oblivious to it, dancing in merriment. An unknown fury got to him, as he made his way towards her.
Anika was dancing with Yash, when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she glanced around and her smile vanished. It was Shivay. Before she could register anything, he took her hand swiftly and started dancing with her, then he looked at Yash and gave a friendly nod. Yash nodded back and turned around to dance with the others. Now his eyes were on her, Anika could feel her skin burning under his gaze - he looked back into his deep black eyes and was almost losing her senses, when she jerked in shock. She could suddenly feel his finger on the bare back of her skin - she became rigid and stared back her him in horror, but his expression was unreadable. She realized only then that her zip was coming off - she felt his hands searching for the zip as he twirled her around effortlessly with one arm. The she could feel he was pulling up the zip, right up till the nape of her neck, his finger then gently brushed the nape of her neck which made her tingle internally.
He then bent his face towards her ears, and whispered, making sure he wasn't looking into her eyes, "You may want to repair the zip, I think the lock is broken. It might come down again if you keep dancing" - she gasped in shock hearing it and decided to retire to the couch, she had had enough fun for one night. As she left his grip and walked back to the couch to Somz and Rudra, Shivay sighed and moved to the bar for his drink, completely forgetting Tia.
Tia on the other hand, was standing quite close following everything along with Mallika by her side. Then she followed him to the bar along with Mallika - Mallika was curious to see Shivay's behaviour towards Anika - was there something going on? But didn't Tia always talk about Shivay? It almost felt like they would soon be going out - if that was true than what was this she just witnessed? She thus went after Tia, to observe Shivay more.
Tia went to the bar and curtly told Shivay that she was having a headache, and she wanted to return home, if Shivay could drop her. Shivay had had enough too, he wanted to get away from all this, he quickly agreed and decided to go call Anika, but Tia interrupted saying, it made more sense if Shivay dropped her and Mallika instead, because they stayed in the same hostel - that way Rudra could drop Somz and Anika as they stayed in the same place. Shivay quickly glanced at Mallika, who seemed game with the idea. So soon Shivay, Mallika and Tia left.
Somz was getting bored with the party, he wasn't ever a party animal, but he came clubbing once in a while - but now with his worry assuming he is gay and with the news that even Rudra had a girl, he was disturbed - he wanted to get home.
"Rudra, mate, lets call it a night? I am bored. And you also must have important calls to make?" she smirked. Rudra gave him a coy smile and agreed. Rudra asked if Anika was to join them, but Somz told him that Shivay had brought her here, so Shivay would drop her too. He really wanted to stay away from that flirtatious roomie of his.
Anika was sitting there for half an hour, waiting for Shivay and Tia to return, but they just didn't come - it was getting late, she needed to return now. After waiting for another fifteen minutes, she decided to go search for her - by then even Mallika and her friends had left she gauged seeing their booth empty. But after thoroughly searching for them for another fifteen minutes, she started panicking when she could spot no one. She knew Om had left earlier, he had left her a text message, she had told him she was fine - she was sitting with Mallika's friends then.
Tears of panic started leaking down her eyes when she realized her entire group had left, no one remembered her. She hurried out of the club with tears rolling down - what was her fault? Why was she so invisible? Why did no one ever remember her? Was she so insignificant? She felt contempt, despair and mostly lost - even Shivay left her? A small part of her mind questioned. She put it off with a mirthless laughter - like he would do otherwise.
***
Mallika was removing her make-up and looking thoughtful, while Tia came out of the washroom after changing. Mallika looked at her and asked, "Tia, what is going on between you, Shivay and di?" Tia looked at her uncomfortable, "What do you mean Malli?", Mallika asked her directly, "I think you like Shivay, but we both saw how Shivay behaved with di tonight. Don't you think he likes her?" her question was innocent, but made Tia boil in rage. She kept quiet for a moment hatching a plan, then she smiled maliciously while looking into the mirror and combing her hair, and said, "Arre Shivay hates Anika, he didn't even want to bring her to the party - you know he can't stand Anika's simplicity - calls her behenji - it annoys me though, you know, I like your di, she is simple and innocent - I only invited her, and told Shivay, if she didn't come, I won't come too. So he reluctantly agreed, but I guess he got pissed for some reason, we saw how he said something rude in her ears and she abruptly left the dance floor. Don't worry Malli, I will scold him tomorrow!"
Anger inflated in Mallika hearing Shivay's dismissive attitude towards her di, she was no more his fan, Hmph. "Like brother, like sister" she muttered thinking of Soumya and her strange ways, as Tia laughed darkly.
***
Somz was about to doze off when his phone rang, it was Shivay, he picked up reluctantly and greeted him in a bored voice. "Hi Somu..oops Somz, could you ask Anika if her hair clutch is missing, I just found one in my car" Somz frowned, "Bhai, she hasn't reached the apartment yet, give her a shout, she will come back to the gate" she mumbled. Suddenly the voice in the other end was quiet.
"Bhai?" Somz called tentatively.
"Somu, I am at home"
"Then where did you drop her?" enquired Somz confused, and was once again met by eerie silence.
"I didn't. I thought she would return with you guys!" now he sounded a little panicked.
"BHAI. You took her right? Why did you assume she would come back with me?" Somz almost shouted on the phone. It was almost 2AM.
"Somu, I will drive back and check. I will talk to you later." And he hung up, as Somz sprang up on his bed in tension.
***
Anika was standing outside the pub on a deserted road. There were no public commutations anywhere in sight. She had never freaked out thus - well she was never out for this long either! And not to mention alone. She was fidgeting with her phone, not knowing whom to call - she stood there crying out of helplessness for God knows how long, when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, in nervousness, fear and shock, she went rigid - then slowly she turned around, and faced the person looking at him.
He was peering at her from over his specs. He was still the same in some ways. As in he still seemed stern and judging by the neat and crisp shirt even after partying till this hour, it seemed he was still the disciplinarian too. But his sense of fashion had changed drastically, he was wearing a distressed pair of denim, coupled with a black satin shirt with a Chinese collar, he must have been visiting the gym pretty regularly, judging by the slight hint of well-toned abs under his skin fit shirt. From bell-bottomed trousers reaching his chests, he has come a long way. As familiarity hit her, and a relief shot through her, she exclaimed is astonishment, "Daksh? You, in India?"