Time flew by as Sharanya and Aditya looked at Sharanya's childhood photos and it was already time for Sharanya's lunch date with Aashna. Sharanya and Aditya left her grandparents' house and finally made it to Little Italy in Jayanagar seconds before the clock struck two.
"And you are not late!" Aashna said as she got up to greet Sharanya.
"I wish I could be late, but you know that I can't keep you waiting for too long," Sharanya said as she hugged Aashna.
"Aash, this is Adi, Aditya Mohan. And Adi, this is Aashna Shetty, my one and only Kamini aunty," Sharanya introduced.
"As if you aren't a Kamini aunty yourself," Aashna chided. She held out her hand to Aditya and introduced herself formally. "I'm Aashna, Sha's best friend, soul sister, mentor, disciple, and everything in between. Except well, we aren't romantically involved with each other. I've got a boyfriend in case you're wondering."
"Aashna! Would you mind sitting down? I'm literally starving," Sharanya said in a stern voice to avoid further embarrassment and all of them sat down.
"Shar, isn't she the one you were talking to that day?" Aditya asked as he remembered the day of the snowstorm.
"Yes, that was indeed me. By the way, you have a beautiful house," Aashna answered instead of Sharanya.
"Thanks, but we moved a couple years ago," Aditya replied, although feeling slightly out of place amidst two best friends.
"Aash, drop the act now. Adi, she isn't like this usually," Sharanya told Aditya before glaring at Aashna and hissing, "He isn't my fiance that you are interrogating him so much!"
"I? Interrogate? Sha, you OK? Aditya, what did she have for breakfast? I'm very concerned for her right now," Aashna asked out of fake concern.
"That's exactly what I was thinking! I mean, she drank tea with me. TEA!" Aditya acted along.
"Guys, I'm right here, you know," scoffed Sharanya as she flagged down a waiter. After placing their order, Aditya and Aashna started to talk about Sharanya and her antics while Sharanya sat in her seat and scowled at her two "best friends."
"Oh great! The food is here," Sharanya exclaimed in order to gain the attention of these two who were behaving like they were long lost friends who hadn't met in a long time. Although she was able to get their attention, it was only a couple of seconds before they went back to chatting among themselves.
Sharanya sat there, playing around with her food as she glared at the two chatterboxes. Since it was her idea to get Aditya along with her, she couldn't really blame anyone for this. Suddenly, while in the middle of a sentence, Sharanya saw Adi's fork make its way into her plate and grab a piece of the garlic cheese bread.
"Hey! Hands off my plate, Aditya Mohan!" Sharanya shouted. Instantly, Aditya and Aashna looked at her, with a smirk and a confused look on their respective faces. While Aditya smirked at Sharanya and she glared back at him, Aashna looked down at Sharanya's plate to see them fighting over the piece of cheese garlic bread with their forks. Since they hadn't been looking down, Aashna took the piece, broke it into two pieces and shoved it into both of their mouths.
"That's what you get for fighting over food. Aditya, there is another one in the basket if you want. And Sha, you weren't eating it either. But if you guys want to eat from each other's plates, I don't mind," Aashna teased with a smirk on her face as she saw a tint of red creep up on her best friend's cheeks as well as on Aditya's.
After a moment, Aditya cleared his throat and replied, "It's not like that. Sharanya wasn't eating, so I thought why waste food."
"I'll eat when I want and what I want," announced Sharanya curtly.
"And right now, you aren't eating food, but my brain!" Aditya joked, but Sharanya thought otherwise.
"Fine! I'll leave then," Sharanya whispered and got up from her chair to leave. Sensing that he had gone overboard, Aditya mentally cursed himself and held Sharanya's wrist in order to stop her. Aashna, who could see the droplets forming in Sharanya's eyes from where she was sitting, instantly turned to Aditya and looked at him.
"Mr. Mohan, how dare you? Who are you to scold my best friend? You have no right to do so. And if she ever gets hurt because of you, I'll go from a friendly girl to your worst enemy for life!" Aashna scolded Aditya. As expected, Sharanya chuckled a bit and sat back down.
"I'm frightened!" Aditya pretended to be afraid of Aashna.
"I'm telling you, Aashna Shetty, please leave the acting to me. You are horrible at it!" Sharanya added.
"I'm not joking. I'm actually very serious about it, Aditya. Hurt Sha, and you'll face the worst consequences," Aashna clarified.
"OK?" Aditya replied, not knowing what Aashna actually means. Sharanya suspected what Aashna was trying to do, hence she spoke before Aashna could spill any more beans.
"What about desserts? I'm not leaving without eating dessert," whined Sharanya.
Hence, they got desserts and talked some more before Aashna got a call that her cousin was there to pick her up.
"Well, I'll see you soon in March, Sha?"
"Yup. I'll miss you!"
The girls hugged it out and Aashna left. Aditya and Sharanya were walking aimlessly down the footpath when Sharanya asked if they could go to the park. Hence, Sharanya and Aditya went to the park nearby and sat on one of the benches that were hidden by enormous Banyan trees.
After a while, Aditya's phone rang and he picked it up without seeing who it was.
"Anna! Where in the world are you?" A voice screeched from the other side. Sharanya chuckled while Aditya rolled his eyes.
"Is that trees I spot? Wait a second... Are you in Bangalore?" Akansha peppered Aditya with her questions.
"Kanchi, what are you talking about?" Sneha asked in the background as she took the phone from Akansha. However, after seeing her son on the video call, she was sure where he was and raised her eyebrow. "Care to explain?"
"Umm... Mom, I–"
"He's with me, Sneha Maa. And why are you up so early, Kanch?" Sharanya cut off Aditya and took the matter into her hands.
"Sharu Akka! Why are you in Bangalore? Shouldn't you be in London?"
"Kanchi, calm down. I'm in Bengaluru because I finished my London sched and now, I have to wait until Jan 2nd week to start my New York shoot," Sharanya explained.
"Then why don't you come over? Like right now?" Sneha asked.
"I'll come soon, Ma–"
"No! You are coming now. Anna, get her here right now. Otherwise, don't you dare come back home!" Akansha threatened.
"OK, Grandma!" Aditya exclaimed.
They spoke to Sneha and Akansha for a while before going back to Sharanya's grandparents' house. On their way back, Aditya was frantically tapping on his phone while Sharanya was driving her Scooty. Although she wondered what it was, she didn't want to question him.
As Sharanya parked her Scooty and Aditya got off, he told her that she should pack some clothes while he freshens up. Sharanya did as he said and went to her room to pack up a few things before they left for New York.
Around 10 minutes later, Aditya was ready and went to Sharanya's room. However, he stopped outside the door as he saw her talking to her grandfather. He didn't want to interrupt them or stand there eavesdropping, but what her grandfather said stopped him and compelled him to listen on.
"Don't worry, Putti. Everything will be alright," Sharanya's grandfather said as he placed his hand on Sharanya's head.
"When, taata? It's been more than 15 years since I painted this! 'My perfect family'." Sharanya chuckled humourlessly and continued, "this is neither perfect, nor a family. I'm done with everything now!"
"You do have a family, Sharanya! Your ammamma and I are there for you. Your friends, Aditya and Aashna, are there for you. Bhavna, Megha, Varun, Vidya are all there for you! Don't waste your time worrying about these two. They'll keep fighting till the end of time."
"Why did they get married, taata?" Sharanya asked innocently.
"Because you were destined to be born in this world. If they didn't get married, you wouldn't have been in this world. Then your Ammamma and I wouldn't have had such a lovely granddaughter. Neither would Bhavna have the amazing niece ever, nor would Megha, Varun, and Vidya have such a caring cousin who treats them like her own siblings! Now get ready quickly, Aditya must be ready by now." Sharanya's grandfather cheered her up and left her to get ready. While on his way out, he saw Aditya, who awkwardly smiled. Instead of scolding him for eavesdropping, he patted Aditya's back and left.
∞A❦S∞
Sharanya freshened up and got her suitcase ready before going downstairs. Just as she was coming down the stairs, she saw her cousin Meghana there.
"Megha! How are you?" She asked casually.
"How are you ante! You tell me, maharaiti! You came to Bengaluru and you didn't even care to tell me, your sister?" Meghana questioned.
"Megha, listen to me. It was a sudden plan. And anyway, I have to leave. Again!" Sharanya tried to explain.
"You are not leaving anywhere without answering my question. Are you seriously going to get married to that douchebag, Arnav or whoever your so-called Atte has told your parents about?"
"I'm not getting married to anyone any time soon! And when I do, you'll definitely know. Now can you please drop me to the airport? Please please please?" Sharanya coaxed Meghana.
"That's why I am here, beti. Now let's go, your crush is already waiting for us in my car," Meghana said and Sharanya tried her very best to glare at her cousin without blushing profusedly.
∞A❦S∞
An hour and a half later, Meghana dropped off Sharanya and Aditya at the international airport and left. Sharanya took her suitcase and was about to go to the ticketing counter when Aditya steered her to the entrance. Before she could question him, Aditya pulled out his phone and showed the security guards their tickets which allowed them to enter.
"Adi, I would've got the tickets myself," Sharanya tried to negotiate.
"And make me dear Kanchi's prey? No thank you. Don't you remember her threat? 'Bring Sharu akka or don't come back'. Shar, can't I buy my ticket home a ticket?" Aditya explained while Sharanya tried her best not to cringe.
"I know, it was bad, but this will definitely be good," Aditya said before he led Sharanya to the Business Class counter to check-in their suitcases.
Needless to say, Sharanya was in awe as she was flying in Business Class for the first time in her life. Not only was it business class, she was travelling the person she least expected to even meet!
∞A❦S∞
A/N: New York, here we come! How many of you are excited for their NYC trip? I definitely am. Now, before we get off track, I just wanna say, Aashu is my best friend!! Afterall, she is inspired by my real life bestie (who isn't on Wattpad) and she's just the best.
If you were in Aashna's place, would you have told your friend's crush about their feelings to the crush? This girl seemed like she would've...
Anyhoo, there is a specific reason for this update on this day i.e., 5th of June. Well, it is supposed to be the midway(ish) point between Sharanya and Aditya's birthdays. Can you guess what their birthdays are based on that clue? It will be important in the (probably distant) future.
Before I bid adieu for the next week or so, comment and let me know what you thought of this update.
TO LUNCH DATES WITH SECRETS BEING (ALMOST) REVEALED,
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