That made him laugh. A full, hearty sound that vibrated somewhere deep in my stomach. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not going soft on you. Our deal is still the same … I’ll just let you off the hook this one time.’ A cocky smile played on his lips, but it lacked its usual bite.
His elbow grazed my arm as he leaned over the railing, making my skin prickle. ‘And how will you get it done, then?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll just … I’ll hire someone to do it.’
‘You’llhiresomeone?’ I scoffed. ‘Why can’t you just tell Rajat you don’t know how to do it?’
‘And let him report back to my dad about how useless I am? Absolutely not,’ he said, his shoulders tensing. For once, he didn’t sound smug or self-assured, and that threw me off a little bit.
There were a hundred questions I wanted to ask him about his comment, but a flash of sequins below made me forget them all. Because Nikita was standing by the pool, waving both arms at me like she was hailing a cab.
‘Kavuuuuuuu,’ she shouted.Uh oh. How much had she had to drink?
‘Um … who is that?’ Neil asked just as she lost her balance and toppled into a waiter carrying an entire tray of champagne glasses.
‘My flatmate,’ I breathed, already backing away. He didn’t follow me as I darted out.
By the time I made it downstairs, Nikita was perched on a pool chair, drenched in champagne and giggling uncontrollably. Clutching an empty tray, the waiter was apologizing profusely,and standing beside them was the man of the hour—Aditya Jindal.
‘Give me those,’ he said, plucking tissues from the waiter’s tray and pressing them against her chest with exaggerated care. I couldn’t help but notice how his fingers lingered.
‘Uh … hi, sorry about that,’ I said, quickly slipping between them before he could dab any lower. ‘I’ve got it from here.’
He nodded, although I could tell he wasn’t pleased at the interruption. Then, in a gesture that might’ve been chivalrous if it hadn’t been so performative, he shrugged off his leather jacket and held it out. ‘You’re soaked, darling.’
Nikita giggled again, letting him drape it around her shoulders. ‘Such a gentleman,’ she slurred.
‘Right. Thanks,’ I muttered, tightening my grip on her arm. ‘We’ll get out of your way.’
As I led her out of the backyard, I looked up at the balcony. It was empty.
eight
Caught in 4K
Iwasdreaming about eating my mom’s special apple kheer when Nikita’s scream jolted me awake.
‘Wake up babeeeee.’ She jumped on my bed, bouncing a few times over.
Despite the fact that we’d had more fun over the weekend than I’d had in the three and a half years of being in the city, in that moment, I wholeheartedly regretted befriending my flatmate. I rubbed my eyes, glancing at the clock on my bedside table. It was fifteen minutes before my Monday morning alarm was set to go off.
‘What do you want?’ I croaked, pissed at being robbed of my last few minutes of sleep.
My lack of excitement didn’t deter her. She peeled my blanket off me in one swift motion, earning a high-pitched shriek from me.
‘I’ve done it …’ She thrust her phone in my face. ‘I’ve gone viral.’
I blinked at the screen a few times before the photo came into focus. ‘Is this for real?’
She nodded, grinning from ear to ear. I sat up in my bed, a wave of adrenaline washing over me. I pinched the screen to zoom in, to confirm that this was, in fact, happening.
My flatmate was on @devilwearscolaba’s Instagram page.
It was a photo from Friday night’s party. Nikita drenched in champagne, Aditya Jindal draping his leather jacket around her shoulders, fairy lights twinkling in the background.
The photo did an excellent job of highlighting the all-too-familiar way Aditya was looking at Nikita, his right hand resting on the small of her back. His jacket hung loosely from her shoulders, intimate and telling.
And then I read the caption.
