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He looked at the entrance and she wasn’t there yet. Since his conversation with her, he’d been waiting, rather impatiently, for her to show up.
Worry for her had filled his being the moment he’d realized that Dev had conversed with her. He really shouldn’t be feeling so protective about her, but he’d brought her into this situation with Luthra, and now, he couldn’t help but wonder what Dev had spoken to her about.
A customer at the far corner of the bar signaled him and Vihaan went toward him to take his drinks order. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Once, twice, again and again.
He opened his messages and his group chat with his family was buzzing. There were so many unread messages from them. He must have missed them while working at the bar. He quickly scanned through them.
Aaryan: Fucking idiot.
Shaurya: Bad day, Aaryan?
Aaryan:He knows what I’m talking about.
Shaurya:He? Vihaan? What’s he done now?
Aaryan:He attended Sood’s party last night. And had a face-off with Luthra.
Shaurya:WTF Vihaan?
Vihaan grimaced. He was well aware that his brother had spies everywhere. Of course, he’d expected the possibility that Aaryan would learn that Vihaan had had a conversation with the enemy. Aaryan had put people in place to spy on Dev a long time ago. Aaryan always wanted to be a step ahead of him. He never wanted to be in a position of disadvantage ever.
It wasn’t Vihaan’s intention to hide his encounter with Dev from his family. It’s just that he’d been working since morning, first atKeyStoneand now here, and hadn’t had a chance to update them yet. And if he were being honest then he hadn’t wanted the fireworks to start first thing in the morning. He would have eventually told his family about his run-in with Luthra. But now, there was no choice but to face the music. The cat was out of the bag.
He continued to read the string of incoming messages.
Myra:Vihaan, please tell me you stayed away from her.
Avi: Vihaan, how could you face him like that? Why? Why?
Avi:And her? Who’s her? Myra, what do I not know?
Myra:Vihaan, answer my question.
Oh fuck! He had to explain Tiya to his family too. Myra would kill him if she found out he’d kept this from her. But what would he tell his family about her? The truth? Not the truth? He shoved a hand through his messy hair.
Fuck! Tiya was right. They needed to talk and iron out all these details.
Shaurya:Vihaan? Where are you? How could you face him without talking to us?
Vihaan:Be thankful I didn’t kill him when I saw him. I sure was tempted to.
Aaryan:Bloody hell! Family meeting in two hours.
Shaurya:Yes. Myra & I have to talk to you all about something important.
Vihaan’s mind went on red alert. What did Shaurya want to talk about? He’d met him yesterday and everything seemed fine. What had changed since then? He quickly typed a message.
Vihaan:Everything alright?
Shaurya:Will talk when we meet. Will you be there?
Before he could respond, a strange warmth crept down his spine. He looked up and his eyes met hers from across the distance. A sudden burst of happiness filled him on seeing her. He slipped his cell-phone under the bar counter and waited for her to come to him.
Last night, after leaving the party, he’d returned home and given himself a pep-talk. He’d repeated all the reasons he ought to stay away from Tiya over and over until they’d echoed in his ears, but seeing her now, dressed as she was in a white and mint green printed strappy maxi, barely any makeup on her face, her dark silky hair flowing in the breeze, the lights from the lanterns painting her skin with a golden hue and that sweet smile on her face, he realized that resisting her was going to be so hard. It would take a supreme amount of effort to stay away from her. But he’d do it, no matter what.
“Hi,” he greeted her casually from across the bar.
Yes, he could be casual with her. It wasn’t so hard.
