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amazing update jst toooooooooo good contineu soon di&hope u r njoying in ur hometown😳takecare.love u
I can not believe that I had spent the evening with truck-napper. Again. And then I'd ended up agreeing to an actual date with him. Nupur was going to crap a brick when she found out. I don't know what's going to be worse- her over-reaction,Adhiraj's teasing, or Suhaani's smug smirks.
Maybe I could convince Samrat to keep this just between us for now.
How had this even happened? The last thing I remember clearly is that awful poetry. I don't think I made one rational decision after that. It was all a blur of flirty banter, and arguing shoulder angels, and... Samrat. He was very close- so extremely close. He smelled so good and he was being all witty and sincere and he was doing that thing where he rubbed my jaw with his thumbs. It was all very enticing. And... well I'm pretty sure that the entire experience had done something to melt my brain, rendering me incapable to remember that he. Is. A. Lady's. Man. Of course he knew what to say, and how to make me laugh, and how to do that thing with his thumb on my jaw line.
I sighed. That was my cynical side talking and I knew that was also my logical side- the side that wasn't susceptible to truck-napper's charm. At least it was the side that didn't want to be susceptible to his charm. There was another part, and I didn't know how dominate that part may be, that really wanted to be charmed. I couldn't quite convince that part that he was just another smooth talking player. Samrat seemed like so much more than that.
Well whoever he was I had a date with him this Friday. And there was no disputing that it was a date this time.
I sighed.
"What's wrong, chickadee?"
I looked over, pulling myself from my daze with a shake of my head. Neil had his head tilted to the side, watching me quizzically from the sofa. He'd come over earlier because he was bored while Sam was at work. We hung out a lot during the days since we were the only ones in the gang without 'real' jobs. Neil was a graphic designer working from home. Our jobs left us with lots of free time.
"Nothing." I sighed dryly. "Just waring within myself."
He looked at me for another moment before nodding.
"Sounds like you." he said simply.
I cracked a smile, going to sit beside him.
"What's got you so down, hun?" he asked.
I nestled into his side and rested my head on his shoulder. You know those days where everything seems to go wrong and all you really want is to curl up and have your mommy tell you it would all work out? Well I never had that option. But that's okay because I have my 6"5 gay Indian friend.
"I agreed to go to dinner with Samrat."
"The truck-napper?" He questioned.
I nodded gravely.
"The sexy brown haired god?"
I sighed.
"The one and the same." I affirmed.
He was silent for a moment before he leaned his head on my own.
"So... you're regretting that decision?" He tried to understand my mood.
I thought about it for second before shrugging.
"No." I said finally. "I'm excited."
More silence.
"Gunjan... I'm not sure I understand the problem." he said finally.
I scrunched up my nose, frustrated myself.
"I'm just confused." I admitted. I hate being confused. Have I mentioned this already? "I don't want to talk about it."
"He's got you that confused huh?" he chuckled.
I scowled.
"Did you just chuckle?" I asked, disbelieving. "What about this strikes you as funny, Neil?"
Did he not hear me? I'm waring within myself. Waring. That is not something to be taken lightly.
"Nothing, nothing." He insisted quickly. "I've just never seen you so twisted over a man before. You must really like him to be putting this much thought into it."
I frowned. That's one way to look at it I suppose. Of course I hadn't thought to look at it that way before and I wasn't sure I wanted to.
"Shut up." I groaned. "Nobody asked you."
Neil laughed, flipping through the channels a few more times before clicking the TV off and tossing the remote down.
"Alright." he said abruptly. "Get up."
He stood up, looking at me expectantly and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What?" I asked articulately. "Where are we going?"
"Out." he replied helpfully, thrusting his hand out to me. "You're stewing. We need to distract you before all this thinking implodes your little brain cells."
I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks for the leap of confidence, Neil."
He just grinned, wiggling his fingers imploringly.
"Come on, Gunjan."
I groaned, finally grabbing his hand and letting him drag me up. We wouldn't want my brain cells to implode after all.
"Godfather." he said smugly.
I shook my head.
"That doesn't count." I insisted. "It's The Godfather therefor it begins with a 'T'."
Neil always cheated. Always. It didn't matter what you were playing. In Monopoly he takes multiple loans and 'forgets' to pay them back. In Life he kicked his wife out of the car to make more room. And in the alphabet game he forgets 'the' so he gets his 'g' word. Not going to happen buddy. What? Didn't I tell you our jobs left us with free time?
Neil shrugged.
"Technicalities."
I sighed, remembering a conversation with a certain tall, pale, and criminal when he'd said the same thing. I was thinking about him so much that it was annoying me. I just couldn't help myself.
"It counts." Jake insisted, pulling me from my reverie. "Besides Al Pacino was so cute back in the day."
I made a face, thinking more along the lines of his Oceans 13 phase. Time was not that man's friend.
"Have you ever noticed how George Clooney gets more attractive as he ages?" I mussed- just speaking of Oceans 13.
Neil nodded in agreement, used to my round about way of thinking. Some people get lost but it makes sense in my head.
"It works that way for some." He agreed.
"Two words." I smirked. "Denzel Washington."
Neil fanned himself dramatically and I laughed, finally getting into our girls day out. See? I didn't need truck-napper.
...I wonder if truck-napper is going to get more attractive as he ages? It's kind of hard to believe. I mean he's already so-
"Here!" I yelped.
Neil looked at me, his eyes wide and confused.
"Gunjan, what's going-"
"He's already so here!" I rambled, frantic. It was almost as if my many thoughts of him had pulled him from whatever he was doing to stand in front of me.
"Who's here, Gunjan?" Neil asked, looking at me like... well, looking at me as if in the middle of a perfectly calm conversation I'd just started rambling nonsense.
"Truck-Napper." I hissed, trying to keep my voice down.
Neil's head whipped around to follow my gaze, anxious to finally catch a glimpse of him. And there he was. I could see him through the big window of the coffee shop we'd been sitting in for the last half an hour. He was walking down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, converse firmly in place. And he was getting ready to pull the door open.
"Hide me." I whispered desperately at the same time Neil gave his evaluation. "Yummy."
I smacked his arm.
"Stop it!" I hissed. This was not the time nor the place.
Neil laughed.
"Why?" He asked, amused. "He is yummy. And why are you freaking out like it's illegal for you to be in this cafe?"
I opened my mouth to retort but then I snapped it closed with a dumbfounded snap. Why was I freaking out? It's not like he could tell I'd been thinking about him all day- not if I played it cool. Yeah, cool. That's what I'd do.
He was the same Samrat that annoyed me to no end a great majority of the time after all. I'd never had trouble talking to him before. Of course that was probably because I was so busy convincing myself that we were mortal enemies.
"Gunjan?"
My head snapped up to meet the husky voice. My hand was still on Neil's arm and I saw Samrat's eyes slide there slowly before resting back on my face. I detected a hint of something there, fire perhaps- burning in his eyes before he blinked and then it was gone.
I pulled my hand back, blushing. It didn't take a mind reader to know what he was thinking and it was so far from the truth that it was almost laughable.
"Hey,Samrat ." I said, my breath sounding all shaky and breathy. I mentally kicked myself. Could I sound anymore like his fan girl? If he hadn't made me get rid of that pro/con list last night this instance would be going on there. This power he has over my cognitive functions was so annoying. Thankfully that annoyance was just enough to distract me from how wonderful he looked in his faded old band shirt and hair still wet(no doubt from a shower because it wasn't raining for once) and I was able to get out a full sentence.
"Just because you admit to the stalking doesn't mean you can continue unabashed you know."
He smirked.
"Well, Ms Gunjan, I see you are just as witty this morning as when I left your house last night."
My mouth fell open as he glanced at Neil, smug. Was he- Did he... he didn't just mark his claim!
Neil raised one eyebrow, amused.
"Is that right, Gunjan?" he smirked.
I blushed, narrowing my eyes at truck-napper. Con: he makes me blush. I thought I had grown out of that troublesome habit years ago!
"I'm always witty." I said, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at him so that he knew I knew what he was doing. You know? "Haven't you noticed?"
"I have." He nodded, not having the decency to look shamefaced. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
He shot daggers at poor Neil as he finished his sentence and I rolled my eyes. Why doesn't he just hike his leg and pee on my chair already? Men.
"Neil- this is Samrat Shergill, AKA truck-napper." I introduced dutifully. "Samrat- this is Neil, my lover."
Samrat's eyes got huge and he choked on the coffee he had just taken a drink from. I raised one slim eyebrow, a challenge. I hadn't even gone on the date with him yet when he sees me with a friend and he automatically gets that kicked puppy look.
Neil broke the awkward moment I had created by busting into a peal of obnoxiously loud laughter.
"Awe, Gunjan, I think you gave the poor guy a heart attack." he laughed.
I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee calmly. Serves him right for haunting my thoughts all morning.
Neil shook his head, still chuckling as he pushed himself up from the table.
"I'm going to go call Sam." he told me, his amusement shinning through his big brown eyes. "He'll get a kick out of this one."
I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks a lot, Buddy." I grumbled.
He winked at me and started to walk away but then he turned back to Samrat, giving him a pitying look.
"Good luck." he said, patting him on the back. "She's quite the little fire cracker."
I huffed. All of my friends have turned on me.
Neil walked away smirking as if he could tell what I was thinking. He gave me a thumbs up behind Samrats back before letting the door to the coffee shop fall closed behind him. I could see him talking animatedly into his cell phone outside and I rolled my eyes. Sam was going to give me hell about this. I guarantee it.
Samrat cleared his throat awkwardly and I chuckled when I saw he looked just as confused as I usually felt.
"You're looking a little confused there, truck-napper." I said idly. I smirked as Beatrice reared her fiery head again.
"'And civil. Civil as an orange and something of that jealous complexion.'"
He smirked a little at that as if he couldn't help himself.
"How many voices are in your head?" he asked, amused.
I shrugged. With the shoulder angels, the nagging conscious, gay Yoda, and various Shakespeareancharacters I'd lost count. Is that a bad thing?
I motioned to the seat Neil had just vacated and he ran his hand through his hair, eyeing me warily before sighing and taking the seat.
"So... what just happened here, DB?" he asked, looking over his shoulder where we could see Neil through the window, holding his stomach- laughing as he retold the scene to Sam.
I snickered, drawing Samrat's attention back to me.
"You were being all territorial so I used my wit to defuse the situation." I said simply, fluttering my eyelashes dramatically.
He looked like he was about to protest but I shot him a look that shut him up. We both knew he had reverted to his caveman days there for a second.
"Are you sure he knows you were using him to put me in my place?" He said, casting another look out the window and I laughed.
"First of all, I don't use my friends." I insisted. "And secondly if you keep staring at him his boyfriend is going to get testy."
His head whiped back to me and I smirked.
"And you don't want Sam mad at you." I said seriously. "He's a big guy."
"What?" he coughed, shock written all over his handsome face.
I nodded gravely.
"Yeah. All of those boys are huge." I said thoughtfully. It was so crazy. Neile joked that it was something in the water.
"And don't think that just because he's gay means he won't kick your butt if you're staring at Neil." I added. "Because he will."
"Wait, wait, wait." Samrat interrupted, holding his hands in front of him. "I was not staring at any men."
I cracked up. I was pretty sure my truck-napper liked woman. I mean it goes without saying but it was so much fun to tease him.
"So he's... gay?"
I nodded. I'm sure I looked like the cat that ate the canary.
"And you're friends?"
I nodded again, feeling pretty dang smug. I could see the wheels turning, trying to keep up with the last five minutes and then a smirk pulled one side of his mouth up. It wasn't one of the smirks I was used to. This one meant trouble and I gulped as he leaned over the table towards me.
"Oh, Gunjan." he said, his tone that of warning. "That was not very nice."
I swallowed.
"I'm sorry?" I breathed. It came out as a question.
He chuckled, tucking some hair behind my ear.
"Are you?" he questioned, quirking one devious eyebrow as he leaned even closer.
I nodded just barely as his hands slid up to cup my face. My eyes slid closed.
"I suppose I could forgive you." he whispered seductively, his lips brushing my forehead.
My heart went into hyper drive, beating away in my throat.
And then he was gone.
My eyes crept open after a moment, a much more difficult task than closing them had been. Samrat was sitting back in his chair, smirking- arms crossed over his chest as if nothing had just happened.
I narrowed my eyes at him, letting my gaze wander to the salt shaker on the table. I had to fight the urge to throw it at him.
"Who's not playing nice now?"
He chuckled.
"I don't know what you're talking about, DB." he lied easily.
I was still contemplating which would make the best weapon- the salt shaker or the cream pitcher, when his phone rang.
"Hey, Mayank." he said pleasantly, leaving me to grumble to myself.
I palled. No, no, no! This was not good. We hadn't had a chance to talk about my aversion to sharing unnecessary details with our friends yet. I'm pretty sure Mayank had his suspicions already because of us both disappearing during the night of a thousand strippers but I didn't need to solidify that assumption by letting him know we've been spending more time together. And God forbid he found out that we had a date! That news would spread like wild fire to his yappy fiance. She kind of reminded me of one of those little dogs that thinks it's a Doberman. They grab a hold of your pant leg(because it's the only thing they can reach,) and hold on mercilessly. I say this in the most loving way possible of course. But she was going to go all miniature pincher with this info, merciless and relentless.
"Just a second, Mayank."Samrat said into the phone, eyeing me curiously. "Gunjan's waving her hands around like she's trying to land a Boeing 447."
I stopped flailing and slapped my forehead. Honestly? Did he do this on purpose?
"Yeah, she's sitting right here." he continued, oblivious to my stink eye.
He chuckled at something Mayank said before covering the phone with his and and turning his attention to me.
"Yes?" he prompted.
I narrowed my eyes to an almost impossible slit.
"Why did you tell him that?" I demanded.
He winced, amusement gone as he realized I was pissed. He's lucky he's so inhumanly beautiful.
"Was I not supposed to?" he asked timidly.
I blew out an indignant breath and held out my hand to him, motioning towards the phone. Now I had to do damage control. I'd explain to Samrat later but I can almost hear Alice's screeching from here. Then there's Adhiraj's jokes... Oh this must be rectified.
Samrat looked at my outstretched hand for a moment before his eyes landed back on my face, looking quite dubious. He was debating handing over his phone.
The cream pitcher was heavier but it was mostly rounded where as the salt shaker had some sharper edges. Decisions, decisions.
I made the very difficult decision to put aside physical weapons and implement emotional warfare. I pouted, begged with my eyes. I implored.
Samrat sighed in defeat, breaking our stare down.
"Mayank?" he removed the muffle of his hand from the receiver. "Gunjan wants to talk to you." A short pause. "I think I'm in trouble."
I had one thing to say when he handed me the phone dutifully.
"He's stalking me."
Mayank laughed loudly.
"And that makes you the innocent, victim-like, stalkee does it?"
I nodded whole heartily.
"Undoubtedly."
Mayank laughed again. Jerk.
"Don't tell Nupur." I pleaded.
Still laughing.
"Why would I keep a secret from my Nupur?" he chuckled.
I sighed.
"Because she'd torture me until the day I died." I supplied hopefully.
Nothing. I huffed.
"Because I'd owe you for life?" I tried again.
"Hmm." He thought momentarily. "That's a very tempting offer."
I brightened with hope.
"But then again," he drawled. Crap on a stick. "Nupur has the power to make my life hell too, Gunjan. And if she finds out that I kept something from her..."
"She won't find out?" I don't know why I even tried. We both know there was no way Mayank would keep something from her. Why couldn't Samrat be Adhiraj's cousin? No- he had to be related to the one with a moral compass.
"Gunjan." Mayank admonished. "Nupur knows everything." His voice took on a note of dark foreboding that made me laugh despite everything.
"Can you help me out here at all?" I begged. "After all I am the one that pointed you out to Nupur that first day on the football field."
I crossed my fingers. Please, please, please.
"You were laughing because I fell." He reminded me dryly.
I winced.
"Please." I begged.
He sighed.
"This is between you and my cousin." he said finaly. "I won't say anything unless she asks."
I grinned. No- I beamed.
"Awe, Mayank." I cheered. "Thank-"
"Don't get too excited." he interrupted me. "I love you but if she asks I will sing like a canary."
"That's just fine, canary." I snickered. "But no offering her any theories."
"And you don't offer up any details." he compromised. "If you end up preggo with some freaky haired baby I have two words for you-"
"Shut up!" I was mortified, my cheeks the brightest shade of red known to mankind. Samrat was sitting right there. What if he heard? I take back what I said about Mayank back in chapter#2. He's not the brother I never wanted but loved anyway. He was the brother that you shove in the dishwasher the minute Mom turns her back.
"The stork." he finished dramatically, a hint of pride at his own cleverness annoyingly evident.
"I've got to go." I said smoothly, much smoother than I thought possible around the mortification. "Samrat is looking really impatient. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable but your call kind of interrupted something I'd really like to finish."
And I flipped the phone shut and set it on the table in front of me with a little more force than usual. Two could play that game!
The next five very long seconds(I counted) were spent in silence, me trying to avoid Samrat's questioning gaze.
"Well." he said, raising one eyebrow. "That was interesting."
I reddened even more if possible, shifting around in my seat.
"He was being a monkey anus." I explained. "I wanted to make him squirm."
He thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"I'm sure you have succeeded."
I smiled, a bit sheepish and then cleared my throat, back to business.
"He said he wouldn't tell Nupur if she didn't ask."
He shrugged.
"She'll ask." he said confidentially, taking a chug from his coffee.
"So, why don't we want our friends to know?" He asked, looking over the top of the cup with eyebrows raised.
"Because they're our friends." I said simply, not trying to hide the 'duh' in my voice.
"Nupur." I elaborated, making the name a whole sentence. "Suhu."
I paused for dramatic effect before continuing with the grand finale.
"Adhi."
He nodded.
"Understood." he grimaced. "But they're going to find out eventually."
I quirked an eyebrow.
"Why is that?" I asked. "Maybe we won't want to go on another date after this. Maybe we won't have anything to talk about. Maybe it'll be awkward and there will be loads of conversational lulls. Perhaps we're better suited to be enemies. Maybe you'll decide I'm not all that interesting after all."
"I sincerely doubt that." he snorted. "You're definitely interesting."
I narrowed my eyes at him and he smiled sheepishly.
"You've given this a lot of thought?" he ventured.
I shrugged. Dang. And my blush had just started to fade.
"You honestly think it's going to be that awful?" he asked seriously.
I gnawed on my lip, considering the best way to answer. I wasn't fully sure what he saw in me that made him so unrelenting in his chase but I was afraid once he got to know me he'd realize it was all in his imagination. Either that or once the chase was over he'd feel his mission a success and scamper off. There were just so many things that could go wrong.
I settled on a shrug.
"It's a possibility."
He studied me for even longer before lifting the cup up again- this time in a salute of sorts, a devilish grin on his face.
"I'm prepared to prove you wrong."
Well cheers
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