He looked up into his brothers pleading eyes and spoke out once again in a strict over bearing voice.
"No! I said no!" harshly holding his hand up in what was a clear refusal.
"But Bhai, I really want to go see Payal ji, I mean, it would mean so much to us both..." he started.
"Aakash. This is all nonsense, said by someone stupid" he indicating NK standing by the corner of the pool who made an effort to look offended "This horoscope nonsense, it means nothing, and there is no way I am driving over to that house tonight" he finished, thinking of her as he did. No matter how much he wanted to help Aakash, he knew it was way too big a blow to his ego and pride to go marching over to her tonight.
Aakash looked down, flipping his phone in his hands, thinking of how to get over there with someone as a lookout.
***
"Jiji, Buaji has been calling me since yesterday, she says she has something she wants to show me, Ill go over in" she looked up at the clock hung high against their wall, 11.40 "ten minutes, and I'll keep her busy, you know how quickly she will forget that she was supposed to keep an eye on you. Aakash ji will definitely come!"
She jumped out of the bed and watched Payal staring out of the window, beaming at how happy her sister looked she ruffled through her hair once kept in place by a tight plait and let it cascade down her back, falling in loose waves from being tied up all day.
She looked at the clock once more before she headed out to her Buaji's room. 11.50. She thought of him as she moved, thinking of all the outrageous things he had said and irking away at the nagging feeling she felt at the pit of her stomach that told her she wanted to see only him.
***
He quickly leaned up off of the tree he was resting against and clicked his fingers, eliciting a response from both Arnav and Aakash who had been lost in thought.
"Idea guys!" he exclaimed, watching Arnav roll his eyes at him and calmly resume working on his laptop. He ignored him and turned to Aakash instead who had stopped mid way through flipping his phone over.
"So what if I'm not allowed to drive here? Aakash, BHAI!" NK exclaimed, walking up to him and patting him on the back "If Nanav doesn't want to go, so what?" he said, as Arnav looked up from his laptop in anger "I can be a lookout, I would be great as a lookout" he said, mimicking goggles with his hands "You can see Payal Ji, and I might as well go and see Khushi J..." he stopped mid sentence as Arnav snapped his laptop shut and walked towards the door that led back into the house.
"Lets go" he called behind him angrily to Aakash as he walked off in a rush.
NK smiled to himself as Aakash swiftly turned around and followed his brother, he hadn't missed the eye lock earlier. He might appear light headed and hearted, but he never hid his emotions. He was never afraid of his feelings, and he could see, more clearly than on a bright summers day, when people were scared of showing their own.
***
Buaji ruffled around with Khushi's hair and eagerly clipped pins in place to hold the dress together in places where it was loose, and that was a lot of places. Khushi nervously looked back at the window for what seemed like the hundredth time in the space of several minutes. She wasn't sure whether she had imagined the sound of a roaring engine until Buaji turned up at the window.
"Hai? This late, who coul.."
"Buaji!" Khushi almost screamed "look how good it looks" she exclaimed, turning around so the decorated fabric swayed against her pale skin, the beads bringing out the light in her eyes. Her hair brushed past her back in waves as she twirled, recapturing her Buaji's attention, and catching a glimpse of the clock on one of her turns. 11.59.
***
Arnav cursed his luck as Aakash jumped out of the car and he looked into the mirror ahead of him to see NK sitting in the back seat, searching the house. He had tried to shake him off but found that NK had been all too eager to follow Aakash on his mission.
He looked over at the clock on the car, and turned back towards the house, watching from the corner of his eyes as the numbers flipped to 12.00, he caught a flash of purple as Payal helped Aakash through the window and finally, his eyes settled on red and gold.
Any part of her would have been enough to steal his heart, he realised, as he watched her, looking like an angel in the wrong place, that he would swallow his pride and ego any time to be able to see her. Well, that is what it felt like in that moment anyway. He froze for a second, not knowing what to do with himself as he felt heat course through his body, throbbing against his temples and making his heart beat hard against his chest.
She hadn't seen him, she was too busy smiling and twirling, holding her dress up slightly in clutched fists. Arnav was suddenly aware of where he was and who he was with. Turning in his seat he saw NK's eyes searching the house, and they were slowly wavering towards where she was.
Before he knew what he was doing, he had bent over in his seat and landed a punch straight against his cousin's jaw, watching as he stumbled back from the unexpected blow and hit the seat in a fumble. Arnav contemplated for a second over what he had just done. Knocked out his cousin because he was about to look at someone at midnight? Hadnt he not just spent the last 20 minutes trying to convince Aakash that this was all nonsense? Somehow, even the chance of something coming true, no matter how small, was enough for him when she was concerned.
The sound of NK passing out against the car reached the lit room as Buaji scrambled up towards the window. Khushi held on to her aunt, stopping her before she reached the window, she saw the glow of a white SUV parked right next to their house.
"Buaji! Look! You pricked me with one of the pins!" she lied "OW OW!" she cried, turning Buaji back around for the second time as she looked out of the window.
"Buaji! Here!" she threw the scarf of her heavy dress at her aunt "Take out all the extra pins from this here, I want to try on the whole outfit, let me just go and get rid of this pin in my back okay?" she lied again, running out of the door in a rush with only her bare stomach standing out against the bright red of her clothes. She was going to check on Payal and Aakash and see why they were making so much noise. They would be dead if Buaji found out.
***
"Shit!" he said, looking back at NK sleeping against the back seat, he jumped out of the car and headed towards their front door to tell Aakash to get back quickly. He was also hoping, deep inside his chest, that he would get the chance to see her again.
She stepped out of the main door, marching towards the car parked behind the steps and found that before she got very far, she collided with a lean figure, sending warmth through her body as she felt a rapidly beating heart thud against her own.
Hope you enjoyed reading it, I may think of another part to this if you guys really want one, otherwise I won't bother. Please do check out my INDEX for my other works and please leave likes, comments and criticism.
Love, Hayley x
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