Chapter 9

9

Kripa stormed into her house and threw her jacket on the couch. Simon followed her in as she slammed her hand on the table as she leaned forward on it. "How dare he humiliate me like that?" She grabbed the table cloth to control her anger. "Kripa please calm down and sit here." She pushed Simon away. "You dont understand Simon. He...he embarassed me in front of everyone!!"

"But kripa just try to understand how he must be feeling. He lost someone he loves and.."

"And what? Just cuz he lost someone doesnt mean I can stand losing my dignity!!" She grabbed the table cloth and flung it across the table, dropping everything that was on the table, onto the ground. "Kripa?" Simon grabbed her and pulled the chair closer so she could sit. When she was calmer, he kneeled in front of her, still holding her hand. "Kripa, I know what Angad did was completely wrong and if I could have stopped him, I would have..and I'm sorry I didnt. But the point is that youre Kripa Sharma. You never cared about what people thought of you..then why today?"

She thought about it. He was right. She couldnt let Angad disturb her to the point where she got aggressive. She looked at Simon and smiled. "Youre right Simon. I wont let him affect me." She smiled in that Kripa way again and kissed Simon's cheek. He smiled back. "Now thats like a good girl. Now you need to get ready so you can go to that meeting with Mr. Roy."

"Oh yea the meeting." She frowned. "I dont feel like going today." She wrinkled her nose in a cute way that made Simon smile. "Ok, you know what? Right after you get out of the meeting, we can go have a cozy dinner at the beach." She smiled again. "Ok!" She got up to go get ready and Simon sighed as he watched her leave. He was falling pretty fast for her. She wasnt what people thought she was, he thought. She might seem insensitive on the outside but she had this innocent girl hid somewhere inside her. He wished that someday Kripa would be able to break that shell around her and be herself.

While Kripa was busy at her meeting, Simon made preparations for their dinner. He was about to call to reserve a spot when his phone rang itself. He saw Angad's name flashing on it so he took a deep breath and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Simon!" He sounded like he felt relieved when Simon picked up the phone. "Angad? Whats wrong?"

"Simon, I just needed a quick favor, if you dont mind."

"Umm..sure. What do you need?"

"Can you please come with me to the last rights ceremony of Chandni. I dont wanna go alone."

"Oh. when is it?"

"Tonight. At 7.." Oh god, Simon sighed. Tonight he had made plans with Kripa and he knew she would get upset if he cancelled it. "Angad I...I mean, is there no one else you could go with?"

"Oh. I understand Simon. Its either Kripa or me..I understand." Simon felt bad for Angad because he was feeling really down. When Angad was about to hang up, Simon spoke up. "Angad! I'm sorry..I'll come."

"Are you sure? I dont want Kripa to get all mad..thats not a pretty side of her...But then again, she doesnt have a pretty side." Simon took a deep breath with the increasing complications between Angad and Kripa. "Dont worry Angad. But if you just try to understand Kripa.."

"I dont wanna do that again, Simon. Ive had enough. I'll see you at my place at 6:30."

"Ok." Simon hung up and then sat back on the sofa. What was he supposed to do now? Tell Kripa everything? No, that would mean more complications. But he couldnt lie to her. Honesty was the most important aspect of a relationship and he needed to maintain that.

Kripa walked into the living room with a smile and threw her bag on the couch. "Simon!!!" He walked out of the kitchen wondering why she was screaming. Kripa flung her arms around him and hugged him tight. "I signed my contract and now its official. Kripa Sharma will be The Star of Lakme India Fashion Week." Simon smiled and hesitantly hugged her back. Noticing a change in his body language, she let go and held his face. "Whats wrong, Simon?"

"Kripa..I Know I promised that we'd have dinner together tonight but.." She let go of him and turned away. "Let me guess..we cant go because Angad needs you." He looked up at her with a kind of shock. "How did you know?" She turned to look at him. "What else can it be? Its either me or Angad...and everytime, you chose your best friend over your girlfriend." She grabbed her bag from the couch and ran upstairs to her room. He wanted to go back and console her but it was 6:00 already and he had to leave to meet Angad. He sighed and grabbed his jacket and left.

Angad emersed Chandni's ashes in the river and then watched it float away to the depths. He just stood there, grief-stricken. Simon placed his hand on Angad's shoulder as he just stood there. "I will never forgive Kripa for whatever she has done." Simon didnt know what he was talking about but he knew that somehow Kripa had something to do with it. That maybe, she had told Chandni something that had upset everything. He didnt know the details but he still thought that Angad was blowing everything out of proportion.

"Come on Angad. Lets go back home." He nodded his head and turned around and walked away.

"Hello?" Kripa finally picked up Simon's phone call. "Kripa..why didnt you pick up my call earlier?" She didnt reply when he asked. "Good night Simon. I dont wanna talk right now."

"I understand. But I just wanna tell you that no matter how I feel about Angad..youre much more important to me than any friend I have. I just hope you understand my situation as I understand yours."

"Good night, Simon."

"Good night." Kripa hung up and sat back on her bed. That night she thought about everything. Angad was mad at her because she had told Chandni the truth. But had she really done something wrong? She wondered. Yes, she had told Chandni that she had slept with Angad just 3 weeks ago. Yes, she wanted to hurt Chandni for what she had told Kripa before. But she had never wanted Chandni to die. She knew Angad loved her but she didnt want his love to leave him like she had once left their relationship. Did she regret whatever happened between Angad and her 10 years ago? She didnt really know. It was a good part of her past and thats what she wanted it to be. Her past. Yet, Angad's return to her life had managed to stir up enough complications.

Kripa woke up early in the morning for her workout session again. Simon was still her personal trainer but she didnt expect him to show up. She walked towards her own little gym in the corner of her house when the doorbeel rang. She walked to the door and opened it. It was Simon. Surprised, she just stared at him for a while. "Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her, bringing her out of her trance. Before she could respond, he walked into the house. She turned around. "Simon, I thought you.."

"You thought that I wouldnt come back. Right? Oh come on Kripa, you know how I feel about you." He quickly kissed her cheek and walked to the gym, leaving her with a smile. "Ok so Kripa. First thing. The treadmill. I'll increase your speed to 6 today. When's your fashion week starting? I think we need to work out some plan before it does so you look your best. And, also, we need to..."

"Wait..are you back only for your job?" Simon took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "Well to be honest..I'm back for my boss. You know, she just too gorgeous to leave! I'd rather die than leave her!" He smiled seductively and Kripa smiled as she kissed his neck. "Thanks, Simon. Youre the best!"

It was finally the first day of the fashion week. Kripa woke up earlier than usual and drove to the venue. She quickly got out after parking her car when she realized that she left her keys in the car because she was in a hurry already. She was 15 minutes late. "Oh god!!" Kripa tried to open the door but she couldnt. "you need help?"

Kripa turned around to see who it was and then frowned when she saw Angad Khanna. "No thanks. I dont accept favors." She tried again to somehow open the door but was unsuccessful. Angad rolled his eyes and walked upto her. "Move." She looked at him with this annoyance. "No! I dont need your help." Angry himself, he held her by the shoulders and moved her to the side. Too shocked to say anything, she watched Angad pull out the pin from her hair and slide it into the car lock. When he opened the door, he took her hand and placed the pin in it. "This isnt a favor. I just didnt want you to mess this fashion week up for me."

She tried to control her anger as he walked away. This was going to be hard, she thought. It was the first day working with him and it had started off worse than she had ever imagined.

It was finally time for the first show. Kripa hurried in the dressing room and got into her outfit. The designer walked into the room and asked everyone to gather around him. "Ok guys, this is how its gonna be. First all the models are gonna walk the ramp like the rehearsals but in the end, instead of Kripa walking it alone, we're gonna have Angad walk with her. Kripa felt like someone had hit her in the stomach. "Wait..what do you mean? I thought I was walking it alone!"

"Well not anymore. Its both of you. The end." Kripa just gave Angad this look of hatred. This was going to be super hard!!!