Posted:
This was my entry for the short story competition just recently held, and thanks to everyone who voted for me! I'm thrilled about actually winning something, I never thought I would!
I do hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think!
Enjoy!
Love,
Radz
I do hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think!
-||-
Of Conspiracies & Plotting
A young woman dashed across the street, her bag held over her head in a futile attempt to protect herself from the onslaught of rain. Her run was short, less than a minute long, still she was drenched by the time she stood at the door to Madiha's Masti. She wrung her dark hair, trying to make herself appear more presentable before giving up. It was not as though she needed to impress the person she was meeting anyways, and it was cold outside. She needed coffee, she decided as she pushed open the door. The bell chimed above her, and a familiar head of brown curls exited the kitchen.
The owner of Masti greeted her cheerfully. "So, the usual?" Madiha's eyes twinkled, handing her regular customer a towel she had procured.
The other woman smiled gratefully, putting her bag down onto the counter and slipping out of her orange jacket. She rubbed herself down briefly before asking, "Is she here yet?"
Madiha did not need clarification. There were only a number of people who frequented her cafe as often as this group of friends, and only one other member of said group was here at the moment. "At your table."
Another smile was flashed in her direction before the young woman picked up her stuff and walked towards the table by the corner. One hand held the towel to the base of her neck as she continued to dry her hair distractedly.
"Have you seen this rain?" her friend greeted her, staring out in awe at the sleek of water pouring from the heavens.
She shot her friend and incredulous look. "Seen?" she scoffed. "I was caught in it, genius." She sank gratefully into the chair opposite her companion. "Why'd you call me here anyways?"
A smirk graced the other woman's face, her striking grey eyes gleaming. A rumble of thunder seemed to coincide with the wariness that grew in her friend's heart. The weather complemented her mood. Something was going to go wrong. Lightening lit up the sky, casting their faces into unearthly shadows.
"I have a plan," her friend placed her fingertips together. The darker haired girl was half-expecting suspense music to play.
"For?" she prompted.
Grey eyes lit up with mischief. The other woman did not know if she should be worried or excited. The pair leant forward across the table and began to conspire. They missed an oddly dressed man take a seat the table next to theirs. He leant to one side, his hat obscuring his face from view.
He left only when they did, gleefully swinging their hands in time to the song they sang. He walked quickly in the opposite direction. He had information.
~~~~~
Elsewhere, a young man put a leg onto his desk, frowning at the file in front of him. His secretary paged him, and his frown deepened. He would give anything to have a hot secretary.
"Sir, you have a phone call," the tinny voice informed him.
He grunted in reply and picked up the phone. "Bass," he greeted curtly.
The pen he had been twirling slipped out of his fingers as he sat upright. "Is that so?" he breathed, his lips tilting upwards. "Good work Humphreys. Remind me to give you a raise."
He paused. "Alright then, remind me to start paying you."
He hung up the phone, his work forgotten. He stood up, letting the papers fall to the floor. He was gleeful, the rain doing nothing to dampen his mood. He glanced out the high-rise building to the sprawling metropolis beneath him. The Upper East Side was going to be quite shaken up with this news.
~~~~~
A doorbell rang in an apartment close by. A woman hastily switched off the gas and set aside her cooking before rushing to get the door. She opened it and a figure furtively stepped in, looking around suspiciously. The hat and trenchcoat were a dark brown, and completely wet.
"What the -" she looked in confusion at the man in front of her.
The figure help up a hand. "I have information for you," his voice was husky, and the hand did not match the whole picture. The 'man' had dainty hands, too small to belong to a male. The voice too, sounded fake. The woman rolled her eyes and yanked off the hat. Long dark hair tumbled down a familiar face.
"Meera," the 'man' whined. "Tum puri effect kharaab kar rahi ho!"
"Ravjot," Meera started. "Why are you wandering around dressed like a guy? Aur woh bhi, inn kapron mein?"
"Main kissi ka peecha kar rahi thi," Ravjot stated matter-of-factly. "And when you hear what I have to tell you, you'll be thankful."
"You were following someone?" Meera asked incredulously. "Why?"
"Kyunki mujhe shaq tha," Ravjot paused for dramatic effective. "Aur woh shaq sahi nikla."
"Kaunis shaq? Kaisi shaq?"
"Bhavna and Nonee are planning something." Ravjot declared. "I overheard Nonee call Bhav to Masti, and got suspicious, so I followed them there today."
Meera wrinkled her nose. When those two decided to plan something, things went horribly wrong. "What are they planning this time?"
Ravjot hesitated. "Woh kya hai ki, tumhe acha nahi lagega," she bit her lip.
"Kya acha nahi lagega?" Meera was getting annoyed.
"They'replanningtosetyouupwithafriendofChuck'sandChuckdidn'tknowaboutiteithersoIcalledDantotellChucksothatChuckcould fixthings."
Meera blinked. "Again, and slowly this time."
"They're matchmaking," Ravjot said. "You and a friend of Chuck's. Chuck doesn't know," she added. "Or didn't. I'm pretty sure Dan's told him by now, and he'll do something, you can be sure of it. Especially since he and Nonee had that fight last week."
Meera rubbed her forehead. "Didn't that last disastrous attempt with Asma and Eric teach them anything?"
"Well, it's not as though they knew about Farhan," Ravjot commented. The glare she received from her friend made her shrink back. She mimed locking her mouth and throwing away the key.
"And then the whole situation with Sameer and Shifali," Meera went on. "They almost broke them up!"
Ravjot let her friend rant, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from speaking up.
"Ab tum chup chap kharey rahogi ya kuch kahogi bhi?" Meera demanded.
"Tum bol rahi thi, toh maine socha," Ravjot trailed off. "Adi ko phone karey?"
Meera nodded. "That could work. He is one of the few people who can control those two."
A crash of thunder punctuated her remark, causing Ravjot to jump and shriek. Meera smiled grimly as she picked up the phone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hello?" It was a female voice that answered. Meera was stunned.
"Radz? What are you doing with Adi's phone?" Aradhna sighed at the other end.
"Adi's ranting about how his sister is trying to meddle in his life again, and he's convinced she's plotting something," Aradhna sounded bored as she explained things to her friend.
"Nonee is planning something," Meera informed the younger girl. There was a beat, then muttered curses. "And Bhav's helping," she added. The curses grew louder and more inventive.
"I'm putting you on speaker, I think Adi needs to hear this as well." There was a beep sound, then Meera heard Adi's voice.
"What's the brat planning?" his fury was palpable even to Meera, and she was far from where he was.
"Don't worry Adi, it's got nothing to do with you," Meera soothed. "This time."
Aradhna spoke. "It's you isn't it?"
Meera sighed. "Yup. Lemme put you guys on speaker, Ravz has the information."
Ravjot bounded over to where Meera stood. "Radzie!" she squealed. "Are you and Adi dating?"
There was silence for a second before the two girls could hear peals of laughter over the line. The laughter was dying down when there was a muffled snort from Aradhna, and laughter broke out again.
"So no then?" Ravjot was disappointed.
"Absolutely not," Aradhna giggled. "I'm still on the BhavAdi bandwagon thank you very much."
Adi's laughter stopped abruptly. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I'm on the side that allows me to have the most fun," Aradhna retorted.
"Guys, focus," Meera scolded. "What do I do?"
"Go on the date," Aradhna replied promptly. Meera gaped in response. "Oh, close your mouth sweetie, and hear me out." Meera dutifully obliged while Ravjot wondered how Aradhna could see them from wherever she was with Adi. "Whenever the two of them attempt to matchmake, they follow the same framework. First, they'll arrange an event whereby the two they're trying to hook up will meet. Then, they'll arrange for the two to be left alone. And then, they spy on that couple."
"So, what?" Meera queried.
"So, you pretend like you don't know what's going on," Aradhna answered. "When whichever one of them calls you up, you agree to the plan, act normal. Then, when the day comes, you embarrass the heck out of them at the date."
Meera felt the beginnings of a smile. "That would be fun," she mused. "Can I call Chuck to help? He already knows."
"Chuck is one of the best people to help you," Aradhna admitted.
"And it's one of Chuck's friends that they're setting Meera up with," Ravjot piped up. "So he can help Meera, inform the guy beforehand."
"What's his name?" Aradhna asked, curiousity peaking.
Ravjot racked her brains. "Nick? No, no, Nate! Nate Archibald."
Aradhna gasped. "Nathanial Archibald?" she squealed. "Oh he's so cute, and so sweet."
"You know him?" Adi asked her.
"Yup, pretty well. He's a good friend of Blair's."
And that did explain everything. Aradhna had been living with Blair since their first year at New York University, and even after graduating from NYU, and Blair's engagement to Dan Humphreys, the two still stayed together. So it was obvious that she would have met this Nate.
"You know," Aradhna mused. "You and Nate would make a cute couple."
"Aradhna," Meera's voice held a note of warning.
"I'm just saying," Aradhna defended. "But now we have a plan, I'll talk to Blair, you call Chuck, and we'll send Adi with Starbucks to Bhav so that she'll spill the nitty-gritty details."
"Why do I have to go?" Adi asked.
"Because, one smile plus a dark chocolate mocha frappe and she'll love you for life," Aradhna explained. "Bye Meera, Ravz!"
"Bye you two," Meera replied. Meera hung up the phone only to spot Ravjot giving her a weird smile. "What?"
"Nothing," her friend sing-songed. "Can I stay here tonight?"
"Oh-kay," Meera gave her friend a look.
Ravjot skipped off towards the spare room before spinning around. She grabbed her head. "Head rush," she said. "One more time," she twirled quickly and once again, held her head with a hand. "That was fun," she giggled.
"Did you want something?" Meera asked in amusement.
"Oh, yeah," Ravjot giggled again. "I almost forgot. I need a change of clothes." She tugged at her wet shirt.
"Grab something from my closet," Meera told her friend, picking up the phone and dialling.
Ravjot nodded and turned and skipped off again, singing something under her breath. Meera shook her head and waited for someone to pick up the phone.
~~~~~
Three Months Later
Adi had an arm wrapped around his fiance, the beam on his face almost blinding. Or so his friends teased him. Bhavna's cheeks were flushed, and she kept stealing glances at the ring on her left hand. Aradhna shook her head in amusement. Another couple caught her eye, and she grinned.
Three months ago, Nathanial Archibald and Meera Dave had met up on a blind date, only the people setting up the blind date had not told them of the fact. Still, thanks to some pretty good spying on the part of Ravjot, the two had been warned in advance and had managed to turn it into a double date by dragging Chuck and Nonee along. The entire meal was spent with Meera embarrassing her younger friend, and Nate subtly egging her on. They had parted as friends, but two days later, Aradhna had gotten a phone call from Nate asking for Meera's number. They had never heard the end of it from Bhavna and Nonee.
Nate now bent forward slightly to whisper something in his girlfriend's ear which had her giggling slightly. Blair and her new husband only chuckled at the picture, Dan hitting his long-time friend's shoulder lightly to gain his attention.
"I cannot believe you Chuck Bass," Nonee seethed from somewhere close to Aradhna. The young woman sighed, wondering what had happened now that had the couple arguing before deciding that it was none of her business.
She made her way through the crowd to the balcony, cursing Bhavna for making her wear a dress. It was a pretty dress, but still, she never wore dresses and Bhavna knew that. Her shoulder hit somebody and the glass in her hand tilted. There was a wet brown stain on the young man's once pristine white shirt. Aradhna gasped. She opened her mouth to apologise.
"Dekh kar nahi chal sakti kya?" the man snapped, eyes blazing.
"Hello," Aradhna retorted, anger overriding common sense. "Galti ho gayi. Lekin tumhe aise baat karne ki koi zaroorat nahi," she sniffed haughtily. "Sadoo kahi ka."
"Sadoo?" the man repeated. "What do you think of yourself? The mistake was yours and you're insulting me?"
"I would have apologised if you hadn't been so rude," Aradhna replied. "But now I'm glad I ruined your shirt," she bit out. She turned on her heel. Her hair hit the man on his face, and he frowned, but she did not notice as she stalked off.
On the other side of the room, Bhavna exchanged glances with Nonee, identical smirks on their faces. Meera sighed and shook her head. "No," she said firmly.
"Come on Me," Nonee pleaded. "It worked for you?"
"And everyone else you tried?" Meera raised an eyebrow. "Your track record is horrible. So, no."
Bhavna attempted to look for backup from one of their other friends but Asma was curled up next to her husband on a chair, one of her hands resting on her now-showing belly. Shifali and Sameer, Prem and Zahra were at the table with them, and the six were deep in conversation. Ravjot was flirting, somewhat successfully, with a friend of hers. Saksham was playing with her hair, and Bhavna had a feeling Ravjot had no idea what she was saying. The rest of their friends were scattered around the room, and they were more than likely to sabotage this plan then to help.
Nonee sighed, defeated. "Fine," she groused. "I won't matchmake A with Adi's college friend, despite the fact that Mayank and A are perfect for one another."
Meera just looked at the younger woman. "You had better not," she remarked. "Aradhna knows many things about you that would interest Chuck," Bhavna chuckled. "And about you," Meera added drily. The smile fell from Bhavna's face.
Meera shook her head and started towards Nate. She could only hope that they would behave.
Of Conspiracies & Plotting
A young woman dashed across the street, her bag held over her head in a futile attempt to protect herself from the onslaught of rain. Her run was short, less than a minute long, still she was drenched by the time she stood at the door to Madiha's Masti. She wrung her dark hair, trying to make herself appear more presentable before giving up. It was not as though she needed to impress the person she was meeting anyways, and it was cold outside. She needed coffee, she decided as she pushed open the door. The bell chimed above her, and a familiar head of brown curls exited the kitchen.
The owner of Masti greeted her cheerfully. "So, the usual?" Madiha's eyes twinkled, handing her regular customer a towel she had procured.
The other woman smiled gratefully, putting her bag down onto the counter and slipping out of her orange jacket. She rubbed herself down briefly before asking, "Is she here yet?"
Madiha did not need clarification. There were only a number of people who frequented her cafe as often as this group of friends, and only one other member of said group was here at the moment. "At your table."
Another smile was flashed in her direction before the young woman picked up her stuff and walked towards the table by the corner. One hand held the towel to the base of her neck as she continued to dry her hair distractedly.
"Have you seen this rain?" her friend greeted her, staring out in awe at the sleek of water pouring from the heavens.
She shot her friend and incredulous look. "Seen?" she scoffed. "I was caught in it, genius." She sank gratefully into the chair opposite her companion. "Why'd you call me here anyways?"
A smirk graced the other woman's face, her striking grey eyes gleaming. A rumble of thunder seemed to coincide with the wariness that grew in her friend's heart. The weather complemented her mood. Something was going to go wrong. Lightening lit up the sky, casting their faces into unearthly shadows.
"I have a plan," her friend placed her fingertips together. The darker haired girl was half-expecting suspense music to play.
"For?" she prompted.
Grey eyes lit up with mischief. The other woman did not know if she should be worried or excited. The pair leant forward across the table and began to conspire. They missed an oddly dressed man take a seat the table next to theirs. He leant to one side, his hat obscuring his face from view.
He left only when they did, gleefully swinging their hands in time to the song they sang. He walked quickly in the opposite direction. He had information.
~~~~~
Elsewhere, a young man put a leg onto his desk, frowning at the file in front of him. His secretary paged him, and his frown deepened. He would give anything to have a hot secretary.
"Sir, you have a phone call," the tinny voice informed him.
He grunted in reply and picked up the phone. "Bass," he greeted curtly.
The pen he had been twirling slipped out of his fingers as he sat upright. "Is that so?" he breathed, his lips tilting upwards. "Good work Humphreys. Remind me to give you a raise."
He paused. "Alright then, remind me to start paying you."
He hung up the phone, his work forgotten. He stood up, letting the papers fall to the floor. He was gleeful, the rain doing nothing to dampen his mood. He glanced out the high-rise building to the sprawling metropolis beneath him. The Upper East Side was going to be quite shaken up with this news.
~~~~~
A doorbell rang in an apartment close by. A woman hastily switched off the gas and set aside her cooking before rushing to get the door. She opened it and a figure furtively stepped in, looking around suspiciously. The hat and trenchcoat were a dark brown, and completely wet.
"What the -" she looked in confusion at the man in front of her.
The figure help up a hand. "I have information for you," his voice was husky, and the hand did not match the whole picture. The 'man' had dainty hands, too small to belong to a male. The voice too, sounded fake. The woman rolled her eyes and yanked off the hat. Long dark hair tumbled down a familiar face.
"Meera," the 'man' whined. "Tum puri effect kharaab kar rahi ho!"
"Ravjot," Meera started. "Why are you wandering around dressed like a guy? Aur woh bhi, inn kapron mein?"
"Main kissi ka peecha kar rahi thi," Ravjot stated matter-of-factly. "And when you hear what I have to tell you, you'll be thankful."
"You were following someone?" Meera asked incredulously. "Why?"
"Kyunki mujhe shaq tha," Ravjot paused for dramatic effective. "Aur woh shaq sahi nikla."
"Kaunis shaq? Kaisi shaq?"
"Bhavna and Nonee are planning something." Ravjot declared. "I overheard Nonee call Bhav to Masti, and got suspicious, so I followed them there today."
Meera wrinkled her nose. When those two decided to plan something, things went horribly wrong. "What are they planning this time?"
Ravjot hesitated. "Woh kya hai ki, tumhe acha nahi lagega," she bit her lip.
"Kya acha nahi lagega?" Meera was getting annoyed.
"They'replanningtosetyouupwithafriendofChuck'sandChuckdidn'tknowaboutiteithersoIcalledDantotellChucksothatChuckcould fixthings."
Meera blinked. "Again, and slowly this time."
"They're matchmaking," Ravjot said. "You and a friend of Chuck's. Chuck doesn't know," she added. "Or didn't. I'm pretty sure Dan's told him by now, and he'll do something, you can be sure of it. Especially since he and Nonee had that fight last week."
Meera rubbed her forehead. "Didn't that last disastrous attempt with Asma and Eric teach them anything?"
"Well, it's not as though they knew about Farhan," Ravjot commented. The glare she received from her friend made her shrink back. She mimed locking her mouth and throwing away the key.
"And then the whole situation with Sameer and Shifali," Meera went on. "They almost broke them up!"
Ravjot let her friend rant, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from speaking up.
"Ab tum chup chap kharey rahogi ya kuch kahogi bhi?" Meera demanded.
"Tum bol rahi thi, toh maine socha," Ravjot trailed off. "Adi ko phone karey?"
Meera nodded. "That could work. He is one of the few people who can control those two."
A crash of thunder punctuated her remark, causing Ravjot to jump and shriek. Meera smiled grimly as she picked up the phone and dialled the familiar number.
"Hello?" It was a female voice that answered. Meera was stunned.
"Radz? What are you doing with Adi's phone?" Aradhna sighed at the other end.
"Adi's ranting about how his sister is trying to meddle in his life again, and he's convinced she's plotting something," Aradhna sounded bored as she explained things to her friend.
"Nonee is planning something," Meera informed the younger girl. There was a beat, then muttered curses. "And Bhav's helping," she added. The curses grew louder and more inventive.
"I'm putting you on speaker, I think Adi needs to hear this as well." There was a beep sound, then Meera heard Adi's voice.
"What's the brat planning?" his fury was palpable even to Meera, and she was far from where he was.
"Don't worry Adi, it's got nothing to do with you," Meera soothed. "This time."
Aradhna spoke. "It's you isn't it?"
Meera sighed. "Yup. Lemme put you guys on speaker, Ravz has the information."
Ravjot bounded over to where Meera stood. "Radzie!" she squealed. "Are you and Adi dating?"
There was silence for a second before the two girls could hear peals of laughter over the line. The laughter was dying down when there was a muffled snort from Aradhna, and laughter broke out again.
"So no then?" Ravjot was disappointed.
"Absolutely not," Aradhna giggled. "I'm still on the BhavAdi bandwagon thank you very much."
Adi's laughter stopped abruptly. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
"I'm on the side that allows me to have the most fun," Aradhna retorted.
"Guys, focus," Meera scolded. "What do I do?"
"Go on the date," Aradhna replied promptly. Meera gaped in response. "Oh, close your mouth sweetie, and hear me out." Meera dutifully obliged while Ravjot wondered how Aradhna could see them from wherever she was with Adi. "Whenever the two of them attempt to matchmake, they follow the same framework. First, they'll arrange an event whereby the two they're trying to hook up will meet. Then, they'll arrange for the two to be left alone. And then, they spy on that couple."
"So, what?" Meera queried.
"So, you pretend like you don't know what's going on," Aradhna answered. "When whichever one of them calls you up, you agree to the plan, act normal. Then, when the day comes, you embarrass the heck out of them at the date."
Meera felt the beginnings of a smile. "That would be fun," she mused. "Can I call Chuck to help? He already knows."
"Chuck is one of the best people to help you," Aradhna admitted.
"And it's one of Chuck's friends that they're setting Meera up with," Ravjot piped up. "So he can help Meera, inform the guy beforehand."
"What's his name?" Aradhna asked, curiousity peaking.
Ravjot racked her brains. "Nick? No, no, Nate! Nate Archibald."
Aradhna gasped. "Nathanial Archibald?" she squealed. "Oh he's so cute, and so sweet."
"You know him?" Adi asked her.
"Yup, pretty well. He's a good friend of Blair's."
And that did explain everything. Aradhna had been living with Blair since their first year at New York University, and even after graduating from NYU, and Blair's engagement to Dan Humphreys, the two still stayed together. So it was obvious that she would have met this Nate.
"You know," Aradhna mused. "You and Nate would make a cute couple."
"Aradhna," Meera's voice held a note of warning.
"I'm just saying," Aradhna defended. "But now we have a plan, I'll talk to Blair, you call Chuck, and we'll send Adi with Starbucks to Bhav so that she'll spill the nitty-gritty details."
"Why do I have to go?" Adi asked.
"Because, one smile plus a dark chocolate mocha frappe and she'll love you for life," Aradhna explained. "Bye Meera, Ravz!"
"Bye you two," Meera replied. Meera hung up the phone only to spot Ravjot giving her a weird smile. "What?"
"Nothing," her friend sing-songed. "Can I stay here tonight?"
"Oh-kay," Meera gave her friend a look.
Ravjot skipped off towards the spare room before spinning around. She grabbed her head. "Head rush," she said. "One more time," she twirled quickly and once again, held her head with a hand. "That was fun," she giggled.
"Did you want something?" Meera asked in amusement.
"Oh, yeah," Ravjot giggled again. "I almost forgot. I need a change of clothes." She tugged at her wet shirt.
"Grab something from my closet," Meera told her friend, picking up the phone and dialling.
Ravjot nodded and turned and skipped off again, singing something under her breath. Meera shook her head and waited for someone to pick up the phone.
~~~~~
Three Months Later
Adi had an arm wrapped around his fiance, the beam on his face almost blinding. Or so his friends teased him. Bhavna's cheeks were flushed, and she kept stealing glances at the ring on her left hand. Aradhna shook her head in amusement. Another couple caught her eye, and she grinned.
Three months ago, Nathanial Archibald and Meera Dave had met up on a blind date, only the people setting up the blind date had not told them of the fact. Still, thanks to some pretty good spying on the part of Ravjot, the two had been warned in advance and had managed to turn it into a double date by dragging Chuck and Nonee along. The entire meal was spent with Meera embarrassing her younger friend, and Nate subtly egging her on. They had parted as friends, but two days later, Aradhna had gotten a phone call from Nate asking for Meera's number. They had never heard the end of it from Bhavna and Nonee.
Nate now bent forward slightly to whisper something in his girlfriend's ear which had her giggling slightly. Blair and her new husband only chuckled at the picture, Dan hitting his long-time friend's shoulder lightly to gain his attention.
"I cannot believe you Chuck Bass," Nonee seethed from somewhere close to Aradhna. The young woman sighed, wondering what had happened now that had the couple arguing before deciding that it was none of her business.
She made her way through the crowd to the balcony, cursing Bhavna for making her wear a dress. It was a pretty dress, but still, she never wore dresses and Bhavna knew that. Her shoulder hit somebody and the glass in her hand tilted. There was a wet brown stain on the young man's once pristine white shirt. Aradhna gasped. She opened her mouth to apologise.
"Dekh kar nahi chal sakti kya?" the man snapped, eyes blazing.
"Hello," Aradhna retorted, anger overriding common sense. "Galti ho gayi. Lekin tumhe aise baat karne ki koi zaroorat nahi," she sniffed haughtily. "Sadoo kahi ka."
"Sadoo?" the man repeated. "What do you think of yourself? The mistake was yours and you're insulting me?"
"I would have apologised if you hadn't been so rude," Aradhna replied. "But now I'm glad I ruined your shirt," she bit out. She turned on her heel. Her hair hit the man on his face, and he frowned, but she did not notice as she stalked off.
On the other side of the room, Bhavna exchanged glances with Nonee, identical smirks on their faces. Meera sighed and shook her head. "No," she said firmly.
"Come on Me," Nonee pleaded. "It worked for you?"
"And everyone else you tried?" Meera raised an eyebrow. "Your track record is horrible. So, no."
Bhavna attempted to look for backup from one of their other friends but Asma was curled up next to her husband on a chair, one of her hands resting on her now-showing belly. Shifali and Sameer, Prem and Zahra were at the table with them, and the six were deep in conversation. Ravjot was flirting, somewhat successfully, with a friend of hers. Saksham was playing with her hair, and Bhavna had a feeling Ravjot had no idea what she was saying. The rest of their friends were scattered around the room, and they were more than likely to sabotage this plan then to help.
Nonee sighed, defeated. "Fine," she groused. "I won't matchmake A with Adi's college friend, despite the fact that Mayank and A are perfect for one another."
Meera just looked at the younger woman. "You had better not," she remarked. "Aradhna knows many things about you that would interest Chuck," Bhavna chuckled. "And about you," Meera added drily. The smile fell from Bhavna's face.
Meera shook her head and started towards Nate. She could only hope that they would behave.
-||-
Enjoy!
Love,
Radz
