Chapter 10
Note** Flashback in this one... I hope you ladies enjoy this part as much as I enjoyed writing it! And thank you SO VERY MUCH for all the comments!! They keep me inspired to write more for you guys... <333 enjoy my loves<33 ' Naina:)
4 Years ago
"How much longer are you going to take to get here?" he asked sounding extremely irritated. "I'm on my way dude! Chill! Take a look around, check out the chicks, have fun", replied his friend. "Samrat! I am serious! First off I didn't even want to come to this stupid fair and waste my weekend. And on top of that I have to stand here in this crowded, dirty place with a gazillion other people waiting for your lazy ass to show up! All I wanted to do was relax this weekend after working my ass off the entire week! But no! I have to stand here an'" he stopped short of words as he saw her in front of the cotton candy counter. "No way", he said under his breath. "Stop whining like a girl! I'm getting there, okay?" Samrat's voice echoed from the other end. "Hello??" he said after getting no reply from his friend. "Hmm, okay." Said Mayank in a much calmer voice and hung up the phone. Samrat, quite surprised to not hear him bicker about the "girl" comment looked at his phone confused and shook his head. It was an unimaginably difficult task to make Mayank do anything out of the ordinary. And anything "out of the ordinary" for Mayank would be to do anything apart from work, eat and sleep. He was basically living a robotic life and becoming a corporate slave day by day even at the young age of twenty three. But as fate would have it, his best friend couldn't digest the fact of him turning into a machine which needless to say is emotionless, living a monotonous life. And so after blackmailing him and threatening their friendship he finally got his friend to come and try and have fun. But samrat being a lazy ass himself got late after telling Mayank to not be. Which by the way he knew had pissed his friend off. BIG TIME.
As Samrat tried to hurry up to get there Mayank tried his hardest to hide behind counters or people while still keeping an eye on the beauty. It sounded so cliche; even to him. But he still couldn't stop the butterflies that were fluttering in his stomach... nor was he able to get rid of the embarrassment that had now followed up after their last meeting. He so wished right now he hadn't gone up to her at the club. She probably thinks I'm one of those guys who do that all the time. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He closed his eyes and frowned as he cursed himself in his head. As he opened his eyes he got startled mainly because of the girl who was standing right in front of him; staring at him with those dove shaped eyes with amusement. Then her eyes softened while her friends giggled and whispered at the back looking at the two of them.
"Wanna go on the ferris wheel?" she asked. To say that Mayank was confused by the abrupt question would be an understatement. He looked at her without saying anything while his head had a million questions and statements just bouncing around randomly. Is she talking to me? Is this really her? She looks so beautiful. Where is Samrat? Why is she standing right in front of me? What is wrong with the world right now? Have I finally completely gone bonkers or what?
"I don't think he wants to go with you Nupur!" her friends teased from behind. That brought him back to planet earth. He looked from her friends and back to her and then asked, "Ferris wheel?" "Yeah", she replied, "its right behind you." He looked in the direction she pointed to and then back at her. "You wanna go, or no?" she asked irritated by the starstruck expression he had on. An abrupt "Yes!" was his reply.
As they sat together and Mayank made no attempt to talk to her whatsoever she casually looked around at people. "You know we've met before right?" she heard his deep voice after a while asking her ever so politely. "Yeah", was all she said and then continued looking around. He cleared his throat to make the silence go away as the wheel started. She smiled at her friends and gently waved at them while he kept staring at her. She looked back at him and smiled. He couldn't help but smile back at her. "I've gotta say, You've got a really nice smile! I love those dimples" she said openly admiring him while he tried to be a man and not blush like a girl. Nupur giggled seeing his expressions change as he equally admired her with his eyes.
"what are you laughing about?" he asked as she continued to giggle; nonetheless he still smiled. "Nothing!" she said shaking her head and watching him become uncomfortable and wondering what was causing her to be so highly amused. "You're so cute. Stop being so shy Mayank and talk to me", she said unable to hold in the former comment. "Umm.. you..uhh", and at that moment he thanked his phone for ringing to stop him from embarrassing himself even more in front of her. "Sorry".."It's alright! You can take it", she said non chalantly. "Hello?" he said answering the phone. "Uhmm... I'll call you in a little bit. Why don't you just hang around for a while?"..."I know... I just met up with a friend", he said on the phone consciously gazing at Nupur; who had her eyes shut and face in complete bliss as the chilly wind blew her hair making her nose go red...but she seemed to be enjoying it, never the less. "I'll call you later!" he said now sounding irritated by the person on the other end.
After hanging up on the phone he looked at her and saw the same expression still on her face. They both felt the ride slowing down as it finally came to a complete stop. Their swing was still four swings away from the "getting off" point. "I'm not one of those guys", he said all of a sudden for which he got a confused look from Nupur. "You know, the ones who pick up girls at bars just so that they can sleep with them", he said it all in one breath, trying very hard to make her understand while the guy working on the ferris wheel stared at them. That was when he realized it was their turn to get off. Nupur laughed watching him getting off the swing in embarrassment while he glared at her...making her suppress her giggles. He gave her his hand like a complete gentleman and helped her get off the swing as well.
"I know", she said after walking beside him for a while in complete silence. "Huh?" he said taken by surprise. "I know you don't want to sleep with me", she said looking at him as he continued gazing at her. "Oh that...! Yeah...I mean I would NEVER...you know do such a thing..." he said not sure what exactly he was saying himself. "So you NEVER wanna sleep with me?" she said stressing on never as much as he was. "Huh..uhhm..erm", stuttered Mayank...completely at a loss of words. "You don't find me appealing?" she said very seriously but inside she was having the time of her life watching him go super nervous with her questions. "No! I never said that! You're extremely...uhmm appealing.. and I would definitely ..you know..any guy would?" he ended his sentence with a nervous glance at her. "So what you're saying is I look like a who**?!" she said sounding enraged but inside she was laughing her heart out at the dumbfounded expression he threw at her question. "What? NO! I never said that!!", he said cursing himself for all the foolish answers he was giving right here and mentally thinking how he was able to get those hard earned scholarships all those years when he can't even talk to a girl without making himself sound outrageously stupid.
All of a sudden he saw her stop and start laughing uncontrollably. He looked around and saw a few guys around (some even with girls on their arms) stare at this girl in awe as she bubbled with laughter. This made Mayank do something he had never done to any other girl before. He moved close to her and putting his arm around her he walked to a secluded corner as she continued to laugh and he continued to frown at other guys.
"You are so naive, Mayank! I had so much fun pulling your leg!" she said as her died down laughter started to come back to life once again. "Oh! So you were making a complete fool out of me and I went with the flow!" he said as an involuntary pout formed on his mouth. "Aww, you're so cute!" she said pulling his cheek. He shook his head.
"Oh shit!" she said looking at her cell phone to check the time. "Whats worng?" he asked not realizing that both his arms were holding her as his body hid her from the rest of the crowd. "I'm sorry but I have to go Mayank!" "Right now?" he asked with disappointment oozing out of his voice. "Yeah! I need to get back to my dorm or else I'll be in HUGE trouble!" she said sending a quick text to her friend. "Okay... uhmm so do you want to---" he couldn't complete his sentence as Nupur reached out and gently kissed him. It was a quick, gentle kiss, yet it managed to make him breathless. He slowly opened his eyes as she pulled back. "I'm studying at the University of Pearl High...I want to see you again, Mayank." "I want to see you again too", he whispered huskily. She smiled and nodded and then all of a sudden said "Bye" and ran off while he continued to stand there shaken up with the recent events.
"Mayank?" he heard her breathless voice as she ran back to him with her phone continuously vibrating in her pocket. "Yeah?" he said surprised to see her back. "I just want you to know I'm not one of those girls", she said smiling while he muttered a confused, "huh?" "You know... the ones who kiss guys they're not serious about on the first date", she said and winking at him she ran out to meet up with her friends while Mayank stood there dumbstruck and after finally letting her words sink in, he smiled...
Arjun
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