He then extended his hand towards the girl for her to reach, but she kept running to try and grab it.
But our boy started to look agitated as he pictured the girl running in slow motion towards him with romantic instrumental music playing in the background.
"See! Some things never change!" Simran smiled.
"Would you hurry up?!" the boy shouted at the girl. "My hand's not going to be here forever!"
"I'm trying! Can't you seem I'm running here?!" the girl retorted.
"And then...some things do change." Raj said, walking away while Simran as she rolled her eyes.
The boy rolled his eyes as the girl finally caught his hand and he pulled her inside. As she was pulled in, she kicked him in the knee, heading towards her seat.
"Dude! That's what I get for helping?!"
"First off, I'm not a dude! And second, learn how to talk to girls!"
"Its not my fault you took so long to run here! Who wears heels to the train station anyway?! And now that I think about it, you could've just ran to the compartment that was open right before me!"
"And you could've pulled the chain and stopped the train! Instead of making me run like a mad woman!"
"Feisty! Well now I know you're not my type!"
"Good! You're most certainly not mine!"
With that, the boy and the girl headed over to their seats where they realized they had the same seat to share. The two rolled their eyes as they sat down, looking away from one another. The train ride itself wasn't very long as it soon stopped by in front of the real destination. The boy and the girl got off the train as it took, and they both walked down the street towards the dock. And there, a grand ship was floating upon the waters with its name engraved on the side...The IshqTanic.
"IshqTanic! Now that's a hilarious name!" the boy laughed off.
"Of course you would laugh at that!" the girl rolled her eyes as she walked down the dock, entering inside the ship with the boy following.
The two then went their separate ways. The girl looked around the lobby room of the ship, admiring its overall appearance. "Maddy!" a girl, dressed in a fancy Versace dress, called out to her. And that was her name...Maddy.
Maddy turned around to the girl and exclaimed, "Shanaya!", giving her a hug.
"Finally you're here! I was looking all over for you!"
"Well you found me! By the way, I love the dress."
"Thanks! Its Versace."
"Figured as much."
"Anyways, how was your train ride?"
"Oh it would've been good...if it wasn't for that douchebag walking over there!"
Shanaya turned to the guy Maddy was pointing to, who was walking towards the receptionist's desk. Shanaya gasped and said, "Maddy! Do you know who that is?!"
"Who?!"
"That's Kabir Mehra! His dad is Kamal Mehra, owner of AyKa! He practically co-owns this ship with my dad before they sold it off to the Malhotras!"
"So what's he doing here?"
"Probably just passing time. I wouldn't be surprised."
Maddy looked at Kabir, seeing him give a charming smile at the receptionist as he kissed her hand and handed her a slip of paper that appeared to be his phone number. Maddy shook her head. "Womanizer."
"Ignore him! Just go to your room! I managed to get you a special suite!"
"How?! I'm working as a dancer here. They would never give me that."
"Well when your best friend is rich, anything can happen. Your welcome!"
"Thanks, Shanaya! I'll see you tonight then!"
With that, Maddy went in the elevator, heading up to the second floor where she walked down the hallway till she found her room, suite 201. "Amazing!" Maddy exclaimed, looking around the halls. "Its like a hotel...in a ship!"
Maddy took out her ID card, using it to open the door to her suite. As she entered inside, she closed the door, looking around in astonishment. The room had everything a girl could dream of. A walk in closet, velvet carpeting, a golden chandelier on the ceiling, a flat screen TV, and even a queen sized bed. Maddy put down her bags, looking out at the view of the waters outside from the window. Then, she heard a knock on the door. Maddy walked over to the door, opening it to see a young girl, dressed in a dressy white blouse, black pencil skirt, and black pumps, while holding a tray with fresh towels and two glasses of wine.
"Hi! I'm Janet, from room service."
"Oh hi! I'm Maddy."
"You need anything? Wine, towels etc.?"
"No, I'm good."
"Okay. Call me any time between two and eleven! After that, I'm usually somewhere in this ship on a hangover!"
With that, Janet left while Maddy shut the door with a confused expression on her face.
Janet then walked down the hall to the next room, knocking on the door of suite 202. She knocked on the door and that was when a tall, handsome young man, holding a neuroscience textbook in his hand opened for Janet. "Yes?" the guy asked.
"Hi! I'm Janet, from room service."
"Okay."
"And you are?"
"What's it to you?"
"Common courtesy, big boy! Just be polite!"
"Nikhil. Nikhil Bharadwaj."
"No formalities needed! You need anything? Like some wine?"
"I don't drink."
"Boy, I think you need one. I got two to share!"
"Shouldn't you not be drinking on the job? Its practically illegal."
"Well then half of my life is illegal!"
"Okay...I should go back to work. Bye."
With that, Nikhil closed the door while Janet remained standing outside. "Oh well! More for me then!" Janet exclaimed as she took a glass of wine from the tray and started drinking it down.
Once evening time came, guests of the IshqTanic had come to the ballroom where a special dinner event was being held. And Shanaya was dashing around the ballroom, making sure everything was going well for the party. "Man! I had to sign up as an event planner on this ship!" Shanaya whined. She then went over to the bar, where a young bartender was preparing for the job. "Hey Humpty Dumpty!" Shanaya called out to the bartender.
"Its just Humpty! Make it stay like that!" the bartender replied.
And that was Humpty.
"You know someone will say that once they see your name tag."
"I'm just lucky your dad was nice enough to give me a job on this ship."
"Dad will do anything to make you stay one hundred yards away from my sister after the bathroom incident-"
"DON'T...bring it up!"
"All right! Now...are we fully stocked on drinks?"
"From vodka to champagne...we got it all."
"Perfect! Now we wait for the Malhotras to arrive!"
On the other side of the ballroom, Nikhil was sitting at a table, reading from the Neuroscience textbook he had. It wasn't until Kabir came by and snatched the book from his hands that Nikhil's attention was taken away. "Come on, man! Give it!" Nikhil exclaimed.
"Dude...don't study at a party! There's everything here! Girls, booze...and more girls!"
"I'm not interested."
"Nikhil, I brought you on this ship to take you away from studying!"
"And that's exactly what won't get me into medical school! And then I'll have to take the beating from my dad!"
"At least have a drink!"
"Kabir, you know I don't drink."
"Hello! This is Janet! Your server for the evening!" Janet greeted Kabir and Nikhil as she came, holding a tray with glasses of champagne. "Oh its you! Nick, right?"
"Nikhil." Nikhil corrected Janet in an annoyed tone as he looked back at his book.
"Sorry about my friend! He's a bit of a downer at parties." Kabir said.
"No kidding!" Janet exclaimed.
"Don't mind him!" Kabir told Janet. "If you're free after the party-"
"Nice try, hot shot! I'm outta here by eleven." Janet said and then headed off to another table.
"You think you're so smooth!" Nikhil rolled his eyes at Kabir.
"I swear...its been seven hours on this ship...and no girl holding my arm yet," Kabir said as he took a sip from a glass of beer in his hand. "My bad luck."
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Shanaya called out to everyone in the ballroom through the microphone in her hand as she stood on the ballroom dance floor. "Its my pleasure that we all welcome the lovely couple who not only owns this beautiful ship, but are also celebrating their love for twenty years! Please give it up for Mr. Raj Malhotra and his lovely wife, Mrs. Simran Malhotra!"
The guests clapped as Raj and Simran entered onto the dance floor, hand in hand as they both gave Shanaya a hug. "All yours!" Shanaya told Raj as she handed him the microphone.
Raj cleared his throat before he spoke into the microphone, "Good evening everyone! Hope you all are having a good time! I want to start my speech by talking about this ship. Some of you may be wondering...who thought of the name IshqTanic?! Well, blame my wife for that!"
The guests laughed as Simran stood, shaking her head.
"I know its cheesy. But then again, everyone needs some cheddar in their life," Raj continued. "After twenty years together, I never thought I'd see myself with Simran here before all of you. So to celebrate our love, and all the potential lovers out there, I raise a toast to you all! Cheers to love!"
The guests clapped as they raised their glasses for a toast while Shanaya came back on the dance floor with Raj handing her the microphone.
"Now, for the entertainment of the night, please welcome our dancers to the dance floor!" Shanaya announced while the guests clapped.
As the curtains were pulled, eight dancers entered the dance floor, dressed in sparkly red dresses. And one of those dancers happened to be Maddy. And while Kabir and Nikhil were sitting from their table, Kabir couldn't help but be drawn towards Maddy as he took a sip from his glass of wine.
"Wow! Feisty girl's a dancer now!" Kabir exclaimed.
"Who are you talking about now?!" Nikhil asked, annoyed.
"Cute girl in the middle." Kabir pointed out.
Once the music commenced, the dancers began their dance, tapping their feet as they started performing a jazz dance, prancing their feet and hands all over the place. Maddy was getting really into the dance, with Shanaya looking on so cheerfully.
"She's on fire." Kabir said as he finished his glass of wine.
"Who is?!" Janet asked as she sat down at the table.
"Shouldn't you be working?!" Nikhil asked Janet, irritated.
"Just shut up and watch, boy!" Janet exclaimed as she took a piece of bread from the table and started eating it. "This bread is good!"
As Maddy continued dancing, she then made eye contact with Kabir, who was watching her like an innocent puppy with that sly smirk on his face. Seeing him, Maddy tripped and fell on the dance floor while the other dancers were left confused. While the guests looked confused, Kabir then got up from his table and headed over to the dance floor where he extended his hand to Maddy, pulling her up into a sudden swing dance while the other dancers played along, getting other people from the audience to join in.
"What are you doing?!" Maddy questioned Kabir as he twirled her around. Before he could answer, he finished things off by turning Maddy around and dipping her while the other dancers posed. "I just saved your routine," Kabir told Maddy. "Free of charge!"
While the audience stood up and clapped, the dancers and even Kabir all took a bow.
"Aww...those two remind me of me and my fifth ex-boyfriend...before he got hit by a bus!" Janet exclaimed as she clapped.
"That's so horrible." Nikhil said, shocked.
"Not really! He deserved it!" Janet replied.
Around eleven, the party was over and guests were heading back to their rooms on the ship. Janet was gathering leftover wine glasses and came over to the bar where Humpty was cleaning up. "Here, Humpty Dumpty!" Janet exclaimed, handing the wine glasses to Humpty.
"Why does everyone call me that?!"
"Suck it up, big boy! You've got a lot of glasses to wash!"
"Aren't you helping?!"
"No! I'm off duty now!"
Janet grabbed two bottles of beer from the bar stand and left, while Humpty shook his head.
Maddy was standing near a table where a bottle of wine and some glasses were left. She looked around and then took a glass and poured the wine into it, taking a sip. "Never had wine before?" Kabir asked Maddy, sneaking behind her and startling her.
"What the hell! You scared me!"
"Good. How's the wine?"
"Pretty good actually."
"Better yet...how was I tonight?"
"You love hearing praise about yourself, don't you?!"
"Admit it! You loved having me there, didn't you?!"
"Well...you did rescue the dance."
"Now I'm getting somewhere with you! So...are you going to have that wine alone, or do you mind sharing?!"
Maddy shook her head as she poured a glass of wine for Kabir.
"Aww...I ship those two!" Shanaya exclaimed as she watched Maddy and Kabir from the bar, popping herself a glass of champagne.
"And I shipped a pair of Gucci glasses to my sixth ex-boyfriend!" Janet said as she came by, taking another bottle of beer. "He still didn't take me back!"
"Well someone's bitter." Shanaya rolled her eyes.
"Jesus, how much beer are you taking, woman?!" Humpty asked Janet.
"Enough to fill up my truck!" Janet replied. "Which is still in need of repair!"
After drinking three glasses of wine, Kabir and Maddy had finished the entire wine bottle at their table. They were giggling and shaking so much that one could easily tell...they were drunk. The two started walking towards the elevator together, with Maddy wrapping her arm around Kabir's arm while Kabir held onto her as they went onto the second floor.
"Where are we going?!" Maddy exclaimed as she held onto Kabir.
"I don't know! I need to lie down!" Kabir said as he started fidgeting with his ID card to open the door of his room.
"Um...are you guys, all right?" Janet asked as she came by to Kabir and Maddy. "You know...I'm surprised I'm the one who's sober here!"
"We're fine! I just need a nap!" Maddy exclaimed.
"Same here!" Kabir chuckled as he opened the door. "Bye!"
"You sure you guys don't need anything?" Janet asked as Kabir and Maddy entered the room and then shut the door. "Okay then...looks like that ship has sailed!"
Janet turned around, grabbing the three beer bottles she took from the bar, and saw Nikhil walking by. "Have you seen Kabir?" Nikhil asked.
"Yes!" Janet replied. "And let's just say...he's been shipped!"
In the morning, Maddy was sound asleep in bed, snuggled under the blanket. She then opened her eyes, waking up. But once she turned to the side, she made a shocked expression on her face, seeing Kabir on the other side of the bed, asleep. Maddy sat up in bed and was stunned to see she was holding onto Kabir's shirt, while wearing his blazer over her dress. In anger, Maddy threw the blazer and shirt off the bed and started hitting Kabir, shouting, "You idiot! What did you do?! Get up! Get up!"
"OWW!" Kabir shouted as he then fell off the bed. "What the hell is wrong with you, woman?!"
"Wrong with me?! What are you doing in the same bed as me?!"
"I don't know! I was so drunk that the last thing I remember was both of us getting all touchy touchy before-"
"SHUT UP! EWW! I can't believe this!"
"Oh come on! Its not that bad!"
"Not that bad?! Not that bad?! I can't believe I was drunk and did stuff with you!"
"It obviously didn't go too far! I still have clothes on!"
"You are sick! Do you not see how wrong this is?!"
"Please! This is like kid stuff in America!"
"Well we're not in America, are we?!"
"You need to relax! I'm used to things like this!"
"What?! You mean...this was just a fling to you?!"
"I didn't mean that-"
"So I'm just one of those girls you play around with for a while like a Barbie doll and then throw them in the dumpster?!"
"You're getting it all wrong you know!"
"And I was actually swayed by your talks!"
"Maddy, please-"
"Don't call me that! You know what?! I'm leaving!"
With that, Maddy got up, grabbed her shoes and stormed out of the room, leaving Kabir alone.
"Girls!" Kabir shook his head.
As Maddy walked in the hall, Janet came by, holding a tray with wine glasses and towels.
"So how was last night?" Janet asked Maddy.
"NOT TALKING ABOUT IT!" Maddy yelled as she headed inside her room.
Janet shook her head. "Looks like the ship has sunk." Janet nodded.
