Akdha SS- ~A Secret Crush~ #3 Chapter-7, Pg.7 (16.07.17)

Chapter-6

The Now and The After

The Now

She liked the way he held her close, pressing closer every second- like he couldn't get enough, like he felt the way she felt about him.

She liked it too much, she supposed, because the next thing she knew, her arms slipped past his chest and knotted around his neck, and she only barely caught the sight of him, grinning, looking so much younger than he was. She smiled, too, her heart tripping at the sight of him leaning close, his eyes shut.

She didn't realize when her own eyes closed, her heart beating at a maddening pace, and she was so sure he could hear it, maybe that's what he was smiling about. "You make me feel.."he whispered, his lips brushing against hers, and she caught herself wishing he'd just come a bit closer and kiss her. His words sunk into her head, and she waited for him to complete his words, but it never came.

He leaned down, her breath falling on his lips, the scent of cinnamon in her hair was addictive to him. His lips found hers in an embrace, gentle at first before they let everything go, her hands twisting themselves in his hair, while his worked at her waist, bringing her closer- it wasn't enough. Passion took over, their senses blinded by temptation, the desire to be clouding every sane thought.

It was wrong, somewhere they both knew that, but in the moment, with his arms around hers and her lips on his, nothing had ever felt more right.

He spun her by the waist, walking her backwards before her back hit the wall. She gasped, breaking away, as he caught a glance of her eyes- dazed. He smirked, capturing her lips again, groaning slightly as she tugged at the roots of his hair. His hands travelled up from her waist, cupping her face.

She smiled into the kiss, flashes of their fights forgotten the moment his lips touched hers. This was right, this was everything she ever wanted, and she wouldn't ruin it.

He kissed her tenderly, lost in the feelings she ignited in him. Her hands brushed past his cheeks, holding his face close, and he could've sworn he'd never felt more alive.

Continuing his ministrations on her waist through the thin fabric of her anarkali, he sighed in pleasure, breaking apart to catch his breath.
She looked at him through her eyelashes, afraid the moment was gone, afraid he'd hurt her again, afraid it wouldn't matter to him.

But it was her first kiss.

Maybe he sensed her fear, or maybe he was simply intoxicated by her- but he grinned, no trace of anger or disgust as she feared. Instead, he kissed her cheeks, before finally planting a kiss on her lips.

Her heart raced at the simple gesture- so ordinary had it been from someone else, but it was his lips that'd curved into a real smile. His lips, that'd been on hers not so long ago. She could feel a tinge of red spreading across her cheeks, suddenly aware and thankful for him colouring them before he'd caught the sight of her blushing.

That would be embarrassing, she thought.

A hesitant spell later, she recalled why he'd come over to her , before gathering courage to wish him. "Happy holi.." she smiled at him, his mere presence enough for every nerve in her body to be on fire.

"You look.." he hiccupped, earning an amused smile from her, "nice.."

"Thank you.." she giggled. This was so different, it was so easy to talk to him like this, without their egos bringing them down and apart, it was effortless. At that thought, she sighed, reality confronting her- this might be easy and lovely, but he wasn't going to stay drunk forever. And she really wasn't looking forward to a sober Jalal, not when she'd seen the drunk one, the one she hoped to be real. This was good, she decided, having him here, so close to her she was certain he could see the thoughts racing through her head.

But good things have a way of ending soon; and all too soon, he'd kissed her on the forehead, mumbling about "a drink" before getting joined by some other guy, who she assumed to be his acquaintance. Acquaintance, because Jalal didn't look like he had any friends.

But then again, how much does she really know about him?

The After

She pulled a face, feeling rather empty and cold now that his arms weren't here to keep her warm. She missed it, she missed him and she really hoped he could get the damned drink soon and come back because she wanted to kiss him again.

Minutes passed, she'd lost sight of Jalal in the crowd, guilt wrecking her mad- was she taking advantage of him? He was drunk, right? You know he'd never do it if he was sober.

But he was the one who kissed her, not the other way round, she argued with herself, her stubborn persona shining through.

But she didn't exactly push him away, did she?

Well, how could I? another side of her piped up. I love the guy, how would I push him away? And why?

He wasn't in his senses, Jodha, gosh, why would you do that?? The more sensible, less favourable side of her countered.

Well, to be fair, I wasn't in my senses, either.. what with him being so close and all. She agreed with a dramatic nod. She knew she was being dramatic, because really, what does one drunken kiss mean? What would it mean to him?

She thought she knew the answer to the last question- Nothing.

And that broke her heart a little; giving up on finding him to say goodbye, she thought of her father, quickly going in search of him.

Her favorite festival didn't quite interest her anymore.

~~~

"Where is she?" He asked, his features robbed of the sternness he usually moulded them in. Abdul looked at him, unable to hide his smirk.

"Who, Jalal?" he played dumb, like he hadn't seen him kissing her like his life depended on it.

"You know.. she.. J-Jod..." he found it tough to say her name, and it surprised him- the name usually rolled of his tongue effortlessly.

"Oh, you mean the girl you were just kissing?" Dropping the facade, he immediately decided to grill his friend for details- after all, it's not every day that you see Jalal possibly falling for a girl..

"Ye..yeah.." for some reason, the way Abdul mentioned her- the girl he'd just been kissing. She was more, he thought, so much more.

But even drunk Jalal knew not to show weakness.

"I don't know where she is, mate, and.. well, why are you asking me?"

"Huh.." he looked at him, confused.

"shouldn't you know? I mean, considering you just made out with her and all.." he grinned cheekily, before being elbowed in the chest.

"Funny." Jalal remarked dryly, before walking away. He didn't know why, but he had to see her again- and not just to kiss her, though that would be nice, too, he thought.

If he would let himself admit it, he'd know he was missing her. He was missing the way she felt in his arms, and how he felt, having her so close- it seemed like she was everything he was looking for, all that he'd ever need.

His head swayed a bit, the world was a flash of blur, and the next moment saw Abdul trying to support an unconscious Jalal.

"Urgh.. I'm never giving him bhaang again." Abdul resolved, before starting to walk to the car, his grip on Jalal tight.

~~~

Jalal

"F**king hell.." he swore, his hands shooting up to nurse his pounding head. "my head is killing me.." he groaned, slowly opening his eyes- only to see Abdul dozed off at the edge of the bed.

Wait, what? The bed? Wasn't he at the party?

"What f**king happened.." he cursed, before aiming a pillow at his currently asleep friend. Sure enough, it pulled him out of his slumber- earning Jalal a glare.

"Had a nice nap, sleeping beauty?" Abdul remarked, his tone full of sarcasm, hitting Jalal with the same pillow in retaliation.

"What happened at the party?" he swore again at the volume, realizing he probably had a hangover. But from what, it was a holi party, how could he be drunk?

Unless-

"Oh, nothing interesting, unless you count yourself getting naked and dancing as interesting.." Abdul said, fabricating a lie. Jalal didn't remember a thing, oh, he was so going to have fun with it.

"WHAT?!" He shouted, his already throbbing head threatening to burst out, and he winced as his own volume registered with himself.

"Only kidding.. " Abdul laughed, hands up in mock surrender, before deciding to answer his question.

"well, nothing bad really happened, you know?" he began, but was cut off with a murderous glare and "get to the point."

"You got drunk on bhaang. Like, really drunk. Shit faced." He revealed, eyes carefully trained on his friend to gauge his reaction.

"that is it? Nothing else happened, right?" He questioned- he was having a really bad feeling about this.

"well.." Abdul continued, but uncertainty stopped him- how would he react, knowing he'd let his guard down? The Jalal he knew would never grab a random girl and kiss her like that- no, drunk or not, Jalal wouldn't do that. Could it be, that the girl wasn't a stranger at all?

"Abdul, tell me." He spoke, his voice authoritative.

"You kissed someone. Correction, you made out with someone." Another revelation- and this one so much worse than the first.

"You're lying." Jalal seethed through gritted teeth. He couldn't believe it. He kissed someone? At a stupid holi party?

"Oh, am I?" Abdul grinned, deriving a sort of vindictive pleasure from his friend's situation.

"Stop fooling around and tell me what happened." His voice was dangerously low now.

"well, believe it or not, I'm not lying, Jalal- you actually pushed some girl up against the wall and kissed her."

A thousand questions ran through his mind- why, what, and most importantly, who?

"Who did I.." he stopped at that, unable to wrap his head around the fact that he'd been so reckless. So unlike him.

"I don't know.. her face was coloured, obviously, and you were quite far.. so I didn't recognize her."

"You're useless." Jalal deadpanned, before being aware of the colour still sticking to his face. He got up, shooting one last glance at Abdul before heading to the washroom to fresh up.

"I think you'd say differently once you see this.." Abdul averred, a full-fledged smirk enveloping his handsome features as he fished out the video of the party Abhimanyu, the film director, had sent him.

"You have the video?" Jalal quizzed, still feeling rather hazy from the morning. Now that Abdul supposedly had the video, it put Jalal on the edge. So he really wasn't lying? I seriously kissed someone?

"Yeah." Abdul replied, his smile seeming to be etched on his face- it really hadn't left the moment he'd told him about his.. actions. "You want to see it and find out who she was, right?"

"I don't really care.." he rolled his eyes, trying to veil the truth- he was going mad with not knowing just how this stranger was. He remembered bits and pieces, like colouring her cheeks, and something about silver bangles...

"Sure." Abdul teased.

"Whatever, let's get this over with."

Fast forwarding through the video, they stopped as their eyes landed upon the messy black hair they'd been looking for. Jalal.

He shifted in his seat on the bed, rather uncomfortable as he watched himself- a version clearly unfamiliar with the term 'balance'. Seriously, Jalal thought, did I forget how to walk or something?

Abdul laughed, clearly enjoying this a little too much for Jalal's liking.

"Stop laugh-" Jalal's retort was cut short when Abdul let out a low whistle. His eyes focused on the screen, where a clearly out-of-it Jalal had started talking to a pretty lady, clad in a simple white Anarkali. Unwittingly, his eyes flitted to her wrists. Silver bangles, he thought.

"This is her." He said, catching Abdul's attention. His back blocked her face from the view, and Jalal found himself getting frustrated- when suddenly Jalal'd stepped to the side, revealing her.

"Jodha?" Jalal said, his senses lost at the sight of her- she looked shocked, almost like she expected him to murder her.

"wait, did you say, Jodha? As in Mr. Singh's daughter? The girl who.." Abdul chose not to mention the incident that'd already nestled deep into Jalal's mind. He didn't need Abdul to complete the sentence to know what he meant, anyway- The girl who hurt my ego.

Even Jalal could feel the difference, the cold, hateful one he was now- and the warm, laughing Jalal on the screen. Jodha had gotten over her initial shock, just a tad of apprehension visible on her sharp features when Jalal slid his hand over her waist, his nose brushing against her cheek.

"Stop it.." Jalal barked, and Abdul didn't need to be told twice. He paused the video, leaving his phone on the bed and exiting the room when Jalal called him.

"You-"

"Yeah, Abhimanyu and us are the only ones to have seen the video. I've had him edit the part from all the other copies." He explained casually, earning a nod and a rare smile from Jalal.

"Oh, and Jalal?" he began, hiding a smirk now that he had Jalal's attention, "you had quite a celebration, didn't you?" before Jalal could find something to throw at him, he was gone.

I kissed Jodha? How is this.. why was she even there? He frowned at the thought, before realizing her father was the producer. But still.. I need to know what happened.

Giving up on his resolve, he silently cursed himself before fetching Abdul's phone. He left it here, how.. convenient. He thought, suspicious of his friend's apparent forgetfulness. Fishing through his phone, he couldn't help the nervousness take over when he found the video he was looking for.

There she was, with him, nervous, and yet.. happy?

I thought she hated me?

As the video unfolded the events he'd forgotten, an entirely different array of emotions played up on his face. Shock at his unashamed, unembarrassed flirtations. Surprise at her more than happy reception of it.

Was she drunk, too? A stray thought entered his mind, and he would have believed it in a heartbeat, too, had he not noticed her in the video. She wasn't drunk, or at least, didn't appear to be. She was hesitant, but not intoxicated.

And then they were kissing, God, Jalal shut his eyes at the scene. Was she the only girl in the damned party? Why did I kiss her?

Still wondering about her reaction, he opened his eyes slowly, before complete and unadulterated shock took over. She was kissing him back!

"What.. how..." He mumbled, feeling rather numb.

He released the breath he didn't realize he was holding back as the video neared the end- him kissing her on the cheeks, her eyes twinkling, and then a final kiss on the forehead before he went.

Of all the things he was thinking, the only thought he could voice was- "I am a flirty drunk, huh."

A frown still set on his face, he kept the phone on the side table, before glancing towards the window. It was evening, still early, but for once, Jalal decided to quit everything and went back to bed.

He really needed a good sleep. Possibly amnesia, too.

It hadn't sunk in yet, none of it, because really, kissing the girl you're supposed to hate- that's the kind of thing you can never get used to. And then there were other thoughts that bothered him, too- he only did it because he was drunk, right?

Of-course, I would've never kissed, or even touched that girl if I was sober. He made up an unconvincing lie.

Who are you kidding, Jalal? You would've kissed her anyways, it was only a matter of time. She's hot, why wouldn't you?

He could deny it, of course, and he was trying so very hard to do exactly that- to prove that he wasn't attracted to the arrogant brunette he'd kissed earlier today.

But then again, if he didn't believe himself, why would anyone else?

"I would have controlled myself.. she's not that pretty.." he scoffed, tossing and turning, but his mind was on overdrive.

And then it hit him, why she kissed him back, why she didn't stop him, why she was so.. happy.

Jodha Singh, for someone with such a bad attitude, I thought you'd know better than to like someone like me..

Oh, this was going to be fun.

The Next Day

At The Sets

"The official shooting begins tomorrow, but we're just going to take a shoot a few scenes, just, you know?" Abhimanyu, the director, informed the crew. The crew smiled, nodding, some of them even laughing at the hilariously charming smile the director wore. Jalal frowned, he didn't quite get the point of fraternizing beyond the professional needs. It was unnecessary, and honestly, a waste of time.

Yet, he nodded, something between a smile and a grimace playing on his lips, and decided to go back to his allocated room.

"Right, Jalal we kind of need you for this one, you know, you're the main lead and all?"Abhimanyu laughed, to which Jalal muttered an "of course", but following him anyway.

He didn't dislike Abhimanyu, per se, he could be serious when he wanted to be- which was, unfortunately, never. His directorial skills were never questioned, but his over friendly nature didn't sit too well with Jalal.

"Can we start?" Jalal quizzed, fishing out his phone to check the time.

"What's the rush? We can wait till Mr. Singh comes, it's the first big day, he wants to be here.."

"oh.." biting his lip to prevent any reaction, he cocked his head to the side, quite satisfied with his indifferent face until Abhimanyu called his bluff.

"But you'd know, considering how close you were with his daughter yesterday.." he teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, causing Jalal to grit his teeth.

"Don't, Abhimanyu, just don't." Jalal warned.

"Oh, look who's here.." appearing unfazed by the actor's warning, he pointed towards the entrance. Jalal followed his gaze, his eyes doing a double take when he saw Bharmal enter the studio, a nervous Jodha in tow.

She looked stunning, he thought, but really, when did she not look stunning? Dressed in a simple red jumpsuit that ended just above her knees, her hair done in an elegant French braid, white wedges completing the look. He didn't particularly care about women's clothing, of course, but something about her made him focus.

He smirked at her figure, blissfully unaware of his presence. Careful not to catch her eye, he slipped out.

Jodha

For such a bold outfit, she was carrying it quite well. Of course, it wasn't the clothes she was worried about- they were the last thing on her mind, really- but him. Her hands were sweaty and fidgety, heart beating too fast for her liking, and if would admit it, she was rather jumpy and inattentive. But it wasn't her fault, she thought, this was normal- people just don't understand.

Damn it, just why did she give up so easily? She could have convinced her dad to not bring her along her to what could be a potentially deathly encounter. This was a mistake, this was a mistake, this was a mistake.

When Bharmal woke her up, something he never does, she should have felt it. How did she not know just how bad her luck is? How convenient, she thought, glaring accusingly at the sky, for him to want me on the set as a good luck charm exactly the day after I kissed him?

To be fair, he was the one who kissed her- a small voice went off in her mind, but she dismissed it, all the same. Him, that's what she was worried about, she didn't think she could handle this, his rudeness, not after the day before.

Not when she'd known how charming he could be.

She pulled a face at her father, who hadn't objected to her choice of clothes- much to her surprise.

Subconsciously, she looked around for him- before catching herself at it and giving herself a mental slap. What was she doing?

Having failed to see him, she frowned, wondering if he hadn't come to the sets today. The shoot doesn't begin until tomorrow, maybe he decided to skip it?

Her heart sank a little, and she distracted herself by fiddling with her ring. Why am I upset? I should be happy, right? He's not here to embarrass me. Why am I not happy?

Fingers ran through her arm, before entwining with her own. Caught off guard, she turned immediately, before crashing into the offender. "What the he-" her curse remained stuck in her throat. It was him.

Holding her hand casually, he smirked, leaning close to her ear. Biting back a sneer. "You're an even better kisser than I thought." he whispered.

Originally posted by: amSavindi

Originally posted by: aisha...11110

BABYY BABYY, YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!

Originally posted by: -Kavya_P-

AWESOME CHAPPY

KISSING

WHEN THEY WILL LEAVE THEIR STUPID EGO S

UPDATE SOON