Hello folks! Tannu here 
This is MY story that I have copied off another forum, and modified the names, coz it sorta seems to suit RaghVi too, if they DO go for the MBA track! 😆
The title is from a Backstreet Boys song that I love ~ Unmistakable
Hope you like it. Would appreciate any criticism and/or feedback
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This coffee shop is their place. For the four of them – Pallavi, Raghav, Farhad & Keerti. Not anyone else. Especially not the guy standing in line talking to Pallavi as she grabs them all french fries to share. Raghav grits his teeth as the guy-Tejas, he thinks. It's Tejas, who he caught staring at Pallavi from across the room-places a hand on Pallavi's elbow and leans down to whisper in her ear. "Anna?" His gaze snaps to Farhad, who's watching him carefully, concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?" Farhad asks him.
Raghav blinks, confused until he realizes he's been staring-glaring-in Pallavi's direction. Not at her of course, but Farhad doesn't know that. He's about to change the subject by asking where Keerti went, but quickly remembers that she couldn't make it today because she was conducting her Excel bootcamp. It's just him and Farhad and Pallavi. And Tejas. Great. "I'm fine." He sends his brother-like-friend a strained smile, gaze drifting passed him as Pallavi laughs, her head tossed back and eyes bright. His heart squeezes in his chest, but he shoves the bitter feeling down. Pallavi can talk to whoever she wants; he's not actually her husband.
Besides, she would kick his ass if she knew he was sour over her talking to another guy. Hell, he should kick his own ass for acting like a jealous husband. Farhad looks at him in disbelief. "Are you sure? Because you've been staring at Pallavi with this weird look on your face for a while now." Raghav frowns. "I wasn't looking at Pallavi weirdly. I'm just wondering why the line is so long today," he bluffs. Technically, he wasn't looking at Pallavi with that expression. He was looking at Pallavi and Tejas like that. There's a difference.
Farhad shakes his head, a slight smile on his face. "I wasn't talking about today," he murmurs. "Hmm?" Raghav turns back to Farhad, clearly having missed the question. Farhad waves him off with a shake of the head, turning back to the case file in front of him. Raghav quirks a brow, but something stops him from replying. Pallavi giggles. It sounds happy and airy and it's what he thinks sunshine would sound like if it had a noise. On one hand, he's shocked-completely stunned by the soft sound-because Pallavi never giggles, least of all around strangers, but on the other hand something warm floods through him, bubbling in his chest and creeping onto his face.
Oh, and he knows exactly what it is. He's liked Pallavi for a long time now, he just hasn't worked up the nerve to tell her yet. And that's a huge problem in itself, because he's pretty sure the word "love" is practically written across his face whenever he sees her-which is a lot-and he's pretty sure people are beginning to notice-including Amma, Farhad, Harish, Reddy, Krishna and Keerti, who take turns looking at him whenever he talks to Pallavi.
Raghav's thought process is shattered as Pallavi's gaze slides to his and she smiles-not a smirk-a real, true smile. His heart skips a beat. She turns back to Tejas a second later, laughing at something he says, and places a hand on his shoulder, leaning closer to him. Raghav looks away. Clearing his throat, Raghav reaches into his bag, blindly grasping for a file to distract himself with, and practically slams it onto the table, startling Farhad, who peers at him over the case file. He sneers, shoving the file to the side and running a hand over his face, gritting his teeth. "What is wrong with you today?" Farhad asks, frowning at him. Raghav sighs. "Nothing, it's just Monday." Farhad's frown deepens. "It's Friday." Raghav groans, cursing under his breath.
A sly grin tugs at Farhad's lips "Does your bad attitude by any chance correlate with Pallavi-"A tray of fries is dropped between the two guys unceremoniously, cutting Farhad off mid-sentence. Both of them startle, Farhad dropping his box and Raghav whipping around to face his baiko as she slides into the seat next to him, grinning at the two of them. "Sorry it took so long. There was a long line," Pallavi explains briefly, giving them a noncommittal shrug.
Pallavi shoots him a look, but he pointedly ignores it. "Saree ka Dukaan, you were talking to THAT guy," he says to her sourly, keeping his eyes on the fries. Pallavi shrugs. "Yeah, he's a nice guy, my classmate ~ Tejas Mhatre, funny too, it is so nice to get to talk to someone in my language after a long time, you know?" she tells him. “He might be younger to you, RIGHT?” “Nope, he’s a year or two younger than you maybe, assuming that you are ACTUALLY 27, not 30, but we are the same age. That’s why we vibe.” Raghav has to fight back an eye roll-because Raghav doesn't roll his eyes. "He must be," he grumbles, "considering how much you were laughing." Pallavi raises a brow at him, lips quirked up in a smile.
"We were talking about you and how you helped me to pursue my dreams despite everything else," Pallavi tells him, lips twitching as she recalls the memory. Raghav groans, ducking his head in embarrassment. He doesn't even want to think about what happened to his feelings in the past 15 minutes or so. "Oh," he replies softly. She smirks. "Are you, how do you say it in your Don terms..oh chuck it..lemme just use normal words..J-E-A-L-O-U-S, Ghamandi Rao?" It's a joke, he can tell, but he takes the bait anyway.
"And what if I said I was?" he asks softly, turning to face her directly, his knee bumping hers under the table. Across from them, Farhad chokes on his donut in surprise, coughing. Pallavi shakes her head slowly, her eyes almost sad. "Then I would say you're being silly," she says, sending him a little smile. "We were just talking and I'm not your REAL wife." Raghav takes a deep breath, steeling himself. "And what if, hypothetically, I wanted to change that?" he asks, voice wavering slightly. The last thing he wants to do is send Pallavi running for the hills because she doesn't like him the same way. Pallavi grins, leaning into him, lips brushing his ear. His heart lunges into his throat and he freezes, heart beating out of control.
"Well, hypothetically, I would tell you to ask me out properly."
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Unmistakable ~ Backstreet Boys
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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