Posted:
Heyy everyone! :) sorry for the delay in posting the chapters, I got tied up with school stuff...anyways, hope u like it! 😃 If u didn't get a chance to read chapters 4-6 u can read it here: http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3493362
Enjoy reading!!! 😊 😃
Chapter Seven: Beauty Queen Meets Masaala Chai (Spicy Tea) **
It was finally Saturday, the day Veer was coming to see Suman at the Thakur house. Suman was still in her room, in her pajamas, and had no interest in meeting Veer. Rashmi was downstairs helping the servants cleanup the house before Veer showed up. Rashmi saw that the flowers on the dining table were dried up and went to go change them. Once she grabbed them and turned around, she bumped into the same guy she met at the traffic signal.
"Ouch," he said again and then covered his eye. Rashmi quickly put the flowers back on the table and looked at him.
"I'm sorry," Rashmi said again.
"Am I your enemy? Do you hate me?" he asked.
"No, I'm really"
"It's okay," he said, "I was just joking."
"Oh, so, your Veer?" she asked.
"Yep," he said.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Veer."
"Nice to meet you too," he said.
"Rashmi," said Suman's grandma.
"Can you go check to see if Suman is getting ready?"
"Nani, Suman is still getting ready," she said very slowly. She started to give her a nasty stare, but Veer didn't notice that. "I'll go check on her," she finally said, and left immediately.
"Why don't you sit down Veer," Nani said, guiding him to the couch.
"Thanks," he said.
Once Rashmi reached Suman's room, she saw her with her hair uncombed and in her pajamas.
"Suman!" Rashmi shouted, "Why aren't you ready yet? Veer is already here!"
"Well you can do something, can't you?" she asked. "You go meet Veer and tell him your me."
"I can't, Nani called me in front of him and now he knows who I am."
"Darn!" she shouted.
"Suman, your gonna have to meet him no matter what! Just go get ready and I'll wait for you outside your room."
"Okay, I'll get ready," she said sleepily, "I'll be out in 10 minutes."
"Okay." Rashmi walked out of her room and waited outside.
Ten minutes passed by, and Suman still hadn't came out of her room. Rashmi decided to go inside to see what's going on. She suddenly opened the door and saw that she was at her dressing table. She was ready but was deciding which earrings she should wear. Suman noticed that she was in the room and turned around.
"Rashmi which earrings should I wear? Pearl or Gold?"
"Pearl," she responded.
"Thanks."
"Now will you go downstairs?" Rashmi asked impatiently.
"Only if you come with me."
"Ugh, you are so--fine!" she shouted as they left her room. Before they could go downstairs, Suman decided to eavesdrop on Veer's conversation with her parents.
"Would you like some juice, Veer?" asked Mrs.Thakur.
"No Thanks, Mrs.Thakur," he replied, "I'll have Masaala Chai."
"Spicy Tea?" asked Suman while looking at me, "What kinda kid drinks Spicy Tea?"
"Well, maybe he likes it," Rashmi said generously, "Everyone has there own likings you know."
"Ugh, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes in a 180 degree rotation.
"Come on, you should go meet him," Rashmi said, dragging her downstairs. They finally reached downstairs and she started pushing her towards Veer.
"Rashmi..I..I -" she started to say as Rashmi was pushing her.
All of a sudden she had pushed her too hard and Suman bumped into Veer. She started blushing a bit and starring at him. He was handsome, a bit muscular, and a little taller than Rashmi and Suman. "Oh, uh, hi," she said in a petrified way.
"Hi, you must be Suman," he said.
"Uh..yeah.. that's me...Suman Thakur."
"Well, nice to meet you, Suman. I'm Veer."
"Same, and nice to meet you too," she said smiling at him and glanced at Rashmi making an angry face.
For the next two hours, Veer stayed at their place and Suman was getting really bored of what he was talking about. She was planning on meeting Karan today, but her meeting with Veer had spoiled it. She still hadn't told the family about her secret relationship with him and wasn't planning on telling them any time soon.
"Well it was nice meeting you all," he said. "I have to get going now. Mai is making dinner and I have to be home on time."
"No Veer," said Mr.Thakur, "Why don't you have dinner with us? I'll call your parents and tell them your dining with us instead?"
Oh great, said Suman in her head. I have to spend more time with this boring Spice Bag? I've already had enough torture for one lifetime! Please say no! Please! Please! Please!
"Thanks for the offer Mr.Thakur. I'm afraid I can't, sorry. I'd love to some other time. May I ask you something?"
"Of course, go ahead," he replied with a big smile on his face.
"I was wondering if I could take Suman out tomorrow? But only if it's okay with you, Suman," he said looking at her.
Suman's eyes opened up after hearing this.
Whoa! Suman thought. Did he just ask me out? I haven't even gone on a date with Karan, how can I go out with this guy? I'm so not going alone! I'll take Rashmi with me.
"Sure, I'll go with you," said Suman. "But only if Rashmi comes with me. I hope you don't mind, Veer," she said while starring at him with the look.
"No, it's okay. She can come with us. So I'll pick you both up tomorrow."
"Okay,"
"See ya both tomorrow," he said as he was standing at the entrance.
"Yeah, see ya," Suman said smiling at him. Darn!
Chapter Eight: Suman and Veer's first date **
The next day, Veer and his driver came to the Thakur's place to pick up Suman and Rashmi.
"So where do you guys want to go?" he asked. "I just moved here a couple months back and I'm not too familiar with this area."
"You just moved here?" Rashmi asked.
"Yep, I used to live in the US," he acknowledged.
"That's nice," Suman replied carelessly, "I think we should go to that new coffee shop that just opened up on Delhi-6 Avenue."
"That's a good idea," he said, "Driver, drive us to the new coffee shop at Delhi-6 Avenue."
In another five minutes or so, they reached the coffee shop. When Rashmi looked at the inside and outside of the building, it looked so beautiful. Instead of tables and chairs they had tables and couches. The building contained beautiful paintings and collages. They decided to sit near the entrance. Veer sat on one couch and the girls sat on the other couch opposite of him.
"So, Veer, how was it like to live in America?" Suman asked carelessly as if she had nothing else to do.
"It was cool," he said. "But sadly, we had to move here because my dad wanted to start an architecture business with my grandpa."
"Oh, that must have been hard on you," she said in a seemingly sincere voice but she didn't honest to goodness care.
When Veer looked away from the girls, Rashmi whispered, "Why'd you bring me here?"
"So you can give Veer company when I leave," Suman whispered,"why else?"
"Leave? What do you mean? Your leaving me here alone with him?" Rashmi said as her voice got higher, "I'm going to start charging, ya hear?"
"Ssh," Suman whispered. "Pipe down, will ya? I don't want Veer to hear this." But just then Veer showed up. Rashmi felt a pit the size of Kansas (state in the US) develop in her throat. This was so not gonna end well, she thought in her mind.
"So what would you guys like to have?" asked Veer.
"Uh.. I'll have a frappe," said Suman. She decided she could take a day off from her strict diet. Her perfect figure wasn't going to disappear because of one tiny frappe.
"Okay, and you Rashmi?"
"Um," Rashmi said to him and then looked at Suman. "What should I get?" she whispered to her.
"Why don't you try the cold coffee? It's good. You'll like it," she hissed back.
"I'll have a cold coffee," she finally replied to the relief of the waiter.
"Waiter, one cold coffee, one frapp, and one masaala chai (spicy tea) for me."
"You sure like masaala chai, don't you Veer?" asked Suman making a fervent smile.
"Yes, I do. I had it for the first time when I was ten and I've always liked it. Plus I got it because it's on their Sunday special drinks list and they reduce the price of the drink by twenty percent."
Suman couldn't tolerate the atmosphere and was feeling suffocated being around Veer. She had to come up with an excuse to leave him. She found him to be very boring and more of Rashmi's type rather than hers. She ignored Veer as he was talking until she finally came up with something.
"Rashmi, is 'Aithvaar' the Hindi word for Sunday?" asked Suman.
"People call 'Aithvaar' Sunday don't they?" Veer asked looking at them.
"Yes, they do. But why do you need to know, Suman?" Rashmi asked in a surprised tone, wondering what was coming to her mind.
"Oh no Rashmi, did we finish our project for tomorrow?" Suman asked randomly.
"Suman, we never had a project," Rashmi said confusingly.
"Yes we did. Don't you remember we were doing that project with Naina at her house?"
Rashmi began to get the feeling that Suman wasn't comfortable being with Veer and wanted to leave, but she decided to play along even though she had no idea what she was up to.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that."
"I think it's still in Naina's computer," said Suman. "I better go check it at her house right now. I'm really sorry Veer. I totally forgot about it."
"It's okay. We'll talk once you get back."
"I'll come with you Suman,"
"No Rashmi, you should stay here with Veer. I'll be back in half an hour," she said. Suman got up and went towards the door.
"Suman I-," Rashmi protested. Rashmi silently cursed under her breath.[c]
"Don't worry, guys," she said, "I'll be back soon!"
Right after Suman left, Rashmi dashed outside into the parking lot to find her. She saw her walking towards a rickshaw but before she got in she started running and shouting towards her.
"Suman, Suman wait!" she shouted. "Why are you leaving me?"
"Look, Karan has a tennis match today and he wanted me, his 'good luck charm', to be their and if I come, he'll win the game."
"I don't care Suman! You can't just leave me here alone with Veer! He's here to meet you, not me! What am I going to talk to him about?"
"I don't know, just talk about school or life, I don't care! I just want you to keep him company, okay?"
"But Suman I-"
"Oh, and one more thing," she butted in, "Please don't continually call me. That really gets on my nerves."
"Okay," Rashmi said, putting her arms down, feeling hopeless.
"Good," she said. "Hope you have a great time with Veer," she said, sitting in the rickshaw and left.
"Aw man, now I'm alone with Veer! Well, I guess I'll have to give him company until Suman gets back."
Rashmi went back inside and sat across from Veer. For the next five minutes they both stayed silent.
"Coffee?" they both asked each other at the same time, and then started cracking up.
"So Rashmi would you like to talk about anything till Suman gets back?"
"Sure," she said innocently.
He looked into her eyes and said, "May I tell you something? These eyes that you have, suit very well on you and they make you look like a nice, sweet, loving, caring, innocent girl."
"Wow, thanks," she said smiling at him, blushing a bit. "No one has ever really said that to me."
"Not even Suman?"
"Nope," she said. "So where exactly in America did you live?"
"We lived in California. It was a beautiful place with awesome places to explore. When I found out we were moving here, I was quite upset, but now that I'm here, I don't think it's that different."
"That's nice. We should definitely take a trip to America."
"What school do you guys go to?' asked Veer.
"We go to Mahatma Gandhi High School. It's a lot better than the elementary school we went to. I personally like the library and theatre and Suman likes how we don't get to wear uniforms."
"That's interesting, because, I don't wear a uniform at my school either," said Veer.
"Really? What school do you go to?" she asked in a half surprised way.
"Mahatma Gandhi High School," he answered.
Her eyes widened and asked, "You go to our school? That's strange, I've never seen you before."
"Well, I am new. Suman sure loves to be with friends doesn't she?" he asked.
"Are you kidding me? She loves to be with friends 24/7! She can't live without us!"
"Oh, well this is a curious question: Do you mind telling me when you met Suman and how did you become such great friends?"
Rashmi told him about how she met Suman, how they became friends, and also about her past life. He was quite surprised and fascinated after hearing her story.
"Wow. That's sad how your father died and you were forced to leave your home and suffer by living in poverty, but great on how Mr.Thakur accepted you and your mother and starting out your new life."
For the next two hours, Veer and Rashmi continued to talk to each other and they both enjoyed it. They started becoming comfortable enough to talk to each other.
"Waiter," he said. "Can I have two cups of Masaala Chai?"
Why did he order two cups? Gosh I guess he really loves it then, Rashmi thought.
When the waiter came back with two masaala chai's Veer said, "Why'd you give me two? Didn't I only order one?"
"No, you ordered two," she said.
Veer turned towards the waiter. "Sorry about that, I only wanted one. Can you take the other one away?"
"Sorry, what you get is what you keep," said the waiter.
Veer sighed and said, "What am I gonna do with this other cup of masaala chai?"
"Maybe I'll try it," Rashmi offered boldly.
"Really? Are you sure you want to try it?"
"Yeah. Suman never lets me try masaala chai when we go to the coffee shop. Since she's not here, I'll give it a try."
"Alright Ms.Gupta," he said, "hope you like it!"
After she drank it, she really liked it and before she could order another one, Suman walked in the shop.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!"
Oh yeah your just on time! Rashmi thought to herself. She was so angry with Suman that she felt like putting all her anger on her right that second.
"What took you so long? We thought you were supposed to be back in half an hour?" questioned Veer suspiciously.
"I know, I'm sorry. Naina's computer crashed and we were trying to fix the problem then once it turned on and we finished typing our project, the printer had problems, so that's why it took me so long."
"Oh, it's okay. How about we three hang-out at that Night-Out place next week?" he asked.
"That would be cool," said Suman.
"I guess I'll see ya,"
After he left, Rashmi started having this weird feeling that she had never felt before. And she didn't understand what it was. But she wanted to know what this feeling was soon.
Chapter Nine: Is This Friendship Or Love? * *
During the week, Rashmi continued to study for exams, went to see Suman's play, and then went to the Night-Out place with Suman and Veer.
"Wow Veer," said Suman, "This place is awesome! Thanks so much for bringing me here!"
"Glad you like it," he said. "How about you Rashmi?"
"It's, um, great," lied Rashmi, blushing her face off.
Rashmi and Veer covered their ears from the loud music.
"Suman, do you wanna dance?" asked Veer.
"Sure," she said gloomily. Then she noticed Rashmi and was quick to end all hopes of her leaving. "You wanna come with us, Rashmi?" she questioned smugly. Her problem was solved--thank goodness for easily maniputable friends.
She shook her head, slipping into the background. Suman and Veer went to go dance but Suman wasn't close dancing which Rashmi least expected her to do anyway. She wasn't really looking at him but seeing if anyone else she knew was there. She suddenly saw Karan, Naina, and Nitesh, Karan's friend, dancing at the opposite side of the club.
Oh no, she thought. Karan's here! I can't let him see me dance with Veer! I'm going to have to make Rashmi dance with him and keep him company again.
"Hey Veer, I gotta go talk to Rashmi for a sec, I'll be back."
Suman quickly rushed towards Rashmi. She started panting loudly with her face down. Rashmi lifted her face up.
"What happened, Suman? Why are you panting so loudly?" she asked terrified, thinking something happened to her. Suman put her hands in Rashmi's hand and gave her 'the look'.
"Rashmi, I need you to be with Veer again while I'm with Karan."
"No way! I'm not going to dance with Veer so you can be with your hottie boyfriend."
"Come on, Rashmi please! I promise, I won't leave you alone with Veer after today." Once she turned away, she saw Karan coming her way and started getting scared. "Rashmi please! I'm begging you! Please dance with Veer! Karan's coming my way."
"Okay, fine, I will," she said and saw Karan standing behind Suman.
"Hey Sweets!" he said joyfully, "Wanna dance?"
Veer came to see them, and that just made Suman even more worried. Rashmi started giving Suman 'the look' to make up a lie and she thought of one and said,
"Veer, these are my friends from school."
She introduced everyone to Veer and told them that he was with Rashmi when Veer wasn't paying attention.
"Come on Suman, let's go dance!" said Karan.
"Uh..." she muttered.
"Come on!" he interrupted.
"Okay, but I'll only go on one condition: If Rashmi dances with Veer."
"Suman, what are you---"
"Don't worry, Rashmi. It'll be fun! Veer's very nice! You'll have a nice time with him!"
"But---"
"Bye!" she shouted and ran off with her friends.
Rashmi was alone with Veer and started to blush. He started to dance but she just stood there, looking at how other people dance.
"Don't try to look at other people dancing," said Veer. "To be honest with you, most of the people here are bad dancers, like me."
She gave him a smile and cracked up a bit. "Come on, trust me," he said. She slowly reached out for his hand, and started to dance.
"You're a great dancer, why don't you come here more often?"
"I don't know, I guess I don't really like loud music."
"Me neither, but I heard that Suman liked to come here, so I brought her here."
"Oh,"
"Suman doesn't seem to like me very much, I feel like she's avoiding me or something."
"Yeah I'm getting that feeling too, do you want me to talk to her about it?"
"No, I'll talk to her about it myself. Let's just dance for now."
"Actually Veer, I'm having a headache from all this music. Can we go outside?"
"Sure, should I tell Suman?"
"No, don't disturb her, let her be with her friends," she said, "and hottie boyfriend," she whispered.
"What did you say?"
"Oh nothing. Let's go."
They left the club, and sat next to each other on the bench. It was a beautiful, breezy night and the two of them looked solemnly at each other.
"I, well, I'm planning to cancel the Joraa with Suman."
"Oh, so we won't be hanging out anymore?" Rashmi sighed.
"No, we'll still see each other at school."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"And I guess we can get together sometimes."
"Yeah,"
"So Rashmi, are we considered friends?"
"Yeah, we're friends." Rashmi and Veer brought their hands together and shook hands.
"Rashmi; I have something to tell you: I L---"
"Hey! What are you guys doing out here? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Suman hollered from the club entrance.
Rashmi and Veer froze there with their hands clasped together. They slowly turned their heads towards Suman.
The next set of chapters will be posted soon! 😊
Enjoy reading!!! 😊 😃
Chapter Seven: Beauty Queen Meets Masaala Chai (Spicy Tea) **
It was finally Saturday, the day Veer was coming to see Suman at the Thakur house. Suman was still in her room, in her pajamas, and had no interest in meeting Veer. Rashmi was downstairs helping the servants cleanup the house before Veer showed up. Rashmi saw that the flowers on the dining table were dried up and went to go change them. Once she grabbed them and turned around, she bumped into the same guy she met at the traffic signal.
"Ouch," he said again and then covered his eye. Rashmi quickly put the flowers back on the table and looked at him.
"I'm sorry," Rashmi said again.
"Am I your enemy? Do you hate me?" he asked.
"No, I'm really"
"It's okay," he said, "I was just joking."
"Oh, so, your Veer?" she asked.
"Yep," he said.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Veer."
"Nice to meet you too," he said.
"Rashmi," said Suman's grandma.
"Can you go check to see if Suman is getting ready?"
"Nani, Suman is still getting ready," she said very slowly. She started to give her a nasty stare, but Veer didn't notice that. "I'll go check on her," she finally said, and left immediately.
"Why don't you sit down Veer," Nani said, guiding him to the couch.
"Thanks," he said.
Once Rashmi reached Suman's room, she saw her with her hair uncombed and in her pajamas.
"Suman!" Rashmi shouted, "Why aren't you ready yet? Veer is already here!"
"Well you can do something, can't you?" she asked. "You go meet Veer and tell him your me."
"I can't, Nani called me in front of him and now he knows who I am."
"Darn!" she shouted.
"Suman, your gonna have to meet him no matter what! Just go get ready and I'll wait for you outside your room."
"Okay, I'll get ready," she said sleepily, "I'll be out in 10 minutes."
"Okay." Rashmi walked out of her room and waited outside.
Ten minutes passed by, and Suman still hadn't came out of her room. Rashmi decided to go inside to see what's going on. She suddenly opened the door and saw that she was at her dressing table. She was ready but was deciding which earrings she should wear. Suman noticed that she was in the room and turned around.
"Rashmi which earrings should I wear? Pearl or Gold?"
"Pearl," she responded.
"Thanks."
"Now will you go downstairs?" Rashmi asked impatiently.
"Only if you come with me."
"Ugh, you are so--fine!" she shouted as they left her room. Before they could go downstairs, Suman decided to eavesdrop on Veer's conversation with her parents.
"Would you like some juice, Veer?" asked Mrs.Thakur.
"No Thanks, Mrs.Thakur," he replied, "I'll have Masaala Chai."
"Spicy Tea?" asked Suman while looking at me, "What kinda kid drinks Spicy Tea?"
"Well, maybe he likes it," Rashmi said generously, "Everyone has there own likings you know."
"Ugh, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes in a 180 degree rotation.
"Come on, you should go meet him," Rashmi said, dragging her downstairs. They finally reached downstairs and she started pushing her towards Veer.
"Rashmi..I..I -" she started to say as Rashmi was pushing her.
All of a sudden she had pushed her too hard and Suman bumped into Veer. She started blushing a bit and starring at him. He was handsome, a bit muscular, and a little taller than Rashmi and Suman. "Oh, uh, hi," she said in a petrified way.
"Hi, you must be Suman," he said.
"Uh..yeah.. that's me...Suman Thakur."
"Well, nice to meet you, Suman. I'm Veer."
"Same, and nice to meet you too," she said smiling at him and glanced at Rashmi making an angry face.
For the next two hours, Veer stayed at their place and Suman was getting really bored of what he was talking about. She was planning on meeting Karan today, but her meeting with Veer had spoiled it. She still hadn't told the family about her secret relationship with him and wasn't planning on telling them any time soon.
"Well it was nice meeting you all," he said. "I have to get going now. Mai is making dinner and I have to be home on time."
"No Veer," said Mr.Thakur, "Why don't you have dinner with us? I'll call your parents and tell them your dining with us instead?"
Oh great, said Suman in her head. I have to spend more time with this boring Spice Bag? I've already had enough torture for one lifetime! Please say no! Please! Please! Please!
"Thanks for the offer Mr.Thakur. I'm afraid I can't, sorry. I'd love to some other time. May I ask you something?"
"Of course, go ahead," he replied with a big smile on his face.
"I was wondering if I could take Suman out tomorrow? But only if it's okay with you, Suman," he said looking at her.
Suman's eyes opened up after hearing this.
Whoa! Suman thought. Did he just ask me out? I haven't even gone on a date with Karan, how can I go out with this guy? I'm so not going alone! I'll take Rashmi with me.
"Sure, I'll go with you," said Suman. "But only if Rashmi comes with me. I hope you don't mind, Veer," she said while starring at him with the look.
"No, it's okay. She can come with us. So I'll pick you both up tomorrow."
"Okay,"
"See ya both tomorrow," he said as he was standing at the entrance.
"Yeah, see ya," Suman said smiling at him. Darn!
Chapter Eight: Suman and Veer's first date **
The next day, Veer and his driver came to the Thakur's place to pick up Suman and Rashmi.
"So where do you guys want to go?" he asked. "I just moved here a couple months back and I'm not too familiar with this area."
"You just moved here?" Rashmi asked.
"Yep, I used to live in the US," he acknowledged.
"That's nice," Suman replied carelessly, "I think we should go to that new coffee shop that just opened up on Delhi-6 Avenue."
"That's a good idea," he said, "Driver, drive us to the new coffee shop at Delhi-6 Avenue."
In another five minutes or so, they reached the coffee shop. When Rashmi looked at the inside and outside of the building, it looked so beautiful. Instead of tables and chairs they had tables and couches. The building contained beautiful paintings and collages. They decided to sit near the entrance. Veer sat on one couch and the girls sat on the other couch opposite of him.
"So, Veer, how was it like to live in America?" Suman asked carelessly as if she had nothing else to do.
"It was cool," he said. "But sadly, we had to move here because my dad wanted to start an architecture business with my grandpa."
"Oh, that must have been hard on you," she said in a seemingly sincere voice but she didn't honest to goodness care.
When Veer looked away from the girls, Rashmi whispered, "Why'd you bring me here?"
"So you can give Veer company when I leave," Suman whispered,"why else?"
"Leave? What do you mean? Your leaving me here alone with him?" Rashmi said as her voice got higher, "I'm going to start charging, ya hear?"
"Ssh," Suman whispered. "Pipe down, will ya? I don't want Veer to hear this." But just then Veer showed up. Rashmi felt a pit the size of Kansas (state in the US) develop in her throat. This was so not gonna end well, she thought in her mind.
"So what would you guys like to have?" asked Veer.
"Uh.. I'll have a frappe," said Suman. She decided she could take a day off from her strict diet. Her perfect figure wasn't going to disappear because of one tiny frappe.
"Okay, and you Rashmi?"
"Um," Rashmi said to him and then looked at Suman. "What should I get?" she whispered to her.
"Why don't you try the cold coffee? It's good. You'll like it," she hissed back.
"I'll have a cold coffee," she finally replied to the relief of the waiter.
"Waiter, one cold coffee, one frapp, and one masaala chai (spicy tea) for me."
"You sure like masaala chai, don't you Veer?" asked Suman making a fervent smile.
"Yes, I do. I had it for the first time when I was ten and I've always liked it. Plus I got it because it's on their Sunday special drinks list and they reduce the price of the drink by twenty percent."
Suman couldn't tolerate the atmosphere and was feeling suffocated being around Veer. She had to come up with an excuse to leave him. She found him to be very boring and more of Rashmi's type rather than hers. She ignored Veer as he was talking until she finally came up with something.
"Rashmi, is 'Aithvaar' the Hindi word for Sunday?" asked Suman.
"People call 'Aithvaar' Sunday don't they?" Veer asked looking at them.
"Yes, they do. But why do you need to know, Suman?" Rashmi asked in a surprised tone, wondering what was coming to her mind.
"Oh no Rashmi, did we finish our project for tomorrow?" Suman asked randomly.
"Suman, we never had a project," Rashmi said confusingly.
"Yes we did. Don't you remember we were doing that project with Naina at her house?"
Rashmi began to get the feeling that Suman wasn't comfortable being with Veer and wanted to leave, but she decided to play along even though she had no idea what she was up to.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that."
"I think it's still in Naina's computer," said Suman. "I better go check it at her house right now. I'm really sorry Veer. I totally forgot about it."
"It's okay. We'll talk once you get back."
"I'll come with you Suman,"
"No Rashmi, you should stay here with Veer. I'll be back in half an hour," she said. Suman got up and went towards the door.
"Suman I-," Rashmi protested. Rashmi silently cursed under her breath.[c]
"Don't worry, guys," she said, "I'll be back soon!"
Right after Suman left, Rashmi dashed outside into the parking lot to find her. She saw her walking towards a rickshaw but before she got in she started running and shouting towards her.
"Suman, Suman wait!" she shouted. "Why are you leaving me?"
"Look, Karan has a tennis match today and he wanted me, his 'good luck charm', to be their and if I come, he'll win the game."
"I don't care Suman! You can't just leave me here alone with Veer! He's here to meet you, not me! What am I going to talk to him about?"
"I don't know, just talk about school or life, I don't care! I just want you to keep him company, okay?"
"But Suman I-"
"Oh, and one more thing," she butted in, "Please don't continually call me. That really gets on my nerves."
"Okay," Rashmi said, putting her arms down, feeling hopeless.
"Good," she said. "Hope you have a great time with Veer," she said, sitting in the rickshaw and left.
"Aw man, now I'm alone with Veer! Well, I guess I'll have to give him company until Suman gets back."
Rashmi went back inside and sat across from Veer. For the next five minutes they both stayed silent.
"Coffee?" they both asked each other at the same time, and then started cracking up.
"So Rashmi would you like to talk about anything till Suman gets back?"
"Sure," she said innocently.
He looked into her eyes and said, "May I tell you something? These eyes that you have, suit very well on you and they make you look like a nice, sweet, loving, caring, innocent girl."
"Wow, thanks," she said smiling at him, blushing a bit. "No one has ever really said that to me."
"Not even Suman?"
"Nope," she said. "So where exactly in America did you live?"
"We lived in California. It was a beautiful place with awesome places to explore. When I found out we were moving here, I was quite upset, but now that I'm here, I don't think it's that different."
"That's nice. We should definitely take a trip to America."
"What school do you guys go to?' asked Veer.
"We go to Mahatma Gandhi High School. It's a lot better than the elementary school we went to. I personally like the library and theatre and Suman likes how we don't get to wear uniforms."
"That's interesting, because, I don't wear a uniform at my school either," said Veer.
"Really? What school do you go to?" she asked in a half surprised way.
"Mahatma Gandhi High School," he answered.
Her eyes widened and asked, "You go to our school? That's strange, I've never seen you before."
"Well, I am new. Suman sure loves to be with friends doesn't she?" he asked.
"Are you kidding me? She loves to be with friends 24/7! She can't live without us!"
"Oh, well this is a curious question: Do you mind telling me when you met Suman and how did you become such great friends?"
Rashmi told him about how she met Suman, how they became friends, and also about her past life. He was quite surprised and fascinated after hearing her story.
"Wow. That's sad how your father died and you were forced to leave your home and suffer by living in poverty, but great on how Mr.Thakur accepted you and your mother and starting out your new life."
For the next two hours, Veer and Rashmi continued to talk to each other and they both enjoyed it. They started becoming comfortable enough to talk to each other.
"Waiter," he said. "Can I have two cups of Masaala Chai?"
Why did he order two cups? Gosh I guess he really loves it then, Rashmi thought.
When the waiter came back with two masaala chai's Veer said, "Why'd you give me two? Didn't I only order one?"
"No, you ordered two," she said.
Veer turned towards the waiter. "Sorry about that, I only wanted one. Can you take the other one away?"
"Sorry, what you get is what you keep," said the waiter.
Veer sighed and said, "What am I gonna do with this other cup of masaala chai?"
"Maybe I'll try it," Rashmi offered boldly.
"Really? Are you sure you want to try it?"
"Yeah. Suman never lets me try masaala chai when we go to the coffee shop. Since she's not here, I'll give it a try."
"Alright Ms.Gupta," he said, "hope you like it!"
After she drank it, she really liked it and before she could order another one, Suman walked in the shop.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!"
Oh yeah your just on time! Rashmi thought to herself. She was so angry with Suman that she felt like putting all her anger on her right that second.
"What took you so long? We thought you were supposed to be back in half an hour?" questioned Veer suspiciously.
"I know, I'm sorry. Naina's computer crashed and we were trying to fix the problem then once it turned on and we finished typing our project, the printer had problems, so that's why it took me so long."
"Oh, it's okay. How about we three hang-out at that Night-Out place next week?" he asked.
"That would be cool," said Suman.
"I guess I'll see ya,"
After he left, Rashmi started having this weird feeling that she had never felt before. And she didn't understand what it was. But she wanted to know what this feeling was soon.
Chapter Nine: Is This Friendship Or Love? * *
During the week, Rashmi continued to study for exams, went to see Suman's play, and then went to the Night-Out place with Suman and Veer.
"Wow Veer," said Suman, "This place is awesome! Thanks so much for bringing me here!"
"Glad you like it," he said. "How about you Rashmi?"
"It's, um, great," lied Rashmi, blushing her face off.
Rashmi and Veer covered their ears from the loud music.
"Suman, do you wanna dance?" asked Veer.
"Sure," she said gloomily. Then she noticed Rashmi and was quick to end all hopes of her leaving. "You wanna come with us, Rashmi?" she questioned smugly. Her problem was solved--thank goodness for easily maniputable friends.
She shook her head, slipping into the background. Suman and Veer went to go dance but Suman wasn't close dancing which Rashmi least expected her to do anyway. She wasn't really looking at him but seeing if anyone else she knew was there. She suddenly saw Karan, Naina, and Nitesh, Karan's friend, dancing at the opposite side of the club.
Oh no, she thought. Karan's here! I can't let him see me dance with Veer! I'm going to have to make Rashmi dance with him and keep him company again.
"Hey Veer, I gotta go talk to Rashmi for a sec, I'll be back."
Suman quickly rushed towards Rashmi. She started panting loudly with her face down. Rashmi lifted her face up.
"What happened, Suman? Why are you panting so loudly?" she asked terrified, thinking something happened to her. Suman put her hands in Rashmi's hand and gave her 'the look'.
"Rashmi, I need you to be with Veer again while I'm with Karan."
"No way! I'm not going to dance with Veer so you can be with your hottie boyfriend."
"Come on, Rashmi please! I promise, I won't leave you alone with Veer after today." Once she turned away, she saw Karan coming her way and started getting scared. "Rashmi please! I'm begging you! Please dance with Veer! Karan's coming my way."
"Okay, fine, I will," she said and saw Karan standing behind Suman.
"Hey Sweets!" he said joyfully, "Wanna dance?"
Veer came to see them, and that just made Suman even more worried. Rashmi started giving Suman 'the look' to make up a lie and she thought of one and said,
"Veer, these are my friends from school."
She introduced everyone to Veer and told them that he was with Rashmi when Veer wasn't paying attention.
"Come on Suman, let's go dance!" said Karan.
"Uh..." she muttered.
"Come on!" he interrupted.
"Okay, but I'll only go on one condition: If Rashmi dances with Veer."
"Suman, what are you---"
"Don't worry, Rashmi. It'll be fun! Veer's very nice! You'll have a nice time with him!"
"But---"
"Bye!" she shouted and ran off with her friends.
Rashmi was alone with Veer and started to blush. He started to dance but she just stood there, looking at how other people dance.
"Don't try to look at other people dancing," said Veer. "To be honest with you, most of the people here are bad dancers, like me."
She gave him a smile and cracked up a bit. "Come on, trust me," he said. She slowly reached out for his hand, and started to dance.
"You're a great dancer, why don't you come here more often?"
"I don't know, I guess I don't really like loud music."
"Me neither, but I heard that Suman liked to come here, so I brought her here."
"Oh,"
"Suman doesn't seem to like me very much, I feel like she's avoiding me or something."
"Yeah I'm getting that feeling too, do you want me to talk to her about it?"
"No, I'll talk to her about it myself. Let's just dance for now."
"Actually Veer, I'm having a headache from all this music. Can we go outside?"
"Sure, should I tell Suman?"
"No, don't disturb her, let her be with her friends," she said, "and hottie boyfriend," she whispered.
"What did you say?"
"Oh nothing. Let's go."
They left the club, and sat next to each other on the bench. It was a beautiful, breezy night and the two of them looked solemnly at each other.
"I, well, I'm planning to cancel the Joraa with Suman."
"Oh, so we won't be hanging out anymore?" Rashmi sighed.
"No, we'll still see each other at school."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"And I guess we can get together sometimes."
"Yeah,"
"So Rashmi, are we considered friends?"
"Yeah, we're friends." Rashmi and Veer brought their hands together and shook hands.
"Rashmi; I have something to tell you: I L---"
"Hey! What are you guys doing out here? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Suman hollered from the club entrance.
Rashmi and Veer froze there with their hands clasped together. They slowly turned their heads towards Suman.
The next set of chapters will be posted soon! 😊
Ganesh Kartikeya
Shiv Shakti
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
