KaYa OS || I'm Sorry But...

KKN had been the No. 1 news channel for 4 weeks in a row. To celebrate this, Khalid and Malvika decided to throw a party in the office.

On the day of the party, Ananya threw open her wardrobe and thought, "Aree yaar, kya pehnu main?" This was followed by a long series of dress-trails in front of the mirror which seemed no less than a high-profile fashion show.

"Yeh pink wala... Nahi, bahot flashy hai. May be the white one. No, bahot plain looking hai.. Party hai, funeral nahi!"

"Ananya, beta?" Her mom entered the room. "Kya kar rahi ho? Aur yeh sab kapde kyun bikhrakar rakhe hain tumne?"

"Ma, aaj office mein party hai. Aur main kya pehnu kuch samajh mein nahi aa raha.. Please help karo na!!"

"Okay, let me see.." Her mom reached out towards a dress buried under a heap of other clothes. "Try this one."

It was a navy blue, knee-length, one-piece dress with full sleeves of net. It had a silver brooch in the front. Simple, yet elegant.

"Mom, this is so perfect!" Ananya said, thinking about how nice Kabir sir looked in navy blue. Then she shook her head, as if to clear her mind, muttering to herself, "Tu kya soch rahi hai Ananya..?! Focus!!"

Ananya got ready and reached the office. Everyone was already there, except Kabir. Malvika said, "Ye Kabir kaha reh gaya.. Main call karke dekhti hoon."

"Rehne do Malvika. I'm already here..." Kabir said, entering the office. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and denims, and a billion-dollar smile. Against the wish of Ananya, her heart did a little tap-dance.

Kabir happened to glance at Ananya. In her blue dress, she looked so gorgeous that his heart started to thunder like crazy.

"So..." Khalid said, "Let's get the party going... Music!!"

The music started. Some time was spent in dancing and chitchats. Suddenly, Sunny said, "Let's play a game!"

"Sunny, abhi -" Malvika started but Kabir cut her off. "Let him say, Malvika.. So, Sunny, what's your game?"

"Sir, the game is that we sit around a table and spin a bottle. In the end, bottle jiske taraf point karegi, usko ek task complete karna padega."

"Aur use task dega kaun?"

"Baaki logo mein se koi bhi.."

"Sounds interesting." said Malvika.

"So, let's play!" Khalid.

Everyone sat around the conference table. A bottle was spun and it came to rest pointing towards Ronnie.

Richa : I've a task for you. You have to dance.

Ronnie : Okkayy...

Richa : With Ananya.

Ronnie : Haan, toh isme kaunsi badi baat hai? Best friend hai meri..

Ananya : Kisne kaha badi baat hai..? Chal, aaja.

Ronnie offered his hand to Ananya, who took it. The music was on, and they started dancing. It was a slow dance, nothing that suggested anything, but still, looking at both of them together made Kabir go green with jealousy. The fact that they looked so comfortable together didn't help the matters much.

"They're just best friends." he tried to placate himself, but failed miserably.

"Okay, okay!" Malvika said, stopping Ronnie and Ananya, much to the relief of Kabir. "We won't want to spend all our time for just one task. Let's continue."

Ronnie spun the bottle, and it stopped, pointing towards Trisha.

Malvika said, "Trisha, imitate someone from our office."

Trisha stood up, cleared her throat and started, in her most crisp and business-like voice, "Miss Kashyap, main KKN ka Editor-in-Chief hoon, aur aap yahan bas ek junior reporter hai. Yahan kaunsi news chalegi aur kaunsi nahi, yeh main decide karta hoon, aap nahi. Am I clear?"

This imitation received a great applause from everyone present, and a salute from Khalid.

Khalid said, "That was even better than perfect, Trisha!!"

Ananya, smirking, glanced at Kabir. He was extremely flustered and was looking at Trisha with an expression which, if it had a voice of its own, would have said, "Kya karoon main iss ladki ka?"

But instead of saying anything, he simply gulped and spun the bottle. It stopped, pointing towards himself.

Trisha grabbed Ananya's hand under the table and said, "Sir, mere paas aapke liye ek task hai!"

Kabir's expression was akin to "Not again!!"

Richa : Yes, Trisha.."

Trisha : Sir, aap apne favourite reporter ke liye ek gaana dedicate kijiye.

If looks were daggers, Trisha would have been impaled twice. Once by Kabir and once, by Ananya.

Kabir : Trisha, jaise aapne bas panch minute pehle kaha tha, I'm the Editor-in-Chief. I don't have favourites.

Khalid : Kabir, tum chaahe jo keh lo, yeh toh saara office jaanta hai ki Ananya tumhari favourite hai. So, stop making excuses and go ahead with the task.

Kabir looked at Ananya. She was sitting with her head bowed, a slight blush on her cheeks. "It's now or never, Miss Kashyap." he thought.

He picked up his cellphone and started scrolling through the music-list. When he found the perfect song, he smiled and pressed Play.

Jhalli si hai,
Pagli si hai,
Bak bak bak karti rehti hai..

Jhalla sa hai,
Pagla sa hai,
Sapne bas bunta rehta hai... (This line isn't quite applicable here but I couldn't edit it out either!)

Zara zara zara tedhi medhi,
Phir bhi woh pyari hai...
Dil toh gaya kehke sorry hai.

Well all I can say is,

Hey eh hey hey.. hey eh hey hey..
Jaane anjaane yeh kya ho gaya...
Hey eh hey hey.. hey eh hey hey..
I'm sorry par tumse pyaar ho gaya...

The song stopped, leaving Kabir smiling, Ananya blushing a deep red and everyone else agape.

Suddenly, Ananya's phone buzzed, announcing a new message and breaking the spell. She said, "Ma ka message hoga. She would be waiting for me. Wise bhi bahot der ho chuki hai. Main nikalti hoon."

"Haan, der toh ho gayi hai. Hum sab bhi nikalte hai." Khalid said, his eyes flitting between Kabir and Ananya, "Shayad kal koi badi news mil jaaye."

Ananya left first, in a great hurry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kabit went down to the parking lot. Walking towards his car, he looked calm outwardly, but inside his mind, there raged a gream storm of thoughts.

"Why didn't she say anything? Did I make mistake by admitting it in front of everyone else?"

Kabir reached the car. Suddenly, he heard the voice that he had come to love so much. "Sir, jaate jaate apne song ka reply nahi lete jayenge aap?"

He turned to see Ananya standing behind him. "Miss Kashyap, aapko toh aapki ma ne -"

"Woh toh marketing company ka message tha. I made an excuse to leave." Ananya said with a smile "Waise aapne reply jaanne ki koshish bhi nahi ki."

Kabir leaned against the bonnet of his car and said, "Maine socha, mere jaise serious aadmi mein aap jaisi budbudati reporter ko interest hoga bhi kaise?" He smiled as he waited for an answer.

Ananya leaned on the bonnet, beside him. "Sir, aap na, ekdum sahi keh rahe hai. Aap jaise bande se mera kya kaam?"

Ananya's remark wiped the smirk off Kabir's face. His heart started pounding furiously against his ribs. "She really doesn't mean this, does she?" He looked at Ananya, his nervousness evident on his face. There was a twinkle in Ananya's eyes that he couldn't quite decipher.

He straightened and said, "Miss Kashyap, aap kehna kya chahti hai?"

Ananya straightened too, and turned to face him. She said, "Kabir sir, I'm sorry but -"

Kabir's nervousness was replaced by fear. He didn't want to be rejected from someone's life, once again. He asked, stammering a little, "Ky-kyun, Miss Kashyap?"

Ananya replied, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "Sir, mujhe meri baat puri toh karne dijiye!" She was certainly smiling now. "I'm sorry but.." She put her arms around Kabir's neck, "I love you too!"