1. The Ghoda and RA's Advice Queen.
"Point being, hum sab aakhir ko humans hi hain..." One eye closed, eyes on the target and tongue sticking out, she was looking quite the picture saying such philosophical lines.
His moving hands stopped and he looked at her as she threw the dart. It flew and missed the mark.
7th time in a row.
"Dang it!" She cursed and looked at him, pouting while she did so. And he had to fight hard to stop his smirk from appearing on his face. She shrugged and took her seat opposite to him.
"And as humans," she continued. "We have every right to act humans. And humans, err."
Wow, she was on a streak today!
"Kehna kya chahti ho Panchi?" KD diverted his attention back to the task at hand, finishing up the assignment.
"What I mean is ke bade faide ke liye chota nuqsaan uthana is fine!" She picked up her glass of half finished cold drink and took a sip from it, looking at him thoughtfully as she did so.
"Life philosophy se direct business mantra? Panchi Rastogi, tabiyat tou theek hai na?" He commented without looking up. She rolled her eyes and put her hand on his file.
"Ghee tedhi ungli se kyun nahin nikalte?!" She cried and he only raised his eyebrows at him.
"Assignment mein ghee daal ke kya karoonga?!" He retorted in the same way and tried snatching the file from her. And succeeded.
"I'm talking about Kiya!"
"What about her?! Right now I'm interested in this assignment only!" He made a hand gesture to shoo her away and she could only manage to give him a scandalized look.
"KD, koi andha bhi dekh le that there is something special between you." This time she tried a softer approach and it worked for he finally put down his pen and looked at her.
"Panchi, we are just good friends. Aur ye bhi kafi mehnat ke baad hua hai. I don't want to screw this up. And besides, it's not like ke wo mujhe koi ghaas daalti hai, uss tarah se." He calmly explained to her and picked up his pen again. Which point was he noting again?
"Keshav Desai, I didn't know ke tum ek ghode ho."
What?
KD dropped his pen on the floor at this comment and gave her a shocked look before bending down to pick it up.
"Cuz ghaas ghodon ko daali jaati hai, insaano ko nahin." She shrugged and finished her drink.
"Technically bakriyon ko bhi daali jaati hain but ghoda suits you more. What a fine breed of horse you are!" She smiled brightly at him, showing a little of her perfect teeth.
He didn't know how to reply to that so he just gave her his signature "Angry Young Man" look and she sobered up.
"KD, why don't you just tell her that you have feelings for her?"
"Because I'm tired of that. Har baar main hi kyun? My ego and self respect can't take that anymore. Main khud ko uss position mein nahin rakh sakta where she can step over me again!" He hadn't meant to say this, certainly not with the amount of bitterness in which he did. But it all came out. Kiya was a touchy topic for him. The crush which began in Royal Academy was still strong in the second year of Imperial College of Communication. But with time he had grown up and his feelings had changed. The core of that was still the same just this time, his manly ego didn't like being the first one to take the step forward. He had done this enough. About time she showed him that she cared.
The world may judge him all it wants, he didn't care.
"Then give her a chance to do so!" Panchi seemed like on a mission to sort out everything between her two friends. Let's just say, the lack of a love life had made her interested in giving others the chance to experience what she hadn't yet.
"Kaise?" He rested his face on his palm and cocked his head on the side.
"Oldest trick in the book - make her feel jealous." Panchi suggested flatly and he blinked. He didn't say anything but his expression showed his increasing interest in the subject.
"Dekho, hum insaan hain. Choti moti galtiyan hamare liye perfectly alright hain. I know you don't like hurting Kiya but technically, jealousy and hurt aren't the same. If you make her realize ke tum poori zindagi uska wait nahin karoge tou shayad cheezen speed up hojaein. After all, kab tak ye stolen Ishq Wala Love type moments pe guzaara karoge?"
KD chuckled at the last part and nodded thoughtfully. She wasn't exactly wrong at what she was saying. Crush or not, spending away his golden period of youth just looking from afar hoping for a miracle was not the 21st Century thing to do. Gotta take matters in his own hands.
"You mean, have an affair?" He asked, just to make things clear and she nodded after some thought.
"I don't mean ke you make someone else fall for you just to get at Kiya. Galtiyan apni jagah but that would be totally wrong! Just ke..do something which will give Kiya the
idea that you have someone else in your life. Kaam bhi hojaega aur you won't be termed disloyal as well."
"Ab samajh mein araha hai ke Royal mein sab tumse advice kyun lete the. I'm impressed." He bowed his head a little in appreciation and she giggled.
"Lekin mere saath fake affair karega kon?" He asked hoping that she'd have thought that out as well.
"Wo sochna padega..." She mumbled and looked at the entrance of the canteen where Kiya had just appeared with a few friends of her. Panchi waved at her and she waved back, wanting to get some sort of greeting from KD but he was lost in his own thoughts. Kiya sat at another table with her friends and Panchi picked up her glass mindlessly, forgetting that it was empty. She brought it to her mouth and tilted, realizing too late that it was empty. KD gave out a laugh at this, enough to get Kiya's attention who kept stealing glances at KD.
KD kept laughing while Panchi pouted. He pushed his own barely touched glass towards her and she shrugged sheepishly and picked it up while he just shook his head and bowed down to finish his assignment.
Now, had it been someone else other than KD on that table giving Panchi his glass of drink, Kiya wouldn't have given it a second thought. But THE Keshav Desai who hardly interacted with girls doing such intimate gesture for Panchi, that image didn't quite leave Kiya's mind. She was bewildered at this, an expression which KD's sharp eyes didn't miss. And just like that, the wheels of his mind started running in full speed. He gave Kiya one last look as she continued looking confused and shifted his gaze to Panchi who was sipping from the glass, looking around and humming lazily. A smile formed KD's lips as he took in that scene.
After all, all's fair in love and war, right?
Edited by Mais - 12 years ago
Udne Ki Aasha
Kumkum Bhagya
