||The Journey||Note (Moved) - Page 13 Dec13th2013 - Page 3

Radhika stepped out onto the poolside. The sun was already setting, and she felt foolish to find herself entering the space so late. It was already six. She had spent the last hour showering and washing her hair, which again led her to think how stupid does it look to go to a pool with washed, wet hair. She wasn't a fan of her hair, she liked the regular breast length, but when they are wet, they are trouble. She ran her fingers through her hair again, separating the sticking locks by giving a little shake at the roots. She had changed into a pair of jeans shorts and a loose peach tank top. That was the closest to a beach party costume.

The poolside was crowded, to her surprise. It was full of teenagers and college students, the reckless kind. The hotel had been really quiet inside. Most of them were playing a game at the pool. The boys carried their girls on their shoulders and walked across the pool without dropping them. The couples tried making others fall by shoving, kicking and what not.

Radhika gasped when she felt a hard shoulder bump into her. He stopped and turned to look at her, then without any confrontation, walked away with the beer in his hand. Radhika's curled her lips in a scowl.

"Asshole!" She said, a little louder then regular decibels, but the boy with brown eyes simply walked away.

"Now that is not a charming way to socialize." Radhika turned her head towards the source of familiar voice and found Nikhil laying on a recliner.

"I do not socialize with ass holes." She said, and then pointed at the recliner on his right. "Can I use this?" Nikhil nodded, his eyes on the PlayStation, the same one he had been using that morning. Radhika almost grinned when she saw a cup of soda next to him. Coke. To her surprise, he was wearing the same jeans and green collared t-shirt.

"Of course you don't. You only socialize with gentlemen." He said, glancing at her. She could swear she saw a small smile on his face. His attention impaired for a moment as he looked past the water on the other side of the pool. Radhika followed his gaze and found Raj sitting by a pool in his shorts and black wife beater.

"I am in the land of gentlemen," She admitted, "But as sadistic as it is, I am not surprised to see even one around." She said, leaning back in the incliner.

"Oh, look at you!" Nikhil said beside her. "Your grateful words pierce my heart!"

"I would be damned if I think of you as a perfect gentlemen," then to polish the humor she added, "Sir!"

"You're mistaken if you think England is the land of perfect gentlemen." He turned to look across the pool where Raj had turned to talk to a blond boy. They looked like they were arguing. Radhika turned to look at Nikhil again. The sun had almost set, yet the noise and party was in full swing. She was about to point out that England was specifically numbered as land of gentlemen when he suddenly got up and walked away. She watched as he reached Raj with quick steps, but he was a moment too late. The blond boy was already lying on the wet floor with his palm pressed against his now bleeding corner of the lips. Radhika sat up straight, and contemplated whether to go there or not, but stayed where she was when Nikhil walked towards her with Raj on his tow.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Nikhil turned to him angrily when they reached the spot.

"He started it." Raj replied, still fuming with anger.

"What are you, a KG student?" Nikhil asked, his jaw pressed in mild anger. On the other side of the pool, the boy's friends held him as he glared at Raj.

"You were the one who walked away last night. You know I can't stand them." Raj bit out.

"You have to control your anger when it comes to her, Raj. She isn't under your guardianship, you have no right to beat up every men who tries to befriend her." I looked between them as Nikhil glared at him. Then Raj sighed loudly and dropped at the edge of the recliner where Nikhil was sitting minutes ago.

"Sorry." Raj muttered.

"You should be." Nikhil said. Then he walked over to sit next to Raj and patted his shoulder. "Come on. Cheer up. Go and cheer Aisha up or she won't let you anywhere near you. Go!"

Radhika watched quietly as Raj stood up with a nod. As soon as he was out the door, Nikhil turned to Radhika.

"Don't you dare slip this during gossip nights." He said. She frowned at him.

"What?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion. Nikhil sighed and muttered something to under his breath.

"What you just heard right now. Don't tell Aisha about it." He said. Radhika raised her chin slightly, and her eyebrows twitched, as she understood.

"You mean about the fact that she might have a hardcore, possessive lover boy?" She grinned. Nikhil rolled his eyes and settled back to play his game. "Don't worry, I am not a sophisticated gossip girl."

"Sure you're not." He said. Then turned to her with a teasing smile. "Maybe that's the reason you don't find a gentlemen."

Radhika clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Now that is what I call a perfect insult." Nikhil laughed and looked at her a second longer before averting his gaze. "Mr. Darcy found himself a non-gossip girl." She tried.

"Mr. Darcy?" He raised his eyebrows in question. "I won't put him under gentlemen category either."

"Well--" Radhika's sentence was left unfinished when Nikhil's phone rang. She turned away and stared at the sky above, it had turned dark blue now. There was a faint layer of stars, but the moon was brilliant bright shape of crescent.

"There is a party tonight." Nikhil said. Radhika turned to him. "You can stay at the hotel or join us."

"I will stay here." Radhika smiled. She didn't want to go to a party uninvited. She had enough gratitude to pay back for. And on the other side, she didn't like parties much. She can surely hangout with friends, but going to a party and having to introduce herself to everybody and be civil, she cannot do. When they reached the hotel room, it was already ajar, waiting for them.

"You're not coming to the party?" Aisha yelled. Radhika almost cringed. "Why not?"

"Well, because I am kind of," Radhika started awkwardly, "Not invited?"

"What? Who said that? Of course you're invited." Aisha stomped towards them, almost tripping over a pair of shoes that was entangled around some piece of cloth. "We don't send out invitations on a platinum card anymore, you know?"

"No one ever did, Aisha." Nikhil rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, it was suppose to be sarcasm idiot." She glared at him. Nikhil threw his hands in the air and turned to walk away.

"I will see you girls downstairs then."

Radhika ended up sitting on the back of luxurious limousine in a black dress and pair of heels. She had almost begged Aisha to not highlight her hair, and succeeded. That girl had planned to turn the desi girl into a funky Angelina Jolie, and no matter how funny and fun it was to have Aisha as a friend, Radhika found herself exhausted through all the party dress up. Aisha however looked stunning. She was wearing a gold dress and marvelous stilettos. He hair curled and the blue highlight still defining her pretty looks.

"Quite a make-over there." Nikhil said with a smirk. Radhika rolled her eyes but couldn't help admire his get up. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a leather jacket over it.

"Wow!" Raj said and whistled as he looked at the girls settling down before him. "Boombaat girls, huh?" That earned him a well-deserved slap on his head. He was dressed up almost the same way as Nikhil, but his hair was styled with gel, while Nikhil's hair was messy. "Can you not be so violent all the time?" He hissed.

"Can you not be such a pervert all the time?" Aisha shot back. Raj squinted his eyebrows.

"You surely didn't feel violent with the pervert last night."

"Calm down guys." Radhika said slowly.

"Let them be. They will figure it out themselves." Nikhil said, looking out the window. Radhika stared at him as he kept his eyes on the road. The car had silenced down. No one said anything until Nikhil spoke up.

"I am going to Cornwall tomorrow." The three heads turned to him.

"Already?" Raj asked.

"What about..." She started, but then stopped as if she had realized that she almost revealed a secret. Radhika didn't say anything, but a strange feeling pressed down on her heart. He was the only person she knew in this foreign land who will land her a helping hand without hesitation.

"I have to go." He looked up at his friends, his gaze intense and strong. "I know you can do it, please." Aisha opened her mouth but then closed it with a sigh and nodded.

They had reached the venue before anyone can argue anymore. It was someone's house, and Radhika almost cringed at the thought of crashing into a party full of drunken teenagers and idiots. The though of drugs that are much popular in such parties made her almost want to run back to the hotel room again. She gasped and almost jumped when a hand slid around her waist. She sighed in relief when she found it was only Nikhil who gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry. It's not that bad." He whispered. "Let me know anytime you feel like going back, okay?" Radhika nodded, her heart still racing. What will she do when he is gone tomorrow? She had wished the two weeks to be over soon, but without someone like Nikhil to be by her side like a savior every time she landed in idiotic troubles, is going to be hard. Of course, Aisha and Raj were still here, but how can she interfere their life? And looking at the relationship they shared, it was best that she stayed away. What was about this boy? She had met him not even twenty-four hours ago, and she was finding herself leaning on him for survival in this land full of strangers. He was her knight. It wasn't his fault that his armor wasn't exactly shining.

Radhika shook her head off all the thoughts and decided that she will book a good hotel as soon as they get back to London Pride. The party wasn't that bad, it was decent.

"This is Radhika, and Radhika, this is Carl Brandon, the host of this party." Nikhil introduced them and they shook their hands. Carl was a businessman and Nikhil's friend. Carl was getting everyone's drink ready in the kitchen so they had easily found him. The house was empty, but the backyard was full of noise. Carl took quite an interest in learning Radhika's name and she had to control her laughing until he finally said the name right, even though with a thick, British accent.

"You don't look out of place." Nikhil smiled at her as they made their way towards the backyard where everyone was partying. There were tables with umbrella over it even though it was night. Some people were even in the pool. Nikhil didn't introduce her to anyone else. Instead, he led her to the table where Aisha and Raj were sitting.

"Met Carl?" Aisha asked. She had already helped herself with the cup of some cocktail. Radhika nodded. "Handsome huh?"

"And rich." Radhika whispered, and both of them laughed.

"Girls." Raj muttered. "We are not hobos, incase you're curious."

"Oh we know." Aisha waved her hand, and turned to Radhika again. "Do you know Raj is actually Raj Singhania?"

"Really?" Radhika asked, wondering if it was suppose to matter.

"The owner of B.S Enterprises." Aisha replied, and then suddenly burst out laughing. "B.S..."

"I have heard that before." Radhika said, ignoring Aisha's insulting joke. She turned to Raj instead. "Isn't that the company that handles major Airlines in India? Your symbol is always at the edge of those fliers as sponsors."

"Yeah." Raj muttered. "We just sponsor that. We actually own..."

"Oiling mills." Aisha completed for him. "Kind of glad he doesn't have to work in one of those." She shuddered. Radhika turned to look at Raj who was looking away, past them at the pool.

"I will see you guys later." He said with a small smile and got up to walk away. Radhika almost expected him to walk towards the pool, but he turned to walk into the house. Radhika glanced at Nikhil who was glaring at Aisha. Then without another word, he stood up and followed Raj.

Radhika sat there watching the friends. Like many other things she had found about them, their friendship wasn't perfect either. And still, she found herself craving to be a part of this little group.