Reyansh's POV
I was captivated by her beauty. Her face bore an innocent, sweet smile that captured my heart. Her dark brown orbs dreamily observed the people dancing around her. Her gorgeous hair was tied in a ponytail, adorned with a flowery white band. Two locks of her hair framed her face, dancing with every movement of her face. Her minimal makeup was complemented by a bindi perfectly placed between her eyebrows, adding an ethereal beauty to her face. I couldn't focus on anything else but her.
Unable to resist, I walked in her direction. "Hi," I said, trying to gain her attention.
"Hey," she responded, turning towards me. I was mesmerized. Her beautiful eyes looked directly into mine, and her honeyed voice was like a therapy to my ears.
"Are you alone here? I mean, you don't seem to be taking part in the garba anytime soon."
"No, actually, I am waiting for my friend."
"Oh, okay... I thought maybe you came alone and weren't finding it enjoyable."
"No, no, it's not like that. I'm enjoying it. I just don't know how to do garba, so I chose to stand here and observe others."
"I see. If you don't mind, I can help you with that."
"No, no, it's okay. I'm a terrible dancer."
"Don't worry. You just have to follow my lead, and you'll do it easily."
"I don't think I can do that," she said reluctantly, and my heart sank. But what else could I expect? She wouldn't be ready to dance with a stranger so easily. I decided to try one more time.
"I'm sure you didn't spend the money on the ticket just to stand in one corner. A little effort, and you can create a wonderful memory of this event to cherish for a lifetime. What do you say?" I asked hopefully.
"Well, what you're saying is true, but can you do one thing for me?"
I could do anything you ask, munji ghull (my flower), I thought, biting my tongue before saying it out loud. "Yes, why not? What is it?"
"Can you please ask someone to record us while we do the garba? I want to have a video of it."
Wow, munji ghull wants to have a video of our first dance. Perfect!
"Why not." I asked one of the men standing nearby to take a video of us.
To be honest, I didn't know how to do garba myself. I just wanted to talk to her more, so I stretched the conversation this way. We came to the middle of the pandal (hall), and I observed the people around us to see how they were doing the steps. I had never been so thankful for my quick learning ability. I imitated a couple nearby, showing her the steps: tapping our right hands together and moving our right legs forward, then doing the same with the left, and twirling to repeat. She listened carefully and watched me.
When the guy started the video, we actually did the garba together. It was the best garba event I had ever attended. She was smiling ear to ear, and I was completely taken by her innocent smile.
"Thank you so much. With your help, I was able to do at least a basic garba. I really appreciate it," she said.
"No worries. It's my pleasure to bring a smile to your face." The moment I said it, her smile vanished, and I regretted my outspoken self. "I mean, I'm happy that I could help someone." She smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"By the way, we don't know each other's names yet," she said, and I realized I hadn't introduced myself.
"Oh, my bad. My name is Reyansh."
"Nice name. I'm Aathiya."
"Aathiya, nice to meet you."
"Same here. Are you Gujarati?" she asked.
I was about to answer when someone called her from behind. It must be the friend she was waiting for.
"Sorry, Aathiii, I got stuck somewhere. I'm so sorry," her friend apologized, but I should be thankful because if she hadn't been away, I wouldn't have had the chance to dance with her.
"It's okay, Aaru. I had someone accompanying me. Meet Reyansh. He just taught me some garba steps. We even made a video of it," she introduced me to her friend.
"Hi, Reyansh. I'm Aarohi."
"Nice to meet you, Aarohi," I greeted her. Now that her friend was here, I had to leave, though I didn't want to. Kanha ji, help.
"If you have time, can you make another video of Aathiya and me?" I thanked Kanha ji internally. This was a sign that I was going in the right direction.
"For sure." I was capturing the video of both of them when my phone buzzed, flashing the name of the idiot—my best friend. "I'm sorry, guys. I have to take this. Just give me a sec." I excused myself and picked up the phone.
"Where are you, Rey? I've been looking for you."
"Finally, after an hour, you remember you have a friend waiting for you."
"I'm sorry, bro. I got here a long time ago, but Mr. Patel stopped me for some work, and then I got stuck........" I cut him off.
"Well, make some more excuses."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'll meet you later. I'm busy with someone here."
"You're busy with someone at this event? Is it some new businessman?"
"You can only think of business at every point bro, I'll tell you later. Bye." I didn't wait for his response and hung up.
I returned to the pandal where she was practicing with her friend. "Okay, guys, take your positions. I'm going to capture the video." Both of them took their positions, and I recorded their video, doing the same garba we did before.
"Thank you, Reyansh," her friend said to me.
"No worries. If you want to take some pictures together, I can do that too."
"Awww, thank you so much, Reyansh." Meanwhile, her another friend joined them. I started taking pictures of them. Her friends were happy, but she seemed a bit off. I wondered why. Should I ask her directly? No, Reyansh, it will be too much for her. I don't want her to see me as some desperate guy in our first meeting, but I do want to talk more to her. What should I do? I was contemplating my thoughts while taking solo pictures of her friends. Oh, I haven't taken any solo pictures of her. How dumb of you, Reyansh. I cursed myself.
"Hey Aathiya, you don't like to take pictures?"
"No, no, it's not like that. I love getting captured, but I'm too bad at posing, so I thought I wouldn't bother you with my boring poses."
"Well, I can tell you some poses. You know, I'm an exceptional photographer."
"Really?"
"Yeah." She was hesitating, so I tried to bring her friend into the conversation. "Hey Aarohi, don't you think she should also get some solos?"
"Oh, absolutely. Come on, Aathiii, don't be so shy." She gave a nervous smile and stood in front of me for a picture. I guided her a little and captured her in my phone—and my heart.
"If it's okay, can we take one picture together?" I asked her, unable to control my urge to be with her. She stood there, shocked.
"Ahh, well... it's..." She couldn't say anything. Damn, I made her uncomfortable.
"It's okay, no problem. If you are not comfortable, that's fine." I said this in the hope of reducing her anxiety , and her expression changed from hesitant to a slight smile.
"It's nothing like that. We can surely take a selfie."
So her kindness overpowers her hesitation. I can certainly say that she said yes because she felt it's not right to say no to a person who helped her in some way. "Perfect." I went close to her—not that close, but still close enough to smell her perfume. Damn, she smells like vanilla and cocoa butter. All of a sudden, I was feeling nervous. What the hell, man. I couldn't figure out how to pose with her. "If you don't mind, can I put my arm on your shoulder?"
"Yeah."
The moment I put my arm on her shoulder, I got goosebumps. Why am I behaving like an idiot today? I composed myself and took a selfie.
"Can you send us the pictures and videos?" her friend asked me.
"Sure. Instead of sending them all separately, I can send them to Aathiya in a link, and she can share that with you both. What do you say?"
"Sure, sure, why not."
"I am going to drop Riya outside, Aathiii. You guys carry on."
This girl is smart. "So, should I send you the link on Instagram?" I didn't ask for her phone number because I didn't want her to think that I am a big flirt, which I seem to be, but clearly, I'm not.
"I don't have Instagram."
"You don't use Instagram?"
"No, no... I use it a lot. That's why I decided to take a break."
"Oh, okay. So where should I send you the link for the photos?"
"You can send it to me on Snapchat."
"Oh, sure." I never used Snapchat. I don't even have an account on that app. It's okay, I'll install it for her. It's not a big thing. I didn't want to overwhelm her more. She gave me her snap ID, thanked me, and meanwhile, her friend also came back.
"Okay, guys, it was nice meeting you both. I'll share the link soon." I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to.
"Same here," both of them said together and left. I stood there, watching her retreating figure. She went to another side of the pandal, maybe to wear her heels. I was still watching her when I felt someone jerking me, but I didn't want to move.
"Hey Rey, where are you lost, man? What are you looking at?" Aadarsh said, but I didn't comprehend his words clearly.
"I love her... I want her," I said without realizing.
"What?" Aadarsh exclaimed in shock. I regained my consciousness and turned toward him.
"I said I love her... I want her."
"Who? Who are you talking about, Rey?"
"The one standing right there in the dark blue and magenta outfit." He followed my gaze.
"Do you know her?" Aadarsh asked, astonished.
"Not that much, but I will soon."
"Come on, man, I never thought you'd be interested in flings like this. Seeing a random girl and claiming that you love her and want her."
Anger surged through me at my best friend's words. "Shut up, Aadarsh. She is not a random girl, and this is not a fling. She is precious."
"But what if she has a boyfriend or even a fiancé?"
"I don't give a damn if she has a boyfriend or a fiancé. She belongs to me. She is mine."
"Okay, so she was the one for whom you cut my call in the middle?"
I didn't say anything because my focus was on her. When I saw her exiting the pandal, I looked at Aadarsh, who was looking at me with his hands in his pockets.
"If you're done staring, shall we leave?" he asked me.
"Yeah, yeah, we should leave now. By the way, what happened to your sherwani (long coat)?"
"Oh, a girl mistakenly threw kheechu on me."
"Woah, seriously?"
"Yeah, I told her it was okay, but she was adamant about cleaning it, and during the process, she made it even worse by making it wet."
"Hahahahaha, nice. You had your Bollywood moment, and I did too. This garba ended up being so fruitful for us."
"It could be for you but not for me. It was just a coincidence."
"Okay, okay, Mr. Jindal, as you say. Let's go."
Aadarsh's POV
I was running late. These meetings never seem to end on time. Anyway, it's over now. I need to focus on where I am.
"Hi, Mr. Jindal. How are you?" I greeted the event organizer.
"I'm good, Mr. Patel. How's everything going?" he replied.
"Everything's great. Your family didn't come?"
"They were busy with other commitments, so they couldn't make it."
"Oh, okay. How's business?"
We talked a little about business and other ventures before I took my leave. I don't like these big events at all. If Mom hadn't insisted, I wouldn't have come. I prefer a quiet atmosphere where I can enjoy my own company. But another reason for coming here was Rey. With Rey, I can relax even in this chaotic environment. But where the hell is he?
I was looking for him when, all of a sudden, a bowl of khichu (a Gujarati cuisine) landed on my sherwani.
"What the..." I looked in the direction from which the khichu came. There was a girl in a salwar kameez standing with her hands covering her mouth.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you were there!" she exclaimed, starting to approach me.
"watch out.....," I tried stopping her because of the Khichu on the floor, but before I could say anything, she slipped. I tried to prevent her fall by offering my hand, but she pulled me so hard that we both ended up on the floor. She was lying beneath me with her eyes closed. She opened one eye to look at me, our faces just inches apart. I stood up and offered her my hand to help her up.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay... Are you fine?"
"Yeah, yeah," she tried to walk but cried out in pain. "Oouch, I think my ankle is twisted."
"Wait... don't put pressure on it." I looked around and found a chair nearby, but I couldn't bring it here because we were in the center of the pandal. "Will you be able to walk over there?"
"Yeah, I think so," she said, trying to put weight on her foot but cried out again. "Ouchhh!"
"Can I carry you over there? I don't think you'll be able to walk."
"No, no... it's okay. You don't have to bother. I've already spoiled your clothes. I'll manage."
"Don't worry, I won't do anything inappropriate. Let me take you there and fix your ankle." She didn't say anything, just nodded. I carried her in bridal style to the chair. I set her down and gently held her ankle.
"No, no, please don't. It's very painful. I'll call my friend, and we'll manage. Please don't." She wouldn't let me touch her ankle, but if I didn't fix it now, it could get worse. I needed to distract her.
"What's your name?"
She looked in my eyes "I'm Aarohi. And you?"
"Aadarsh."
"Are you Gujarati?" I asked, trying to keep her distracted.
"No, I'm Punjabi. And you?"
"I'm Haryanvi, but I was brought up in Gujarat."
"Oh, okay. How long have you been here? She is acting like a curious cat. Just some time more, Aadarsh, you can do it.
"I was 15 when I came here with my parents." I held her ankle, but I had to keep the conversation going. "When did you come here?"
"Oh, I'm an international student. I came here almost a year ago..." And there I go. I twisted her ankle back into place.
"Ahhhh!"
"You should be okay now." She looked at me with her wide, chocolaty eyes as I stood up.
"Thank you. It feels better now." She stood up, testing her ankle.
"You're welcome." I turned to leave, but she stopped me.
"Wait."
I turned back. "Yes?"
"You helped me fix my ankle, but what about your clothes?"
"It's okay. You didn't do it intentionally."
"No, it's not okay. Let me clean it for you."
"No, really, that's fine. I'm good."
"No I don't want to feel like I was of no use when I could have helped."
I couldn't help but laugh at her abruptness. "It's okay, Miss Aarohi. Don't feel that way."
"Then let me help you, please."
Oh, this girl. "Fine."
"Let me get some water." She returned in a minute with a bottle of water. "Let's go outside. I don't want to make a mess here."
I nodded, and we went outside. She poured water on her dupatta and rubbed the spot where the food had stained my sherwani. She managed to clean the khichu, but my sherwani was now wet.
"I'm sorry again. It will dry soon."
"Yeah."
"Okay then, I should leave now. Once again, thank you for healing my ankle. It was nice meeting you. Bye."
"Same here. Bye." She was cute. What the hell? Why am I thinking like that? I need to behave. I shook off my thoughts and continued looking for Rey.
I saw him standing at a distance. When I reached him, I found him standing and lost in something. Mr. "I don't do flings" had fallen in love with a girl he had met just minutes ago. I couldn't believe it. He isn't the type for flings or one-night stands, but when he mentioned that girl, I got confused. The way he reacted made it crystal clear he was serious. He asked about the water stain, and I kept it brief because I didn't want him to tease the hell out of me. Then, we both went to Rey's place as he was super excited to share everything.
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Hope you liked the chapter Janemans. Please share your feedback and let me know how you are feeling about the story.
Happy reading! 😊
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