Page 30 of That Same Old Love

She had finished up some pending work at her office and was home by six in the evening. She didn’t see Samrat’s SUV outside his house and assumed that he had left already. Quickly deciding on a cream dress with a red border and some light jewelry, she got ready in less than twenty minutes. She grabbed the gift which she thankfully packed the previous night and drove to the party hall. She was late by an hour, but she had deliberately planned it that way.

“The less time I spend, the less awkward it is for everyone,” she muttered.

Her stomach was growling, reminding her that she had skipped lunch that afternoon in lieu of an important meeting.

“Seriously, what is the etiquette before one can pounce on the food at a party?” she muttered.

“Talking to yourself again, are you?” she heard Samrat ask her from behind.

She jumped and almost dropped the gift box on the ground.

“My God! Why are you always creeping up on people? Maybe you should invest in some jewelry, some kind of bell around your neck perhaps?” she said and turned around, and almost gasped looking at him.

She had never seen him dress up in ethnic wear before. He was always either in business suits or casuals. With a cream and red ethnic suit, he looked like a king. A very hot warrior king, ready to plunder.

Yeah that’s what Ananya needs to see. Me drooling over her brother with X-rated fantasies at her daughter’s birthday party. A party in which the actual hosts hadn’t invited me or even think that I would have the gall to show up.

She had spent most of the night tossing and turning, still debating whether or not to attend the party. But like Srishti had said, maybe it was time to stop running away from the past, and apologize properly in person.

And what best way to do that, other than crashing a party during a happy occasion when the hosts were the proud parents and she had the security of a crowd around her, to save her from an attack, just in case things went south soon.

Samrat was amused. “I’m sure you would like that along with a rope attached.”

She smiled absently. “Maybe I do. Where is the birthday girl?”

“Srishti is getting ready I think. She has finished wearing her family mandated attire until now and is changing into something different I assume.” Samrat had a crooked smile as though he knew whatever his niece was going to change into would cause uproar within her family.

“Oh.”

“No smart comeback with how girls should be able to choose whatever they want for their party like the boys, and all that talk?” he asked.

She was too nervous to spar with him. “No. I think sometimes, you do need to make allowances for your family, and adapt to the environment. And boys get to do that too. Or you would have turned up in your usual shorts and a T-shirt.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. “You almost sound sane. Are you sure, you are okay? Maybe you are not feeling that well.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Don’t be too sure about my sanity. Oh, by the way, our clothes are matching with the cream and red color combination. If you don’t want another set of lipstick marks on your pristine cream colored kurta, you better be nice to me.”

His eyes narrowed slightly in warning. “Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that over here. Most of Sidhu’s family and friends are here, and they are very conservative. And not to mention my parents and family too.”

She grinned. “Does that mean I can pull that stunt somewhere else? When the ‘conservative’ family is not around?”

“I happen to like what I’m wearing. It was a gift from Anu, and I wouldn’t like to burn it like my other shirt,” he bluffed, sounding ridiculously pompous.

She rolled her eyes. “God… you are such a boring uptight prig. Anyway, while I love standing here and trading insults, I’m starving. I had to skip lunch for the Stimmulus phase two go-live meeting. Where can I drop off the gifts and get some food?”

He frowned. “What? Why did you have to skip your lunch for that? The dining hall is on the right in that next building. And why are you getting involved in the Stimmulus project?”

She felt guilty because she didn’t want her manager to be in trouble because of her. “I asked Mehul to allow me to interview with the Stimmulus project team. There was an opening, and I had the right credentials. I’m still working on my old projects as well, and a lot of team members are involved in multiple projects, so you can just chill.”

“Hmmff.”

Samrat was about to walk away when he heard someone calling his name.

“Wait. What does that hmmff mean? I hope you are not planning on harassing Mehul or even Sanjay for giving me an opportunity to work on something I’m interested in.”

He turned to look at her. “We’ll see,” he said ominously before walking away.

She was beginning to get agitated. “I must be brain dead to mention that to him,” she muttered.

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