Page 25 of Red Flags and Rishtas
She pulled at the neckline of her dress, adjusting the amount of cleavage she wanted to be displayed.
‘That he felt like he’d seen me somewhere,’ she said, then added in a lighter, playful tone, ‘I think he was hitting on me.’
‘Oh God, V. Hehasseen you somewhere,’ I said, holding up my phone to remind her of our little Instagram adventure.
‘Oh shit,’ she said, turning to face me.
A woman entered the washroom, and we lowered our voices as she went inside.
‘What do we do now? He can’t find out you and I are best friends,’ I said, trying to limit the panic in my voice.
‘Yeah, or he’ll know you were stalking him,’ she said with a giggle.
I threw her an I-don’t-need-this-right-now look, and she held up her hands in surrender.
‘I’ll book myself a cab home,’ she said, sounding just a tad bit disappointed.
‘I’m really sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you tonight,’ I said, pouting innocently at my best friend. ‘I’ll make it up to you.’
She hugged me, asking if I could steal a bottle of whisky for her to leave with.
‘Just one?’ I asked, making her laugh.
I waited with her in the washroom while her cabbie showed up, filling her in about what had happened with Kiara.
‘So, you’re going to spend the evening chatting up Mr Aadar Chauhan, huh?’ she asked, teasing.
‘Please, stop that,’ I said and punched her arm lightly.
‘I’m just saying,’ she said, shrugging casually, ‘it could’ve been worse … he could’ve been ugly.’
‘Nowthatwould’ve helped.’
It took me a good fifteen minutes to find him because he’d left the room altogether. I panicked when I saw him standing outside the main door, assuming he was waiting for the valet.
‘Are you leaving already?’ I asked, stepping onto the pavement.
If he was surprised to see me, he didn’t show it. ‘Nope.’
He held up his left hand and took a drag from his cigarette.
‘That thing will kill you, you know,’ I said, stepping away from the door and closer to him.
He turned his head to look at me and slowly exhaled the smoke.
‘Did you come out here in the heat to give me a health warning?’ His face was devoid of any expression.
This wasn’t working. I realised that if I wanted him to warm up to me, I’d have to make a genuine effort. So even though it made me want to cringe, I decided it was officially time to kiss Aadar’s ass.
‘I just feel like we got off on the wrong foot,’ I said, trying to sound sincere. ‘And tonight’s a good time to change that.’
That seemed to amuse him.
‘All right,’ he said after a brief pause. ‘How do you propose we do that?’
I could tell he was trying to figure me out, but I was glad he didn’t straight up refuse my peace offering.
‘You could get me a drink to start with,’ I said, then mock whispered, ‘don’t worry, it’s free.’
