Page 75 of Red Flags and Rishtas
If there was ever a sign from the Universe to stop trying to talk to Aadar, it was this one. But I was way past listening to the stupid Universe.
‘Tell me the address,’ I said.
‘Uh …’ I could tell he was wondering if he could simply hang up on me.
‘Please, Karan. I promise I won’t make a scene. I just need to speak to him for five minutes.’
‘Something happened between you two, didn’t it?’ he said knowingly.
He took my silence as an affirmative and told me he’d give me the address if I promised to wait outside. There was no way he was letting me into the premises. He’d bring Aadar to me instead.
The engagement party was taking place in Chattarpur Farms. I got behind the wheel of my dad’s car and drove like I’d never driven before. I was certain that I’d have at least three speeding challans waiting for me in the mail in the coming week. I didn’t have an invitation card to show at the gate of the farmhouse and I certainly didn’t look like I was a guest in my ice cream-stained sweatpants, so the guard didn’t immediately let me in. I rang Karan again as I waited at the gate, and a few minutes later, I saw him signalling to the guard to let me pass.
I swerved into the parking lot and quickly parked between two sedans.
‘Whoa, that was surprisingly smooth,’ Karan said. He was waiting for me when I jumped out of the car.
I looked back at my dad’s Swift, realising that I’d reverse parked it in record time today.
‘I’ve been practising,’ I said, thinking about how I’d been playing the simulation game Aadar had installed on my phone every night to feel closer to him.
Pathetic, I know.
‘Okay, wait here,’ he said. ‘I’ll try and pull him out for a bit.’
I nodded, watching him disappear around the corner. The engagement, I figured, was taking place in the lawns to the right of the parking lot. I began to inch closer towards it, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside.
This was all happening too quickly. I’d barely had the time to process my feelings for him, even though I’d known him for overtwo months. How was it that he’d decided to marry someone he’d just met two weeks ago? Was she really such a catch?
I saw Karan dragging his brother towards me. Aadar was arguing with him, gesturing wildly with his hands. But when he saw me, he froze.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked, looking from his brother to me.
Karan shrugged, slapped his brother’s shoulder and left, indicating that he was on his own.
I walked over to him, my knees feeling weak with apprehension. It was strange to love and hate the sight of a man with the same blinding intensity. On the one hand, I couldn’t stop admiring how good his broad shoulders and strong chest looked in the black and gold sherwani. But the thought that he was dressed up like that to put a ring on another woman’s finger made me want to burn it off his skin.
‘Why haven’t you been answering my calls?’ I asked when I was close enough.
‘I’m getting engaged today, Ananya,’ he said, looking down at me. ‘I haven’t had the time.’
‘Can we go somewhere, please?’ I asked. ‘To talk?’
He placed his hands on his hips, looking around. ‘I can’t justgowith you. I need to get back inside.’
He waited for me to say something and when I didn’t, he began to turn around.
‘Okay, no, wait.’ I lurched forward and grabbed his arm, saying, ‘I need to tell you something.’
He neither moved nor pulled his arm away.
‘I …’ I began saying, ‘I can’t stop thinking about you.’
He turned his face to look at me, his arm still firmly in my grasp. ‘Ananya …’
‘No, let me finish,’ I said, stepping closer to him so I could slide my hand down his forearm and place it in his. ‘I know you think that night was a mistake, but I don’t. I wasn’t drunk. Youweren’t drunk. We knew exactly what we were doing. And we wanted to do it … so very much.’
He let me entwine my fingers with his as I continued talking. ‘I spent so much of my time hating you that I never even realised when I fell for you.’
