Chapter 9

Come on Kria Ghai.. Behave..

Stop smiling like an idiot..

You know you shouldn't have let him kiss you..

What you did was wrong..

Goddammit! Be guilty for god's sakes… There is no need to feel happy!

She was done for it… She was so sure that she had lost her mind.

This was her morning ritual everyday after that night.. And her being in his proximity only led to more and more uncontrollable blushes which she hated.. She had never been the kind to blush.. Lord only knew why that wretched G.S. made her blush.. And to top it all, his smile made her heart get stuck in her throat.

Why was the dumbass not kissing her again?

Wait.. No.. She didn't want him to kiss her again…

Why wasn't he even mentioning their date night again?

Wasn't that a good thing? She didn't want it to be mentioned either…

Ohh who was she kidding? She wanted to discuss about it.. She wanted to know why he kissed her.. She wanted to ask herself why she let him kiss her… She wanted him to tell her he wanted her in his arms again.. NO! She didn't… Never mind the last wish..

But still, ever since that night, Rey's presence didn't make her nervous at all.. What was he trying to do? Make her feel more comfortable? Or buying time? Avoid discussing this..

Yes… Maybe that was it… He was avoiding confrontation after all… Did he not love her?

Wait what? When did love come into picture?

She sighed…

For the first time in ages, she felt like crying… She was never one to handle emotional turmoils.. She was a straight forward person as long as she could remember… Hiding things and thinking over and over about them was never her forte… She liked taking decisions.. Speaking her heart out… But this condition right now of hers.. Was getting too much to bear..

She didn't know what to do… Should she ask him what that kiss meant? Or should she just forget about it?

Forget?

That pricked her heart… Made the tears now flow out of her eyes… One thing her mind made clear to her… She couldn't forget… Not because it was her first kiss… But because it made her feel complete… Made her finally feel that she belonged.. Atleast somewhere… Her whole life she had struggled with this… Her mother not allowing her dance lessons… She sneaking out of home to learn dance… Hiding facts from her mother… Never feeling at place in the atrocious advanced tuition classes… Never agreeing or even for the tiniest bit of time dreaming of an MBA… Being in his arms… Yes, she felt like she finally had found a pllace she would call home..

But that wasn't the question here, right.. The question was, Whether she COULD call it home..

She wiped her eyes, and made her way to the shower.. Again… Maybe she should ask him and clear it all out… Atleast that would bring her peace of mind back…

Sharon felt like crying… Ohhh how much she wanted the idiot in front of her to disappear so that she could cry in peace…

But no, there he was… Smiling at her, in all his glory… Those appealing dimples in place, like a school boy offering candy to his best friend… uggghhh.. He sure did wreak havoc on her nerves… How could he be so peaceful and calm right now, when he himself knew he was the one torturing her behind the veil of Secret Admirer…

Yes, She had no doubt now about it… She knew he was the one… Nobody else knew about her likes as much as he did, She admitted to herself with much regret…

By now, She had received tons of blue lilies…

Thousands of burgundy notes expressing qualities about her she was now unsure she even possessed…

Beautiful, Small, Delicate, Crystal figurines of swans that shone as light danced on them..

A beautiful bottle of Hypnotic Poison by Dior, perfume that she had wore almost every single day she felt confident… How somebody other than Rey had actually noticed it was beyond her comprehension… And it wasn't as if Rey had liked the scent… He had sneezed terribly the first day she had put it on, while in high school, and had slowly got accustomed to it since then…

Ballet shoes in the color Nude... There was no way Swayam wasn't the secret admirer…

Hadn't he of all people known that she wanted nude shoes but would never get them as Sim and Rinni always rejected that… She had cribbed about them out loud in the library… And she was sure he had heard…

Then why?

Why was he acting so… so… so aloof to this all?

She could cry any moment now… What had everything turned into… She never wanted this… She never wanted him to turn into a pathetic stalker for god's sake… Had she been strong enough, to push him away, things would have been much different…

It was not as if she didn't like the gifts… Yes, they made her blush… Yes, they made her smile… Yes, she wanted to hug him as soon as she realized he even knew her swan obsession…

But... But she never wanted him to go faceless… To stoop so low… To be actually afraid of her…

Ohhh How much she wanted to cry…

"Sharon… Sharon?" He called her name again…

"Huhhh?" She came out of her thoughts… Willing her feelings to not show on her face…

"The list of volunteers… You have been staring at it for too long… List okay hai naa? I'll go give it to Rey…" He said matter-of-factly…

"Okay… Go do that… And don't show me your face for the rest of the day… Already aadha din bigaad chuke ho tum mera…" She blurted out… Yup, Her perfume defined her alright… Hypnotic… Yet, pure poison… Which always would be the case when he was concerned…

He left… Why did she always make sure his dimples vanished due to her?

Fine, at least she could let loose now… breathing in, she let loose the tears dying to make their way out… Why was he so hell bent to get close… This only resulted in more pain…

And she cried till her Mascara became invisible…

Kria had been waiting in the rehearsal hall, determined…

Till she actually saw him coming…

Kria Ghai had been proud of herself her whole life as someone to never get flustered easily… But now, one look at him and she melted… Her heart stopped… and all she wanted to do was repeat that night…

He took her in his arms nowadays without even asking for permission… As if he owned her… And that ached her somewhere… why would he behave as if she was his?

She wasn't!

No… Not yet…

"Rey…" Kria whispered… Still in his arms as they did final rehearsals for their performance tomorrow…

"Ssshhhh…" He silenced her… Why did she feel he could read her like an open book… That he knew what she was going to ask?

"Kria… Would you wait for me… Please?" He said… Eyes sincere… Making her melt then and there…

"Wait? Kab tak Rey… What is going on!" He put his lips on hers before she could burst out fully… Making her lips quiet down and heart beat accelerate…

He finally ended the kiss… releasing her away from him… Completely flustered… And said," Kal tak bas… Humaare final performance tak bas… Pakka… Kal I'll answer you… I promise Kria…"

She nodded… Her heart still swelling under the influence of the mesmerizing kiss right now, while her mind finally put to a little ease as he atleast finally agreed to discuss this out…

"Now, Can we finish the task at hand?" Rey asked, taking out a piece of paper... " Swayam gave me the finalized list of volunteers to go out for the final preparations today.. Guess who has been paired up!"

Kria smiled reading the list… This would be fun!

Rey watched the beautiful lips curve up, and instantly, he knew Baatcutter would eat his bestie alive… They were standing right now into a group of college mates, listing out duties to people… announcing groups and partners…

Just when Kria announced," Vikram Shergill and Neha Sharma"

Rey rolled his eyes… Here goes nothing…

Vicky gulped down audibly as he stood in front of Jhaansi ki Raani… Neha was looking everywhere else but at him…Ohhh Why Lord! Why had he been assigned publically with Neha… And Kria was looking at him as if he was a serial rapist!

Somebody save him…

"Maine Vikram Shergill announce kia…" Kria said sternly…

"Haan toh mera hi naam hai!" Vicky stammered back…

"Tum! Tum kis angle se Vikram Shergill lagte ho?" She taunted the poor guy… While Neha made all sorts of facial gestures to Kria to spare the poor soul…

"Kaam dhang se karna! Aur Neha ke saath agar koi bhi badtameezi ki toh mujhse bura koi nahi hoga!" Kria was having too much fun with this… The guy looked as if he would wet his pants any second!

"Yes Ma'am… I mean Yes Didi… Nahi… Mera matlab Yes Kria.." Vicky stumbled his way out of the sentence…

And that's when Rey finally came to save the poor soul, "Kria, lets finish up with this… Aur bahot kaam hai…" And he took Kria away from them… Chuckling at the beetroot red Vicky…

"Plan successful…" He whispered in her ears as soon as they were alone…

While Kria just nodded, waiting for tomorrow with bated breath, for so many reasons…

~~Would you meet me at the stairs of the second building, dear? I would be waiting for you at 4 o'clock… Love, Your Secret Admirer~~