10

∞Between the steps∞

Aradhaya Singh Rajvansh

He should sell his audacity for real, because that can batter him and bring him some real shame. He had been staring at me with his hypnotic eyes for an hour now. If his eyes weren't so beautiful, I would have scraped them out of his sockets. Today is the one-day gap between the functions. Shravan Bhai and Ridhima bhabhi went to visit the Kuldevi mandir with all the family members, leaving us behind to work on the choreography. Aridhaan Bhai accompanied them all as Shravan Bhai felt left out among all the oldies.

I have been a classical dance prodigy since I was 10 years old. Maa and Choti Maa used to teach classical dance to kids at the orphanage during summer vacations, and we used to accompany them. My interest was then excitedly taken forward by Dadi and Dadu, who appointed the best classical tutors to tutor me at home and help me excel in the dance form. I learned other forms too, but classical dance always remained my favorite. I dance to free myself from the monotonous grip of my life-sometimes to free the grief, sometimes to enjoy the happiness.

"Aru! I am not getting this step. Help me here!" I heard Aahana cribbing about the choreography, which was not something new. She doesn't like people outside the family, and that was very clear with her interaction with Abhir last night. Although it was the first time she ranted about him for an hour after that, his behavior really bothered her.

"Aradhaya, let me help her." Abhir surpassed me and pulled her. He was too quick in his actions, taking Aahana aback. He pulled her and gave her a nice twirl. I couldn't help but chuckle at their actions.

"You idiot!" Aahana gasped, settling her hair that Abhir had just ruffled before making her stand on her feet.

"Hey, I helped you learn that step. You should be grateful. And there are many other words you can call me: handsome, hot, charming, exquisite, and..." As he counted the words on his fingers, he scowled the next second because my dear best friend stomped her foot on his, causing him to curl in pain.

"What do you all feed her? Why is she always ready to kill me?" he whined, but Aahana tried to hold his collar, stretching her arm, and Abhir bent himself to make it easy for her.

"Why so much hard work, short stuff, when I can make it all easy for you? Give me a command?" He chuckled, and I saw my best friend's cheeks flushing into a tint of red, but she covered it up with her fury.

"Listen, you pillar-tall human! Stay away from me, or else I will kill you." I tried to suppress my laugh, looking at them acting like total kids.

"How?" Abhir arched a brow at her.

"By poisoning your juice, coffee, or maybe even water!" She gave him her options, and he just smirked, straightening himself and getting his collar from her hold.

"That means you are taking a sip of it before?" Aahana's face stretched into confusion at his comment.

"What?"

"Yeah, Vishkanya ka zeher toh aise hi felega na." I snickered hard at his comment but covered up really quick because Aahana's face grew red this time due to anger.

"You little shit! What did you call me?" She pointed her finger at him.

"Vishkanya. You know it justifies how you spread your venom here and there, but you know Vishkanyas are borderline hot." He spoke casually while Aahana looked at me with wide eyes.

"I am going to kill him today, Aru!" She tried to hit him, but he took the chance and ran from the place, while Aahana ran behind him.

"Just wait until I catch you!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, but he jumped across the garden, laughing at her words.

"I know I called you hot, but why are you being so desperate?" he spoke between his laughs, making Aahana grow really fuzzy.

"You look prettier when you smile." I covered my grinning face and felt him standing behind me. I turned back to face him, but it was too quick of a reflex, and my head hit his hard chest. Damn these tall men!

"Careful, love!" He gently touched my forehead, brushing the hair strands off it and blowing a little air on it. I felt like freezing at that moment, feeling his delicate touch on me, but I took a step back, getting a grip on myself.

"What do you want?" I blurted out, trying to cover the nervousness that seeped under my skin due to his presence, especially this close to me.

"You." He retorted with his signature smirk, but that didn't highlight the dimples that usually adorned his cheeks.

"In your dreams." I tried to turn and leave from there, but he held my wrist and turned me back.

"In my dreams, you are mine from the day I laid my eyes on you. And trust me, you don't want to know what other things I dream of." His breath fell on my neck as he bent to whisper in my ear. Goosebumps traveled down my spine, and I hated the effect he had on my body and mind.

"I need to go." I twisted my wrist to get out of his hold and felt something soft near the bottom of my neck. I snapped quickly and saw he was trailing a white rose from my neck to my chin, sending chills throughout my body.

"Humare gulab ke liye ek gulab." He whispered in his husky, dense tone, making me part my lips to breathe because my body really forgot how to function well in his presence. Dammit Mahadev! I hate this man.

(A rose for my rose.)

"Stay away from me!" I took the rose from his hand and hit his chest with it, turning back and leaving from there, because I clearly couldn't trust my body around him.

As I walked away, I could feel his eyes still on me, burning into my back. My heart pounded, and I struggled to calm the storm of emotions inside me. Why did he always have this effect on me? I hated it, hated him for it.

I made my way to the practice area where Aahana was waiting. She raised an eyebrow when she saw my flushed face and the rose in my hand.

"What's with the rose?" she asked, suspicion lacing her tone.

"Nothing," I said too quickly. What the hell am I even doing with this rose? I threw it away. "Let's get back to practice."

Aahana looked like she wanted to press further, but thankfully, she let it go. We started practicing the choreography, and I tried to focus on the dance steps, but my mind kept drifting back to him and his maddening smirk.

"Hey Aradhaya, I heard you are a great dancer. Can you help me too?" His cousin Ruhi came to me with a request, and she seemed like a sweet girl, so I didn't feel like saying no.

"Sure Ruhi, what are you performing?" A big smile broke on her face, and she squealed with excitement, hugging me.

"I am trying to persuade Rohan Bhai and Abhir Bhai to dance with me in a trio dance. But they aren't agreeing. I don't know, but I don't want to dance solo." Her concern was genuine because, for a non-dancer, keeping the stage occupied alone is a big task.

"You can accompany Aahana if you want." I saw Aahana walking toward me with a weary expression. I was sure Abhir might have done something because he was following her with his witty smirk.

"Aahana, would you mind pairing up with Ruhi?" She smiled, side-hugging me, and gave Ruhi a wide grin.

"Not at all. You know I would actually need a lawyer after murdering a certain someone." Abhir scowled at her and stood beside Ruhi, encircling his arm around her.

"Oh Ruhi, why would you need some mediocre dancer to pair with you? I am still alive, and moreover, you definitely need a lawyer; you evil woman is trying to steal my heart with her beautiful face." I chuckled, but Aahana gave me a stern look, eyeing Abhir.

"Sharm varm aati hai ese openly flirt karte time?" Abhir bent toward her and whispered loudly. (Do you feel any shame while flirting openly like that?)

"Itni si bhi nahi." Aahana playfully slapped his face while pulling me toward the open stage where everyone practiced their dance forms. (Not even a little bit.)

We turned back to see Abhir falling jokingly toward Rohan with his hand on his chest, sighing loudly, "Hayee..." Aahana giggled, and I could see a blush creeping on her cheeks, but she shook her head and faced me, clearing her throat.

"Yug and Yagya Bhai!" She called the twins to the stage and held their hands. "We three are challenging the Chauhan trio. Give us a better performance." She gave a challenging look to Abhir, who just smirked at her, while I just noticed the exchange happening before my eyes. Mahadev, what is my best friend planning to do?

"But what about Aru?" Yug Bhai walked toward me. Well, this is not something new; this man used to play dolls with me if I didn't wish to play football with them. Somewhere, he just took the responsibility to never make me feel left out in any way or in any situation. There is a reason why we were always the ones who got into uncertain situations and got stuck together.

"I'll perform solo, Bhai." I tried to convince him, but Abhir just interjected.

"She can perform with Bhai; he also doesn't have any partner." Abhir's words made me turn my neck in his direction to give my objection to his proposal, and I heard his brother's blurting out the coffee he was having, sitting on the couch, witnessing the drama with his laptop resting in his lap. Rishi took the laptop from his lap and passed him the tissue. "I mean, if she likes and is comfortable, of course," Abhir shrugged his shoulders casually as if he was trying to hide something cooking in his brain.

"She will not." Aahana intervened. "But what's the problem? I mean, we all are going to become family. I don't have any problem dancing with you, so I don't think there would be any problem for her to dance with my brother." He justified his proposal.

"Abhir, don't force her. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to." He walked to us, wiping his pants. "Aru, will it be okay for you to dance with Rudransh? If you are not comfortable, it's okay. I'll dance twice... you can teach me your classical; we will slay together." Yug Bhai caressed my cheek softly, concern etched in his eyes.

"No, Bhai, it's okay. It's just a dance. I can do it with Mr. Chauhan. There's nothing about being uncomfortable." I didn't want my brothers to think otherwise of the situation, so I agreed. But I could feel the two pairs of eyes on me: one of Aahana, filled with concern, and the other of Mr. Rudransh Singh Chauhan, filled with curiosity and anticipation.

"Great, just great! This Abhir Singh Chauhan just earned himself more reasons why I hate this man's presence. He got you into this unwanted situation. You can't even say no now. If Yug and Yagya Bhai felt there was a reason you couldn't pair up with that broody Chauhan, he is a gone case for real!" Aahana continued her rant, cursing Abhir while she munched on a packet of salted chips and I selected songs to perform. "I am so sorry, Aru! I didn't know this challenge was going to land you here." Her mouth stuffed with chips, she spoke in between chewing them.

"It's okay, Aahana. You don't need to apologize. It doesn't matter anyway. I had danced with strangers many times back in New York, and you know it too. In the dance class, there was always someone new as my dance partner. It never mattered." I casually dismissed her concern, no matter how tough it was to dance with a stranger, to be close to that stranger.

"But he is not a stranger," she added, her tone growing serious.

"He is nothing more than a stranger." I got up to walk from the place when I saw him standing there with a blank expression on his face. It's a good thing if he heard my thoughts; he might step back from his futile attempts.

"Can we practice?" This man, with no sense and understanding, asked me with a little smile on his face. I just nodded, walking along with him to the side garden that had an open view of the forts of Udaipur. As the sun was setting, the view was as pleasant as ever. The skyline had a mix of orange and red with light shades of blue. The edges of the railings had creepers planted with vibrant flowers.

"So you might know that this stranger doesn't know how to dance?" I turned to see him standing a few steps away from me with his hands clasped at his back. He was dressed in a casual white t-shirt and jeans. The half sleeves of the t-shirt gave a prominent view of his well-built arms and veiny hands. It looks like he didn't compromise on the gym in these last seven years, not even for a day.

⋆✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ⋆🌿✦🌺✦🌿⋆*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧⋆

Happy reading!

Have a beautiful day!