Chapter 26

Naina roamed around her house. Her close interactions with Ayaan was not helping her heart and mind. She thought she'll stay away but everything was pulling her towards him.

It had been 2 days since she last saw him. Normally, she'd be happy about it. But things were different now. She wanted to see him. More than ever. But she also knew the consequences of getting too close to him - it was not good.

"Why are you roaming the halls?" Ananya asked her, "it's 7am. Why are you up so early?"

"I wasn't sleepy anymore." Naina replied. "I'll take chai duty today. I'll make it." Ananya nodded as Naina headed towards the kitchen.

She made the chai quietly, her thoughts still on him. She was pulled out of her trance hearing Ananya walk in and settle herself on the counter top, "By the way, are you going to help us for the National day?"

"The what?" Naina asked, confused.

"You've been here for 3 years. How do you not remember?" Ananya teased, "The national day function? Where we have performance?"

"You mean Cultural Day." She said.

"Yes! That only!" Ananya continued, "Meera and I are putting up a stall. Can you join?"

"I can but do you want me to? You know I don't talk much, so—"

"Naina! I don't care that you don't talk much. It has been 2 years now, samajh mein nahi aata kya - I don't care that you don't talk much, we just want you around." Meera replied.

Naina smiled at the support of her friends. She was glad to have such supportive friends, "I love you all so much. And yes. I'll be there."

"Great! Let's go then!" Meera said.

"It's 7am. Where do you want to go?" Naina asked.

"We need to go book a stall. It's first come first serve. So we need to go and reserve a good stall from now on."

"Alright." Naina said, understanding, "Let's go."

The girls made their way to the main garden where a bunch of stalls were kept in place. The girls scouted around the area. Then, they turned to each other.

"So? What we thinking?" Meera asked.

"I think we should go for that one." Naina said, pointing at a stall which was not too close to the entrance, but was at a U shaped edge, which was also the largest in area with a bench nearby. "It seems ideal. The bench would attract people too and the corner gives us more areas to decorate."

"I like that." Ananya agreed, "She's right. We should we give in our names."

Everyone agreed and walked towards the counter. "Hi, we'd like to book a stall." Meera asked.

"Sure!" A man turned around. Everyone was surprised to see Rohan standing there.

"Rohan? Hi!" Ananya asked. "How come?"

"I'm working the counter this year. Thought of having a change."

"Hello girls!" A deep voice said, huskily. Looking back, they saw Ayaan coming towards them, with his usual smile and attractive.

"Hey." Meera and Ananya said. Naina stayed frozen. Her last interaction with him has made her even more nervous. She was avoiding his gaze, but he knew that.

He chucked before scouting over to her, once everyone got busy in their conversations, he held her hand and whispered, "Aap good morning wish nahi karengi, ma'am?"

She felt goosebumps on her skin as she turned to him and saw his piercing gaze at her. "Good morning." She whispered. He gave her a small smile while his gaze stayed fixed on hers.

"Guys!" Ananya's voice suddenly brought Naina back to reality. She quickly pulled her hands away from his grip before running towards their friend.

Meanwhile Meera, who has witnessed all this, chuckled. She knew that Ayaan had a thing for Naina, but she had kept it quiet at the saying of her friends. But she didn't want to anymore. She walked up to Ayaan as the group got into talks.

"Hi." She said.

Ayaan looked at her and smiled, "Hi."

"I wanted to ask you something, forgive me for being too direct, but do you and Naina have something going on?" Meera was clear. She was not going to pretend that she knows about the kiss, she'd hope to hear his side.

Ayaan, on the other hand, was surprised that this question had suddenly come up. He wasn't shy. He chuckled, "What gives that away?"

Meera grinned, "Well, the eyes are talking, very clearly I must say. Only a fool can't see it."

"Well! I don't know how much she's told you, I'll tell you but please keep this between us. I don't want Naina feeling more scared and awkward than she already is."

Meera nodded in agreement, silently happy that Ayaan was considerate about Naina's feelings.

"So," Ayaan continued, "At the party last month, I think Naina drank a little and it reflected in us kissing." Meera acted surprised, and gestured Ayaan to continue, "She kissed me and I kissed her back. And since then, things haven't even the same. It feels like it wasn't the alcohol which kissed me, it was her."

"So, do you like her?"

"I don't know what I feel for her in words. But I know that if I don't see her, I feel strange. And I spoke to her about this and she said that it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing that I'm feeling, I even tested the theory, but it isn't. It's way more than that. It's been a month. I've been meetings others and all my roads end up with the same feeling: her lips on mine."

Meera was shocked and was grinning loudly. She knew it from day 1 that he reciprocated but was kept to stay away thanks to her friends. Now, she could openly talk about it. "Really! That's- that's so nice to hear."

"How did you figure it out?" He asked her.

"Well, Naina isn't very good at hiding what she feels. I can see how she looks at you."

Ayaan chuckled, sadly and sarcastically, "I think you might be wrong there. She's very good at hiding how she feels."

"What do you mean?" Meera asked.

"Well, I spoke to her about it. Trying to ask her what had happened, but she said that it was just an alcoholic decision. And that she feels nothing else. I know, deep down, that she feels the same way I did, but I don't know what stops her."

Meera was listening to his words intently. She knew exactly what Naina felt, but she was now in a dilemma on if she should tell him or not. She didn't want to betray her friend. At the same time, she didn't want to let this go because she knows she can take their story ahead. "Maybe she needs to spend more time with you. That way, what's in her eyes might come to her mouth?"

Ayaan nodded, "You're right, but she doesn't talk. You know that. How do I spend time?"

"Well.... Look at her right now." Meera said, pointing to Naina.

Ayaan's eyes followed Meera's hand. They saw Naina sitting with the group. She was there but not there at the same time. It's not like she was uncomfortable, she just preferred being this way. Silent.

"Yeah? And?" Ayaan asked, confused.

"Ayaan!" Meera exclaimed, "Naina is always there but she's never there. You just need to enter her bubble that she's always in. Once you do, you'll notice that she'll always talk."

Ayaan smiled at the support he was getting from her friend. He was grateful to be getting help from Meera. "You sure about this?"

"As sure as I am that the first thing Naina will say when we get back to the group is 'Where were you? You forgot we existed or what?'"

Ayaan chuckled and nodded. "Alright. I'll follow your lead then!"

"Sure thing! Just let's keep this with us?"

Ayaan nodded and they made their way back to the group. Naina noticed Ayaan and Meera joining the group. She turned to Meera, "Where were you? Did you forget we exist?"

Ayaan turned to Meera, who looked at him and smiled, then looked back at Naina.

Ayaan, on the other hand, stood frozen with a small smirk and content smile on his face. He knew what he wanted and now had broken down the first wall towards reaching there.

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