Inside And Out

30) Romance in Haldi

Kaira and Karan's outfit for Haldi in the above pic!!!!

Precap:
"Karan,the dance is over" I said pointing out.

He shook his head in no and leaned forward. He sweetly pecked my lips.

"Now, I can say my dance ended" he smiled sweetly and winked at me.

Kaira's POV:

Days were nice. Weddings have this total positive vibes that brighten up your mood. Shanaya's wedding was no less. Being a crazy young teenager who grew up watching Karan Johar's films wouldn't settle for anything less than her dream. But then, determination towards something was a trait that ran in Singhania blood. Lol.

It has been two days, since Cocktail party happened. I still remember the electrifying sensations that ran through my whole body when Karan kissed me. Even though it was for a brief moment, it was the same as our first kiss.

Since last two days, I have avoided him like plague. Reason? Because my stubborn ass mind finally accepted that I have feelings for him. That I still love him. That I want to be with him again. That I can't resist him, even though he's very arrogant and cocky. But a part of my heart is still in fear. But I decided to avoid him for the sake of that part of my heart. Cue the heavy sighs.

It was Haldi ceremony today. Now, as naive and wanna-be-unique as Shanaya can be, she decided a theme code. That is nobody's allowed to wear yellow, orange or red. Everyone is supposed to wear shades of pink. Bloody inky pinky ponky!!!! She better keep the same for black colour. Since I love it. Wink wink.

I was wearing a beautiful baby dull pink lehenga which had geometric pattern on the end of my skirt. I added a pair of chandbalis for a cute look and left my hair open in its wavy form.

I went out to see some commotion. Everybody was gathered around one person.

I went to see a beautiful girl with big doe eyes and silky brown hair.

"It's so great to have you Natasha" I heard Naman speaking.

"Please, I would not miss an Oberoi wedding for the world" the girl, who I assumed is Natasha, replied.

"Oh she's so sweet! Hi, I am Shanaya, Naman's fiancee" Shanaya introduced herself.

Natasha hugged her and was going to say something when a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Is that Agent Romanoff reporting?" Karan spoke from a distance with a huge grin on his face. He opened his arms and Natasha ran off to him.

"Kiki" she screamed and jumped into his arms and Karan spinned her in his arms. How would it feel if it was me?

Who the hell is this girl, running off into Karan's arms? And how dare he open his arms for her? Wasn't I the one he loved? Or did he just play me to get revenge for my silent departure 2 years ago?

I was sad when Shanaya shrieked.

"OH MY MOTHER FUCKING GOD! YOU LOOK SO HOT DI!" she practically shouted. Her colourful words brought a chuckle out of me.

"First, language! Second, Thankyou. You also made progress from ugly to okay-okay" I said teasing her and Shovan, who was standing beside me raised his hand for a Hi-fi and I gladly returned.

Shanaya narrowed her eyes but I hugged her and kissed her forehead.

"You are the most beautiful bride I've ever seen..... except Priyanka Chopra Jonas, because let's face it, she's the most beautiful bride" I said chuckling and Shanaya giggled along with me.

I pulled away from her to see Karan looking at me intently. I ignored him, as I was doing since last two days. But this time, I had my chin high up in the air, unlike last two days where I was a nervous wreck.

I walked away from there with Shanaya and walked towards the ceremony area.

Shanaya was seated and everybody started applying Turmeric mask, i.e. Haldi on her face, hands and legs. In Indian tradition, it is said that Haldi is a symbol of pureness and it gets rid of all the dirt that is on your body and in your soul. When my time came, I applied Haldi on her face and gave her a sweet peck on her cheeks. We took a selfie and I uploaded it on my Instagram. Just as I uploaded, the first like was by none other than Karan. I looked up at him to see already smiling at me.

Everybody was enjoying themselves. Shanaya was dancing with her friends, Naman clicking photos, my family and Naman's family sitting and talking and laughing. I was smiling. I looked again at Shanaya who looked like she was on cloud nine. When she saw me staring at her, she waved at me and asked me to join her. I decided to join her. I was on my way when Kritika pulled my hand.

"Yes?" I asked with a polite smile.

"Join us for picture, Kaira" she requested and I nodded.

Kritika and I got a few photos clicked by Naman when Karan graced us with his presence with his sidekick Natasha.

We stood like Natasha was standing beside Kritika, beside whom was Karan and at last, me. Naman clicked the photo.

"Wah, Karan bhai, your past, present and future are all in same frame" Naman said and laughed. Kritika and Natasha joined him. But I stood there confused.

"What?" I asked. This time Natasha replied.

"Yeah, Kritika's the present, you are the future, sensing from the looks Kiki gives you and I am the past. Actually I dated him back in college days" she replied and continued laughing.

But my sharp glare turned to Karan. He had a knowing look on his face, like he wanted to tell me but he was late. Indeed he was. A little too late.

I just walked away from there. I was moving towards my room when Shanaya came to me.

"Where are you going Di?" She asked.

"To my room" I said placing my hands on her cheeks but we realised my hands are now full of Turmeric. We laughed and bid goodbye.

I was walking a silent hallway which led to my room when a hand on my mouth fell and I started screaming but the hand muffled it.

"Shh.... it's me, Kaira, it's me, Karan!" the kidnapper whisper yelled.

I relaxed a bit but suddenly I remembered the single frame incident and my anger resurfaced.

"Stop kidnapping me every god damn time and stop bothering me!" I yelled at him.

"You can yell all you want at me, beat me, slap me, punch me but please let me explain" he requested and as always, my body had a mind of its own, so I noticed myself remain silent and nodded. I then noticed our position. I was sandwiched between Karan and the wall. Oh god! Can it get anymore cliche?!

"Yes, it's true that I used to date Natasha. But it's in the past. Before I even saw you. We didn't work out so it was a mutual breakup. I still love you and she's just my friend. I and Natasha share the same equation that you share with Kabir" he explained. And I realised how foolish I acted.

"But tell me something. Were you jealous of Nads?" he asked with a smirk as he pressed himself more on me.

"Me....... jealous?..... Haha.... what are you saying.... N-no..... I-I wasn't j-jealous" I wanted to kill myself for stuttering.

"Yeah, I surely believe you Kaira" he replied sarcastically. I tried to push him with my hands and then I realised that I applied Haldi on his chest which was open because of the broad neckline of his kurta.

"Shit Karan! We need to wash this" I said and tried to pull away. But he had other plans.

He took one of my hands with one of his and applied the haldi stuck on my hand on his cheek.

Then he brought his face very near me. It rigged my breathing. He bent down to my height.

"We didn't celebrate the haldi. Let's do it now" he whispered huskily.

Then he pressed his haldi applied cheek on mine and nugged it. Now there was haldi on my cheek too.

"Hmm.... Now I felt that I am clean with all the haldi and all" he smirked and I ran away as soon as he loosened his grip on me out of embarrassment.