BEYOND THE CLOUDS (Completed)

Chapter 27

“Yess Ms. Drama queen, and hey please before you begin, let me tell you, m running late for a meeting. So make this quick ok?” Sidharth was speaking to his friend Sunaina, as he paced towards the boardroom.

“Ok Ok, Mr. Busy bee, I get it, but before that tell me, are you in town?” She asked

“Yes I am why?” he had barely replied and had to literally hold his phone away from his ears, as Sunaina had launched into a happy screech, feeling jubilant about something.

“What the matter girl, I’ll go deaf” he scowled, looking at the phone in his hand.

“Oh sorry sorry, ok listen, Rishi is off to LA, indefinitely, cuz Mehta uncle wants him to take care of their business Unit there. So we all have planned a farewell party for him. And since you are in town, there is no escape from this one. Ok? I want you there” She concluded, letting out a breath.

Sidharth smiled as he heard her.

After badepapa’s death, he had been so busy, he hardly had time for himself forget about catching up with the gang at their regular parties.

The thought of attending this party was all the more welcome, as he wanted his friends to meet the special girl in his life.

“Alright, send me the details” his face split into a huge grin as he heard Sunaina screaming happily again.

“But listen, there’s two things I want you to take care of” Sidharth’s face was serious again

“There will be no media and there will be no Devanshi” he emphasized, keeping Shehnaaz in mind.

“That’s a strange request. Why do you think will the media be there? It’s a house party. And whats with Devanshi? I know she clings to u like a parasite, but you did a good job of tolerating her till now” his friend reasoned, unaware of the vast change that had come into his life.

“Sunaina, I want to introduce you guys to someone, a girl, and if Devanshi comes on to me as is her habit, its not going to go down well with Shehnaaz” he gulped nervously but was relieved when he heard the scream again.

“Omg, Sid finallyyyyy. M so happy for you. Shehnaaazzzz.. wat a pretty name. m sure she is as alluring as her name. Devanshi can take a hike. M not inviting her. Trust me we allowed her in because she was Adi’s sister and u too seemed to be close to her. I swear for a while I thought u guys are dating” her breathless monologue ended.

He let out a resigned sigh “We will reserve another day when I tell you what really went down between me and Devanshi. But for now, please keep in mind the two things I told you and text me the details. See you bye” he disconnected the call in a haste and stepped inside the boardroom, smiling.

*

It was the third time, Kartik had caught Shehnaaz, dipping a spoon into the chicken stew he made, under the pretext of checking the salt.

“Just do one thing, once and for all just eat up the whole thing. Sidharth and I will make do with the munching” Kartik’s irritation, brought a smug smile to her face.

“carruu u know what? Sidharth always treats me to the best of food. I just want to ensure, even I treat him well. That’s it” she held his arm, cajoling him.

Shehnaaz had invited Sidharth for a formal meeting with Kartik followed by dinner.

Since he was busy with prior engagements it was going to be a late affair and Shehnaaz was already feeling hungry with the amazing aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Kartik was indeed a fantabulous cook.

“Like hell you will treat him. You cant even boil an egg to save ur life. I have been toiling since morning to treat ur boyfriend” he shot back, making her giggle with laughter.