KKB PRANBIR FF (TIME TO GET THINGS RIGHT)

|| PART 12 ||

Prachi saw Pranav waiting near his car, scrolling through his phone. The moment he looked up from his phone and his eyes met hers, he waved at her, placing the phone in his pocket.

Prachi, overwhelmed by emotions, ran towards him, and engulfed him in a tight hug. Her head near his chest and her hands wound around his waist, with her eyes closed. He was shocked for a moment, but soon came to senses. He placed his one hand on her head and the other hand on her arm.

Prachi soon got to her senses and broke the hug. 

"I'm sorry," she said, adjusting her hair, "I was just.."

"It's okay," Pranav replied, with a smile.

"I was..... happy that I couldn't..... I can't thank.. you," she stammered.

"But you can certainly do one thing," Pranav said. "What?" Prachi asked, confused.

"Join me for a coffee,"  he said, moving towards her.

"Done," Prachi said with a smile.

"Okay. Where is Shahana?" he asked. "Hmm, she is busy," she said, not clearly specifying how is she 'busy'.

"Okay, let's wait for her then," Pranav said, resting his back on the car. "No, she went out with a friend. The friend will drop her home," she informed. 

"Is this friend, Aaryan? " Pranav asked, air quoting the word friend.

Prachi gave him a 'how do you that' look, her eyes opened wide and eyebrows raised.

"Come on, Neeraj tells me everything. Unless you tell him not to reveal it to others," he said shrugging.

  "Okay, I won't tell this to others and will ask him to do the same. I promise," he promised, seeing Prachi's face.

Prachi got inside the car and so did he.

"By the way Prachi, friendship is a kind of pure relation, according to me. Using this as a cover for some other feelings is not right," he said, as he wore his seatbelts. Prachi nodded her head, understanding.

"Tea/ Coffee or Ice cream?" Pranav asked. 

"Ice cream," Prachi squealed, after thinking for some time.

************************************************************

Prachi's eyes glistened as she watched the ice cream bowl being placed on her table. Mumbling a "thank you" and rubbing her hands, she took the spoon to enjoy the ice cream.

"So... It's been around more than a week since I came to your place but we never got to have a proper conversation. But I am happy to see that you still have those childish antics," Pranav said, observing Prachi.

"Maa doesn't allow me to have it very often. She says I will catch cold," Prachi said as she had her ice cream.

"By the way, it's been almost three years since we last met," she corrected him, taking another scoop.

"Oh yeah, I left for UK one year before you left Hoshiarpur," Pranav recalled.

"And lot of things have changed," he said.

"Yes," Prachi said excitedly, "I found my dad, my relatives, moved to a new place, met new people, found true lov.. I mean truly lovely things.."

"Why? Why do I have to think of Ranbir all the time?" she wondered mentally and the excitement in her vanished. Seeing Pranav look at her with curious eyes, with his eyebrows raised, she thought of diverting the subject.