Behind the scenes

Chapter 2

They were nearing their destination and Sidharth was thankful that there wasn't much traffic on the roads. He quickly glanced at shehnaaz from the corner of his eye who was happily munching on some chips while scrolling through her social media. She was giggling from time to time at the memes and sending the good ones to Sidharth since he couldn't see them while he was driving, evident from the near constant ping sounds he could hear from his phone. " abbey kitne bhejegi main itne nahi dekhunga samjhi gadhi." Scolded Sidharth lightly, shehnaaz pouted at him and whined "par itne acche hai yeh sab sidharthhh, dekhiyo please." He smiled and focused on the road knowing there was no use arguing with her. They were now just about 10 minutes away from Salman's sir farmhouse where the afterparty was being held and the road was almost scenic and calm a rarity in Mumbai. Sidharth realized that shehnaaz had gone completely silent for the past 5 minutes or so, he glanced at her to see her concentrating on her phone with a sad expression on her face. She must have come across something negative he realized, he knew this was inevitable and was used to some people spewing non sensical hate but shehnaaz was new to this and it would take some time to get used to. 

To distract her he said " oye sun shehbaaz party mein pahuch gaya hoga ? Call karle to be sure." Shehnaaz nodded and called up her brother, when he picked up loud Bollywood songs and people's laughter and screams filled the background so much so that she couldn't hear what he said and vice versa. She eventually cut the call knowing he was 100% at the party. " Yeh toh puri maasti kar raha hai party mein." Sidharth chuckled at her statement, " chalo accha hai usse enjoy karne de. Hum bhi bohot enjoy karenge saath mein." She smiled brightly at him and laced their fingers together over the console.

They neared the gate of the farmhouse and Sidharth entered and parked his car near the entrance, all the guests were inside the house and loud music could be heard even from a distance. Before leaving the car Sidharth made shehnaaz face him and cupped her cheek, "There will be a lot of unknown people at this party. Tu mere side se nahi hilegi samjhi sab nein abhi tak bohot drink kar liya hoga. Agar tu idhar udhar bhataki toh tujhe chodunga nahi samjhi." She giggled and nodded "main tujhe kabhi nahi chodungi yeh party kya cheez hai. Hayee hum matching outfits mein kitne cute lagenge pata hai. Tujhpe koi try karega toh main tere ko chipak ke hug kar lungi taki unhe hint mil jaye ki tu mera hai." Sidharth smiled and nodded, marveling at her innocence and how she did not care about all the big names at the party but instead her focus was solely on him. They exited the car and made their way into the party, Shenaaz grasped his arm and plastered herself to his side true to her words earlier.

Inside the party was at full swing with people dancing and talking everywhere, some were even making out in the corners. Sidharth averted them in the opposite direction before shehnaaz noticed them and began searching for Salman sir to thank him for his support for shehnaaz and him throughout the journey. He kept glancing at Sana who was observing everything around with keen eyes but simultaneously plastering herself more to his side. Sidharth changed their position a bit so that now his arm was draped across her shoulders and she was pushed near his chest. She grasped his hand hanging off her shoulder and interlaced their fingers happy with the new position that made her feel protected. Finally Sidharth spotted Salman sir surrounded with the other contestants and started towards them. Making their way through the crowd of people he tightened his hold on his baby. Asim first spotted Sidharth making his way through the crowd and shouted " look the winner is here !!!" everyone turned and shouted various phrases of congratulations gesturing at him to come over faster. Since Sidharth was so tall only his face and shoulders were visible through the crowd and no one noticed shehnaaz who was plastered at his front but was not visible.

Salman sir started saying " Congratulations sid-.." but stopped when he noticed Sana finally coming into view when they reached their destination smiling widely at everyone " aree sana tum kahan chupi hui thi bhai" he started laughing happily at her. Sana and Sidharth too started laughing with him. She eventually replied, " main kahan chupi aap batao. Main toh iske saath hi rehti hu waise bhi." Sidharth smiled down at her before addressing sir, " Thanks for the party and supporting us throughout sir it wouldn't have been the same without you." " no need for the thanks man. You won through your own hard work. Happy to have you here. Aur tum bhi ayi mujhe accha laga sana." Added salman sir looking at sana who was smiling brightly at him. All the other contestants started coming towards them to congratulate Sidharth and greet shehnaaz. Drinks were offered to which shehnaaz declined since she didn't drink much. Sidharth kept his glass in one hand while the other was still draped around sana occasionally making her take a sip. Both of them didn't realize how they still hadn't parted from each other with Sidharth hugging shehnaaz from behind acting like a shield. Arti finally commented jokingly on their position, " sana ab toh sidharth ko chod de. Kisi aur ko dhundh le apni tareef karne ke liye." Everyone laughed at her statement and Vishal further commented " mere pass aah jaa chal, Shukla ji ko apni jeet enjoy karne de." Extending his hand to grasp her arm but before he could do so, Sidharth tightened his hold on her even further and took a step back making shehnaaz do the same. He looked Vishal in the eye and said " Iski tareef karne ke liye main kafi hu bhai. Tu humari chinta mat kar party enjoy kar." Vishal quickly backed off jokingly putting his hands in the air to lighten the situation. Everyone went silent for a moment until Vikas and Asim started joking around to distract from the situation and drag the focus away from the couple. When everyone became busy in their own conversations, shehnaaz turned around in his arms to face him. She cupped his cheeks and smiled brightly at him before saying " Tune jab yeh bola mujhe kitni Khushi hui pata hai. Haye mera gullu pyaar toh tu mujhse karta hai. Mera possessive baby!!" making sidharth chuckle at her cuteness and tighten his hold on her further, the mere thought of someone touching her leaving a bad taste in his mouth.