Strings Of Love

Chapter 15

"Sunn, ye pastries ready hai. mai pack karke bahar le jaungi, tu ja." She asked Bindu.

"Ha, mujhe agle order ki tayyari karni hai." Bindu nodded, getting busy with the batter preparations. Shehnaaz was packing the pastries in cardboard and writing down its address for Vicky to get it delivered when her phone rang.

She slipped the device out to find it chiming with Sidharth's name. She was upset, she knew he had genuinely intended to invite her, he was in fact very nice to her since they had become acquainted and she was feeling bad for turning him down straight away like that and decided to talk to him about it.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Cake ka order dena hai." He was straight to the point.

She frowned, no Hi no hello? Was he that mad at her? But then she just couldn't bring it to her mouth to ask it directly. "Oh, okay. Bata." She obliged, grabbing her pen and started noting down everything he mentioned.

"Hmm, abhi address bata." She asked.

"Taj Wellington Mews-" he was answering when she interrupted.

"Spelling?" She asked.

"Wellington w-e-l-l-i-n-g-t-o-n, Mews m-e-w-s." He did as asked.

"Hmm, aage." She said.

"Parikh Marg, Cusrow Baug Colony, Colaba." He replied and she took her own sweet time to write down all of that.

"Han, likh liya. 25th ko dopahar tak delivery ho jayegi. Aur umm, tu abhi free hai kya?" She asked him then.

"Ha bol." He replied, already knowing what she'd talk about. He had been waiting for an appropriate answer from her side for why she had refused his invitation last night.

"I'm sorry, meko aise mana nahi karna chahiye tha." She said.

"Toh koi bahana bana de! You're not coming anyway, right? Just say it then." He replied, his tone made it obvious how upset he was with her.

"Dekh aisi baat nahi hai." She tried to ease him out.

"Toh?" He left his question hanging.

"I just, I'm just a waitress Sidharth. Aur waha teri party me sare business class honge." She bluntly answered, letting him know her apparent reason.

"What!?" He would have expected anything but that as a reason. It was such a baseless and stupid excuse to him.

"Tujhe aisa nahi lagta hai, I know. You're not one of those who show off their class and power among people, but- It's just me okay, mujhe bade logon ke beech uncomfortable lagta hai. I feel like I don't belong to that place." She explained, thinking it'd help.

"Yeh jo bhi tune bakwas abhi ki na, I cannot believe you think like that." His response came out like a whisper, unable to believe she was such a diffident person and a bubbly one at the same time. Where did this uncertainty come from? Why would he invite her to an event where she'd get uncomfortable? And why on earth was she comparing herself with anyone?

"Sidharth? Tu samajh nahi raha hai." She called out his name.

"Nahi! Mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha jo bhi tera reason hai. Why do you even think like that? Tujhe waha mai invite kar raha hu na, isse kya farak padta hai waha kaise log honge?" He asked her.

"Farak padta hai! Mujhe farak padta hai! Mujhe apna mazak nahi banana aisi jagah ja ke, jaha mai alag se point out ho jau! I just don't want to be eyed like I'm not one of them because apparently I am not!" She retorted, grabbing Vicky's attention who was leaving for delivery from the counter. She walked out of Sprinkles to talk to him through the back door.