𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

CHAPTER 12

With every single step, Haider took towards me, my heartbeat matched with his pace. I could tell he was nervous, by the way, his eyes kept flicking to the ground but my gaze was unwavering. Finally, when there was only a two-foot distance between us, I could smell his perfume. It was heady and intoxicating. For a moment, I wanted to keep inhaling this fragrance.

My behaviour towards him was getting weirder each day.

In the world, I might have created a record for inviting him in the worst way possible, without uttering a single word, but he accepted it. The way he had dismissed the idea of coming here, had shattered my hopes yesterday but to my surprise, he was here today. My lips stretched as widely as they could, to reflect my happiness that knew no bounds. I raked my gaze over his white formal shirt and blue jeans. It was perfectly ironed, not a single wrinkle visible in sight.

He looked extraordinarily, hot and handsome in it.

Moreover, the effort he had put into dressing up for my event, just proved how serious he was about coming here, and no one had forced him. Certainly, he would have thought that he couldn't come here, wearing just anything, and that was what mattered to me the most. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about my best friends. Livi wore a printed, pink coloured top, paired with black jeans, and Luce, wore a plain yellow, T-shirt with the same coloured jeans as her. It upset me that they could have worn something traditional, instead of casual, but it was my fault for not telling them about the dress code.

Still, even if I knew that my parents, specifically my mother, neighbours and relatives, judged a lot when it came to the appearance of my friends, Haider's outfit would be earning a lot of turned heads, and lingering stares. Also thanks to Livi, and Luce, they looked decent enough to not receive any negative comments from our guests. Satisfied, I smiled, fisted my skirt on both sides and guided them upstairs.

"Mom, meet my friends," I introduced them while stepping up on the stage, to stand behind Dad.

"Namaste, Aunty!" Luce and Livi greeted my parents in unison.

Mom nodded at them with a smile. Then her curious eyes moved to Haider, and she asked, "You're Jai, right?"

I flinched at the mention of his name. Mom knew Jai would be coming in formals, and the irony of Haider being dressed the same way, made her mistake him for being my boyfriend. I didn't even want to look at Haider right now, he might be plotting ways to kill me. There was nobody to blame except Jai. He should have been here to meet with my family. The fact that he didn't even care about my feelings made my throat, feel constricted again.

"No, he is not here. This is Haider. You might not know him. He is" - Luce coughed - "Aless's classmate and we all have started working as a team, recently."

Why did Luce cough? I squinted my eyes at him.

"Namaste aunty, Namaste uncle. Happy Anniversary!" Haider greeted coming forward, and my head snapped up to see if there was any evidence of anger on his face.

He looked perfectly calm. Then it must have been my imagination when I saw him, clench his fists out of my peripheral vision, when Mom, addressed him as Jai. Haider extended a huge box, wrapped in golden, colour with a red bow on the top, and I wondered what it could be. He didn't need to do the formality of bringing gifts, but at least, he had thought of presenting something to my parents, it made my chest swell with pride.

Livi passed on a small, gift box wrapped in pink, and a matching coloured bow, while Luce held her elbows. It meant they both contributed to this gift. I could only imagine Livi's anger, when Luce would have suggested the idea, of partnering up for this. I knew he was lazy enough to skip buying gifts. Still, he was likeable among us because his jokes were hilarious, and he made us laugh all the time.