Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 51

A thrust on my back swung me out of my deep sleep. "Your phone! Shut it up!", Tia whines in her sleep, burying her face beneath the pillow.

It takes me more than an eternity to look for my phone in the dark, and the whole time, the deafening rings reverberate in the room. "Di! Answer it for fuck sake!", Tia almost cries. "I can't find my phone", I exhale, and a minute later, I lay my on hand it.

Even before I look at who called me, I silence my phone and take one deep breath in for it was nothing short of a panic attack...at 3:30 in the night!

And who else would even bother to call me when the whole world is asleep?

"Do you live in a different time zone that I don't know about? When do you even sleep, Darsh?", I whisper into the phone, rubbing my eyes. "You slept?", he gasps, dramatically. "Were you expecting me to belly dance in the middle of the night?", I hiss at him. "You were sad when you hung up, so I thought you wouldn't have slept", he mumbles under his breath, but I manage to catch his words. "Darsh. Beggars don't have a house but they still sleep at night. And you're talking about me being sad", I roll my eyes.

"Anyways. You should sleep, too. Whatever it is - we'll talk after sunrise", I tell him. "Where do I sleep? Under Bunty Tailor's shop?", he questions. "Ye---Bunty Tailor?", I gasp out so loud that Tia whines yet again. "Di!!!!!!", she screams and I step miles away from her.

"Bu---Bunty Tailor, Darsh?", I repeat, wondering if I heard the right thing. That's where Ma stitches all our clothes. And it's five minutes away from home. "Bunty Tailor. With a green and white board, and Kriti Sanon as the model", he describes the same Bunty Tailor my mom visits at least four times a week.

"Darsh---".

"Take all your time, I'm outside".

"Listen---".

"I'm not leaving. If you want to meet after sunrise, come. I'll be in my car. Until sunrise".

And he simply hangs up on me. I called him up thrice, and Mr. Adamant Raval chose to ignore my calls. He knows my weakness, and he knows that even though I can make him wait for me until sunrise, I won't.

Has history ever witnessed Navya Shekhawat win against Darshan Raval in anything?

I let out a loud, annoyed sigh and tip-toe my way out of my home, with my heart thudding within my ribcage.

I cover my face with a shawl and pace through the narrow lanes, praying that the spies in my neighbourhood are knocked off. Otherwise, the first they'd do in the morning - even before brushing their teeth - would be to question my mom why her oldest daughter was out so late in the night. And what pisses me off the most is - they don't spill the tea, they make assumptions in the attempt of getting the tea spilt from the other end. "I saw Navya walking out at night. She was in a rush, something must've happened to you, right? Was she out looking for a doctor?". God. If I could, I'd build a fence so high that no one can even think about spying on us.

Outside Bunty Tailor stands Mr. Darshan Raval, leaning against his car whilst scrolling through his phone. I halt twenty steps away from him, and clear my throat, forcing him to look. His lips curl into a small smile, perhaps at his anticipated victory.

He steps away from the car, and holds the door open for me, without uttering a word. Hiding behind my shawl, I stare at him, expecting him to say something.

"I'm not going to kidnap you. I've to take you somewhere", he tells me. "Right now? Are you mad?", I whisper, looking around. "You can come after the sunrise you were talking about. I'll wait", he shuts the door, calmly, and I simply march towards the car, letting out a loud huff.