Tale of Silent Longing

25| Exploring the Friendship

On the way to the restaurant, it was for the first time that Tanya and Reeva's mom came face to face. She was sitting next to Tanya at the restaurant. She kept bragging about her rich lifestyle and status all the time.

"Ever since she was a kid, Reeva wanted to be a model. Before getting into college, she won a lot of prizes in school's fashion shows. I have always trusted her beauty. She is so smart and confident. No wonder why Mr. Mehta likes her so much"Reeva 's mom said. She was purposely talking in a loud tone so that everyone could hear her out.

"Ok, now you tell me about yourself. I know everyone here except you two girls. So Tanya , what does your dad do?" she asked arrogantly.
"My dad works with the government and my mom looks after the house and family," Tanya answered simply.

"Oh! Life must have been so hard for you, right? I mean... surviving with few facilities, few resources, and all," Reeva 's mom replied with sarcasm.

Her intention of asking such questions in front of all was crystal clear. Yet Tanya  was trying her best to conceal her anger.

"No Mrs. Singhania . This is just the way wealthy people think. Our lives are pretty easy. In fact, I feel city life is way tougher than in the countryside. Everyone is chasing money and work. It must be so hard to live your life this way. In Chicago , yes, a lot of people may not have good jobs but nobody dies of hunger," Tanya  responded confidently.

"I have studied in a small school with very few facilities. Yet, look at me now. I am scoring way more than the students who study in good private schools," Tanya  added.

Mrs. Singhania now realized that Tanya  was a hard nut to crack. She was not only smart, intelligent, and beautiful but also very confident.

Jahaan who had always been a fan of Tanya 's confidence and mindset was smiling in his head.

After getting back to the hotel, everyone was heading to their rooms when a guy at the reception handed a paper to Jordan . It was an invite that read,

"The Rooftop Party for all those who want to celebrate their holidays in San Diego," Jordan  said aloud.

"Rooftop party? Does that mean we are going to have a party at the terrace of the hotel?" Tanya  asked to get things confirmed.

"Yes ma'am. We host this party every year and all the people staying at the hotel are invited to it. The party is exclusive and offers on-the-house drinks and a curated menu," the guy elaborated.

"The idea of a rooftop party sounds good. And we anyway know that we are allowed to have a late-night party once on this trip. So, I don't see any issue with this idea. Party will be organized in the hotel premises so we wouldn't have to step outside " Jordan said .

Everyone agreed with Jordan and the mothers were happy with the deal too.

Getting everyone's confirmation, Jordan got himself and the others registered for the party. After this, all of them went to their respective rooms.

And hearing about the party, Tanya was excited. "This could be the perfect opportunity for me to spend more time with Jahaan ," she thought and squealed with excitement.

The next day, Tanya woke up a little early and walked to the hotel's balcony. While observing the surrounding, she saw Jahaan running on the beach. Seeing him alone, she immediately rushed to the beach to be with him.
When she reached there, Jahaan had taken off his shirt and was resting on the beach glancing at the sunrise. Tanya's face turned red as she saw Jahaan without his shirt.

Standing a little away from him, she kept thinking if she should go to him and talk or not. She mustered up some courage and called out to Jahaan before walking up to him and sitting next to him. Seeing her he quickly put on his shirt .

"Good morning, Jahaan ," Tanya greeted.

"Good morning," he replied lazily.

"What's wrong? Are you still upset by the prank that Illahi and I pulled yesterday? That was just a small joke to scare Jordan" Tanya explained.

"No, I am not angry at all. I just said that scaring someone that way without knowing their medical history can be dangerous. That's all" Jahaan said in a soft tone.

"Well, you look really fit. Do you jog every day? Are you into sports?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah, I used to play basketball in school,"Jahaan answered.

"So, why don't you play for our college team?" she
questioned.

"Look at me. I am interested in sports but I am not talented at all" she chuckled.

Both of them were talking while sitting at the beach and enjoying the sunrise.

Mrs. Mehta who came there to check up on him saw the two sitting there and quickly clicked a picture of them together.
"By the way, what is going to happen at the party tonight? I am quite nervous, to be honest" Tanya spoke.

"Why are you nervous? You just have to go there and enjoy the night" Jahaan asserted.

"And what about alcohol? What about the non-drinkers?" she continued with her questions.

"Yeah, so it is not mandatory to drink alcohol. You can make your own decisions, come on" he replied.

He thought for a while and spoke again, "By the way, boozing once in a while does no harm."

They sat there for a long time and kept talking. Sometimes, they would laugh, and then argue, or just simply look at the sun. Sitting there, they looked adorable together. They sat there for almost two hours. The beach was getting crowded with more people.

Mrs. Mehta did not want to disturb the two so she quietly left. Both of them were so involved in talking to each other that they had no idea about what time it was.

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