Deceptive Affections

CHAPTER 20

ZAISHA

I have successfully avoided Reyaan for the past couple of days. But I won't be able to do so as we are all going to Aarohi's wedding which is in Udaipur. He is obviously invited. He is also the owner of the resort where we all are staying and where all the festivities are going to happen, so avoiding him is going to be really difficult.

He tried calling me and sent a few texts to initiate some sort of conversation but I declined the calls and gave concise and bland responses to the texts. I still don't know how to start the conversation and I need to talk to someone to get clarity. But I couldn't disturb Aarohi with my problems before her big day.

I have no idea how I will handle everything for the next four days. I obviously can't avoid him forever, so, the plan is to talk about everything after the wedding, in case everything goes downhill. That would be the worst-case scenario and I have no desire to get involved in that.

Me and Bhai are going today with the rest of our friends and my parents will join us on the wedding day only. Practically, taking a flight would be a better option as it is an 8-hour drive but everyone decided for a road trip months ago. We are taking two cars as my brother is not in a mood to share a car with Reyaan. Good for me because I have the same wish.

We are all at Aarohi's place, so that all of us can go together. "Come on guys, let's go. We are going to be late." Excited much. She yelled at us to hurry up.

We all went towards the car and Reyaan was already standing in front of his car. He opened the door and said, "Get in!" he gestured for me to get inside and my avoidance strategy kicked in.

"I am going in my brother's car, with Aarohi. We have limited time to spend together." Before he could say anything else, I moved away quickly. Behind me I heard the slam of the car door, but I didn't turn back. I am definitely going to regret this later. I am playing with fire.

My brother came beside me, "Did you two get into a fight or what?"

"What? No. Why would you say that?" I looked at him.

"Because he is brooding and you are not going with him." he stated.

I grabbed his arm and acted like the perfect clingy sister to change the topic. "Because I want to spend time with you." He pushed me back and went away.

Me, Bhai, Aarohi and Rohan were in one car and Reyaan and Shrey were in the other car. Despite all the tension between me and Reyaan, we still enjoyed our drive. The ride was filled with music, fun and gossip. We stopped at a restaurant for dinner after which Rohan also went into Reyaan's car.

I fell asleep the rest of the way and when I woke up, we were already at the destination and it was past midnight. We were all really tired and went into our respective rooms. All the functions are going to start from day after tomorrow and we can sleep till late today. Fortunately, Reyaan was also tired and went straight to his room.

The next day when I woke up, I went for breakfast after getting ready in a casual top and jeans. The rest of our friends are also here. Ridha and Jai, our college friends arrived an hour ago and some of our school friends as well.

We were having breakfast together and suddenly, I felt the air getting thick with the presence of a grumpy, irritated Reyaan. He came and sat in front of me. I gave him a polite smile which was not returned. I have now pushed him to his limits.

Jai was sitting on my right side and we were talking when Reyaan asked me to pass him the salt. I did and we resumed our conversation but he interrupted us again to put the salt back. After the salt, it was bread, then butter or something else. Every time I started talking with Jai, he needed something.

I can sense the evil behind his eyes. After breakfast I was going to my room to get my stuff as we all decided to explore Udaipur today since we will have no time after that.

I got out of my room and my face slammed with something hard and strong. I stumbled back but two hands came around my back to steady me.

"Hey! Long time." Reyaan taunted. Why God, why?

"Hey!" I greeted as well. His hands were still on my waist, radiating warmth despite their roughness.

"I was thinking that we need to..." I interrupted in between because I am definitely not doing this right now, "hurry up to go to the market. I am getting late. Everyone's waiting downstairs." I rushed to speak and got out of there just as quickly. His gaze burning holes on my back.

When I reached the parking lot Jai and Ridha were standing there and looking at the car. "What happened?" I asked.

"The tires are punctured. We can't take this car." Ridha answered.

"What? How? Let's take a cab then." I suggested.

"Already asked. Apparently, there are no cabs here for 2 hours." Jai said.

That's weird. "Why?" I asked.

"Because we are away from the city and there are no cabs nearby." Ridha said.

Fixing the tires will also take too much time. Our entire day will be wasted like this. I can't believe this. There's no point in going if we only get to spend an hour there. But because of a lack of other options, we cancelled the plan.

Instead of ruminating about the missed chance to explore, we started with the dance practice. Because, why cry over spilled milk. Life is all about moving on. Therefore, I gathered everyone for the group dance, almost everyone.

After the dance session which was so fun, we had our dinner and I crashed into Aarohi's room. We talked and planned our bachelorette party which is happening a day before the wedding. Because of the tiring day, I fell asleep there only. Tomorrow is going to be super fun.

.

.

.

.

.

.