[a desi bus romance] Vijay and Nila have only one thing in common - they take the same bus at the same time everyday. What if this mere commonality steers their life into a whirlpool of uninvited feelings, wholesome conversations and unexpected conn...
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"So, when are you planning on telling us? Or are you ever planning on telling us?"
Nila was confused. She was sprawled on the carpeted floor with her legs propped up on the chair, scrolling through her LinkedIn and feeling like she was a useless amateur amongst a sea of experts. Kayal and Arjun had walked into the living room and taken a seat on the sofa, determination lining their faces.
She didn't understand what they were trying to find out from her.
"What do you mean?" she asked, pushing herself up and shifting to lean against the chair.
"There's something you've been hiding from us, isn't it?" Kayal asked. Nila's heart immediately hammered in her chest. No. She had been so careful. Even her sister's suspicious nose couldn't have sniffed out anything about Vijay. What was this about?
"What-what do you mean?" Damn her voice for giving away how nervous she was already. What would she even do if they found out? Kayal wouldn't go tell her parents but she would probably tell Nila to snip it in the bud.
Kayal shared a glance with Arjun and pulled out her phone. She showed her a reel— a faceless mini vlog. Her faceless mini vlog that she had posted on her account that had unexpectedly gotten viral with more than a million views. How did her sister find out it was her?
"How?" she asked stupidly.
"When you were doing your gardening vlogs during COVID, I had a feeling you weren't simply recording it to keep it to yourself as you claimed. But I didn't pry. Then one day, it popped up on my feed. Do you think I wouldn't recognise my own backyard?" Kayal asked and Nila put her face in her palms. When Kayal phrased it like that, it really seemed delusional of Nila to think she could get away with posting videos of her even though her face wasn't visible.
"But–but I um, blocked you?" she said, not helping her case.
"I have another account."
"You have a secret account and you didn't tell me?"
Kayal raised her eyebrows. Arjun chuckled. Nila shrunk her shoulders and glanced down. She had no right to accuse her when she was maintaining a public account with over 30K followers.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't want anyone to know. I wanted to tell you but it felt nice having something to myself," Nila mumbled.
"It's fine, Nila. Kayal didn't mean to make you feel guilty. She was hurt you didn't want to tell her. She kept complaining about it when she found out," Arjun said.
Nila was ashamed to look at Kayal. "I'm sorry, Kay," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's fine. That's not the only thing I want to discuss. In fact, I wouldn't have even brought it up if not for this reel," she said, playing the reel again. Then she paused at a particular clip.
