Let's Fall Together

29. She is not blushing

Kartik's POV

Where did she go?

Last time I checked she was standing right beside her friends, by the gate. Where did she disappear all of a sudden? She hadn't even congratulated me. Not even once.

"Where are you lost?" Di asked me, bringing my attention back on her. Why was I wasting my time anyway? She must be busy joking with someone somewhere.

"Nowhere."

"Anyway, I'm just glad you decided to finally take this big step and enter into the world of fame." She gave me a huge smile, one I couldn't help but return.

"It's not about the fame." I shrugged, eyes crinkling, "I still wish Arth could make it."

"I will bring him home without fail, tonight. Don't worry." Di gave me a pat on the back before leaving to find Ma.

My eyes scanned the whole room again, searching for a certain doe-eyed girl in a red saree. That saree. When I had first seen her in it, I had almost forgotten what it meant to breathe. And the way her bangles chimed at even the slightest movements of her hands? Sweetest sound ever. And the way her pallu swayed with the air and how she grabbed it with her hand to pull it around her waist? Don't even get me started.

And that bindi...

Red was really her colour.

What is wrong with me!?

Am I really thinking about the sound of her bangles while I have so many guests to attend?

Ridiculous.

"Sir, Mr. Patel wants to meet you." Vinay, my manager said.

"Tell him I'll be right back."

I quickly left from there, knowing exactly where she might have gone. I increased my pace as I neared the stairs, climbing two steps at a time. This place was huge, but there was only one place Rivaah might go to.

I entered the library, my eyes flitting around the shelves filled with books of all kinds, untill they fixed on the girl standing amidst them. Her back was facing me, her open hair hiding her face from me. I took hushed steps towards her untill I was standing right beside her. I could scare her but I didn't really feel like doing so right now.

"Are you so lonely you've resorted to talking to books?" I teased her, expecting her to get startled and glare at me in no time.

But she didn't.

She kept her back turned from me, making me question if she had heard my voice at all. Strange. I tried to get her attention once again, this time clearing my throat before speaking.

"Are you sure you've not lost your hearing? "

No response again.

Something doesn't feel right.

That's when I heard a sniffle.

Was she-

Cautiously, I turned her around with my hands, only to find her wiping away tears from her face hurriedly. She avoided looking at me as she continued to tame her tears, soft whimpers following her attempt to stop them from falling. I looked at her, perplexed at the sight, not knowing what to do.

She was...she was crying.

Why?

My hands went around her shoulders immediately, bringing her closer to me as I gazed at her in the eye. She turned her face away, so she could avoid my gaze but I titled her face with my hand so that she was looking directly at me. The tears glistening in her eyes broke something inside me.