A Tale Of A Few Friends

Chapter 2

This chapter is dedicated to Madilo2 - Thank you for the awesome book cover!

CHAPTER TWO

“I wanna stand with you on the mountain…”

“Rakshay if that’s you I’m gonna kill you!” Rhea muttered as she snatched the towel from the hook, wrapped herself up, and hurried into her freezing room. She grabbed her phone and said, “Helloo?!”

“Babes, Rakshay here. I’m waiting outside your door! Can’t you hear the doorbell?”

“Whaaaaaaaaat? But Rakshay!! I asked you to come after an hour right?!” whined Rhea, clearly unaware of how long she had spent in the bathtub.

“Darling, it’s been over an hour. Did you fall asleep or something?” Rakshay chuckled softly, knowing that she had probably been daydreaming.

“Oh my god… I was thinking about Krish and all that and well I guess I didn’t realize how late it was getting… no wonder the water felt cold as well! Argh. I still need to shampoo and shower… it’ll take me a while… I’ll open the door but you have to wait for 10 minutes okay?”

“Okay, hurry!” Rakshay didn’t like the sound of Krish but he knew Rhea was trying her best to get over him. He patiently waited outside her door.

Rhea ran down the stairs, holding her towel tightly to her body. She quickly opened the door, averted her eyes in embarrassment as Rakshay playfully whistled at her, and ran up the stairs to jump back into the shower. It was at times like this when Rhea wished her parents were around more often. Both her mom and dad were so involved in running their business empire that they were hardly ever there, leaving Rhea alone most of the time.

Rakshay watched her run up the stairs knowing she was blushing bright red. She wasn’t the sort of girl who was comfortable in this state. He loved seeing her all flustered but he knew not to go overboard with his flirting. But today was different; he couldn’t stop staring at her. He felt a slight stir in his stomach that he’d never felt before. This new feeling intrigued him but he thought best to ignore it and with that he let himself in the house.

He closed the door and sat down on the couch. Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, OK! – there were tons of magazines staring up at him. Pictures of semi-nude models on the covers looking pretty and sexy but they made no difference to Rakshay. Right now, he couldn’t get the image of Rhea in her towel out of his mind. He could only think of one person – Rhea – his best friend. Shit, he was in trouble.

Rhea closed her bathroom door and stood against it, her heart wouldn’t stop beating. She was flustered and terribly embarrassed. No one had seen her like that, in her towel, not even Krish. She had made sure she never got too serious with Krish. With him it had just been the usual making out but she never gave in to anything more. But having Rakshay see her like this stirred something within her. She had never felt like this before and she didn’t know how to react. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach as it flipped when she thought of Rakshay whistling and staring at her. Her mind started wandering to Rakshay… he was tall, had hazel eyes, dark brown hair, an amazing body, and a terribly sexy voice. Thinking about him in this way was new to her and it made her blush.

Rhea! She scolded herself. Don’t think about Rakshay like this. He’s your best friend. Rhea got out of the trance and quickly finished her shower. With a towel wrapped in her hair, Rhea skipped down the stairs wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a plain white top. She looked stunning.

Rakshay’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw Rhea walk down the stairs. She had never looked so pretty. Freshly washed hair toweled up, simple clothes, and the fresh aroma of natural shampoo. His stomach gave a flip and he groaned. What was wrong with him? It was just Rhea, so why was he feeling this way?

Rhea looked up and saw Rakshay staring at her. His eyes had darkened as he stared at her intently. She had never seen this look before, at least never directed to her. She gave him a small smile and quickly turned away. She dried her hair and turned back to him, telling herself to behave normally.

“Okay you can stop staring now, I’m ready, let’s go Rakshu” Rhea said teasingly, trying to keep the attraction out of her voice. She wanted things to be normal; she wanted to stop feeling the butterflies in her stomach. It was the first time she had felt the chemistry and attraction between them and she knew it wasn’t right. Was this going to permanently ruin their friendship?

****

Rhea and Rakshay got to Mehr’s place at the same time as the others. Mehr opened the door and started crying with happiness. She was overjoyed to see all her friends come to help her out. She welcomed them in and sat down. They laughed, told stories, ordered some pizza, and started watching a movie.

Soon after, they decided to have some fun so they got a bottle of Absolut Vanilla vodka and started playing “I have never”. The game was simple – one person would say something they had never done, and everyone who had done it would take a shot of the vodka. They took turns and by the end of a few rounds, everyone was a little buzzed.

They then decided to play spin the bottle for some laughs. They were all seated in a circle and the game began. Ash spun the bottle and it landed on Matt, she gave him a quick peck, obviously embarrassed as everyone including her boyfriend, Ryan, laughed and cheered. The game kept going on until it was Rhea’s turn. She reluctantly spun the bottle and it landed on Rakshay. Her heart thumped as she remembered what had happened earlier, and she couldn’t deny what she was feeling. She looked up and saw Rakshay smirking at her. Gathering all her courage, she crawled towards him and looked into his darkened eyes. She quickly brought her lips to his and gently kissed him. She thought she felt him gently tug her lips as if he wanted more, but the feeling went by so quickly that she wasn’t sure if it had happened or if she’d just imagined it because of the alcohol buzz. She quickly retreated to her seat and the game carried on.

Soon it was getting late and everyone had to go back to their respective homes. Mehr looked a lot happier than she did before and she was grateful that they had come over. Rhea persuaded her to stay over at her place and Mehr readily agreed, not wanting to be alone. Rakshay decided to drop Rhea and Mehr back to Rhea’s place.

When they got there, Rakshay went up with them to hang out for a while. He wanted to make sure that Mehr and Rhea were both okay – Mehr for obvious reasons and Rhea because of what she had said about Krish and how she was still thinking about him. He realized that Rhea would never completely get over Krish. But he also knew that he had to help her move on. Rhea would try not the express her feelings and troubles too much as she was mostly busy helping everyone else and neglecting her own problems. She usually let Rakshay talk about his problems and she would listen and keep hers away – she didn’t want to add more tension to anyone’s life. He was concerned and wanted to talk to her about it… he’d call her tonight. But for now, he was going to concentrate on Mehr. He could imagine how she felt. She was going through something similar to what he had gone through with Aria. He turned to Mehr while Rhea got them something to drink, and gave her a really tight hug. Mehr started crying again and he comforted her knowing that he didn’t have to say anything, just make her feel that he’s there for her.

Rhea walked back into the living room. She saw Rakshay consoling Mehr and smiled. He really knew what to do and what to say at the right time. She was filled with appreciation and love for him. He was truly her bestest friend.

****

An hour later Rakshay’s phone rang.

“Hi Mum… I’m at Rhea’s…. Sorry… just give me 10 minutes and I’ll be home.”

“What happened?” Rhea asked.

“I’m sorry guys I gotta go… I was meant to be home coz we have some people coming home for dinner. I’ll see you guys tomorrow or something okay. Mehr take care and if you need to talk then just give me a ring anytime okay. Ree take gooooood care of her okay and call me if you need anything.”

They said their goodbyes and Rhea walked him to the door.

“Ree, I want to talk to you about something … I’ll call you later at night okay. Take care of Mehr, she’s extremely upset.” He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Before pulling back he quietly whispered into her ear, “By the way, you looked like a goddess today. Really beautiful.”

And with that, he walked out of the house and drove back home … leaving Rhea at the door, staring at him go.