Mafia's Heartbeat

19. Kiss

K H U S H L E E N

I stood in front of the mirror, fidgeting with my outfit, my fingers running through my hair for what felt like the hundredth time. Every two seconds, my eyes darted back to my reflection as if the answer to my nervousness would magically appear there.

"How am I looking? Does this hairstyle even match my outfit? Be honest, do I really look good or not? Tell me, yaar!" I blurted out, twisting slightly to see myself from another angle. My tone was a mix of panic and excitement.

Meher, on the other hand, was sprawled on the bed, scrolling through her phone like she had absolutely no care in the world.

"Tu kya apne phone mein hi busy rehti hai aaj kal?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at her through the mirror.

She hummed in response, not even glancing up. "Huh? H...Hm, acchi lag rahi hai!" she said lazily and then smirked.
"Why are you being so nervous like he's about to propose to you? Just chill, yaar.... it's just a coffee date!"

She ended her sentence with a dramatic wink, and I immediately rolled my eyes.

"Oye! This is not a date, okay?" I said, spinning around to glare at her, though my voice cracked halfway through my sentence.
"It's just... just a normal coffee meeting! He offered me coffee and... and you know I can't say no to anyone because of my nature! So, obviously, I had to say yes! He asked so respectfully, so innocently.... how was I supposed to refuse? And besides..." I glanced down at my outfit before continuing in a rush, "...it's only because of him that I'm standing here, all dressed up like this in front of YOU."

My words tumbled out like a waterfall, no pauses, no breaths, just pure panic.
And of course, my stupid, stupid red cheeks betrayed everything I was trying to hide.

Meher's eyes widened for a second before she burst out laughing.
"Areeee! Stop, stop, STOP! Break lagao zubaan par, bhai!" she said between fits of laughter.
"You're explaining yourself like a thief caught red-handed!"

I glared at her, but she only leaned forward, her grin turning even more mischievous.
"And honestly, if you really can't say no to anyone, then if he asked you to marry him, you'd probably say yes too!"

She winked again, flashing all her teeth like a devil who'd just ruined someone's peace of mind.

My heart skipped a beat... no, scratch that.... it launched straight into a sprint like a bullet train.

Marriage?!

The image of him standing there as my husband popped into my head before I could stop it.
His hand in mine, his eyes locked on me, the world fading around us....

"Aaahhhh! Kya soch rahi hoon main!" I muttered under my breath, shaking my head furiously like that would somehow erase the wild, traitorous thoughts running through my mind.

But the damage was done. My internal self was trembling, screaming, blushing all at once.

"Shut up, Meher! You're talking nonsense," I said out loud, desperate to change the topic as I grabbed my lip gloss.
I applied a thick layer, using it as my only defense.... a shield to hide my completely exposed emotions.

God help me.

Just then, as if God had finally decided to take pity on me, my phone started ringing.

My head snapped toward the screen, and the moment I saw the caller ID... my entire body froze.

It was Arjun.

My heart skipped a beat so hard it almost hurt.
A huge, involuntary smile spread across my lips, and my chest buzzed with pure excitement.
I blinked rapidly, as if to confirm that I wasn't dreaming, then quickly snatched up my phone like it was the most precious thing in the world.