Ishqana Dil

Part 34

A/N: Neet, I kinda took your words very seriously? XP

"Chalo, Amaya! What are you waiting for?"

She looked away from Rachita and at Neeti. "Huh?"

"Arrey Mantu ko haldi lagaao na!"

She turned to him and found him watching her meekly, almost as if he was scared. He tried to smile at her and his eyes seemed to be pleading for mercy. It immediately erased everything else. The remorse, the anger, the sadness, all vanished. A naughty smile was bubbling up to her lips even as she tried not to let it show. She allowed her temptation to win when she dipped her hand in the bowl of haldi, scooping out as much as she could.

The horror on his face was worth seeing. His gaze shifted from her hand to her face and she raised her brow at him teasingly. He shook his head vehemently, making all the girls laugh. Even Rachi Di ended up smiling. Amaya stuck her tongue out of him and rubbed her hand down the side of his face. Her heart cartwheeled with mad bliss. She had wanted to do this for long... Of course she was going to take her sweet time. The other could think whatever they wanted, she did not care. She grinned at the grimace he made when the cold paste touched his skin. She let her hand slide down his cheek slowly, the stubble tickling her fingertips. She let this memory sink in her being.

He opened his eyes to look at her. She chose not to look into them after a glance or she would lose her mind in their intensity. She felt his breaths grow shallower, along with hers. It became difficult to keep the smile on but she forced it, finishing with his nose. Amaya shuddered. The way he kept looking at her... it made her feel as if she was the only person who existed in this room to him...

The sound of giggles must have brought him to his senses because he blinked, looking away from her. "Dekhiye... You h-have a-already made jokers o-of us n-now so... Let us g-go now? Please?"

"Na, na!" Neeti insisted, putting a hand on Rama's shoulder to make him sit down again since he had started getting up already. "How can we let you go so soon? Abhi toh party shuru huyi hai! Now, if there's no singing and dancing, what's the use? Kyun?"

The girls gleefully agreed and Amaya smirked with mischief. "Hmm! Ab hum bhi toh dekhein ke Banaras ke ladkon sirf naach dekhna aata hai ya achhe se do thumke lagaane bhi aate hain?"

The boys were pulled up on their feet and Neeti called for two dupatte and with no hesitation, Amaya took hers off her shoulder and spread it over Mantu's head. "Lo!" He glared at her and she merely winked in response.

Mohini Maasi draped a random dupatta around her nephew. "Naak mat katvaana meri!" she warned humourously as the music started. The girls formed a circle around the two boys, clapping their hands. They just stood there. She saw Rama say something to his friend, whose face was mostly hidden in her dupatta. They started dancing awkwardly on the spot when Neeti shouted at them.

"Khoon kardeinge hum tumhaara!" she heard Mantu roar.

The girls had to tease them a little more before they finally really danced. Some of them even stopped circling around to watch, and Amaya was almost certain it was Mantu they were watching. God, he looked like he was so into it! She held her stomach and laughed. At some point, it looked like he was saying something to Rama and the next minute, the two friends were out of the room.

***

"Jaldi kar na! Itni der kyun lagaadi tumne aane mein?"

She grumpily dumped the bag on the bed. "Wah beta! Jaise humein aur koyi kaam nahin hai? I am also contributing a lot in this wedding, do you understand? Sumitra Chachi had just given me some work when you called, how could I just leave? And then I had to go home and get these for you and come here. Yeh lo!" She thrust the clothes she had taken out of the bag in his face.