Crushed and Created- Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

The tattoo guy

ALISHA

It was evening and as promised, I was waiting with Roo for Aryan and one of his friends to come meet us. He and Aryan had bonded post the attacks, since Aryan saved him from getting trampled in the chaos. Sara couldn’t come as she was in another country cheering for her dad. Their family had chosen a long vacation to get over the trauma; me and Aryan had chosen to resume our lives to forget about the attacks. So many roads but one destination. I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my head, it was a time to hang out and chill not relive old memories.

“Hey.” Aryan came in with a guy in tow. Roo smirked looking at him and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Of course she liked him. He had brown hair, his eyes were a mix of hazel and blue which was pretty unique in itself. But I didn’t like how he acted- just like a jerk. I knew better than judging people, but my instincts just screamed danger when I got one look at this guy.

“This is Nathan. Nathan, Alisha and Lauren.” Aryan introduced everyone and we got to his car. Intelligent dude got an SUV for all of us to fit in.

“Where to?” his chauffeur asked and me and Aryan chorused,

“Candies!” in Bandra, every soul knew what Candies was. It was the ultimate hang out spot for the youth of the city. The entire building of four floors was converted into a café, each section having its specialty. So many famous went there that nobody gave a damn about who’s who exactly was standing in front of them in the line. It was like the place was meant for people from middle class to millionaires, and that was the coolest thing that could ever happen in the history of mankind. Alright, that was a hyperbole.

We went through the security check and reached the counter. I ordered some famous cottage cheese with spring rolls, and the others got their food. Lauren picked up some cupcakes even though gym diet restricted it. Rules were meant to be broken.

“No, I can’t sit anywhere near the smoking zone.” I struggled to carry my tray on the stairs, and pointed at the music section. They had tinted glass in that section with loud music and random videos going on. It felt like eating in a church where there was a party going on.

“So, Nathan. What brings you to Mumbai?” Roo asked, sounding way too seductive. Aryan gave me a confused look and I signaled him to shut up.

“My mom shifted here as an interior designer. She got huge offers from all the billionaires, earning a lot herself. What about you…Lauren, right?”

“Yea, but call me Roo. And I shifted here ‘cause of gymnastics.”

“Nate. Oh, you must be good.” He checked Roo out and I looked away. Both of them were pretty hopeless right now. I just kept eating and chatting with Aryan as Roo and Nate were flirting with each other to no end.

Me and Aryan were pretty pumped since the US presidential elections were tomorrow and Ashley, one of my old friends back in my first school, was the daughter of the favorite. Amber and Ashley had been in my life ever since I joined gymnastics, but I was always closer to the eldest- Ashley. Then we kinda lost contact and regained it after the attacks. And ta-da, my old friends’ dad was probably our next president. Aryan had known her too, but not closely. But still, it was the only thing to talk about.

“Alright, we have to get going.” Aryan got up looking at his watch. Oh crap, it was 8 pm and I was gonna piss Malaika off today. The three of them were gonna move out to their apartment tonight and had asked everyone to be there for goodbyes. Salman had already left for some emergency stuff, so it left only me and Sohail. And now I was gonna be late.

“Aryan and Alisha? It’s good to see you people bonding.” A familiar voice said and I turned around to see Agent Gibson standing behind us.

“Agent Gibson?” Aryan raised a brow at him and I was shocked to know that he knew Gibson too. But then again, he must have spoken to anyone who had the slightest of information about the attack.