Ceasefire Of Senses (under editing)

c h a p t e r t w e n t y t h r e e

Song : Ab To Forever from Tara Rum Hum

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The next day went by pretty quickly, probably, because we were sightseeing and I was too tired due to staying up all night.
Well, it was a wedding after all!

I was a little upset at first, thinking about the fact that Naina and Aarav couldn't come with us. However, we (which meant Sam and Rishi) successfully kidnapped them with a little help from my mom, who promised to keep the elders away from 'the guest quarters' where all of were supposed to be.

We were a large group. About 12. Krishi had been left with my parents because of her proneness to catching a cold. Our trip started with a large breakfast at Glenary's, a famous breakfast point in Darjeeling. The rest of the day went by as we drove around the hill station watching the mountains and the tea plantations. Yeah, it was basically the 'Agricultural Cultivation' chapter of our 12th Grade Geography syllabus in real life.

Anyways, let's get back to today. We were heading back to Kolkata by train. The wedding ceremonies would finally be over tonight. We had to conduct the reception in Kolkata because of many of our family members and friends living there, who couldn't come to Darjeeling taking a day off.
Aarab, Sam, Naina and I had to take a first class compartment on the train because of Waffles. The rest of the family and guests were sleeping in the two tier compartments.

"Did you sleep well?" Aarav asked as we sat on the lower bunk of the two tiered coach.

"Have I ever slept well on trains?" I said, yawning.

"Good morning. I see you're finally up." Naina said coming into our compartment with six cups and a jug of hot water in her hand.

"I never slept." I said taking the stuff and setting it on the attached table kind of thing trains have under windows. "The idiot snored all night adding to the already jerking train. And Waffles kept barking at the Spaniel in the next compartment."

"Everyone's up, except Sam." Naina said.

"You walked all over to the two tier bogey?" Aarav asked Naina.

"Uff. Get up you moron!" I said standing up and and hitting Sam on his legs.

"SAM! Uth jaa." I told him again.

Waffles jumped on Naina's lap as soon as she was fully awake.

"How about you guys quit doing what you are so that this water doesn't get cold. And Sam, this is the last time I am telling you, GET UP!" I said.

"Why is she so cranky?" Sam said yawning.

"She can't sleep on trains." Naina said.

"Hello! I am right here people." I said.

"Give her a coffee! Throw her out of the train. Just make her stop irritating me." Sam said.

"I suck. You can't get rid of me. So, if you wanna drink that coffee and get off the train on time, get your butt down here."

_______

"Ah! Kolkata! How I missed this place." Sam said as we walked towards the entrance of our building.

"Well, you wouldn't have if you had taken the effort to come here every once in a while." Juhi aunty told Sam.

Waffles leaped out of my arms into Sam's.

"Hello there!" Sam said as she started licking him all over his face.

"Alisha, you're coming to our house." Kuhu aunty said.

"Why------Oh....." I said realising that it was the wedding night for Aarav and Naina and I would have to give up my room.

"Tonight will be fun. You, me and Waffles." Sam whispered.

"Juhi aunty, Kriti's room is empty, right?"

"Its for Kabir and Dhruv. Ali, Sam and Neenu had separate beds, if that's what you're worried about." She replied.

"We could join the beds, if you want to." Sam whispered and walked into his room.

"Yo, Ally." Dhruv said as I switched on the television.

"Hey." I replied. "Any interest in Rishi and Kriti's love story?"

"My friends are in love with your books. They keep asking me if they're true stories or not." Dhruv said.

"So, what did you tell them?" I asked as I waited for Baatein Kuch Ankahi Si aka the soap opera version of Rosewood's Princess to start airing.

"You lied to them didn't you?" I said looking at his face.

"Technically, I didn't lie to them. I just refused to acknowledge their questions." Dhruv said.

"So, your parents are still not talking to you?"

"Not since Article 377 made changes and I came out to them." Dhruv replied.

"Gimme a minute." I said answering Ashley's call.

"We've reached and Rishi's left for home." She said over the phone.

"Okay great. Have a safe journey and call me as soon as you settle down after you reach New York." I replied.

"Ally?"

"Yeah?"

"Cece, Tessa, Ash and I wanted to tell you that you were an amazing host and we're looking forward to the next time we visit you guys or you guys visit us."

"Thank you. It was a pleasure."

"I am not finished yet. One last piece of advice, if you would like to consider it, don't let Sam go. Not this time." She said hangimg up.

"All okay?" Dhruv asked.

"Yeah." I said thinking about what Lee had just told me.

"Where's Kabir?" Sam asked.

"No idea." Dhruv replied.

"I asked him to get a bottle of Coke for me." I replied shifting my attention towards the television.

"That's the girl that plays Kriti?" Dhruv asked.

"Nope. That's me, the narrator." I replied.

"She's hot. Unlike you." Sam said.

"She's married." I replied.

My phone rang again.

"Who's Karan? You know any Karan?"  Dhruv asked Sam.

"Yeah, you're boarding now?" I asked Karan.

"Yup." He replied.

"Give me a call as soon as you reach. You land at 4, right? I'll send someone to pick you up from the airport." I said and hung up.

"Who's Karan?" Dhruv asked.

I have to continue this prank.

"My boyfriend." I shrugged.

The look on Sam's face was picture perfect. Priceless.

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I know. Very late. I've been having difficulty in writing nowadays. I haven't been out of the house like everyone else, so I am lacking inspiration. I generally need a walk in the fresh air before I get inspiration to write. I'll keep updating as soon as I can, though.

IMPORTANT.

1) As you can see, I changed the name of the book. I realised that 'Teri Meri Love Story' was an extremely cringy title. Plus, it didn't work out well with the story. The new title is permanent. It will stay till the end.

2) Do you guys want to read Rosewood's Princess and Love, Unexpected? If yes, leave inline comments. Then, I can begin planning on how to go about with the two stories.

Stay tuned for more.