Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 12

Two hours later, Paridhi and Darshan were boarding the plane with their team. By some kind of twisted fate, this time their seats were next to each other. Paridhi’s seat was a window seat and Darshan’s seat was next to hers. Darshan sat down and popped in the earphones.
He was trying to ignore the feelings he was having for Paridhi and Paridhi was trying to ignore the pull that she felt towards Darshan. Darshan was confused about his feelings.
And Paridhi knew that what she was feeling towards Darshan was wrong. She was engaged! She had been in relationship with Nikhil for two years. Also he was son of their old family friends.
She shouldn’t have any kind of feelings towards anyone except Nikhil. Especially towards Darshan. He was her boss and he was a celebrity. And he was also The Darshan Raval. She couldn’t have feelings towards someone who would never be hers any million years.
He was Darshan Raval and she was just…a PA/manager. Paridhi blinked at this thought and stole a glance at Darshan only to find him looking at her too. She quickly averted her gaze and spent next 5 mins trying to look everywhere except Darshan.
But she just…couldn’t help herself from looking at him. He was just gorgeous and her eyes wandered over to him on their own. It was as if she had no control over her body anymore.
This time Darshan was leaning back in his seat, his head was resting on the headrest and his eyes were closed. It looked like he was taking a nap. Paridhi found herself gazing at his face. This was the first time she was looking at from so close and that too for such a long time.
All this time she had been working for him and she had never really looked at Darshan’s face like this, at least not like she was looking right now. She gazed adorably at him while he sat there oblivious to her stare. Or so she thought.
After a few moments, she noticed his lips curling up in a smirk and next instant she heard his voice. “Enjoying the view Miss Awasthi?” Darshan asked her, opening his eyes and looking directly at her. She quickly turned her face, looking out of the window to hide her blush and trying to calm her racing heart.
“Wha…What? Yes, the view…. outside is amazing….The…errr…clouds and the scenery….” Darshan wanted to tease her more, but he decided against it. He settled back in his previous position and turned his head once more to check if Paridhi was still looking. He found that she was still looking out of the window and he was unable to look away from her.
There was definitely something that pulled him towards her. The feelings that he felt for her were surreal. The effect she had on him both excited him and frightened him. It was 11PM when they reached their hotel in Assam where Darshan’s first concert was scheduled.
Paridhi was nervous as it was her first time managing a concert. Managing that wedding gig and Darshan’s photoshoots was different as they were private thingies, any mistake of hers was always covered up by Darshan or Hardik or any one of the team members.
And she rarely committed mistakes, but this was a concert. More than 300 people were attending the event. A small error on her part would mean big trouble.
Darshan had already assured her that it wasn’t a big deal, she would do just fine. But still, that didn’t stop Paridhi from stressing. Once they reached the hotels, she checked that the rooms were booked properly. Fortunately, this time as there were 6 boys and one girl, they had remembered to book the rooms properly.
Once she was in the room, she checked and double checked everything, even though it was mid-night and she was exhausted. It was only when Darshan noticed she was online and threatened to lock her in bathroom before concert, she gave in and went to bed at 12.30 AM.
Next morning, though it seemed that they had tons of things to do, Darshan and the team were relaxed due to Paridhi’s proper management. Darshan had himself made Paridhi eat breakfast with the entire team and he kept a bottle of water with him, occasionally making Paridhi drink little sips of water.
They went to the venue for soundcheck and Paridhi made sure that the security was proper and arrangements were completed. There were a few fans gathered near the stage, Paridhi assessed the situation, but she didn’t find anything wrong as they were only a few girls and boys, who were students of the college.
She was about to turn and go backstage, she suddenly stopped and surveyed the crowd again. Something is wrong. She thought and looked carefully. There was something she couldn’t understand, but she had a gut feeling that Darshan was in danger. That thought startled her. She laughed to herself. What the fuck am I even thinking? How could Darshan be in danger? He is a superstar.
He has so many people protecting him. She convinced herself that the voice in her head was just her overthinking.
Why would Darshan be in danger at a sound check? She shook her head and then hurried off to check a few technical things.
As she was checking the backstage and entry-exit points for Darshan, she heard commotion from the stage area. She rushed to the stage to find that the fans who had been lingering near the stage, had climbed up and were starting to surround Darshan, trying to get near him.
She started to panic as they had only brought two bouncers, both of them were far away from Darshan.
Hardik and other team members had gathered around Darshan, trying to shield him. But the number of students had increased since the last time she had seen them.
Few minutes ago there were only 10-12 students, now it was a mob of at least 40 people. Some of them looked much older than students, and not gentlemen types. She also noticed a few wild fangirls, who were screeching at the top of their voices, pushing and pulling everything in their path.
If there had been a few people, Darshan and the team would have been able to handle them. He would have given a few autographs, clicked a few selfies and the fans would have gone.
But something was wrong here as this crowd seemed wild. They weren’t waiting patiently for their turn, they were pushing, pulling and fighting to reach Darshan. There were chaos all over and if they reached Darshan, he was bound to get hurt because of the mob.
As she stood there, frozen, trying to think of a way to remove Darshan safely, she remembered that one of the crew members had shown her something while she had inspected the stage.
There was an opening in the center of stage, a wooden plank that could be easily removed and quickly replaced. If only she could get Darshan and Hardik out, the rest of the team won’t be bothered by the mob because only Darshan and Hardik were the centre of attraction.
She scanned the area and found that both Darshan and Hardik were near that opening. The crowd was had almost surrounded the team. She only had less than minute.
Without wasting any time, she grabbed a crew member and pulled him with her under the stage. The space under the stage was narrow and just 2 feet high. She had to walk on her toes, bent in half and she worried about how Darshan was going to manage when he was under here.
She reached the opening quickly and pushed open the wooden plank. Darshan and Hardik were being pushed backwards, their backs to her so she shouted their names, but the noise of the crowd was so loud that her voice didn’t reach them.
She waited for them to come near her, then tugged at Darshan’s jeans. Surprised, he looked down and she motioned for him to jump in the opening.
Darshan seemed confused for a moment, but he looked at the crowd which had reached him and the girls who were trying to pull at his jacket and nodded. He tugged at Hardik and motioned him to jump.
Paridhi didn’t even have time to move aside before Darshan jumped down, as a result, even though the opening was two feet deep, Darshan stumbled because of Paridhi and fell down on her. As he fell, he could feel Paridhi’s body under him and he realized that she would be squished under him and might get hurt due to force of the fall, so he extended his hands under her as they fell and his hands took his weight as he landed.
Paridhi, who had closed her eyes, was clutching at Darshan’s shirt, opened her eyes when they stopped moving and found her face inches away from Darshan’s face. She gazed at him, startled to find him so close to her and even in that situation, the first thing she noticed was his eyes.
They were a dark shade of brown. A moment later, as she tried to move, they turned a darker shade and her eyes widened as she realized that his body was practically on top of her, touching her.
Darshan was having a hard time, controlling himself from leaning down and kissing those pink lips of Paridhi. This was the first time he was so close to her and now that her body was touching him, he was struggling to keep control.
As she tried to move under him, the movement made her body move against him and his desire flared. He quickly jumped up as he saw her eyes widen. Hardik had jumped down by that time and together, they pulled down the wooden plank and closed the opening.
Darshan could scarcely believe what had happened in last few minutes. He loved his fans, he loved how they loved him. He knew what he was today was because of his fans, but sometimes, at times like this, he wished he didn’t have such overexcited fans.
He didn’t have a problem meeting them, but he feared that such kind of mobs might lead to injuries. He did not want his fans to get hurt just because they were excited to meet him. As he crouched below the stage, walking behind Hardik, he shuddered to think what would have happened if Paridhi hadn’t come to his rescue.
The instant his mind went to Paridhi, he felt a shiver run up his spine. That fall….her touch… He was shocked at the effect she had on him. He had almost lost his control back there when he was lying on top of her.
He glanced behind him to see that Paridhi was walking a few feet behind him, deep in thought. But she looked up as if she sensed his stare on her and met his eyes. He turned away from her, unable to look at her in the eyes.
The thoughts of what he wanted to do with her, how he wanted to kiss her…. He shivered. These thoughts made him ashamed of himself. ‘What the hell am I even thinking? She is my manager. It’s not appropriate for me to think of her in such way.’
He scolded himself mentally and as soon as he was out of the stage area, he rushed to the car waiting for him. Without even looking back to avoid Paridhi, he shouted at Hardik to hurry up and once Hardik was inside, he urged driver to take them straight to their hotel, leaving behind a shocked Paridhi.
Paridhi stared at the back of the car, unable to understand what had happened. Then she thought that Darshan must have been shaken after such a thing. Anyone would be. She sighed and went back to the backstage.
The crowd of fans was now dispersed, their star having disappeared. Paridhi finished the last minute things and informed the team to leave. As she sat in the minivan arranged for the team, something nagged at the back of her mind.
As Paridhi recalled the events that had happened just a few minutes ago, she realized that she had sensed the danger before the mob had even started to move. She had sensed something odd in the mob, as if she knew that they were going to do something bad.
Her gut feeling told her that the danger was not over yet.

//Author's note: This was a huge chapter. Anyways, new readers, how are you finding this story? Do tell me if you like it. Please vote and support me if you want more stories to come. Also check out my new story, Pehli mohobbat. I have just started posting the chapters. Hope you guys like it. //