Chapter 4. Chaos

🎶 Ullu Ka Pattha

Published on 21.04.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

Inaaya, Alisha and Nikita were sitting in the cafe opposite their college in the evening the next day. Alisha was filling up Nikita with the incident that had happened which had managed to keep Inaaya's mood sour since then. Nikita dramatically gasped when Alisha was done narrating.

"No wonder she hasn't talked about her favourite topic which is Niki's exclusive upcoming marriage since the morning." Alisha commented and although Nikita wanted to admonish her she couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that.

Inaaya hissed at her. "I can't believe that you're against me even in this. For once I really thought we would be on the same side for fucks sake!" She said exasperatedly.

Alisha shook her head dismissively. She turned towards Nikita and asked her. "Tell me honestly if you think she's overreacting or not?"

Nikita moved her gaze between the two, contemplating her reply carefully. "I wasn't present when this incident took place so I don't think I'm in the position to form an opinion over it."

"Stop acting diplomatic and just say you don't want to take sides." Inaaya chastised her and moved back to focus on eating her fries.

"Stop being grumpy." Alisha snatched away her fries. "He wasn't some creep. He just came and expressed his feelings which I think is a little foolish rather than anything else. That's it. Apart from that, he was really nice to you and even apologised to you."

"And how do you know that he wasn't a creep? Or some lucha lafanga? Just cause he was wearing nice clothes?" Inaaya questioned sarcastically.

"He's Ayansh Mehra." Alisha said in a patronizing tone.

"Hate to agree that his name sounds really good but that doesn't prove your point."

"Inaaya!" Nikita whined and hit her friend's forehead slightly. "He's the brother of Rahul Mehra, the one who had been the special guest in our last week seminar."

Inaaya opened her mouth to speak and then closed it like a fish. "That's even worse," she said after a moment of thought. "Imagine having such a reputed brother, family and then doing such cheap actions. Shameful. Horrible." She criticized.

Alisha and Nikita looked at each other and both shook their heads at the same time. Inaaya wasn't going to leave the matter soon. Neither was she going to let the incident leave her.

"Excuse us? Inaaya Rai?" Two guys of similar age had approached the girls table and one of them asked.

"That's me. But I don't you." She answered and then looked at the other guy who was giving her a polite smile, "Neither you."

"We wanted to talk to you." The other guy spoke. "I'm Kabir and he's Dhruv," he said pointing at his friend.

"Did I take some kind of appointment that I'm not aware of where I need to meet new people everyday?" She whispered to Alisha and Nikita. "Because trust me I'm not really fond of making new acquaintances daily."

Dhruv cleared his throat. "I know you don't know us but we're Ayansh's friends."

That made Inaaya stand up. Taking a deep breath she said, "Then I really don't want to know you two. Thank you very much." She fake smiled.

"Okay listen." Kabir who was really running out of patience and time demanded.

Inaaya cocked a brow. Alisha and Nikita looked amused.

"We know, I mean Ayansh knows," Kabir corrected, "You're one of those girls who like to play hard to get, aren't you?" He gave her a suggestive smile. Inaaya didn't interrupt him. She was really intrigued by what he was saying. "But our friend isn't one of those who backs away from challenge. And this time, the challenge is you and he's going to win it."

Dhruv was confused. He didn't know if everything was going their way or everything was just getting worse. He thought of stopping Kabir, take him to a side and talk to him but he kept going.

"I'm not personally fond of girls playing hard to get and throwing attitude but if that's what you want then be it. Our guy is also ready. The game is on." Kabir added confidently and this time Dhruv wanted to hide his face in embarrassment.

Nikita and Alisha were biting the inside of their cheeks to contain their laugh and were holding and squeezing each others hands below the table.

Inaaya kept a straight face the whole time. Then, she flashed a smile. "Okay, I'll be honest," she started speaking with as much sincerity in her voice that she could muster, "It was weird. A guy proposing you, asking you for a date with so much politeness and zero smugness. I mean is that how you actually ask a girl out?" She feigned disappointment.

Kabir's eyes widened in anticipation. This was turning out to be way easier than he thought. "I know right!" He exclaimed excitedly and sat on the empty chair beside Inaaya. "There needed to be some more intensity, intent, a little bit of passion also would've made the whole scenario so much better. Actually it's not his fault too. He's a shy guy and to actually confess his feelings to someone was a very big thing knowing him." He explained and Inaaya looked at him with understanding.

"Ayansh is a really nice guy." Dhruv added, feeling the need to give his inputs too rather than just standing like a statue.

"Also, he's good looking and you're hot. Ayansh thinks so too. Though obviously not hotter than my girlfriend." He blinked and smiled cutely, taking a couple of fries from the basket in Alisha's hands and putting them in his mouth.

"I pity the poor woman." Inaaya muttered under her breath watching the guy who was behaving as if they were some long lost friends and not people who have actually met for the first time.

"By the way, where is your friend Ayansh?" She asked.

"Starbucks." Dhruv replied immediately.

"I would really like to meet him right now."

~

"By the way, where are Dhruv and Kabir?" Neha asked Ayansh as they were waiting for their orders.

"They said they've some work so they'll just finish it off and join us here." Ayansh replied in a bored manner.

"But I agree with Kabir. The girl overreacted." She said scrunching her nose.

Ayansh clicked his tongue in disapproval. "I don't think so. She clearly didn't like the stunt I pulled. She was uncomfortable by that and she's nowhere at fault here."

"I get that but you weren't a lowlife or something. Atleast way better than Kabir who speaks whatever comes in his mind no matter how stupid that maybe." Neha explained and Ayansh snickered.

"I'll just go and collect our orders."

After a while, Ayansh was back with his coffee and Neha's iced americano.

"So what are you going to do?" Neha asked curiously.

"About?"

"Inaaya obviously."

Ayansh shrugged.

"You cannot give up like that. You love her." She reprimanded him.

"So what do you want me to do? Make her more uncomfortable? No, not at all." He shook his head.

"Ayansh!?" She gave him a pointed look.

"It was a terrible idea to go and ask her out okay. And anyways they say first impression is the last impression. I- I just feel that maybe something like love isn't for me. I - "

His sentence was left hanging because the next moment he had stood up from his chair and was retreating his hand back as a reflex on which the hot coffee had spilled on. He winced in pain and a low shriek left his lips.

"So is the coffee hotter than me?" Inaaya who had come from behind and knocked the coffee mug intentionally asked him.

"Excuse me?" Ayansh retorted, puzzled. Neha was trying to soothe the pain with the help of tissue papers. Dhruv and Kabir went to bring first aid box. Seeing Ayansh in pain started making Inaaya feel guilty for her reckless action. Looking for an immediate solution, she poured the other cup of iced americano on his hand earning a gasp from Neha. Nikita and Alisha flinched.

"So you think girls are a challenge?" Inaaya questioned while Ayansh was looking at the mess with a mess of emotions.

"Do I?" His head whipped to look at her with absolute genuine confusion.

By then, Kabir and Dhruv were back with the kit. Even few staffs had come to their table. Neha apologised to them and asked them to clean the table and floor while Alisha informed the people who were curiously watching the scene that the drama is over. Dhruv pulled Ayansh to the wash basin so they could keep his hand under the running water and the rest followed them.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dhruv asked Neha in a no-nonsense tone.

"Can- can we sit and talk like normal people?" Ayansh interrupted.

When everyone was back to the table and Neha had covered Ayansh's hand with the bandage saying that the scald isn't severe, they all took their chairs.

"So now you remember that we should talk like normal people? Ironic." Inaaya mocked. Ayansh looked at her quizzically, Dhruv, Kabir and Neha were glaring at her and Nikita and Alisha were watching her with worry with their elbows propped on the table and their foreheads resting on their palm.

"First things first," Ayansh said moving back in his chair slightly, "You can't slap me because you're the one who talked to me and not the other way round." He made himself clear.

Inaaya frowned and irritatedly mumbled a "fine". "So you don't understand a "no"? You think me rejecting you was just a way of raising your hopes?"

"Hold on. I didn't do anything. Why would you say so?"

Kabir and Dhruv exchanged guilty glances between them.

"Stop playing dumb, will you?" She snapped at his audacity to blatantly lie.

Neha noticed Kabir and Dhruv's expression and that made her doubt them. "Wait," she said to Inaaya and Ayansh and then looked at the other two guys. "Where were you two?" She narrowed her gaze.

"We're sorry." Dhruv uttered.

"I'm sorry actually." Kabir intervened. "It's my fault. I was the one who said to Inaaya that she's playing hard to get and stuff and also told that this is what Ayansh feels." He turned his face to look at Inaaya. "Ayansh didn't even know that we were going to meet you. Instead he had said that he feels guilty of whatever he did and the fact that it caused you inconvenience didn't make him very proud of himself." He apologized sincerely, making sure to clear everything leaving no space for misunderstanding.

Alisha sighed and got up. "I feel like saluting your thought process," she taunted Kabir. "Anyways, I'll go and order something because obviously we can't sit and just chitchat here. Do you guys need something?" She asked Ayansh and Neha.

"Iced americano." Neha grumbled.

"Cold coffee." Ayansh said, not wanting to give Inaaya another chance by ordering espresso so that she could burn even his right hand.

Inaaya suppressed a chuckle.

"You guys should start behaving your age. Even kids act more mature than this." She said condescendingly.

Ayansh took offense at that statement. "I'm sorry but you're getting too ahead now. I know what my friends did was incorrect but they didn't have any bad intentions behind it."

"For you." Inaaya corrected.

"Neither for you." He argued. "They were just looking out for me. They didn't know it would offend you or rile you up. And Kabir thought that this will work out because it did for him. He too had went up straight to Neha and proposed her. This isn't an excuse or a justification but really he didn't intend anything bad for you." Ayansh added defensively.

Inaaya squinted her eyes at him. "You know what just because they're your friends doesn't mean you need to defend them- "

"I'm not defending them- "

Inaaya stopped him from speaking by raising her finger. "You're doing exactly that." She took a sip of her berry smoothie that Alisha had brought and continued speaking. "I don't know how others would take it but it doesn't sit right with me that a guy comes and tell me that I think that I'm some challenge that people need to win."

"And the guys have realised their mistakes and even apologised to you." Neha said getting agitated. "Now, you can stop overreacting."

"When you aren't in my shoes, when you don't feel what I feel, when you don't see things as I see, don't tell me how I should react and how should I not." Inaaya snapped, looking at her sternly.

Ayansh clenched his jaw. He didn't like how she was talking to his friends, making them feel bad when in the end they all just wanted good for him.

"Inaaya, calm down." Nikita whispered. "Just let it go." She added keeping a hand over her shoulder.

"Once again, we're sorry. We mean it." Dhruv said solemnly in a soft voice trying to dismiss the tension. "Can't we just start afresh?"

"There was never anything to begin with." Inaaya responded rudely and stood up to go.

Ayansh didn't feel guilty anymore. He had too come to believe that the girl was overreacting. She was just seeing from her own perspective, making things worse for her as well as others for no good reason. He hated how she had talked to his friends. He hated the fact that they'd to listen all this because of him. That bubbled a feeling of animosity in him towards Inaaya.

"By the way," he said, making her turn to look at him, "should I take this as you willingly accepting my proposal of going on a date with me?" He asked with smugness in his voice, referring to them sitting at Starbucks and drinking beverages even though their friends were present too.

Inaaya glowered at him, not hiding the contempt she felt towards him at that point and without replying anything she strutted away.

Ayansh started at her, not wincing at the look thrown at him neither feeling remorseful anymore.

***

Hello! Early update. Really hoping that this chapter will have some good number of votes and comments as I personally feel this turned out well. Looking forward to what y'all have to say. Lots of love.

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