Shravan's blood boiled at the sight. How dare that Aditya get too close to his Suman?

His?

Shaking his head, he continued starring at the two. Suman laughed with him as if he was a walking circus.

'Hah! She never laughed with me this way. Saale chuse huye aam.' He thought angrily.

Gritting his teeth he walked away, before giving a last glance to where Aditya and Suman stood chatting annimatedly.

"Rishi yaar, I told you na, mujhe koi party varti nai karni hai. I'm not in the mood for it." Shravan said. This was about the 100th time Rishi was convincing him to attend that day's party.

"But this is Mr Brown's party. We have to attend it, afterall you're the one who won his case." Rishi tried convincing him again.

Seeing that he wouldn't relent, he hesitantly agreed, "Fine, but only for a while."

He got ready in a black tuxedo looking devilishly handsome as always. He combed his hair and strapped the watch around his wrist. While going through his perfume collection, he came across one and was about to spray it when his eyes fell on a specific perfume bottle.

'Woah! Iski smell kitni acchi hai!' Suman exclaimed as soon as Shravan decided to pop in PCT.

"Kiski smell?" He asked.

"Arrey duffer, main tumhari perfume ki baat kar rahi hoon. It smells so nice!"

"Really?" He asked as he tried sniffing some of the spray contents. It smelled pretty normal to him, nothing to gush over.

"Yes! It's not that heavy perfume most men use. It's subtle yet will attract attention to you when close to the next person." Suman said inhaling the smell more making Shravan go deep in thought. Since then he used that more often and even if Pushkar would want to use it, he would refuse.

Coming out of his thoughts, he kept the bottle of perfume on the closet shelf and picked up her favourite one. He sprayed it on, and left the room with a satisfied smile.

'Lets see how long does she ignore me now.' He thought.

Seeing him smiling to himself for apparently no reason at all Riya looked at him as if he had grown another head.

"What?" Shravan asked becoming a little conscious of her continuous gaze on him. Was he looking funny by any chance?

"What What? Tum aise muskura kyu rahe ho? Pata hai pagal dikh rahe ho tum." She said laughing making Shravan smile.

'What have you done sumo? Jabse tum aayi ho, main toh pagal hua hoon.' He thought.

As soon as he parked his car in front of the party venue and as soon as he walked in, he found the place to be eerily quite and dark. A little afraid of ghosts coming to say hi, he walked in cautiously, one step at a time and had frozen when the lights flickered on and a chorus of Happy Birthday was heard.

Calling him surprised would be the understatement of the century. He was beyond shocked, not because his employees, colleagues and friends threw him a surprise party but because he had forgotten all about his birthday all thanks to Sumo.

Sumo.

There she was, dressed in a one shoulder long dress, that was ombre black in colour. Her hair was tied in an elegant bun. She barely had any make up on, yet her face glowed under the light of the huge chandelier dangling above her. Her hand was adorned with just a simple silver bracelet, the very same one Shravan had once gifted her back in high school. Seeing that she still had his gift, made him feel warm on the inside.

She was the most simple yet the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on.

Breaking out of his reverie, he saw Rishi and Eric coming over wishing him on his birthday.

"Happy birthday Shravan!" Riya exclaimed as she gave him a friendly hug.

"Usko aise taandte rahonge, toh usse Kya sab ko pata chalenga." She whispered in his ear as she moved back to see a shocked Shravan looking at her wide eyed.

"What's this cooking between you two?" Rishi asked pointing to his girl friend, even though they all knew he was joking.

"Happy birthday Mr Malhotra." A girl clad in a tight fitting dress that barely reached her knees came over with a gift box in her hand.

Seeing Shravan giving her a smile as he thanked her made Suman fist the material of her dress in anger.

'The nerve of this angrez ladki!'

If looks could kill, that girl would surely be lying dead on the floor.

After that, people had talked amongst themselves, laughed at jokes cracked and all had a gala time. It was soon time to cut the cake!

A beautifully decorated birthday cake was brought forward by the waiter of the party and before he could walk away, Shravan stopped him. All looked at him confused except one, who had a knowing smile on her face. Well without a doubt, it was Suman.

"Well, admit it or not, as much as you all have contributed in throwing this party for me, this party wouldn't have been possible without these workers whom we call waiters. And if we all can enjoy, why can't they?" Shravan asked as they all looked at him in awe. Suman gave a knowing smile all the time as she remembered back to Pushkar's birthday party that was held a few months back, where Shravan had stopped the house helpers and had made sure they were a part of the celebration as well.

All these little things defined Shravan. Her Shravan. She was glad that maybe somewhere her chashmish was still alive in this present day Shravan Malhotra.

"Wow, what a guy he is. Only if he'd go out with me for a date." Suman heard a girl saying making her clench her hands in a fist. If she hadn't, she was sure the girl would end up with a broken nose.

After Shravan had cut the cake, Rishi took a piece and fed it to him and was fed in return by Shravan. Riya and Eric had done the same as well. The girl who had earlier come to Shravan with a gift also wanted to feed him, but before she could go, Suman tripped her resulting in the coke getting spilled on her dress.

'Ab aur khila.' Suman thought as a victorious smile made it's way to her lips.

"Oh I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Suman pretended as if she didn't know how whatever happened, just happened.

"It's fine. I'll just so clean up." The girl said.

"Should I help?" Suman asked hoping the girl would say no.

"No no, it's fine. I got this." The girl said as she went to the ladies bathroom.

"Sumo dude!" Riya called out, "Wait, is it fine if I call you sumo? I heard you say that to Aditya." Riya said with a sheepish smile.

"No it's fine, I'd love you calling me that." Suman laughed. Riya reminded her of Vandy.

"By the way, why don't you join us? You're all alone here." Riya said and even before Suman could reply back, she pulled Suman by the hand and took her to the group.

"Hey Suman! The cake was amazing!" Rishi said as soon as Riya had brought her to the group.

Suman looked back in shock, at how he knew. She didn't want Shravan to know that she had baked his birthday cake.

"How did you know I baked it sir?" She asked curiously.

"Oh come on Suman, it's pretty obvious." Eric said as Camilla nodded her head in agreement.

Shravan looked at her all the time, wanting just one glimpse from her, but alas, madam was so upset that she didn't even look at him for a microsecond! His heart felt warm when Rishi hand mentioned that Suman was the one who had baked the cake.

"By the way Suman, tell us about you. All we know is that you're from Delhi." Eric said.

"Well what do you want to know about me?" She asked with a smile.

"Well for starters, who do you live with? I've heard Indian people are famous for living in huge joint families." Camilla asked with excitement visible in her eyes making Suman giggle.

"Well, I live with my grandfather-my mom's father-, my mother's brother and his wife and two kids, my mother's sister and her husband." Suman shrugged.

"So you live with your Nana, your Maa-Ma, Mami, Mosi and Mosa?" Camilla said in her British accent.

"Yes! Wow, you know the Hindi names of all the relatives."

"Well I am friends with Indians, as you can see." Camilla giggle before continuing, " And Shravan was the one who taught me and Eric a lot."

"Ohh that's nice!" Suman said not knowing what else to say. She took a glance at Shravan but averted her gaze as soon as he looked back at her.

"What about your parents?" Eric asked making Shravan a little worried. Her parents had always been a sensitive topic for her no matter how strong she acted.

"They're no more. They passed away in a car accident when I was 6." Suman said with a sad smile.

"Ohh I'm sorry." Riya said as she rubbed her shoulder.

"Hey Suman!" Aditya called out from the back and walked over and stood right next to Suman. Shravan turned his attention to his phone on which he read a message from an online astrologer predicting he would encounter a thief that day.

'Aditya hai hi ek number is chor.' He thought as he felt uncomfortable with the way Suman was annimatedly chatting to him.

"Hey! They've insisted on a ballroom dance, wanna join me?" Aditya asked as he offered his hand. Shravan fisted his hand, that his veins had become even more prominent than they are.

"Excuse me, I'm getting a phone call." He cleared his throat as he walked away with a glass of wine. No one had noticed him replacing that glass of wine with a bottle of it.

Camilla-Eric and Riya-Rishi hit the dance floor, while Suman and Aditya still stood there watching them.

"Adi, I need to go home. I actually have to phone my family back home, it's been days I've last spoken to them." Suman said bidding farewell to him and walked out hurriedly.

"Turning your back on me again." Came someone's voice. Not someone, it was Shravan and she knew it. But he sounded... drunk?

She looked back and saw him standing at one of the corners of the hall's garden. She was close to that area and since everyone was partying inside, she could hear him. She saw him taking steps towards her and her rational brain knew she had to walk off but het irrational heart made her stand still as she watched his every move towards her. As soon as he was close enough, she could see that hurt in his eyes, for a minute making her go weak.

"I asked, running away again?" He asked, " But wait you won't answer it so never mind." He continued.

"Well will I have the pleasure of dancing with you?" He asked with a drunkard smile making him look like that innocent Shravan he once was.

"I have to go." She whispered and turned around but before she could walk away, he felt his hand around her wrist and before she could even comprehend the feel of his skin on hers after so many days, she was pulled in a swift and the front of her body was flushed right into his.

"You can dance with that Aditya but not me?" He asked with a pout. "By the way, I'm the birthday boy, I get anything I want." He said with a smirk. Well it was intended to be a smirk but ended up looking like a drunkard's smug smile.

He wounded his arm around the small of her waist, pulling her closer if that was even possible and held her right hand as he intertwined their fingers. They both gazed at their hands that resembled a perfect puzzle. He stated moving to which she involuntarily followed without any music. The only sounds heard were of their ragged breath due to the proximity and the hooting of an owl on a distant tree.

"Why Sumo?" He asked and his voice held that desperation. "Why are you hurting me? You talk to everyone beside me. You even danced with that Aditya." He complained like a kid making her heart go out to him.

She had so much to tell him, yet she remained quite, because she knew he was drunk and wouldn't understand or remember her words.

"Can't you understand a simple thing? I can't bear to see you with someone else. Mujhe bohot dard hota hai." He said as he placed her palm on his chest right above his heart. He had already taken off the coat and was left in his previously ironed white shirt. It started raining making his shirt clung to his body, highlighting the outlines of his well toned body. Seeing this, Suman's breathing came out ragged making Shravan smile a little at her reaction to him.

He leaned in closer but instead of her lips, he placed his lips on the base of her base earning a gasp from her. He placed an open mouth kiss on that spot and bit on it earning another gasp, a little louder this time. He blew on it. The burn of the bite and the coolness of his breath made her insides churn.

Before anything else could happen, Suman slightly pushed him away. She could see the alcohol taking a toll on him and before he could say a word, she held him and walked him to his car where she made him sit on the backseat. She knew he came with Rishi and so Rishi would drop him back home. One worry less!

As soon as she got home and looked in the mirror, she widened her eyes in shock. There was a mark in the name of a hickey given by Shravan. He marked her his...