That night after I was done having my dinner I wished goodnight to Ma and Papa after which I immediately retreated back to my room.

On reaching there the first thing that I did was call Sneha.

She picked up on the second ring.

"Hellooo." She said in a happy voice.

"What's the reason behind that happiness?" I ask her with a smile.

"Mayank took me on a long drive in this weather and then we stopped by a dhaba and had a delicious dinner." She tells me in an excited voice.

"How romantic!" I comment in awe and she hums in response.

"Are you still with him, if yes then I'll call you later." I told her.

"No, he just dropped me back home sometime back." She replies.

"Well in that case, I'll ask you what I need to." I told her.

"Sure, go ahead." She says.

"How.do.you.know.you.like.someone" I ask her at a super fast pace.

"What? I'm sorry I didn't get that. " She says in response.

"How do you know you like someone?" I ask her, this time slowly.

"Umm, well that depends from person to person and also on what your relationship with a person is, what way you like them etc etc. " She replies.

"Uh well, how do you know you like someone romantically?" I ask her trying to be more specific.

"Romantically? Who are you liking romantically? Did you finally meet someone you feel a connection with?" She fires questions at me back to back in an excited tone.

"I think I do like someone romantically, yes but I am not sure." I told her.

"It's Arjun Mehrotra isn't it?" She asks me.

My cheeks flush at her question. "Yes." I replied.

"Well, if you do like him, you would firstly feel comfortable with him. Second, you'll feel safe around him. You'd want to spend more and more time with him, see him as often as possible, smile often when you're with him..." I cut her off midway.

"I do feel all of this with him." I told her.

"Well, then you do like him." She tells me.

"No, but liking him doesn't make anything clear for me. I mean I like you, love you in fact, but that's not romantic." I told her.

"Oh you mean like you want me to ask you whether your heart goes dhak dhak [throbbing of the heart] when he's close to you, or when shivers run down your spine at his statements and proximity?" She asks me.

"Yes." I told her.

"So Shravya Arora tell me does he make your heart go dhak dhak? Does he cause wiggly jiggly feelings in your stomach? Does he cause goosebumps on your body with his closeness?" She asks me.

"Yes, he does. He does." I replied.

"Oh wow, so you guys have been close and you did not even tell me! I feel betrayed. Tell me, have you kissed him already?" She asks me.

"No, of course not. We haven't. But now I'm sure, I like Arjun, romantically." I told her.

"You have been liking him for quite some time , but you are realising it only now, so happy late realisation, Shravya." She tells me.

"Thank you for helping me out Sneha." I told her.

"There's no need to thank me girl but if you really want to then go and confess your feelings to Arjun." She tells me.

"No!" I immediately said.

"Why not?" She asks.

"That's because I'm still not sure if he likes me too or not." I told her.

"Dear God, help my bestie. Shravya I really wonder with that brain how you are so good with numbers." She tells me.

"Feelings like these are more complicated than numbers." I told her.

"Then I sincerely pray that you figure out his feelings for you soon." She tells me.

"Well, I hope for the same too but Sneha I'm nervous." I told her.

"Why!?" She asks.

"I don't know, maybe because it's my first time having these feelings for someone? I've never let any guy be so close to me but with Arjun it's different." I told her.

"With 'the one' it's always different, Shravya and so I think Arjun Mehrotra is your 'the one'." She says.

"What if he doesn't like me that way, romantically I mean and is only treating me the way he does because he is a gentleman." I ask her.

"Unless you try asking him you'll never know." She tells me.

"This is all so nerve wracking." I tell her with a groan.

"But it's worth it if he's the one." She tells me.

My phone vibrates against my ear. I have a look at the screen.

Arjun calling.

"Sneha, he's calling me." I tell her as I feel those wiggly jiggly feelings that Sneha talked about in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh ho, what can be a better signal than this? Go speak to him." She tells me and without even waiting for my response hangs up.

I call him back as his call now turns into a missed call.

The line is busy.

I guess he's trying to call me again.

I waited for a few seconds before giving him a call back again.

Busy again.

Dear God, you're really testing my patience right now. I think to myself before deciding against calling him back.

A few seconds later his call comes again.

"Hello." I say as soon as I receive his call.

"Shravya, Hi." He says and I picture him smiling cheekily.

A smile forms on my face.

"I'm sorry I was on a call with Sneha so I couldn't pick your call up and when I tried to call you back the line was busy, so after a few seconds..." I am cut off midway in my explanation by him.

"Relax, it's okay. I called to ask whether you've reached home safely or not." He tells me.

"Yes I did." I told him.

"I'm sorry about today. I mean if you felt left out at any time, it's just that I did not want them to assume anything wrong about us." He tells me.

"Something wrong like what?" I ask him.

"Something wrong like, you being my girlfriend, me being your boyfriend, you get it right?" He asks me.

"Oh, yes right." I say as my smile widens.

"I hope Abhi did not bother you much during the car ride. Anything he told you that you want to tell me about?" He asks me.

"No, not at all." I replied.

"Can I ask you something?" He says.

"Sure, ask." I say.

"Are you planning on going on a blind date anytime soon?" He asked me.

"Nothing as of now." I replied.

"Accha. [good]" He says, his voice sounding cheerful.

"Accha?" I ask him.

"I meant that as an expression." He says.

"Oh okay. Anything else?" I ask him.

"Yes, if you're ever in the middle of a crisis you can call me, okay?" He asks.

"Umm okay." I say.

"Okay then I'll hang up, alright." He says.

"Yes. Good night." I say.

"Good night." He says back and ends the call.

•

The next morning when I check my phone on my way to work a message pops up on my screen from an unknown number.

I open it.

Unknown number : Heya, Miss Shravya, I'm Abhi, I hope you remember me. :)

What I am sharing with you is an invite to the launch party of our new restaurant. This Sunday from 8 p.m. onwards, don't forget. And you have to bring with you a date. Don't worry about that, I've already got everything covered.

The message says and below it is the invite in a picture format.

Hold up, what does he mean by he has got everything covered?

Abhimanyu Mehrotra what are you upto? I think to myself as I type a response.

Shravya : Hey, Abhi, I do remember you. Also, what are you talking about? Date? You've got everything covered? Nothing makes sense.

I send him the message and then save his number on my phone.

A few seconds later another message pops up.

Abhi : I'll explain everything to you over a call okay? Should I call you now?

Shravya : Nope, I'm on my way to my office. I'll give you a call during my lunch break, at around 1.30, js that okay with you?

Abhi : Sure, I'm cool with it.

Shravya : Okay then, bye.

Abhi : Bye.

A few minutes later I reach the office and make my way to my floor.

When lunch break begins after a few hours I give Abhi a call.

"Hello." He says.

"Hi." I say in response.

"So, did you think about Bhai and yourself?" He asked me.

"Well, yes I did and I think I do like him." I told him.

"I told you, I told you so." He says sounding excited and ecstatic.

"But I'm not sure whether Arjun likes me like that too." I told him.

"That's exactly what we are going to figure out at the launch party of the new restaurant." He tells me.

"Oh yes and about that, I don't think I will come." I told him.

"What, why not!?" He immediately asks.

"Uh because I don't really know if I should or not. What if Arjun doesn't want me to be a part of it? He would have asked me to come if he wanted to, right?" I ask him.

"Shravya, Shravya, Shravya, how much do you overthink? We have started sending out the invites just today. I'm sure you'd be on bhai's 'to invite' list. You were the first one on mine, the invitations were not even supposed to be given before seven in the evening today but I sent it to you as soon as I got my hands on the invitation card. Nobody knows I've already invited a guest." He tells me.

"Oh, so that's what. Okay, but I'm not coming if I don't get an invite from Arjun. It'll be awkward for me to come if he doesn't invite me." I told him.

"Well, I'm assured he will , so fret not. Anyways, so now listen to what I have planned for the party." He says and then narrates his plan to me.

"I'm sorry to say but what you're thinking will be the result is too exaggerated. It's not going to work." I told him.

"I know Bhai, it's definitely going to work, you just have to give me your consent." He tells me.

"I'm not sure." I say.

"Have faith in Abhi Mehrotra. His plans are always foolproof. If you don't know this, I was the one who figured out a plan which led to Bhai's re entry in the MM." He says.

"But Abhi..." I begin only for him to interrupt me.

"No, ifs and buts, just say yes, please, please, please." He says.

Hesitantly I say, "Yes."

"Woohoo. I'm so excited for this party." He says and then disconnects the call.

Why are all the Mehrotra's so high on energy? I think to myself as a chuckle escapes my lips.