KARAN

The night sky was lit with beautiful golden lights radiating over it, surrounding all over the huge dhaba. I didn't think that it could be this massive. There were dancers there. I asked the fans about what kind of carnival it was. They replied that every year twice a time, they have this festival where they offer food and drinks for the ongoing travellers on the highway for free. They asked us if we needed extra clothing to cover ourselves. I said no I am fine, but Krisha seemed a little in need of those. She was shrugging constantly and rubbing her palms against each other. So I asked them to give me one. I placed it on her which made her flinch with surprise and frown at me.

"There was no need for you to do that. I am fine." She said.

"I know. Just a small gesture." I chuckled.

"I'd rather die than take this gesture from you." She said with fire in her deep light brown eyes.

"Same here, but we are with our fans. Don't forget that!" I say, sipping the water that was kept ready on the table.

"For them itself, I'm this quiet!" She looked the other way, glancing at the wonderful decorations.

"You appear like you have a lot of mental stress lately." I began talking with her.

"It's you, what else?!"

"I see! But apart from me, I'm noticing that some other thing is bothering you too." I say with confused eyes, fixed on her.

She says nothing and takes a sip of her water too. It's making us both awkward. Here no one around us would make us calm down if we broke out into a fight. So I'm maintaining my cool and so is she. When she doesn't answer, I don't bother to ask her again. Two people from the group of our fans arrive with the menu. All of the dishes here appear to be scrumptious. I have tried many of them before so I wanted to try the one with different ingredients this time. I knew what Krisha would like to have at a place like this, so without asking her, I began to place the order.

"I don't eat them anymore!" She cut me off.

"Changed?" I furrow my brows at her in awe.

"There's a lot of things that have changed for me." She says, being sarcastic.

"Okay, so bring this for me and…" She cuts me off again and places her order instead. The guy goes into the kitchen to tell the chef about the order.

I chuckled a bit and she found it extremely annoying.

"What is there to laugh about?!" She asked.

Rolling my tongue on the insides of my cheek, I said, "I thought it's that one dish that you would eat forever. And maybe you still want to eat it, you must be just trying to make me feel like I don't know your choices and tastes anymore!"

She looked at me gritting her teeth.

"I'm just joking!" I said, biting my lips, and making a hands-up sign.

"You better stay away from me. You never knew me then, nor do you know me now! Just shut up and do what we are supposed to do!" She said tucking her hair strands behind her hair which was blown all over her face by the extremely strong winds.

"Imagine what would happen if we got clicked by our fans," I said, leaning at her.

"There will be headlines!" I said, being funny.

She paused for a second and stared at me unfazed.

"Why are you even conversing with me?" She asks.

"Because the guy behind you ...uh…uh….don't look back! He appears to be a photographer or a journalist."

"Then it's fine! Shouldn't we behave like we always do?" She paused, maybe thinking something, and then began again, "Uh! but you want to be in cameras and media so bad that you always want news created about you, no matter what the other person thinks!" She taunts.

"You know right, that the way you are speaking to me right now is going to be a problem tomorrow, because I'm not going to back off if you continue to speak with me this way!"

"Are you threatening me?!"

"You can take it however you want!"

There was a quick silence when we saw the waiter arriving with our dishes. We zipped our mouths and controlled the boiling anger until he went back.

"Hello, I never told you to speak nicely with me. Just be how you are. Always rude and ready to pick up a fight."

She wanted to add some more taunt, but I called out the waiter and cut her off, "Hey, bro, bring me a bottle of beer, please."

"Good for you, you learned. We should keep our mouths shut!" She had to say this.

I never sprouted a word after that and began eating quietly. The atmosphere on our table became extremely calm. The dancers began their dancing. They wore colourful costumes and the music was kept higher than normal. Within a few minutes, a large number of people joined. Not a single soul could recognize us because there was a lot of crowd and different faces. It was impossible for someone to notice us. The guy who was sitting beside Krisha was nobody but a heavily drunk man which I thought of to be a reporter. Krisha was eating faster than any express train. I was closely observing her. She always was passionate about whatever she did in her life, that's the reason I called her obsessive. Too much obsessiveness is harmful to anyone and she is an example of it.

"Just eat your food, don't look at me." She said.

I couldn't hear her properly, "Huh? Speak loudly!"

She leaned in, "Don't look at me! I know you want to kill me right now. But just have your food!" I cackled at her.

KRISHA

The music started playing louder. Karan was already full as he ate two servings of the dish. There were three different main courses and six different types of yummy starters with a delicious dessert and a drink. I managed to finish mine too. He started to pour the beer into the glass, handing me one and having one for himself. It's been a while since I have not drunk a beer, it's been months. I tell him that I can pour my beer and that he shouldn't bother about that. He again gave me a wicked smile. His smile has always been so bright and wide, one of the charming aspects of him which I always liked. He seemed like he was so warm and approachable every time I saw him as one would even feel the same about him. But that's not what it is, he is so opposite of his looks, cold, selfish, rugged, careless, and ruthless. He has the warm side of him too as far as I know him, but he failed to discover it and became something else instead. He chose wrong!

Sips by sips and glasses by glasses, we both emptied the entire bottle within no time. Karan has low alcohol tolerance and he was already getting down with it. I am okay. I don't get that high this easily. I'm good. His face was getting swollen. His eyes were getting drowsy and clumsy. He was beginning to lose his grip and balance. The very next moment he managed to utter a word and called out the waiter once more, asking for another bottle in his slurred speech. I rolled my eyes at him and continued to take the last sip left in my glass, finishing it off. He now is a heavy drinker.

If he falls on the ground, drinking, I'm not the one who is going to pick him up! I promise to myself. With another bottle in his hand, he loses his senses and drinks up directly from the bottle itself. I hide my face in embarrassment. He shouts and screams, singing along to the high music, glad that no one can hear him as the dancers' music is loud. The commotion is loud.

I ask the fans for payment, to which they reply that it's for free. I still wanted to give them something for their beautiful gesture towards us. So I give them a free selfie and dance along with the dancers, also letting the dancers some money as a token of their art. I enjoy myself, whereas, on the other hand, Karan keeps on plopping on the table and comes back to life, being wasted. It's such a fun sight to watch! I can see that he is sometimes watching me with his half-closed, bloodshot eyes and wants to come and compete with me. I smile at his condition.

The festival wrapped up successfully with the dancers getting huge praise for their art and soon the eatery began to vacate. I went to my table and watched as Karan was still lying down, wasted. I covered my mouth and laughed at him. I tried to wake him up but in vain.

I remember Kritika once told me that she would be available for Karan whenever he needed her. She is already so rich and can arrive by car and a driver too, so she should come and collect her boyfriend instead. If I had called someone from the institute or if I had walked him, carrying him, unusual rumours would spark up. As much as it is what Karan wanted, I'm in no mood for a false buzz about myself just to stay in the limelight.

I didn't want to bother her at this time but left with no choice, I gave her a ring and asked her to pick her man up to drop him at his home.

"Are you there with him?!" She asked, slightly flustered.

"Yes."

"Oh,...Wait, I'll come there to collect him."

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