Sidharth's mood was ruined, he simply blamed Shehnaaz for it, for her baseless excuses. It all began when she denied his invitation to his company's event. He really didn't get why she refused to come when he had been a good friend to her and things have been likewise.

"Juhu chalein? Mausam bhi mast hai, beach pe chill karenge." He suggested, taking a look at her from the roads for affirmation.

"Haaye, dekh shaam ka waqt hai. Aise me mujhe beach beach nahi jana." She replied.

"Kyu? Pani se darti hai?" He chuckled, asking while she nodded slowly.

"Don't tell me, tu jabse yaha hai, tune ek baar bhi beach nahi dekha?" He asked.

"Dekha hai, lekin dur se. Pani ke paas jane me bhi dar lagta hai. Ek baar mai bachpan me gir gayi thi humari colony ke pool me. Haaye, tabse toh phobia hi ho gaya hai jaise!" She enlightened him with the information.

"Oh! Abey toh pani me jayegi tabhi toh dar niklega." He replied and she glared at him for being so insensitive about it.

"Don't look at me like that, dar se toh nikalna padega na. I mean, aise soch ki tu Pani ke dar se kitni sahi cheezein miss kar rahi hai! Like the beach! Aur kitne water sports hote hai jaise jet skiing, snorkeling and much more." He explained.

"Bol toh aise raha hai jaise tujhe kisi cheez se dar nahi lagta?" She challengingly questioned.

"Lagta tha na, height se. I used to be scared of heights so much, bachpan me mere sare cousins ek trekking trip pe gaye aur mai akela nahi gaya tha. Bas dar laga rehta tha fisal ke gir jaunga, lekin kab tak darta. Ye dekh.." he slowed down the car a little to grab his phone. He opened the gallery and further looked for a particular folder to show her the pictures of him.

"Play that video." He said, handing his phone to her while driving.

"Skydiving!! Haaye, tune kaise kar liya?" She was amazed at the view shown in the clip, the sky was so beautifully blue up there.

"Yeh yahi Aamby valley ka hai, they made me jump from 10 fucking thousand feet! Kuch 3-4 saal pehle." He chuckled, recalling his experience.

"And how was it?" She excitedly asked.

"Amazing! So surreal! Pehle toh meri fatt gayi thi, wapas jane ka mann ho raha tha. Lekin phir himmat ki, kuch dost the sath me, wo saale chidhane lage. Maine phir mann bana liya, ke boss- ab darna nahi hai." He told her with a nostalgic smile on his face.

"Maza bada aaya hoga na!" She said as she kept looking through his pictures, swiping one after the other until she came across a selfie where there was a girl, kissing on his cheeks. Shehnaaz immediately tapped on the home button and returned his phone.

"Ha, bohot!" He agreed.

"Flyover wale raste me ja rahe hai? Sach me beach leke ja raha hai?" She guessed and really wished he didn't.

"What do you think?" He asked her back.

"Yaar, din me alag baat hoti hai. Din me dar kam lagega." She requested so cutely that he couldn't help but smile.

"Nahi ja rahe hai beach, aage se U turn lenge. Long drive?" He asked.

"Thank God!" She sighed, relaxing a little in the seat and making him chuckle.

The weather was quite good, the wind was speeding up with clouds coming in the view and it began to rain. As soon as they took a U turn, a red signal caught them in place for a while. The windscreen was getting fogged up so Sidharth thought of switching on the AC to settle it down when he saw her drawing a smiley face on her side of the window. As much as it was adorable, her fingertips left marks on the clean glass which didn't go well with him.

When she saw him staring at her drawing, she gave him a silly smile, "Mita rahi." She chuckled and wiped it with her hand.

"Hath se nahi!" He immediately interrupted and handed her some tissues from the box he always kept around and she cleaned it the way he wanted.

"Hmm, thanks." He replied, cleaning his side of the window as well.

"Gaane?" He offered her, turning on the stereo.

"Ha, mai bolne hi wali thi." She pulled out her phone and opened Spotify to play some melodies that would go along with the rain.

She would hum softly along the tune while scrolling through her playlist, "Thik hai?" She asked if he was okay with it.

"Hm, fine." He nodded, not having much knowledge about the Bollywood singers. As soon as the signal turned green, they drove ahead.

"Waah, abhi toh aisa laga jamke barish hone wali hai." She chuckled, when it stopped raining and he pulled down the window, switching off the AC since they were feeling cold.

"Welcome to Mumbai!" He chuckled, replying to her.

"khane chale kya?" She asked, it was almost 8 and she had nothing post her lunch.

"Maine toh abhi coffee li, tujhe bhook lag rahi hai? Yaha aas paas kuch khas hai nahi, dekhna padega." He began to look around for a cafe or restaurant.

"Arey, tujhe dikh nahi raha? Yaha samne toh itne sare stalls hai!" She replied.

"Oh no. No. Mai nahi ja raha waha!" He instantly denied.

"Kyu? Tujhe gol gappe nahi pasand? Haaye, dekh kitne sare logo kha rahe hai waha, acha hi banata hoga." She replied.

"Nahi yaar Shehnaaz, abhi thodi der pehle hi barish hui hai. It's not safe aur hygienic toh vaise bhi nahi hai. Food poisoning zarur ho sakti hai, ya diarrhoea!" He tried to explain to her, with a face that could tell how much was against street food.

"Dekh, maine humesha aise stall pe lage gol gappe khaye hai. Meko itne pasand hai ke mere se gol gappe dekh ke raha nahi jata!" She announced, like she had already decided.

He had to oblige and pull the car over because she wanted to, even if he disliked the idea of the unhealthy choice of food that was certainly going to disturb her stomach the other day, he couldn't ask her not to go for it because she was hungry and really looking forward to him joining her.

"Bhaiya, do plate." Shehnaaz asked the vendor.

"Mai nahi kha raha!" Sidharth declared, standing behind her just to accompany her.

"Thik hai!" She shrugged, feeding herself one.

"Ummm! Khatte aur teekhe hai, tu bohot achi cheez miss kar raha hai." She informed him.

Even though the vendor serving the gol gappe was wearing gloves and a hair cap, Sidharth knew the water wasn't purified and God knows whether it was even fresh or not.

"Taste toh kar! Dekh maine abhi tere samne hi khaya, 'safe' hai!" She chuckled, offering him one.

He took the bait, out of courtesy and regretted it the next moment. It was so spicy and sour at the same time that he began to cough.

"Oye, aram se." She rubbed and patted his back.

"Pani! Bhaiya pani do!" She asked the vendor.

"Nahi, ye mineral water nahi hoga." Sidharth continued to cough while pushing away the glass of water she was offering even though his eyes were tearing out.

"Uffo! Ek second ruk!" She ran across the street and bought a bottle of water
for him.

"Le jaldi!" She held the bottle while he drank.

"Thik lag raha hai thoda? Baith ja idhar." She asked when his coughs died down and suggested to him to take a seat over a stool there.

"Nahi, ganda hoga." He denied again, without even looking at it.

"Arey yaar! Tu na!" She tried not to shout at him and spread her handkerchief for him to sit on the stool.

"Mera rumal humesha saaf rehta, baith ja ab!" She said which certainly didn't sound like a request.

"Better?" She asked again, feeling guilty for making him eat it.

"Hmm." He hummed, finishing the entire bottle.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, "Tune kyu khaya? Mana kar deta na!" She added, caressing his shoulder while standing next to him.

He looked at her hand and then up at her face, "It's okay. Chal." He replied, realizing some people had been looking at them and getting up.

"Ab kaha jana hai bata?" He said, the moment they were back on the roads, she had been quiet and didn't even connect the bluetooth again.

"Ghar jana chahiye, late ho raha hai." She casually replied.

"Ho gaya na, It's okay. Mujhse itna teekha nahi khaya jata, tujhe pata nahi tha." He justified it for her, even though she didn't ask for it because it was written all over her face that she was feeling terrible.

"Mai next time dhyaan rakhungi." She replied, smiling a little.

"Acha listen, mai jis event ke baare me bata raha tha na." He began.

"Han.." she asked him to continue.

"You have to be there. It's more like a party on the 25th. Uska cake order karunga mai Sprinkles se, 5-6 pounds ka." He said.

"5 ya 6? Flavour? Kab tak chahiye? Kaha cha-" she was throwing back to back questions when he replied.

"Ha! Ha pata hai, aur bhi details chahiye. Calm down!" He said and they chuckled.

"Tune phir se lawn me toh arrange nahi ki hai na, mera pao baal baal bacha tha uss din." She chuckled.

"Nahi! Ek hall book kiya hai, I'll send you the location. be there by 8." He replied and she stopped smiling for a change.

Was he inviting her to his event? "Tu mujhe invite kar raha hai?" She asked to make it clear.

"D'oh! Tujhe kya laga, cake leke aane bolunga?" He chuckled but stopped when she didn't respond to that.

"Obviously silly, mai party throw kar raha hu!" He repeated himself in other words.

"Mai, Sidharth mai kya karungi waha aake? Tere business wali party me." She tried to make an excuse, not really wishing to repeat the episode that took place when she had visited his place and felt out of place. He looked at her as if she was being real and turning him down.

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Strings Of Love
Chapter 14

Here I am.. late at night.. at your service people...

What do you think of the time they've spent together.. ??

What's up Sidharth.. getting all comfortable with her??

But what's wrong with Shehnaaz refusing to come to his party??