"Wow… this place is so mesmerizing," I said, looking around. "It's damn pretty—the pastel-coloured walls, the cute tables and chairs, and the beautiful background decorations. I love this place, man. Thank you so much, Rohini."
"Yes, baby, thankyou" Ankush said with a grin.
"Anything for you two lovelies," Rohini replied proudly.
"Okay, okay, bahut ho gaya," Shakshi interrupted dramatically. "Now let's order something. All this shopping has made me starving, to be honest."
"Okay!" I said.
All of us agreed immediately. After so much shopping, everyone was starving.
Soon the six of us—Shakshi, Priyan, Rohini, me, Ankush, and Subho—sat together and ordered food.
And when the food arrived…
We ate like we hadn't eaten in thousands of years.
We laughed, joked, and enjoyed every moment.
Especially Priyan, Ankush, and Subho. They kept cracking their classic "ghissa-pita jokes", but somehow they were still hilarious.
And the way they were eating?
Like complete junglee people—snatching food from each other's plates.
Watching them made all of us laugh even harder.
After finishing our lunch, the staff surprised us with a beautiful mini cake. Someone had told them that it was our birthday—mine and Ankush's birthday it was ofc ;)
The moment Subho saw the cake, he got excited.
Without thinking twice, he quickly scooped a piece of cake with a spoon.
But just as he was about to feed someone—
He noticed Rohini giving him a deadly stare.
Subho suddenly smiled awkwardly and said,
"Arey! I was going to feed Ananya."
"Teri best friend hai… and she's the birthday girl," he added innocently.
I blinked.
Bro, why me?
He could feed Ankush too. It's his birthday as well—and they're best friends! I was wondering....!
"Bhai, don't be so dramatic. I know you very well," Rohini said. "Mujhe pata tha you were going to eat the cake yourself."
Before she could finish her sentence—
Subho quickly fed me the cake.
"Happy birthday," he said softly.
There was a playful smile on his face.
For a moment…
Everything around me went silent.
My heart started racing.
Subho and I accidentally shared eye contact.
Maybe it was just a few seconds.
But it felt like the longest eye contact ever.
Maybe I'm overthinking.
Maybe I'm overexplaining.
But I'm just telling what I felt at that moment.
Subho suddenly spoke again.
"Main toh birthday girl ke liye cake bacha raha tha. Dekh behen, Rohini," he said, putting on an innocent face.
"Oh really?" Ankush raised his eyebrow. "Then what about the birthday boy? Uska koi haq nahin hai cake pe?"
"Arey Ankush," Subho laughed, "you're the one who always says ladies first. And now you're forgetting? Very bad."
He gave Ankush a huge cheeky smile.
Then he handed him a piece of cake.
"Here bro. This one's for you."
"Go away," Ankush said dramatically.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Subho and his jokes… honestly.
After that, we sat there for a while, talking about the outfits we would wear for the mehndi and other wedding functions.
Time passed quickly while we kept laughing and teasing each other.
Finally, around 3:30 p.m., we started heading towards the villa where we would be staying.
Even in the car, the chaos continued.
We sang songs like crazy.
We teased each other.
We laughed non-stop.
It felt so good.
After such a long time, all six of us were together again.
I was really happy.
But somewhere deep inside, I also felt scared.
Because I knew that after this wedding…
I didn't know when I would see Subho again.
His stupid smile crossed my mind.
But then I shook the thought away.
Right now… let's just enjoy.
Jo hoga dekha jayega.
Go with the flow, baby, I told myself.
Going with the flow is honestly the best thing sometimes.
And I learned that from Rohini.
Soon we reached the villa at 4:00 p.m.
The place was already beautifully decorated with flowers and lights. Guests had started arriving.
We walked inside.
The boys went towards their room.
And Rohini, Shakshi, and I headed towards ours.
Once we entered the room, we looked at each other.
And then smiled.
"We should…..........
~TO BE CONTINUED ...