“No, I don’t—” I start, but Daniel cuts me off.
“Thank you, guys,” he says with a tight-lipped smile.
They nod and Soph gives him a thumbs-up. Whose friends are they? I am going to give them a piece of my mind later. I huff in annoyance. I take a long sip from the coffee, trying to act nonchalant. He puts his hand in his pocket.
“What do you need?” I ask.
His eyes roam around my face. “I wanted to see you,” he says with a smile.
I try to hide any reaction. “Well, you’ve seen me. You can go now.”
He takes a step closer to me, and my breath hitches. “Firecracker,” he says, his voice low and rough. I hate to admit it, but that nickname always does things to me.
“I need to talk to you about yesterday,” he says. His proximity, his intense gaze, it’s too much. I can hear my heart beat wildly.
“Anya.” He sighs, his eyes softening a bit. “I want—”
I immediately interject. “I think it was just…” I fumble as I fidget with the cold cup. “I think it just happened in the moment.” My heart thumps loudly. I look up into his green eyes. “Nothing to worry about.” I give him a small smile. He stares at me expressionless.
I look down again, unable to hold eye contact, and continue rambling. “I think I was watching a Bollywood romance movie. It’s calledChennai Express. It’s enemies-to-lovers, so the girl belongs to a very strict family, and they decide to marry her off to some goon. She doesn’t want to get married, but—” I feel his finger on my lips. My eyes widen. His touch sends a shiver down my spine. I feel heat rising in my cheeks, and I curse myself in my mind for reacting this way.
“Anya,” he murmurs. He places his thumb on my chin and makes me look up. I inhale sharply when I look at the softness in his expression. “Look at me when you’re talking.” Oh my God! Can he stop with this? I want to shout at him, but I am too enchanted to even speak.
“I just want you to know, Anya—” He starts, but I pull back again. This time, I do not break eye contact.
I chuckle painfully. “It was just a mistake. We are two grown adults. We can put this past us, captain.” I stare athim. His hand still hanging close to my face, he slowly takes it away as he clenches his jaw.
“Right?” I ask. My breath quickens. He opens his mouth and closes it. He looks at something in the background. I turn around to find my friends carefully looking at us. They are playing detectives.
“Right,” he whispers gruffly. He clenches his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.
“Right,” I repeat, feeling dejected.
∞∞∞
24
DANIEL
As always, she’s hiding from me. It's been a week since I have seen her. I hate this habit of hers. Something happens, and all she does is avoid it. She can come to talk to me, but that’s too easy. We love playing hide-and-seek, obviously. Once (and if) she agrees to be with me, I am going to teach her how to communicate her feelings and not run away from them.
She can run away all she wants, but as Shahrukh Khan once said, “If you want something with all your heart, the whole universe works to bring it to you.” I have been binge-watching his movies because she likes him. I want her—too much for that matter—so I hope this universe works in my favor. I want to be hers. I want to worship her in all ways. I want to be her comfort person. I want to be the man who can make her happy. I want to brighten up her day like she does mine.
It’s torture now to not hold her when I have gotten a taste of it, to not see her smile or the way her eyes sparklewhen she’s talking about Indian food or her culture in general, the way her tongue peeks out when she’s trying to concentrate on something. I’ve never met someone who can get under my skin like she does. It’s almost maddening.
The evening breeze hits me hard, making me shudder a little. I look toward the sky. The sun is on its downward journey, painting the sky in a beautiful array of oranges, pinks, and purples. I love sunsets. My mother used to say that nature always teaches us something. And I think, considering the kind of life I am in, with so many people around me, with so much praise, it is easy to feel superior, but then such moments make me realize that you should never let your success get to your head, because nothing is constant. Like the sun, we will also have ups and downs in life. It keeps me grounded. I take a moment to let this settle in.
“Excuse me.” A soft, feminine voice jolts me out of my thoughts. As I turn around, I immediately recognize her. She’s Anya’s childhood friend. Siya, if I am not wrong. We met on the beach. She very cunningly took my side when we were having the sandcastle-building competition. I am still grateful for that.
“Hi, um…” She’s too fidgety. She seems uncomfortable.
“Hi. Siya, right?” I ask to confirm because I wouldn’t be surprised if I mixed up names, I tend to do that a lot. It took me a whole month to remember my teammates’ names correctly when I first joined. I sigh, recalling how they deliberately called me the wrong names. My favorite and the most hilarious one was Danimal. It sounds so much like my name that I couldn’t help but cackle at it.
She nods. Her eyes wander around. I can sense she’s nervous. I decide to just stick to the point. “I am trying to find Anya. Do you know where she is? She isn’t picking up my calls or reading my messages,” I ask, raising my eyebrow.
She sighs. Her face shows signs of relief, as if she wanted me to ask her that.She plays with the keychain in her hand and lowers her head. “I have no idea why I am ditching my best friend,” she whispers and looks at me, her eyes showing genuine concern. “Um, it would be great…” She falters and looks away, and it seems like she has difficulty maintaining eye contact. “It would be great if you two realize and accept your feelings,” she says. My eyes widen. “Please stop acting like annoying idiots in love and put us all out of misery,” she says shyly.In love? Am I in love with Anya?I rub my nape.
“I am sorry for being rude,” she whispers.
