Radhika's POV
I can't believe we got this late for the meeting. Well, all thanks to Ruhi and Siddharth.
We rush to the meeting room as fast as we could, and when we reached there, people were already filing out of the room.
"Don't tell me the meeting has already ended!", I groaned.
"It certainly has, Disney world.", Prakash said as he walked out of the room.
"Disney world?", I raised an eye brow.
He shrugged, "I didn't catch your name last time, and yours too.", he said, glancing at Rishi.
"Rishi and Radhika.", he introduced us.
Prakash nodded, "Right, so, yes, Rishi and Radhika, the meeting has ended. We just had to decide the guests list for the fest, so it ended real quick."
"Really? What's the guest list?", I asked curiously.
"We have Sanya Kulkarni and Yuvraj Oberoi from the film industry, Avinash Verma from the business background, Devan-", he was cut off by Rishi.
"Wait- Avinash Verma is coming too? But why him?", Rishi asked, his brows furrowed.
"Why not? One, he is a young and successful businessman, and two, he is an alumni.", Prakash replied.
Rishi sighed, "Is this the final list?"
He nodded, "Yes, we have already sent the invitations."
Rishi didn't say anything further, knowing their was no way we could stop him from coming.
"Anyway, we still have a lot of work to do, so come to the main campus quickly.", Prakash said, starting to leave.
"Can we just... skip today?", I asked.
He paused in his step, "The fest is just around the corner. You guys skipped the meeting, at least help with the decorations now. Call your friends if you may, more hands means you finish faster."
He then gave us more details about the meeting and other stuff before we called Siddharth.
About fifteen minutes later, we found the four of them at the main campus. Each and everyone had a scowl on their face.
Ruhi crossed her arms, "I specifically did not join the committee because I already had a lot on my plate."
"It's a weekend, so you don't have work.", I pointed out.
She scoffed, "Do I not deserve a day off?"
"Why did you call us, though?", Naman asked.
I smiled, "Because we were told we can. And how can I miss a chance to spend time with my lovely friends?"
Aditi rolled her eyes, "You just wanted to finish faster."
"You can say that."
"Okay, wait, honey, we have to talk about the guest list.", Rishi said.
"Wait, is the guest list final? Who all are coming? Are there any huge celebrities?", Ruhi asked excitedly.
Rishi cleared his throat, "Yes, Ruhi. And... umm... One of them is... Avinash Verma."
"What?!", Siddharth's eyes widened.
Ruhi's expressions changed from excitement to frustration, "Oh God! Why him? You guys should have stopped them!"
"Everything was already over by the time we reached.", I said.
"Relax, guys. What is he even going to do?", Aditi asked.
"He isn't, but we have to. We have to act like Ruhi and I are a couple.", Siddharth replied.
Ruhi groaned at the thought.
"So what? You guys already do it in front of Rohan. He will be here for only a few hours anyway.", Naman said.
I nodded, "Naman is right. And we will see what happens when he comes. Let's focus on the decorations for now."
"Also, Naman and Aditi, if you want to put up a stall, the entries have started.", Rishi said.
"Already? Where do we have to go?", Aditi asked.
Rishi replied, "For your art stall, I think that's on the second floor. And for the food stalls, I think Nitya was supposed to take entries for that somewhere near the fountain. Let me take you there, Naman."
"Wait!", I said before I could stop myself, "I will take him to Nitya."
Realizing I had blurted that out a little too loudly, I cleared my throat, "Y-you give tasks to the others till then. Come on, Naman."
I started walking away before anyone could say anything else. I hope Naman is following me.
"As if I'd let him meet Nitya.", I muttered under my breath.
Naman's voice from the back made me jump, "Isn't she the girl who asked him out?"
"Yes. They don't even know each other and she suddenly came up asking him out for a coffee! Can you believe it?", I huffed.
He bit back a smile, "Yeah, Rishi did brag about that incident. About how his honey got so jealous, to be precise."
I looked at him with wide eyes, "He said that? Look, I was not jealous or anything, okay? I was just protecting him."
"Have anyone ever told you how bad of a liar you are?", he asked.
"How are you so sure that I am lying?", I questioned back.
"Hmm... for starters, your ears are red, and you're also avoiding eye contact.", he pointed out.
I paused in my steps with a sigh and turned to face him, "He doesn't have to know, okay?"
"Well, he kind of already does know."
I sighed, "What should I do now?"
"Tell him you like him?", he raised an eye brow.
"Oh my God, Naman! Don't say that out loud."
He looked around dramatically, "Relax, Radhika. There's literally no one here."
I groaned, "You're annoying."
I resumed walking.
"And you're obvious."
"Still, Rishi should never know we had this conversation. I am trusting you with this.", I warned him.
"Don't worry, this is a safe space. And if you ever need any advice, I am here for that too."
"Sure, therapist.", I rolled my eyes.
"Hey, I am serious! I can give good advice."
"Who said that?"
"The great great Naman Sharma!", he said dramatically.
I laughed, "Oh yeah? Come on, give me a good advice then. What should I do?"
He hummed thoughtfully, "Let's start with... not scaring girls away when they try to talk to him?"
"I don't scare girls away!", I scoffed.
"Nitya would disagree.", he stated.
I opened my mouth to retort, but nothing came.
Because annoyingly enough, he was correct.
He noticed my silence and smirked, "Exactly."
I sighed, "Fine, maybe I overreacted a little."
"A little?"
"Okay, whatever. But you won't get it."
"Seriously? You think I won't get it?", he questioned, clearly pointing to his own situation.
I shook my head, "Your situation is different. Mine is just... one sided."
Naman stopped walking.
I took a few more steps before realizing he wasn't beside me anymore.
I turned around, "What?"
He looked like I had offended him or something, "One sided, seriously?"
"Yes. Seriously."
He let out a laugh, muttering something about being blind or something.
I narrowed my eyes, "What?"
He sighed, "Look, I don't know what is going on in Rishi's mind, but he keeps you really close to his heart, closer than any of us... and you know that too."
I looked away almost instantly.
Because I did know that.
That was the the problem.
I knew he cared.
I knew he trusted me more than most people.
I knew I could call him at two in the morning and he'd answer without a second thought.
But caring wasn't the same as liking... was it?
"That doesn't mean anything.", I said quietly, not meeting his eyes.
Naman stared at me for a second, "Radhika."
"What? Friends care about each other too."
"Yeah, they do. But friends don't call you 'honey' every chance they get."
I felt my cheeks heating up.
"So what? You know how he is... all cheeky and flirty."
"Is he? Because I haven't seen him flirting with any other girl since... you."
My head snapped up. I looked at him with pleading eyes, silently telling him to not give me fake hopes.
He sighed, giving me a small smile, "Rishi can sometimes be slow at realizing things..."
I swallowed hard.
"Radhika, I am not trying to give you false hopes, okay? I am just saying... you don't have to give up, you don't have to call it one sided when you're not ready to know his yet. Rishi... He is an idiot, okay? Uska sabun slow hai."
I laughed despite the situation.
He smiled, "Yeah, exactly."
"What should I do then?"
His smile softened, "You don't have to do anything. I am sure Rishi will come around on his own."
"How can you be this sure about him?", I frowned.
"I have seen the way he looks at you, Radhika... it's the same as when I look at Aditi."
My breath caught at the honesty of his words.
Out of nowhere, someone wrapped their arms around both of our shoulders from behind, making us gasp.
"I am so proud of you, Naman. Thanks for feeding some sense into Radhika's mind.", Ruhi said, grinning ear to ear.
"God, Ruhi! You scared us!", I said, placing a hand on my heart.
It's beating a little too fast.
And it might not have anything to do with Ruhi.
Naman grinned, "See! Even Ruhi agrees with me. You know, I am thinking of changing my career. I should just become a therapist!", he said dramatically.
I rolled my eyes at him before turning to Ruhi, "How much of that conversation did you hear?"
"Everything."
My jaw dropped, "RUHI!"
She flinched, "Calm down, woman! In my defense, I wasn't eavesdropping, I was looking for you."
"Where? Behind that pillar?", Naman questioned.
She narrowed her eyes, "Who's team are you on, Naman Sharma?"
He grinned, "Always the winning team. But right now, none of you are winning, so let me win this time, by telling Radhika how correct I am."
Ruhi turned a little serious, "Yes, Radhika. Everyone can see it too... everyone except you two."
I stayed silent, because as much as I want to believe each and every word they're saying... I am also a little- no, a lot scared of overstepping, or worst, ruining our friendship.
But I wish them to be correct... God, I want them to be correct so badly!
Ruhi's voice broke my chain of thoughts, "Anyway, since we have you here in the absence of your dearest Adi, Naman, let us feed some sense in your mind too."
Naman's smile faltered immediately, "...Excuse me?"
Now it was my time to smile.
Ruhi crossed her arms, "You heard me."
He pointed at himself dramatically, "Why am I suddenly under attack?"
"Because, Mr. Future therapist," She said sweetly, "You have been acting as a love guru for the past ten minutes, when your own love life is moving at the speed of government paper work."
I did not hold back my laugh.
Naman looked betrayed, "Radhika, don't encourage her."
"Sorry," I smiled innocently, "Always the winning team, remember?"
He narrowed his eyes at me.
She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, demanding his attention, "Tell us when are you planning to tell Aditi that you're so deeply and utterly in love with her."
He opened his mouth to speak.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
No sound.
I smirked, "Mr. Future therapist is suddenly out of words."
He scowled, "You know what?", he pointed at us accusingly, "This is bullying!"
"A little bullying goes a long way.", Ruhi said.
"Can we not make this about me?", he tried.
"No.", we said in unison.
He stared at us in disbelief, "This friendship is toxic!"
"Very.", Ruhi said proudly.
He sighed, raising his hands in surrender, "Okay, what do you want from me?"
"Confess your love.", Ruhi demanded.
"Fine, I love Aditi. Happy now?", he said.
Ruhi frowned, "Not to us, you idiot! To her."
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, "It isn't that easy.", he mumbled.
"Aww!", Ruhi cooed, "Then why do you think we are here, Naman?"
"What do you mean?", he looked between us.
"It just means we want to help.", Ruhi said innocently.
"Your intentions don't look like one of helpfulness.", he swallowed.
I smiled, "Correct, because we are threatening you."
"Sorry?"
"Go and say sorry to Aditi! Do you know how long she has been waiting for you to propose?", Ruhi scolded him.
He took a step back, "I... I am going to do something, okay?"
Ruhi raised an eyebrow, "Before or after retirement?"
"Very funny."
I crossed my arms, "Seriously, what are you waiting for?"
He opened his mouth confidently.
And then visibly lost confidence halfway through.
"I just...", he sighed, "I want to make sure it's perfect."
"So, is that supposed to mean that you've planned something?", Ruhi asked.
"I.. I mean, yeah, like... I know I am going to propose to her during the fest... I just haven't decided how.", he answered.
"Okay, that's something at least. Now, we don't care how you propose and all that, but if after the fest I don't see you and Aditi walking hand in hand, I am going to ruin this for you once and for all.", Ruhi threatened him.
He looked nervous.
"And yes, this is a warning.", I added.
The serious expression left Ruhi's face, "Anyway, we're still here if you need help with anything." She then turned to me, "Now you take me to whatever storage room Rishi told me about."
She looped her arm in mine and started dragging me away.
I turned around to look at Naman, who seemed relieved that we were leaving him alone, "Take a left and go near the fountain, you'll find Nitya!", I called out.
He rolled his eyes before walking away.
We reached the storage room only to find Rishi and Siddharth already there.
"What are you guys doing here?", I asked.
"Unpaid labour.", Siddharth replied.
"But weren't you both going to meet that Prakash guy?", Ruhi inquired.
"Yeah, and that Prakash guy sent them here.", came a voice from behind us.
Prakash himself was here.
"You did great by calling your friends, Disney world.", he said.
"Her name's Radhika.", Rishi said.
Prakash frowned, "Do you mind? Anyway, we're already running behind the schedule, so, I'll quickly assign tasks."
He glanced down at his clipboard before continuing, "Rishi and Radhika, stage backdrop."
"Alright."
He then looked at Siddharth and Ruhi, "You two, central lawn decorations, it will mostly be about fairy lights."
Silence.
Ruhi blinked.
Siddharth blinked.
Then-
"No!", they said in perfect unison.
Prakash didn't even bother to look up from the clipboard, "Cute. Moving on."
I tried and failed to suppress a smile.
"Who has a good handwriting here?", he asked.
As if on cue, Aditi and Naman walked in.
"Perfect. You both are going to prepare the sign boards."
Aditi nodded. "Okay."
Naman sighed dramatically, "I just knew coming back here was a mistake."
"Good.", Prakash said. "Everyone has their work. Materials are here. Don't lose anything, don't break anything. You know the theme, decorate accordingly. Committee people will be there to help you."
With that, he shoved the clipboard under his arm and walked away.
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Siddharth pointed at the pile of tangled fairy lights, "I blame all of you for this."
Ruhi threw her hands in exasperation, "I can't believe I have to work with him!"
"I am not pleased about it either.", he retorted.
"Just don't end up strangling each other with those fairy lights.", Naman said.
"Let's get going, honey.", Rishi said as he signalled me to walk out.
"Don't we have to get any materials?", I asked.
"No, some of them have already started the work, so they took the materials with them.", he replied.
"That's good.", I said as we walked out together.
We made our way to where the main stage was located.
We did have an auditorium on the other end of the campus, but they prepared a different, open stage for the fest. It's in the heart of the campus, right in front of the fountain.
Siddharth and Ruhi are also supposed to decorate somewhere around the fountain only as far as I know.
"We should just finish everything ASAP and- OH MY GOD!", I gasped at the sight in front of us.
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