dekho magar pyaar se

(615): Somehow I just turned an entire McDonald's bag upside down in my car and not a single fry fell out. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways.

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

rahul didn’t want to disappoint her too, especially when she already had so many reasons to dislike him. he nodded. “ i can, ” he mumbled softly; that had just been a fumble, he was still in control of his senses. or at least he thought so. he hadn’t had too much to drink, right ? wrong.

he didn’t know what he had been thinking when he’d gone on this bender but he regretted it almost immediately. well not all of it, considering that kavya’s arm was around his middle and that was all he wanted. he wanted to be with her; he didn’t realize he could want anything like this. he was after all the son of the biggest business tycoon in india, there was NOTHING that rahul could have wanted that he wouldn’t get. except this.

it was only when he had been deposited in the car that rahul made a move to grab his seatbelt and wrap it around his middle. “ lutyens’ ” he said softly once he noticed kavya sitting in the driver’s seat. she wouldn’t know where he lived and he didn’t expect her to know, but it made him wonder WHAT she was doing in this part of town at this hour. 

“ why were you– here ? it’s unsafe for you. ”

Kavya supported him to the car as best she could, and thankfully they didn’t have more of those slip ups. She didn’t want to see Rahul fall again and get hurt due to his current disposition. The amount of scratches, cuts and bruises she had sustained due to clumsiness or making stupid decisions was innumerable. 

Once she had made sure he was comfortable in his seat, she made her way to the driver’s side. Acknowledging his place of residence with a nod, Kavya started the vehicle.

“Got guilted into giving my roommate a lift to some cad’s party. Took about an hour to get out of there,” she shrugged, “and I managed not to punch any leeches so... new record?” It could have been noted that Kavya was trying to lighten the mood but in hindsight, perhaps bitching about some other rich guy’s party didn’t do her any good in this situation. But she never did have a good relationship with hindsight.

After having done the necessary checks, she moved out of the parked position and started on their way to Rahul’s place. “Tum kya kar rahe the?” It was a loaded question— one she didn’t expect him to answer, save for the basics or stating the obvious. But still, she needed to ask.

[kavyamehra-blog]

iliasbakshi:

Ilias couldn’t hide the smile on his face as she spoke, wondering how he’d had the luck of coming across such a great personality in Delhi of all places. Of all the people he’d conversed with, she was definitely going to remain a vivid memory. He especially enjoyed the way she spoke, with such subtle yet calculated emotions here and there that triggered a chuckle from him. Her laugh however, is what had him sitting up on his chair and hoping that somehow his unsurpassable charm and highly praised smile would convince her to take a chance and get to know him. “Hey, it’s not so bad.” He glanced around at the place then back to her, shooting her a cheesy smirk. “I mean with you lighting up the place and all.” With a wink he took another sip of his coffee and immediately had to suppress the urge to suggest watching Netflix with him. No, pop culture had ruined that for everyone. “Maybe I can decide for you. There’s this party, a little out of town. Very low key, from what I’ve heard. I mean, if you’re not too tired, I think it could make for an unforgettable night.” Before she could react or respond, he continued. “You can bring a friend. I mean, if you’re too afraid to go on an adventure with a stranger.”

Her lighting up the place, sure. She rolled her eyes, but found herself laughing at his words once again. So cheesy but amusing nonetheless. He probably already knew that from what she could gather. Still she listened to him as he began to suggest an alternative. There was nothing wrong with a party. The fact that it was low key already made it sound better than the ones she had been roped into by her roommate. She raised an eyebrow, taking in his words. “If you’re afraid in Delhi, you might as well not leave your house. People can smell that kind of thing and it only causes more problems.” And it was a little known fact that Kavya wasn’t afraid of anything. If she had been, she wouldn’t have done over half of the things she had since reaching early adolescence. “As long as I don’t have to play chauffeur, I’m in.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

rahul had grown quiet when he heard kavya’s voice. part of him wondered if he had finally drank enough to send himself into a hallucinatory state. it was only when she began chastising him that rahul revisited a habit he’d had since childhood. it was something he’d always done when anybody was yelling at him. 

your heart is too soft son, his mother used to say. 

you always want to see the best in people, even when they have given you no reason to, his father had said, stating that as the reason he was not to inherit the family business YET.

rahul’s nails worked easily, scratching the label off the beer bottle. nobody would recognize it to be a kingfisher blue by the time he was done. he hated it when people yelled; especially when kavya yelled. he didn’t want her to be mad at him. “ i wasn’t doing anything wrong, ” rahul slurred, looking up at kavya with a frown. how was it that she still looked like an angel ? his angel. but she wasn’t soft like that, no. kavya was smooth, all her rough edges sandpapered down - she was much stronger than he was. maybe that was why she had decided she didn’t want to be with him. and she didn’t have the heart to tell him the real reason so she hid behind the excuse of his lineage, of his family fortune.

didn’t she know that all she had to do was ask  and he would leave it all behind for her ?

he glanced back down at the beer bottle, frowning at the fact that it was in fact empty and he’d practically scratched the entire label off. residue of the damp paper stuck in his fingernails and like a child, rahul wanted it gone. he wanted to be home, tucked into bed like he used to when he was younger. ( it should be noted that a drunk rahul is a very needy rahul ). so when kavya asked for the bottle, he stared up at her before slowly extending the hand that held the object in question, head hung low like a child that had just been grounded.

“ i’m sorry, ” he slurred, trying to stand only to fall back onto the sidewalk. 

He wasn’t doing anything wrong, per se, but it was still something borderline dangerous— getting blind drunk could lead to other things. And well, seeing him like this upset her greatly. It wasn’t like she readily wanted to see other people in this predicament but this was Rahul. The guy who she didn’t want to see hurt and yet, ironically, she had caused it. But, she was going to try and ignore the guilt creeping up because her priority right now was making sure he got home in one piece. How she would manage that was not something she had thought of yet.

She opened her mouth to ask him why he was doing this but the words died in her throat. Now was not the time to aggravate the situation or make him feel any worse. But really, this was not the solution either. This was never the solution to anything— she should know.

Kavya wasted no time in getting rid of the bottle; it was useless, for it was already empty. But she wasn’t one for littering so there was that. “You don’t have to apologise to me, you’ve done nothing to me...” She shook her head, moving forward to help steady him but he was already on the sidewalk again by that time. 

She hurried over to Rahul, crouching down beside him. “It’s okay— you’re okay,” she tried reassuring him, hands on his shoulders. This was normal when people were tipsy; heck she’d even fallen over more than just a couple of times. Her car was parked further down the street and she was not sure how they would get there considering she couldn’t hold his weight, especially when drunk. That was not him, it was her; there was no way she could shoulder anyone’s weight unless they were pretty much on the same scale as her.

“Do you think you can... walk with me if I try to at least steady you? Or will you promise to stay put while I hurry back? My car is literally down the road and I’ll just grab it and come back.” She didn’t want to leave to him by his own but she just... didn’t know what to do. 

[fuckyeahanushkasharma]

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, new still

[kavyamehra-blog]

mchikas:

“That’s my second favourite place to go, but it’s very rare I can find my required textbooks over there. I guess I’m going to have to find an online outlet - and the university bookshop is hopeless. Thank you for the recommendation though!”

“Anytime, I hope you end up finding what you’re looking for, online or otherwise. What are you studying— if you don’t mind me asking?”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

rahul beamed at the compliment, not even stopping to think what that said about him as a person: he was a gracious loser. well, there were worse things to be. and besides, kavya wasn’t like the others - others who would take advantage of him, if he exhibited this behaviour. he glanced down at the coffee before shrugging. “ it’s good, like it always is. ” rahul wanted to ask her if she would go on a date with him, but at the same time he was terrified - he didn’t want to lose whatever this was either. no, it would be easier if she just realized her feelings on her own or at least put him out of his misery and told him she just wanted to be friends. he was willing to be just friends.

Kavya was a little confused at his response. Not because he complimented the coffee, but because he didn’t say anything else at all. She realised that this stand still had the possibility of tampering with the equation they had— however superficial it was in the first place. Smiling in response, she took a step back from his table. “I think mujhe abhi jaana chahiye, we have other customers around here too.” None half as decent or probably even as understanding as Rahul, but customers all the same.

[kavyamehra-blog]

iliasbakshi:

Ilias feigned disinterest in her finish time, leaning back and pulling out his phone. “Weird, I was going to spend exactly an hour and a half here. Isn’t that bizarre?” He beamed at her expectantly, “Are you doing anything after?”

Kavya shook her head and the laugh that left her lips was thankfully a couple of octaves lower than what was considered ‘normal’ in the workplace. She had no intention of being reprimanded a short period of time before leaving work. That would sour her mood for the rest of the day. Still, she couldn’t help laughing at his words; again, it was something she had heard before but it was amusing nonetheless. “Very bizarre, I mean besides the coffee, the place has nothing going for it. I’d rather savour the taste of my beverage somewhere it doesn’t look like I’d lose an arm or a leg if a drop hit the floor.” She was sure her manager would’ve ripped her a new one. If it were someone a few steps up society’s ladder however, he probably would’ve cleaned the drop off the floor and even their shoes. “That would be a toss up between a Netflix binge of 90s SRK movies or NCIS— I haven’t decided yet. Kyun?”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

rahul realized he’d been making a mistake. no, he’d realized that he’d been making a mistake when he said ‘ next round’s on me ! ’ to a bar full of people he had never met, high on endorphins and whatever sludge of alcohol was running through his veins. he was way past the point of mistakes now. now, he was veering dangerously close to a disaster. and rahul had not had one of those ever since sophmore year of college when he’d accidentally hit on his girlfriend’s sister right in front of her, and then later threw up on her shoes ( the girlfriend not the sister ). yeah, he still got nightmares, and ptsd flashbacks from that.

and yet, rahul singhania was nothing but predictable. he’d gotten into that all because of a girl, here too - he insisted on getting sloshed because of a girl again. except this time was different. this time, it wasn’t just for fun. it wasn’t just because the girl was pretty. sure, kavya was pretty but more than that - she was beautiful. she glowed. he would sit for hours in that coffee shop, watching her laugh behind the counter as she made conversation with the other baristas. forget that, he had never thought a person’s eyes could light up brighter than the sun when rahul had dropped some coffee on himself the other day. 

he would gladly drop coffee on himself any day of the week just to see her smile. rahul glanced down at the Johnnie Walker in front of him before clutching it to his chest as the bouncer ushered him out. even then he was polite, apologizing profusely through slurs for being such a handful. the bouncer dumped rahul in a cab and somehow he’d rattled off his address. or at least, an address a street down from his own.

he sat on the sidewalk, bottle still clutched to his chest and one shoe missing. “ why doesn’t she love me man ? why can’t she take me seriously ? ” he turned to the silhouette he could see. “ it’s because i’m too rich isn’t it ? and she thinks all rich boys are asshole. but i’m not. i’m not man ! ”

Kavya was not prone to venturing around this area often. But her roommate’s minted (and former on/off) best friend’s foreign return cousin was hosting some party that said roommate ‘really’ needed to attend. Ayesha had made it sound as though the host insisted her presence was imperative but it was more likely that she’d snaked her way into Dev’s said cousin’s line of sight and well— she ticked all the boxes of the type those types invited. Kavya was merely there to give her a lift there; how she would find her way back home was all on her.

It was an hour later when she finally managed to get out of that god awful excuse of a party. Really, there were only so many times she could witness Dev and whatever his cousin’s name was compete for the affections of practically every girl that was there. It was just pathetic... and weird. But the loaded folks were known to get bored quickly. A few houses down (her car was parked at least 20 houses down) she stumbled on a sight she thought she wouldn’t see in this type of area, eyes widening because of who it was.

What he was saying, however, wasn’t anything new. She had used every trick in the book to avoid Rahul asking her out. But she didn’t expect this, least of all him getting drunk and talking like this over... someone. If you could call it talking. It was more than just a tad presumptuous to assume he was talking about her so she was not going to do that but something in the back of her mind (or perhaps him outright stating her most frequent joke to brush him way) couldn’t stop her from thinking that he was perhaps, maybe talking about her. Of all people in Delhi.

“Rahul?” was all that left her lips, taken aback. Kavya wasn’t asking if it was him; she knew that much already. It was the state he was in that she was questioning. She’d never taken him for someone to land in this situation, complete with sitting on the sidewalk and slurred disposition. If she wasn’t so worried she would’ve likened him to Devdas or perhaps a pre-Juliet Romeo. But she was worried. Delhi was as bad for the rich as it was for those who were not. And the last thing she wanted to wake up to was front page news that Rahul was mugged or worse. “Look at what you’ve done to yourself. We— you need to get up, and we need to get you home. Pronto.”

She tossed a sweet wrapper in the trashcan and turned her attention back to Rahul. Him either downing more of or dropping, breaking it and then slicing his hand in a failed attempt to recover his drink were things she would rather avoid. While Kavya had helped both drunk friends and strangers alike who had worsened the circumstances by doing either of those and more— it would simply add to the already delicate situation. She was already feigning ignorance to his words, not wanting to aggravate him by discussing that topic. “Can I have the bottle?”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

“ because every single time i’ve asked you out - you’ve said no. after a certain number of rejections, a man begins to expect it. ” he was complaining but he didn’t mean a single word of it; he would let her reject him a million times as long as he still got to see her. it was also why he’d stopped asking, she would come around eventually. or even if she didn’t, at least they could be friends. he could handle just being friends right ? of course he could, rahul reassured himself before taking a long sip of his coffee.

This didn’t give her any sick surge of pleasure, as it would’ve several people she had met over the years. In fact they would’ve most definitely lapped up the attention and perhaps bled him dry if it were possible. She offhandedly wondered if he’d ever been taken advantage of like that and quickly hoped otherwise since he was a pretty decent guy. “Well, I’ll admit— you’re pretty good at handling it.” What with being handed everything on a platter and more. She didn’t hold it against him, no, she was actually... pleasantly surprised by his demeanour. “How’s the coffee?” she asked, changing the topic swiftly.

[kavyamehra-blog]

iliasbakshi:

Ilias watched as she expertly whipped up his order, a little disappointed by how quickly she was done. He was actually fairly entertained talking to her, in fact, it was the most fun he’d had since he’d been back in Delhi for this god forsaken wedding. He picked up the coffee and took a sip, basking in the bitter yet incredibly satisfying taste. “Couldn’t have made it better myself, even if it is poisoned.” He cocked an eyebrow and gave her a grin. “What time do you get off work?” His question was nonchalant, and he slipped it in almost as if it were second nature. Innocently, he awaited her reply.

She shrugged; making better than decent coffee was in her job description after all. One thing was for sure, this guy probably needed to get his taste buds checked out if he had the slightest difficulty in detecting if something was slipped in his drink. Not that there had been, but you could never be too sure. Especially in Delhi of all places. “In an hour and a half,” she replied, having checked her watch every ten minutes for the past hour. “Unless my boss wants to be a complete prat— but you didn’t hear that from me.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

iliasbakshi:

You threaten to poison customer’s six times a day? I thought I was special. 

Coffee, black, no sugar.

Kavya laughed in retaliation and punched in his order instead. She swiftly completed it— it was, after all, one of their most frequently ordered drinks. That and she had to be very quick on her feet in order to keep the job and deal with impatient customers. "Here you go,” she pushed his order towards him, “and don’t fret, I can wholeheartedly assure you that your drink hasn’t been poisoned.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

beingkritika:

“There have been worse names, you should read.”

“I’ll pass, it’s bad enough hearing someone stoop to that level. Hopefully that’s me done with having to deal with ignorance for the day.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

“ akhilesh … ” rahul trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows as he mentally counted through all the influential mehras’ he knew in the delhi-ncr area and paused when it hit him. “ wasn’t that the one who was ready to fire you because you put two spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee instead of three ? ” he laughed, the memory was pleasant for rahul - not because he enjoyed watching people getting reamed in public but rather because that was the day he met kavya. if he wanted to be dramatic he’d say it was the day his world had tilted on its axis. “ if you ask me, i think you did him a favour. man’s been growing a little too wide around the belt. ”

now if akhilesh heard him say that, rahul was sure the news would travel to his father and the result would be a slight reprimand. not that he cared anymore; all he wanted was to see that smile on kavya’s face again. “ i did. i knew that, ” he paused, knowing what she was getting at. “ and if you think that’s going to scare me away, you’re WRONG. ”

Kavya grimaced at the memory; it was one of the few times she had gotten close to losing her job. Thankfully Rahul had been there to handle the situation by distracting the snob. From then on he had been a familiar face at her place of work— Rahul, not the Mehra snob. She grinned, “I’ll take that. It’s not every day you get told you did someone a favour.” Especially in Delhi and with the kind of people she was used to being around.

“Well, if toying with the idea that you’d be the perfect victim if I were to be a serial killer doesn’t deter you... I don’t know what will,” she shrugged with a laugh. Kavya found herself laughing more often around Rahul. It wasn’t as though she was a grouch of any sort, he just amused her greatly hence why she was more prone to laughter when in his company. Not to mention the majority of the customers that frequented were clearly suffering from superiority complexes. He wasn’t— he was different, normal even. If you could put aside the fact that he was disgustingly rich. “How ever did you work out my intentions?”

[kavyamehra-blog]

wtfrahul:

“ it would be a pleasure to be ruined by you miss– i’m sorry i didn’t catch your last name kavya. ” it would do him good to be less smitten and yet with every second that passed, all he could do was fall deeper in love with this girl who was so unimpressed by him.

“Mehra, no relation to Mr. Akhilesh Mehra.” That much was obvious, what with her running around behind (mostly) snooty folk as part of her day job. But she still added it just to be sure— perhaps even to bring it to Rahul’s attention. “But you already knew that.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

mchikas:

“What rubbish yaa. The one decent bookshop near school and they closed down. I am not about the e-book life!”

“Have you tried Sunday book market?”

[kavyamehra-blog]

amanmehtas:

“ well, i’m glad you learned your lesson. ”

“Thank you for taking time out of your tight schedule to teach me. I really appreciate it.”

[kavyamehra-blog]

iliasbakshi:

That’s not a very nice thing to say to a paying customer. Although I have to say, being poisoned by someone as attractive as yourself wouldn’t be the worst way to go.

I hear that line six times a day— chal, what’s your order?