husn hai suhaana ishq hai deewana

Samaira Rathod. 26. Lawyer.

[ratz-samaira]

nainaaaa:

Naina was a little taken aback at the woman’s politeness and invitation. Now ordinarily, she’d allow her father’s voice in her head to take her decisions for her. Not because she was unable to make her own choices—but because that was all she’d grown up believing in. But right now, she knew what the woman said was right and so she stepped inside, her eyes instantly taking in the interior design of her home. Naina’s attention was once more on the friendly woman’s when she told her that Karol Bagh was pretty far from where they were now and considering the time—it probably wasn’t safe for her to venture out that far all alone. 

She leaned over, to watch the other woman open up the app and find out the timings the route for Naina and found herself wondering how she’d overlooked something so similar. Of course in all the webpages she’d looked at before shifting to Delhi, none of them had listed the simple things like this, all just telling her it was easier to catch a cab or a rickshaw which Naina wasn’t going to be doing considering she had a driver but—her driver knew next to nothing about Delhi and that was really as good as being lost. When the other woman ended up looking at Naina she found herself nodding with a smile, she was always so easily pegged as being new to the city that she wondered sometimes is she was sporting some sign around her neck or something. 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, pulling out her own phone and looking for the app in the app store before hitting the download button as she heard her talk about the type of colony she lived in, a laugh escaping her at the mention of one of the top Hindi soap opera’s that she knew her Dadi and Ma watched almost religiously when her Papa went off to bed after watching the news. “No no, it’s alright—“ Naina said quickly before shaking her head. “I think you’re right and going this late at night probably will just end up really bad for me. I’ll just head back home—at least I know the way there,” she smiled before holding out her hand. “But it’s great to meet you and thank you so much for the advice. I’m Naina,“ 

Samaira shrugged at the ‘thank-you’; she was used to this, having been the resident fairy Godmother of Delhi Public School’s Girl’s Hostel-one that the juniors had been both in awe as well as petrified of. ‘It’s not an issue. My name is Samaira Rathod, and I work at the Delhi High Court, chambers of Harish Mehra. Here’s my card-in case you need any legal help-though I sincerely hope you don’t.’

She smiled as she handed the card, her gaze drifting to the clock. ‘Where do you live Miss-or Mrs Naina? I can drop you-I can tell the shady routes from the safe ones. Or at the very least I can call you a cab?’

[ratz-samaira]

jaishergill:

Jai’s grin returned on his own accord once the conversation moved away from him - he preferred not to talk about himself, especially when it involved his questionable occupation. The thought of Samaira finding out what he did for a living now made him blanch and he decided to keep the topic of conversation as away from him as possible. “You find me hot, huh?” he teased her, his toes retracting so as to poke at her sides. “Come on, it’s not just the stubble, admit it.” He said the last part in an almost sing song voice and sank further into the couch with laughter at her reaction. He loved that about her - she reacted with 100% dedication to every situation. 

“Please, save the I am a filial daughter speech kisi aur ke liye, okay? I’m not interested in hearing unwarranted praises about your dad.” One thing about Jai Shergill that most people learnt too late - he was probably a Guinness World Records holder at keeping grudges. And while he had not met the Rathod patriarch for close to a decade now, his initial impression of him was still sour enough to make him grimace. 

“And you’re not your brother. You’ve done enough to prove your worth.” He got more agitated as he went on about the topic, pushing himself up to argue with her (and take another slice of pizza). “You can’t help it that people are blind sometimes.” The offer to whack her father into senses was just on the tip of his tongue but he knew better than to vocalise it. He made a note to look up Harish Mehra instead. Without letting Samaira know. 

He waited (very patiently) till she had stuffed enough pizza in her mouth to keep quiet before springing the Very Important question he had been saving. “Who’s Aman?” he asked, the question accompanied by another poke at her side. “Come on, I know you. Just because you’re some big lawyer doesn’t mean I didn’t pick up skills from you. “

‘Of course I’ve been dying over you,’ Samaira said, eyes fluttering. ‘Ever since the first day of school. Your ragging session will stay in my heart forever.’ She placed her hand on her heart and almost looked lovelorn before throwing the pillow at him. ‘Idiot, who makes a girl sing Sarkai Lo Khatiya on her first day of school?’ She glared at him. ‘No manners, not then and not now.’ She bit her lip as she saw the face he made while talking about her dad. She hoped they would get along some day-it was bad enough that Rathod Sr. wasn’t too crazy about Aman either. In his eyes, no one would ever match her brother.

She put her chin on cushion, nibbling thoughtfully at her slice. ‘I know, the very reason why I took up a completely different profession in another city was to prove that I can make it on my own. Yet comparisons are bound to happen-but forget about that.’ She shrugged, not wanting to go down that depressing road again. Instead she turned to a lighter but more difficult topic. She knew Jai would throw an apoplectic fit when he found out about Aman-he had always been very protective of her and had chased away literally all the creeps who had tried to make a move on her post her magical makeover. Still, she tried to be smooth about it. 

‘Yaar, I toh always told you that you should join the CBI,’ she laughed. ‘All the terrorists and money-launderers will pee in their pants the moment they hear that the great Shergill is going to interrogate them.’ She opened her Instagram account on her phone and opened one of her favourite photos, of her and Aman while on a holiday. ‘This is Aman Mehta, up-and-coming rockstar and my Prince Charming.’ She beamed. ‘We’ve known each other since last year and have been dating for six months now.’

[ratz-samaira]

amanmehtas:

aman sometimes wondered if he really was just that chicken; chicken enough to stay in a relationship with a girl he could never truly love; not when his heart already belonged to another. it was only when he felt her fingers on the skin underneath his shirt, when her lips were tracing his neck did he remember WHY. this was why. 

it was superficial, he knew that but what kind of stupid idiot would let go of a girl as gorgeous as samaira ? besides, he could learn to love her right ? it would be no harder than the time he’d learned to like - or at least tolerate math back in high school, and then later in college. this time of course he had an advantage: samaira was much, much hotter than his advanced calculus textbook could ever be.

that didn’t mean he didn’t freeze at her words; it didn’t mean that he didn’t feel his voice die at her question. how could he tell her ? forget that, WHAT could he tell her ? lie. that was his only option; he couldn’t lose samaira; especially not when he’d never had any sort of claim on the girl he loved anyway. “ it’s the band, ” aman felt a little guilty of course, but then some line from some film reminded him that it wasn’t all bad: jo jhoot ghar ko bachata hai woh jhoot jhoot nahin hota. 

and that was what he was trying to do right ? keep the person who actually loved him from not leaving ?

Once again Samaira could hear the giant alarm bells ringing in her head. The band had been doing great lately, there was no reason for him to be worried about it. Sure, there were some logistical nightmares every now and then but that happened in any profession-and looking at Aman’s meteoric rise right now he was only going to go up. He was definitely lying, her lawyer-sense told her that, but then again her heart and hormones interfered her again. In a strange way, she actually found what she was doing rational. Kya guarantee hai...ki you will find someone better? You can dream of Prince Charming all you want, but no one is ever going to give you the Notebook wala pyaar. Only Viraj truly cared about you-and he’s dead. In the real world, this is the best you’ll get. 

‘Offo, bas itni si baat?’ Samaira snuggled closer to him, planting a kiss on his forehead. ‘Don’t worry rockstar, you got me. Soon, I’m going to be fighting to get teenage girls off you-and off our doorstep.”

[ratz-samaira]

beingkritika:

“Shera was Abhay bhaiya’s; he was only with me for a month till the new one came along. The new one, Ham-face is… well, he’s a Siachen return. Ex-army guy. And he is such a pain in the ass. He is probably the only person on this entire planet that would never take a fucking break. If my boss ever told me to take a holiday, I would but he? Never listens to me.”

“Though… his boss would be papa and his instructions say I need to be watched over 24/7.”

Wait a minute-this cannot be-is your new bodyguard a certain Mr. Jai Shergill by any chance?

[ratz-samaira]

beingkritika:

“I think we can’t go shopping until our desi Annalise Keating in the making isn’t too busy. Besides, Ham-face as you like to call him is easy to ignore. I do it… all day long. He won’t be a bother, trust me.”

“Ham-face is otherwise called Jai.”

Arre don’t worry. You know when my boss and your dad are making one of their shady business deals, they don’t care about anything else.

Also wow, your bodyguards sure keep changing. What happened to the old one-Shera or something? And who is this new Hamface, and where is he from?

[ratz-samaira]

amanmehtas:

aman looked up from where he was tying his shoelace at samaira’s words, and he knew that she’d caught on. but he didn’t understand why. wasn’t this what she wanted ? wasn’t this why she always brought up the lavish dates that all her coworker friends went on with their boyfriends ? it hurt him just as much too, to realize that he wasn’t as successful as he wanted to be. sure his band did pretty well for themselves, and got enough gigs for some decent cash in the bank but aman had so many more hopes for himself at this point.

hopes that myra knew, but it wasn’t like he could talk to her about it anymore; not when she always seemed to clam up around him. that was something he didn’t understand either. why she always acted as if being around him pained her ? he was the one in love with her, why was she acting like it hurt her ? he smiled then, holding samaira’s cheek as he let out a soft sigh.

“ i know that, i wanted to do this for you. just so i could see that smile on your face. ” aman laughed then, tugging her down with him onto the couch. he knew they had to leave for their reservation, but he needed this right now. he needed to be reminded that he had a girlfriend, that he wasn’t myra’s - even though his heart had belonged to her since the start.

Samaira giggled as Aman pulled her down onto the couch. ‘What are you doing silly, we’re getting late!’ But she made no attempts to resist him-instead she relaxed and laid back, feeling like some invisible pressure had just lifted off her shoulders. ‘Be careful, I’m wearing Prada’ she whined, before giving a little snort and saying ‘just kidding.’ She buried her head in his neck, taking in his scent. Sometimes she wondered whether this was the root cause of it all-the reason why she couldn’t leave him in spite of knowing that his heart belonged to someone else. She’d scoffed when her biology teacher had talked about pheromones back in 10th grade, but now it made perfect sense. Of course it would disable the rational part of her brain and turn her into the lovesick puppy she was right now. 

‘Wow, we haven’t been like this in ages.’ She paused, measuring her words, not wanting to say anything that would ruin the moment. She simply ran her fingers underneath his shirt instead, her lips tracing his neck. ‘Aman...I want to apologize. I know I can be really, I guess, demanding at times. I guess it’s because my parents always brought me up to believe that if you have enough pretty and glitzy things around you, it can make up for everything else. But I’m learning now that isn’t true. There are more important things.’ She cupped his cheeks and looked into his eyes. She usually used the eye-to-eye technique when she was cross-examining a very difficult witness, but this time the purpose was not to intimidate but just to get to know what her boyfriend wanted.

‘I...I also want to see you happy Aman, the way you used to be earlier. You look so just so...I don’t know what to say, you’ve changed recently..just tell me what I can do. Is it about the band? Or something else? Whatever you want, it’s yours.’

[ratz-samaira]

wtfrahul:

rahul blinked at samaira for a few seconds, utterly and completely confused before the kickstarting of his heart reminded him of exactly who she was to him. he let out a nervous laugh too, leaning against the doorframe considering she hadn’t invited him in and he wasn’t the type to enter somebody’s house unattended. 

“ yeah yeah, samaira - i remember. long time no see. you dropped off the grid completely. ” lucky, he thought to himself. 

he ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a nervous laugh before glancing down at his shoes and glancing up with a question on his lips, only for it to fall at her question. of course, she’d want nothing to do with him. it was best just to get the help he was seeking and get the hell out of there.

 “ uh ansh– you remember ansh ? my little brother ? yeah well, he threw a fit said that the best pizza in all of delhi was somewhere here. i’ve been roaming for a good HOUR and besides getting lost … i haven’t really done anything else. ”

it was then that rahul paused to take the time to look at samaira, really look at her and he smiled. it wasn’t that the high society girls weren’t pretty but there was something so quintessential about samaira. he wondered if she had never made her timely escape from high society, if his father would have insisted on his engagement to her, stating that the two empires merging would only be beneficial for both families. then he never would have met kavya, he never would have realized what it meant to truly be in love with somebody.

Samaira was slightly confused as to why Rahul Singhania looked like such a besotted teenager at the moment. As far as she remembered, they hadn’t had any interaction in years, so there was no reason for him to....Idiot. In her jet lag induced haze she had totally forgotten that Rahul was in a sense, her ex-boyfriend. 

True, in retrospect she had never really considered it as a relationship. Samaira had been just a teenager then, and in the most awkward phase of her puberty. Boys just never showed any interest in her beyond her notes-and when they did, it was mostly at the urging of their industrialist fathers who wanted their hands on the Rathod heiress’ money. A frustrated Samaira had gone to her elder brother and complained about how undesirable she was. Viraaj Singh Rathod could never see his little sister in tears-he’d immediately gone and ordered his impressionable junior to take his sister on a date.

Sam had never really been sure if the relationship had been genuine or out of sympathy, but it was fun when it lasted. She recollected evenings spent on the terrace of his mansion, cooking up ways to escape their oppressive upbringings. Rahul, even had that age, had been different from the rest-he was the prodigal son, and at the same time, he had none of the arrogance and chauvinism that usually accompanied such talent. Besides, both Rathod and Singhania senior had wholeheartedly approved of their ‘friendship’-there had even been not-so-secret talks of an engagement. But then Viraaj died and Samaira had erased all memories related to him-including those of her first, short-lived love affair.

She realized that the weather outside was unbearably humid and he had been waiting on the doorstep for sometime now. ‘Where are my manners, why don’t you come inside? I’ve kept the A/C on.’ She handed him the menu of Mr. D’s. ‘I think your brother was talking about this place.’ The last time she had seen Ansh, he had only been a baby, but he’d had quite the voracious appetite even then. ‘It’s quite famous around the area and they have really good thin-crust pizzas. I just ordered one with my friend recently. The address is there on the first page-you should be able to find it yeah?’

[ratz-samaira]

jaishergill:

One thing he definitely did not miss about the girl: she talked like a bullet train. He remembered how she would come to him with problems and rush through them so fast that he would end up sitting still with a contorted face, having exerted too much effort trying to follow her. Most of the times, he pretended to understand with a sage nod and a quick grin - the thought of that made him smile once more. 

He grumbled lightly when she suddenly went all affectionate on him but couldn’t resist patting her head lightly, still amazed at the fact that she was so fucking tall. Something that did not bode well for his ego. 

“Yeah, yeah, missed you too, minnie mouse,” he admitted reluctantly, poking her in the side when he could feel one of her glares coming again. “One day, I’ll drop you onto the Himalayas and then you tell me if it’s colder than Delhi or not. You freeze when it’s like– raining.” He pulled his legs over to dump them unceremoniously on her lap, grinning at her reaction. “Come on, your couch is small,” he offered as pathetic excuse. 

“Okay, hold up. who the hell is Harish Mehra? You know I never paid attention when you whined about all your lawyer fantasies.” Her father was a conversation he was well acquainted with though and only made a face at the mention of him. Jai had met the man once and it was safe to say that it hadn’t been a pleasant meeting. “Is your father still after your life? Need me to bark at him again?”

Samaira scrunched up her nose as she sensed his hesitance when he hugged her. Something was definitely up-sure, he’d always hated physical contact of the emotional variety, but staying out of touch with all human presence in the Himalayas sure had made him people averse. Well, he’d just have to deal with it-there was a million more surprise bear hugs she planned on giving him, the way she had in school whenever she wanted to annoy him.

‘Ugh what is with you guys?’ She made a pained face. ‘On one hand, Aman calls me Ratz-and you call me Minnie Mouse. I know those buck teeth in school were a handful but now I think I look quite decent okay?’ She tossed her hair aside-she’d had red highlights done recently. She made another face when he dumped his legs on her lap. ‘Eww Shergill, get yourself a pedicure!’ she said, waving her fingers. Since a young age, Samaira had been very conscious of not only her own appearance but also others. ‘I think I need to give you another makeover. Your stubble looks hot but those khakhi shorts need to go-you’re not Lieutenant Commander any longer. Or a RSS Shakha member for that matter.’

While normally Samaira was very conscious about the way she ate as well-around Jai she made an exception. She bit into the pizza slice as soon as he opened the box, and let out a little ‘ooh’ when it burnt her tongue. She continued scarfing it down anyway, not at all caring about the strings of cheese and sauce dripping from her lips. ‘Harish Mehra, my darling Himalaya se aaya sanyasi, is the legal luminary of India. People die to get a job in his office-and some unmentionables in my law school were willing to kill as well.’ She said that last part lightly, not wanting Jai’s radar to get alerted. ‘Anyway I got through because as expected my grades were above average. Except that he’s great friends with my dad-who isn’t?-and I think he’s being bribed not to promote me so that I’m resigned to leaving him and joining my dad’s office. It’s either that, or the rampant Delhi workplace sexism. I don’t know which is worse.’ She put the next slice into Jai’s mouth. ‘Eat, you’ve become a skeleton! No wonder you couldn’t hold your own against those Cricket Bat Romeos!’

 She laughed when he mentioned barking at her dad. Karan Rathod hadn’t approved of his only daughter befriending someone unknown to his social circle but Samaira hadn’t given a damn. That also meant relations had always been somewhat strained between them. ‘Jai, I love my dad-he’s really not that bad. Except that what with the constant bickering with Mom and asking me to pick sides-I just wish he’d get off my back. And besides, I can’t spend my entire life being Bhaiyya’s replacement.’

[ratz-samaira]

iliasbakshi:

.

I mean, I hope I never change. I kind of like me. And I mean, people are talking about me. I’m basically famous. 

Hey, I can call you magnificent and not have ulterior motives. But… A boyfriend? When did this happen and why wasn’t I informed? 

Wow, not only are you just as flirtatious, you are also just as modest. Pray tell me Mr. Bakshi, what are you famous-or should I say infamous for now?

Yes, his name is Aman Mehta and he’s the lead in a band. Now before you tell me he’s not the swish corporate type -I’ve checked out some of those dudes, and I’m not even sure if they’re even human. 

Aur inform toh tab karoongi jab tum waapas aaoge? Whenever I see you, you’re always off on some new adventure. I’m not even sure how many girlfriends you have. 

[ratz-samaira]

nainaaaa:

Naina waited patiently as the door opened and she took in the other woman behind the door, who looked kinda surprised—not that she could blame her. It was probably strange to have a complete stranger knock on her door ad ask for directions. But before Naina could say anything she had noticed the other woman observing her silently, in a very similar way to how Naina normally did it without garnering attention. 

It was silly, but she almost knew that the woman must’ve realized Naina wasn’t from the city, especially with the look of realization that Naina had seen in her gaze—a look that she’d been getting a lot of lately. But once she heard the other woman’s questions, she shook her head “No, nothing like that. I’m not being bothered. I just—I’m lost and I have no idea how to get to Karol Bagh, and I feel like the rickshaw driver knows I’m not from here and wants to take me for a longer trip just to get more money. Can you—direct me? I’m really sorry about just ringing your doorbell like this.” 

Naina gave her another apologetic look before shrugging. “Your house was the only one on the street with the lights still on, and the only one that didn’t look quite so—haunted.” She could tell that considering the other woman was looking a bit harried, she could very well just slam the door on Naina’s face but she just hoped that wouldn’t be the case. 

Samaira couldn’t help but giggle when the girl mentioned that the rickshaw driver was trying to take her on a longer trip for money. She may not be from Delhi, but she’s smart. ‘Why don’t you come inside and have a seat?’ Samaira suggested. ‘It’s not safe for you to be standing outside alone like that.’ She ushered her inside and motioned to the sofa before taking out her phone and opening Google Maps. ‘Um, as far as I know Karol Bagh is pretty far from here. I wouldn’t advise you to try and make it there this late in the night, but if you really want to go, I’ll just crosscheck the metro route for you.’

She opened the Delhi Metro app on her phone and showed it to the younger woman. ‘So, I might be wrong, but I get the feeling you’re new to this city? I’m a lawyer, I tend to notice these things,’ Samaira shrugged. ‘You should download this app. It’s really convenient, and shows all the metro routes. In a city with such awesome metro connectivity, there’s no point in taking rickshaws-they’re all thugs, and they’ll all loot you given the chance.’ Samaira realized that for all her efforts to stay out of other people’s business for the day, she had turned into a de facto tour guide. Still, she couldn’t help herself, the girl looked so lost and bewildered, and at the same time she didn’t have a ‘pity me’ complex, which Samaira hated, but seemed rather practical.

‘There’s no need to say sorry. This is actually a really nice colony but it’s mostly families with little kids, and you know they tend to switch off a bit early. Except for all the housewives watching Kabhi Saas Kabhi Naagin.’ 

Shut up Sam, she doesn’t need to know your detailed knowledge of Hindi soap operas, just give her the damn metro route. Jai had told her this as well-Samaira was either really reticent or too talkative. It was a side-effect of being a lawyer-she just had this instinctive need to prepare a brief for people whenever they were confused with something-like she did with her clients everyday. ‘Um sorry, getting to the metro directions in a minute.’

[ratz-samaira]

amanmehtas:

“ only for you baby, ” he murmured, giving her a smile as he pulled away from the kiss and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “ now what do you say about that reservation ? I booked us the best table in the entire place, and somehow managed to get enough savings from the band’s gigs to afford it. ” and yet there was a niggling in his chest, one that told him he was completely disregarding myra. they had plans too after all; plans that had been in the works for weeks. but this was his girlfriend. sure he loved myra, had loved her since he was a teenager but nothing would EVER happen between them. he had to accept that; he had to try and move on. and besides, he had a gorgeous girl to move on with. what did he have to complain about ? right ?

Samaira smiled as Aman leaned into a kiss. In spite of all the rumours floating about her ‘reputation’ he was the only guy she had ever been really intimate with in the truest sense of the word. 

‘I would love to honour your reservation, my good Sir,’ she said, touching her forehead to his. How could she doubt a guy like this? He’d used up her band savings to take her out on a fancy dinner-she knew that people often passed comments about how he was only using her for her money and contacts when he’d never so much as hinted for help in that regard, which only made her love and respect her more. She wondered if this was partly her fault as well, since she kept talking about her friends’ fancy dates ideas whenever they were together.

‘Listen Aman,’ she said carefully, ‘as much as I appreciate this-let’s not make it a habit okay? I know I can be a bit spoilt at times-’ she grinned sheepishly, ‘but seriously I’m okay with going somewhere a bit more reasonable. I’m okay with anywhere, as long as I get to have you all to myself.’ She knew she sounded a little bit possessive but she couldn’t help it-he just brought out that side of her.

[ratz-samaira]

beingkritika:

“I’m pretty sure I’ll never be left alone in public as long as he is alive. Or probably, even after that.”

“And… I wasn’t alone. Jai was there to judge me.”

Aww shucks...I was hoping a miracle happened and we could finally go shopping together without having some Ham-Face breathing down our backs...

Wait a minute-who’s Jai? There’s only one Jai I know but he can’t be the guy you’re talking about.

[beingkritika-blog]

“I’m thoroughly convinced that the staff at CCD and their grandmother now believes I’m insane for laughing like a maniac at my phone… alone.”

“In my defense, the India Vs Pakistan memes deserve the seal laughter.”

[ratz-samaira]

Wait a minute....are you saying Sharma Sr. actually left you alone in a public cafe? Is your dad finally retiring or something? 

[ratz-samaira]

iliasbakshi:

Heineken. Now that, I can get on board with. Well I mean at least you got to see one of Europe’s most magnificent sights. Not as magnificent as you of course, but a close second.

Yeah, an old friend. I couldn’t really say no. Plus, I’m happy to be back. I get to hang out with some friends and put my life on pause for a minute.

Haha, I knew you’d want your hands on that, you rascal. And oh my god Ilias Bakshi-will you ever change? And here I was, wondering why you haven’t tried flirting yet. I have a boyfriend now, ahem. Not to mention I met a lot of girls in Paris who had a thing or two to say about you.

You do need to put your life on pause you know-traveling is fun, but there’s nothing more important than home.

[ratz-samaira]

sweetlikeananas:

You’re literally the greatest human to walk the earth.

Also I’m really sorry about the evil corporation. I’ll give you extra warm cuddles next time I see you.

Haha not so soon. Just cuddles won’t be enough-I also want some gossip. 

Anything or anyone I should be keeping tabs on?

[ratz-samaira]

sweetlikeananas:

Very funny. You happened to catch me at a very bad time okay? I was binge watching 13 reasons. I had no time for organisation.

How was Paris? Did you bring me macarons?!

Hmmm okay...I’ll buy that excuse. I went to work with unmade eyebrows one day because I was too busy binge-watching to go to the parlour.

Paris was amazing! Can’t say so much about my trip per se-we were against this horrible corporation that is basically an unethical, scammy outfit that steals people’s money-and it was such a hard case I was almost in tears by the end.

But....I did remember to get you macarons. I got one in each flavour, for diversity.

[ratz-samaira]

jaishergill:

Whatever impression he had of her earlier about her taste of interior design immediately disappeared - her nagging convinced him that the woman would never change.

“God, I’m sure they let you win cases just because you nag so much,” he told her, dodging slightly just in case she decided to unleash one of her infamous whacks. A part of him had been worried sick that he would lose touch with everyone after he completely radio silenced on them, but hearing Samaira was a much better balm to his injuries than the one she was applying on him right now. 

He hesitated a little at her question about why he left army - he wasn’t someone who liked to air his grievances or burden them on someone. He knew this was the girl he had confided when he realised he had an unholy crush on his Algebra teacher (though he was tipsy) but it wasn’t something he wanted to unveil on the very first meeting after years. 

“Reception is shit in Himalays. Never go there.” He pushed her hand away after a while and dragged her down to the sofa instead so that she would be seated. “And yaar, I was tired of the cold. Do you know how exhausting it is to just see white everywhere? I’ll take the mess in Delhi every day.” 

He quietened down after that, aware that Samaira could sniff out his lie from a mile away. Instead, he nudged her light. 

“Tum batao, lawyer ma’am saab. Heard you’re a big hotshot these days.” 

Samaira huffed. ‘You-nag? You call my concern nagging?’ She threw a pillow at him, but he ducked just at the right time. ‘Badmaash, put balm on your wounds yourself now. Main kuch nahi karoongi,’ she pouted, sitting with her arms crossed like she did whenever she was mock-mad at him. However, Sam being Sam, she couldn’t stay angry at Jai for too long. ‘Wait, let me order some food for you. You must be famished after your South Indian action movie scene.’  

Once she was done ordering the pizza, she went back to the couch, throwing her arms around him. ‘It’s good to have you back Shergill,’ she said happily. 

She noted that he had been a bit silent since he had come, especially about the topic of leaving the army. Something had obviously happened-something that had changed his perspective. Her law-dar told her that the ‘bad reception and snow’ excuses were just a ruse. Knowing Jai, he would just keep his emotions to himself-it had been his biggest problem in college as well. It pained her to think that something might have hurt him-she would kill anyone or anything that so much as laid a hand upon Jai Shergill, and she was determined to weed it out of him as soon as possible.

But that would take time, and she knew pestering him now wouldn’t be of any use. She would have to use the technique she used while cross-examining in court-talking about a tangential topic first. ‘Talking about the cold, count your stars that it’s June. Come February, and the famous Delhi sardi will have you feeling like you’re in the Himalayas again. And so what if reception was bad? You could have just sent me a kabootar you know,’ she said airily. ‘I mean a letter. Oh wait, you wouldn’t know how to write those, considering how the only class you paid attention in school was Algebra...’ She winked at him, knowing fully well what the reason for that had been. ‘As for being a hot-shot-do you know I’m working with the Harish Mehra? Except that he just doesn’t seem inclined to promote me. I have a feeling Dad is behind this...’