5 Marine Drive

"Let's go somewhere." Said Aryaman on seeing Mohini fulshed red with embarrassment .At the moment she wanted to do nothing except to dig a hole and stay there.

"Where to?" Asked Mohini.

"Umm shopping? "

"Nah, that won't be a good idea if we wanna know each other. Also, I am not a shopaholic."

First girl who denied going shopping. But where else would she like to go?

Taking a mental note of the information, because according to him every detail about her is important, he replied- " Then where should we go?"

That is when the bossy side of Mohini kicked in.

Picking her phone and purse from her desk Mohini grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the office she said- "I know excatly where to go. Come on."

But Aryaman was too lost in his La La Land to ponder on whatever she said. The sudden touch had such an effect on him that he wasn't even listening properly to whatever she was saying. He just continued moving towards wherever Mohini was dragging him. This was probably the first time in years that he was smitten by a girl. Hell, he never fell for any girl in all these years.

But the way Mohini rambled on and on even in the lift and while crossing the campus showed that she didn't even notice the trance in which Aryaman was lost.

"Earth to Aryaman. I repeat, earth to Aryaman." She was snapped her fingures in front of him when they reached the parking lot.

"Um...sorry you said something? I...maybe I just zoned out." He said while rubbing his left hand on the nape of neck. And then it suddenly came to Aryaman that they were standing in front of a Vision Maybach 6.



"That's not my car."

"Its mine and I am driving. Now, get in." Said Mohini tilting her head a little towards the car with don't-ask-anthing-and-do-as-I-say look on her face.

"I must say you have a nice taste, Miss Patidar."

"I am extremely flattered Mr. Nanda."

They both settled in car. Mohini in the driving seat and Aryaman took the Shotgun.

"So where are we going?"

"You will know when we will get there." The engine roared to life and they got out of the parking lot.

There was a silence but not an awkward one instead it eas comfortable. Mohini's focus on the road ahead while Aryaman's focus on Mohini. To disolve the silence he turned the radio on.

Caught my heart about one, two times

Don't need to question the reason I'm yours, I'm yours

I'd move the earth or lose a fight just to see you smile

'Cause you got no flaws, no flaws

I'm not tryna be your part time lover

Sign me up for that full time, I'm yours, all yours

So what a man gotta do?

What a man gotta do?

To be totally locked up by you

What a man gotta say?

What a man gotta pray?

To be your last "Goodnight" and your first "Good day"

"Nice song." Said Aryaman. Seems like all his lucky stars were on his side. The lyrics totally described his present feelings for her.

"Yeah, one of my favourites." Said Mohini while humming the lyrics as the next song played.

He-eh-ey oou ou ooou

Well, here you come again and you're lookin' so fine

You don't notice me but it's alright

I'm just a guy who wishes that I could be your man someday oh ooh

Yeah, a picture paints a thousand words, it's true

But it's still not enough for how I feel about you

I wanna put you in a melody, I gotta set you to a groo-oove

And that is how their rest of ride went. They stopped once when Mohini went to grab some snacks. Well that led to increase in Aryaman's curiosity to another extent but still she denied to tell him where they were going.

After driving for some more time, humming the tunes, singing the songs, bouncing their heads with the beats, the sea came into view.

Then it clicked to Aryaman where she was taking him to. MARINE DRIVE. That's it. Why didn't he thought about this place earlier. That's one of the best place in complete Mumbai. Don't you think he was acting like a tubelight. Taking time to get flashed. Hehe.



She parked the car and grabbed the bag of snacks. They walked till they reached a spot where no one was present.

"You come here often?" He asked. The view in front of them was simply awesome. The sound of waves rising and falling gave soothing vibes.

"Not that often because I always have something or other at hand but yeah, when ever Beastie is home we come here." She wasn't looking at him but instead staring at the blue water in front of them thinking about the most important person to her.

"Who is Beastie?" The nickname was quite interesting. The person must be someone special. The dreadful word BEAST converted into BEASTIE sounded melodious. That is how life worked. Even if it is all fucked up it's up to you to mold it the way you want. Either name it a nightmare dressed like a daydream or call it a blessing in disguise.

The question knocked the senses back in Mohini and she mentally slapped herself. She wanted to kill herself. How could she do that. It was not the time to tell him about 'her'. Only her best friends knew about 'her', not even her family. She told Nina because it was very difficult to come up with a excuse every fortnight or so to go meet 'her'.

"Never mind, we will talk about Beastie some other time."

She took a pack of chips and offered it to him, then grabbed another one for herself hiding the inner turmoil skillfully.

After few minutes of silence suddenly Aryaman asked-

"What made you think that I am Kharoos?"

Her cheelks once again flushed red but the next second she turned into the bold and blunt Mohini.

" If I would have known that you were Mr. Kharoos at our first meeting, I definitely would have chopped you into hundred pieces and then fed those pieces to stray dogs.

Do you even know how many special moments of those poor lovebirds you have ruined just because of your last minute meetings. And the next day Nina kept whining, never stopping for a second and giving me headache."

"Which lovebirds are you talking about?"

"I am damn sure that your brain has started rusting. Can't you figure out a simple thing? Of course, Nina and Laila."

Aryaman choked on coca cola that he had been drinking. Mohini patted his back.

"You okay?" Worry evident in her voice.

" I am fine. Did you- did you just say that... Nina and...Laila..." he trailed off thinking about Neel. That poor guy might become heartbroken. They never thought that maybe Laila was not into guys. Life always brings out the unexpected. Also, he had to be jealous of a woman for stealing his woman.

Who do you think Beastie is?