FF: Asleep - C10

Kripa suddenly realized what she was doing. She lifted her gaze and saw that Angad had closed his eyes in anticipation of the kiss. She knew what she wanted but she also knew what she had to do. She deliberately passed his lips and kissed his cheek.

Angad opened his eyes. ‘That was for-’ Kripa cleared her throat as her voice had become husky, ‘that was for being such a good friend.’ She waited for Angad to smile but nothing.

 ‘Saved by the door bell,’ she muttered under her breath when she heard it ring. She glanced at him. He was still looking at her with that expression. She didn’t want to identify it yet. She knew what it was but it was too soon.

Angad tried to regain his composure while Kripa went to open the door.

‘Hi, Kripa, we’re not here to see you. Where’s Mr. Hottie?’ Aali barged in the house. Prithvi glared at his sister.

‘Aali, will you get over men for now?’ He glanced back at Kripa and put his forefinger under her chin to lift her head. He inspected her left side of the face, then the right side. ‘Are you OK?’

Kripa smiled. ‘I’m fine. Seriously, Prithvi, I’m OK.’

Mishti moved forward and hugged her. ‘I’m sorry about what happened, Kripa.’

‘I’m fine,’ she smiled. It seemed like that was the phrase she had been constantly repeating for the last day. ‘Seriously, you all; you can see I’m doing just great.’

They group went inside and Prithvi stopped seeing a standing Zaib. Prithvi knew that he would forever be grateful to this stranger for saving Kripa. He always doubted Kripa for her decision to keep this man with her, but he knew at this moment that all his doubts had been baseless. Zaib only had honesty shining in his eyes.

Prithvi thrust his hand out, ‘Hi, I’m Prithvi.’

Zaib smiled. The smile transformed his features completely. He looked less formidable. ‘I know. Hi, I’m Angad Khanna. Or Zaib.’

Prithvi laughed. It just took him a moment to completely like this stranger. Aaliya rushed forward and gave him a dazzling smile. ‘Hi, I’m Aaliya. Prithvi’s my brother. And this is Mishti, my sister in law.’

Angad smiled at both of them. He glanced at Kripa who was standing behind her family. He smiled at her and watched a huge grin encompass her face. That was what he had been waiting for.

Kripa watched Angad charm her friends and shook her head at them. ‘You’re taking his side! For the last three years you’ve been telling me that I might have made a mistake and now you take his side!’ she exclaimed when Angad had won his argument by convincing the trio that Kripa was a complete basket case.

‘Mr. Angad Zaib Khanna,’ she walked to him and jammed her finger on his chest. ‘I do not appreciate you turning these three against me.’

His eyes danced mischievously. ‘But Kripa, I just said what was true.’ He laughed at her expression and pulled her in a hug. Kripa smiled and tightened her hold on him.

Aali, Prithvi and Mishti looked at the couple stunned. They were behaving as if they had known each other for their entire lives! Angad had just woken up. How had they reached such camaraderie?

Prithvi cleared his throat. He figured it was his job to protect Kripa. She was almost like his sister. The couple broke apart. ‘So Angad, what’s your story?’

He glanced at Kripa who nodded. Angad started reciting his story and was very amused with the trio’s reactions. They gasped at the exact same time and goggled at him simultaneously.

At the end of his tale, Prithvi leaned forward, ‘So what are you going to do now?’

Angad smiled at Kripa, ‘Well, Kripa’s supposed to come up with a solution since she’s such a hot shot writer. She can make me a deranged murderer, so I’m sure she can come up with an idea.’ Everyone laughed.

Angad immediately sobered, ‘On a serious note, I need to come up with proof. I know that my word alone should be enough but Sonia is very smart. She’ll easily come up with another story to prove me wrong.’

He saw Kripa squinting her eyes in concentration. She frowned, shook her head and finally shrugged. ‘I do have an idea but I’m not sure you all will like it.’ She told them her idea in detail.

Angad immediately stood up, ‘No way! I’m not putting your life in danger for that. Dream on Kripa. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you!’

Kripa went to his side, ‘Angad, it’s not that bad of an idea. Come on, how else are we going to make her confess her crimes?’

Angad turned to Mishti, imploring that she refuse this idea. Mishti looked at Kripa thoughtfully, ‘I don’t like the fact that you’ll be in such close proximity with that.. with that woman. But Angad’s going to be there, right? So I don’t see any problem.’

Angad looked at Mishti in disbelief. How could Kripa’s own friends let her do this? He turned to look at Aaliya and Prithvi and realized that he was outvoted.

Prithvi put his hand on Angad’s shoulder, ‘Look, we love Kripa a lot. She’s very precious. I know you’re thinking how we can put her life in danger? But you know Kripa; she can sweet talk anyone into anything! And sorry, you’re outvoted.’

Kripa sighed in irritation and rounded up on Angad, ‘I know what I’m talking about. You can trust me on this!’

‘I know I can trust you on this but there are so many potential problems in this plan!’ Angad exclaimed with his voice rising at each word.

‘Fine, you don’t want to do this. That’s just dandy! Let Sonia get away with what she’s done and start your life afresh if you can! What do I care? It’s your freaking life!’ Kripa shouted with her chest heaving with emotion.

Mishti looked at Angad with new respect. Anyone who could provoke Kripa to this level of irritation deserved a medal! Kripa was always so happy-go-lucky that it was really annoying. It was nice to see a different side of her. She glanced at Aali who had a slight smile on her face. Mishti raised her eyebrows and Aali winked. They turned back to the drama.

Angad sighed, stepped forward and grabbed Kripa by the shoulders. As soon as he touched her, he felt a slight jolt to his system. He looked at her in surprise and saw that her own eyes had widened. He didn’t realize it but his voice dropped an octave.

‘Kripa, I care about you a lot. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Whatever’s happened to me, I can handle it. But I don’t think I could handle you getting hurt.’

Kripa’s voice became husky as well as she stared into his earnest eyes, ‘I know Angad. But the chances of anything going wrong are very small. And you’ll be there.’

He slid his hands down her bare shoulders and felt her shiver, ‘Yes, I’ll be there.’