Page 5 of Twisted Deceit
Thakur was the last name! She could ask for him at the party.
“Let’s go fast.” Aadhya laughed, rushing her friends down the walkway, although she had no idea where the event was. She hugged Diya and said, “Thank you so much for getting us an invite to this party.”
“Wow! What got into her suddenly?” Sunny was amused at Aadhya’s sudden excitement.
“Sorry for being a damper all day. I was tired from our travel.” She truly felt guilty for not sharing her friend’s excitement all day.
Now she had something to look forward to—a potential fake husband.
Shortly after, when Aadhya and her friends arrived at the venue where the party was being held, they could see that most guests had already arrived. “We are fashionably late, girls!” Sunny was the first to enter the party area and go to the dance floor. She was a dance buff, and just like Aadhya, she would join the party and spend some time on the dance floor before she loosened up. That evening, she had another mission on her mind.
Riti and Diya were the kind to take in the crowd while sipping a drink before mingling, so they went straight to the open bar. Navya and Sana always played it by ear, and that evening, they followed Sunny to the dance floor.
Aadhya found herself scanning the crowd, but it was hard to see anyone’s faces or features, except for the bright paint or the clothes they had on that shone under the special light. She felt like a life-size light bulb in a white figure-hugging dress she had on standing in the middle of the banquet hall. Waving at her friends, gesturing for her to join them on the dance floor, she returned to the check-in area.
She approached the host desk and asked. “Hi, I can’t reach my friend on the phone. His last name is Thakur. Can you tell me if he has already arrived at the party? It’s hard to find people out there.” She let out a casual laugh.
The man behind the desk smiled politely. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I cannot share the details for privacy reasons. You have to find your friend yourself.”
Her smile widened even though she wanted to snatch the guest list and look at it herself. “I understand. Can you tell my friend, Mr. Thakur, that Aadhya will be looking for him when he arrives?”
“Sure, Ma’am. Enjoy the party.” With a friendly nod, she walked over to where her friends were, enjoying their drinks.
“Get a drink, and we can mingle with the boys,” Navya winked. “Quite a few guys are waiting to take us dancing.”
Aadhya suddenly felt let down, but she brushed away the annoyance of not being able to find the man she was looking for.
“Aadhya, that guy is seriously checking you out?” Diya leaned over and almost yelled into her ear.
“Who?” She turned and looked around, forgetting all protocols of a girl's night out. Their girl's night out rules were to have fun with each other. Play hard to get so the guys don’t think the girls are an easy lay, and that meant not looking at the guy who was ogling her.
“Oh no, you looked.” Diya grit her teeth. “Don’t forget the rules.”
Aadhya didn’t care if she sent the wrong signal of interest to a stranger by looking at them. She was trying to find the man who could solve her imminent problem. When she didn’t see the man her friend was referring to, she asked, “Have you talked to the bride’s brother? The one who invited us to the event?”
“Yeah, we said hi to Jai.” Diya pointed to a man on the dance floor, cheering a young woman as she moved to the music.
Aadhya smiled as she approached the happy bride-to-be dancing with her brother. “Jai, I’m Aadhya. Thank you for inviting us to this awesome party.”
The young man smiled, extending his hand, and yelled on top of the music. “You must be with Diya and Riti. Glad you could join.”
“Likewise. By the way, do you know if Mr. Thakur is at the party?” She tried to sound as casual as possible.
Jai scrunched his nose. “This is a young people's party. No uncles and aunts were invited.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “He is a young, Mr. Thakur. Maybe from the groom’s side?” Aadhya was not ready to let go yet.
Jai thought for a moment, and just as he was about to respond, two men walked up to him, and they appeared stressed. With that, the party's host excused himself, and Aadhya continued to scan the room. She had no idea what the man she was looking for looked like. She searched every inch of the event venue for someone preoccupied or distracted.
The man she was looking for was expecting profiles of potential candidates to be sent to his phone, so he must be looking at his device. Her eyes swept group after group for such signs, and the glow lights made it harder to read people’s expressions, but she could see what they were doing. In general, most people seemed to be having a good time.
Just as she was about to give up and head back to her suite, her eyes fell on a man sipping his drink, his body facing her as he sat at a table, his gaze on her. He was too far for her to tell if he was looking at her, but she could feel his eyes on her.
Her heart roared to life as she looked toward the man sitting on the other end of the dimly lit banquet hall. The light in the room was from the reflection of people’s clothes, and the man was dressed in a dark outfit.
As if in a trance, she stepped toward the man and felt the shudder that ran through her. Awareness increased, making her shudder, but she kept walking and squeezed through the group on the dance floor.
“Aadhya, come dance.” Navya pulled her to the group, and Aadhya smiled, moving to the music even as her eyes darted toward the man seated in the corner. A few minutes later, she slipped off the dance floor and looked at the table where she had seen the man, but someone else was seated. It wasn’t the same person, and she looked around for him, but he was nowhere in sight.
