Tangled Tale With a Love Twist

by Shailly Jain

  The twinkle in his eyes confirms, he is not going to stop. Sarah takes the mic from Dj and signals him to stop. She announces with a bright smile, Please pay attention. As the crowd became silent, she smiles brightly. I represent your host and dost - Rahul Sengar.

  Handing the mic to him, she leaves the stage. Rahul is looking only at Sia, his face holds a softer note.

  As most of you know, I am here to dedicate a toast. Princess this is for you. Sia is blushing from tip to toe. Rahul’s voice holds mischief, This is to the crazy in you Sia. The whole crowd cheers with a loud, woo-hoo. I salute to your firm determination of making every project successful. I am saying this on behalf of my father and your team - We are lucky to have you. Where I am concerned - It’s my honor, to have you in my life. Sia hugs him with a mist of tears.

  Hugging her in a warm embrace, he says - time for the victory dance. Sia shakes her head to say no. Before Karan can understand what’s going on. Rajeev and Vishal have moved a table in the middle of the dance floor.

  They lifted her on the table and started chanting Sia Sia Sia… everyone joined in. Rahul shouted in the background, let’s have some music.

  Karan took a front-row seat, to see Sia Bharadwaj. The loose shirt shows a hint of spaghetti hiding toned tiny waistline as she jumps. High boots enhance the look of long legs. Her bun has come loose, the burgundy silk waves have escaped. Hanging loose covering her back till waist. She took her glasses off and he felt a sudden rush of heat. The twinkle in her eyes is brighter than the lights around. Karan found himself tapping to the song.

  He is having the time of his life when the song finishes. She signals for another one and announces for Rahul to join her. People all around him cheered, but he lost interest in the show.

  One thing for sure, she dances like crazy that bought a big smile to his face.

  The one with the Awkward Game

  Karan felt a hand on his thigh, its Sarah. She has been flirting with him since the start of the party. Grabbing his hand she pulls him on the floor to dance. He waves at his friend who is dancing next to Sia and Ayushi.

  Seeing him, Gaurav hugs him tightly - where were you?. Bro this is fun, we should do it more often. Karan smiles at his friend’s enthusiasm. It’s true they hadn’t done much fun lately.

  The dance floor is packed with people. Music intensity is changing from party numbers to item songs. He has bumped into Sarah, quite a few times, she seems to enjoy it. The old song is one of Karan’s favorite as he moves towards Gaurav. To groove in old college moves when he bumps into someone. Seeing his tequila clad jacket, he knows the culprit.

  At first, Sia seems shocked then she laughed at his face. Leaning into Karan she whispers, Sarah will like you better without the jacket. Seeing the murderous look in Karan’s eyes, Rahul intervenes. Giving a handkerchief to Karan, he points toward the washroom. Karan, she is a little bit tipsy. You go and change.

  Rahul tries to take the bottle from her, I think you are done drinking. Let’s take it slow now. Her innocent reply made everyone smile “I want to drink and dance. Sober officer just 10 more minutes”.

  Princess, we are going to do one thing, you like more than dance and drink. She is looking at him with big eyes What’s that? Rahul can’t control his laugh, truth, and dare.

  She handed the bottle quickly and, started moving towards the garage door. Guys move fast before he changes his mind. Sarah offers to bring a few bottles to the roof. Gaurav asks her to go to with Sia, while he and Rahul will take care of the booze.

  Vishal, Rajeev, Vicky, Ayushi have fastly moved to the terrace. For making arrangements around the bonfire. Sarah held Sia during the flight of stairs. Karan is just behind them.

  On the first floor, Sia stops to look for keys. Karan notices, she is wearing them in her locket. Her drunken state is making it difficult for Sarah to take them out.

  Karan offers to help, as he holds her so close he can hear her elevated breathing. See the heat in her cheeks within the dark. When the door opens she moves inside freeing herself, from his arms. Pointing towards the left she smiles, extra mattress.

  Sia moves closer to whisper “no snooping around Karan, can I trust you”. The feeling of her lips on-ear is increasing the blood rush inside him, he nodded to avoid an argument. She takes a step backward, eyeing him top to down. You look very strong, Will you please bring these upstairs. I will help you if you want. Before she can pick any mattress, he holds her softly. Sarah, Please take her upstairs. I will take care of this.

  Sarah slightly brushes her shoulder against him taking Sia. Karan is looking forward to knowing Sarah better.

  ********

  “Hey require a hand”, Karan turns around to look at Vishal and Rajeev. They have come to offer help. Guys just pick two of these and we can be on our way, he locked the door behind him. She is busy in discussion with girls, the mischief in their eyes indicate notorious questions planning.

  Seeing guys Sarah started giving orders on how to put the mattress and booze around the bonfire. She is helping Rahul and Gaurav in making drinks. Sia drank the neat 30ml whiskey peg behind Rahul’s back and offered the same to Gaurav. Both of them are smiling goofily at Rahul, he passed them another round with knowing looks.

  Mattresses are placed in a circular formation around the bonfire. Sarah offers her hand for Karan to join. Gaurav sat near him. Rahul and Sia joined Gaurav near to them Vicky and Rajeev took the seat. Vishal and Ayushi are still busy in the discussion, Sia is throwing chips on them. Stop it kiddo Rahul is saying to Sia with an adoring smile, I will rat you out to papa. Sia chuckled than I will tell him all about the kulfi night. Rahul places a finger on her lips to shhh her. Princess plz save something for the game, they started as the last participants joined.

  Sarah repeated the rules for everyone. The spin of the bottle will decide the participant, no one will crib about the task. Each one of you gets a single pass on any question. Nothing life-threatening in dare, this is specifically for Vishal and Vicky. She glares at them to emphasis the seriousness. They winked at her, last but not the least Rahul no cheating involved.

  Rahul humorously says, Cross my heart, hope to die. He adds mischievously, I swear on my life.

  Vishal elbows him if you are serious, swear on Sia. Sarah chuckles, start the game he will never swear on Sia, we all know. From the corner of eyes, Karan can see Sia leaning on Rahul’s shoulder for support. He remembered the garage floor when someone tries to come near her. He has to pass from Rahul, he is very protective of her. The girl has wrapped him around her little finger.

  Roll the bottle in Sarah’s voice disturbed his thoughts. He should probably concentrate more on the sexy lady beside him rather than the gold digger Sia. Bottle pointed at Ayushi. Sheepishly smiling, she says dare.

  Vicky suggests her to jump from a drum while taking the drum down all the way. Sarah intervenes, she can hurt herself during this. Giving a carefree shrug, Vicky says - No, it’s not that much height and, Rajeev is here to catch her. Someone shouted Go Rajeev.

  Ayushi kicks her sandals off and turns around to climb the drum. Rajeev helps her. She dropped right into his arms, Rajeev kisses her with the thud of the drum. Karan can see the mention of Ayushi brings pain in Gaurav’s eyes.

  The spin of the bottle pointed at Gaurav. Truth or dare- Truth. Sarah asks the question, Tell us about your girlfriend. She is encouraging him with nodding of the head. Before Karan can put a stop to it, Gaurav answers -

  No one right now, a bad breakup still in recovery.

  Sia says Awww. You should have told me earlier. I would have hooked you up with a nice girl Gaurav. She started standing up, Come with me we will find you a nice girl. Karan’s stern look has dropped the happiness in Sia’s eyes. She took her place back, looking at him.

  Gaurav knows the reason for Karan’s reaction. To lighten the mood, he says, I want to change my answer to Karan. Sia and Sarah burst out laughing, everyone joined in. Gaurav winked at Karan.

  The spin of th
e bottle pointed at Sia. Truth or dare - seeing the spark in Karan’s eyes, she chooses Truth. Change it, remember Sia, you

  never play safe. Sarah’s words made her smile. Okay, Dare. The look on Karan’s face is sending a shiver down her spine.

  She leans a little towards Rahul. Rajeev can see Karan’s unusual behavior. So before Karan makes a move, he asks Sia - why you joined Supreme digital?. I have been offered a job by Vikram Sir and Rahul. The paycheck is pretty big to say no. On a serious note, it is a stable job. She forced a big smile, but her face lost its color. Hearing the question has sobered her in some way. Rahul is giving her a reassuring look and, some of the colors are back.

  Sahra spins the bottle to change the mood. Its, Rajeev’s turn. Truth or dare- Truth. Vicky asks joyfully, What is the marriage date? Rajeev gave a surprising look to Ayushi. I think it’s time to announce. Guys, we are eloping next month. Anyone is not invited, but as soon as the honeymoon will be over. We will throw a house warming party.

  Sia, Sarah, Vicky (girls) are the first to react and congratulate the couple. Sia hugs Ayushi and kisses her on the cheek. Sia says in a teasing tone, Babes I am hurt, you told Vicky first.

  They can’t stop laughing and smiling. The honeymoon destination is Italy, the dream destination. Vishal is the first to congratulate them. Rahul has opened a bottle of champagne to toast and passing it to the couple. Gaurav congratulated them and moves aside for Karan to do the same. All settled around to play again, but the merriment in the atmosphere has lifted everyone’s soul.

  The spin of the bottle pointed at Vicky. Truth or dare- Dare. Sahara’s voice is filled with excitement, Vishal, she is all yours. Give her the most notorious task. Vishal asks with a hint of naughtiness make out with me. Vicky is giving him an angry glare, On my grave. I will pass this question, ask something else. Okay, he leans and whispers, Kiss me.

  Her glare is doing nothing to refrain Vishal. Vicky stiffens, It’s somewhat the same as the last question. Change it or, I will not play. Vishal smiles coolly, choose something to do with me. Sia suppresses a laugh. Sarah provides context to Karan, old flames since college. Vicky smiles, Now you are just irritating me. Can I have a question from someone else?

  Karan has been waiting for something like this. To everyone’s surprise, he says, kiss Rahul.

  Vishal and Rahul’s eyes indicate the displeasure of his question. But what Karan find unsettling is the mischief smile of Sia’s face. As she is pushing Rahul towards Vicky. He opted for a soft brush on lips.Moving back Vicky winks at Rahul as he blushes.

  The spin of the bottle pointed at Vishal. Truth or dare- Dare. Everyone looks at Vicky, she is wearing a wicked smile. Vicky states boldly, Do a strip dance for us. He lustfully glides down his jacket.

  The Dance is entertaining everyone, he stripped till the boxers and thrown every layer of attire on Vicky. She smiled and hooted throughout the danced with everyone and then dumped all his clothing in the water tank beside them. She got a huge round of applause from Karan.

  Vishal shouts in anger, Karan stop encouraging her. She does not require your help to be mad. Focusing at Vicky again - Are you serious, what am I gonna wear now.

  Vicky’s eyes hold humor, this is for the implication of makeout. He shouts, Are u mad? I was fooling around. Vicky chides him by saying, Now I am fooling.

  ********

  Rahul intervenes before they will be at each other’s throats, Sia, pick up any of my loose clothes for him. Karan moved towards the stairs to accompany her, Rahul’s voice stopped him Gaurav will you please go with her, she is tipsy. Karan hands over the keys to Gaurav. Rahul and Karan stared at each other, the distrust is mutual.

  Sia is back with the clothes and handing them to Vishal. Vicky, it’s chilly outside think of him once. Ayushi suggests to pack up seeing the tension. Sarah pouts, these two always create a scene and spoil the fun. Plz guys play, we don’t meet so often.

  Sia is in no mood to play now, but she has to keep Sahra’s heart. She suggests not to spin the bottle. We can all sit and give tasks to the remaining people. Sarah, Rahul, and Karan are only left to play. Rahul smiles, let’s do that. Sia, you can say goodbye to friends who are leaving, we will join you downstairs in a minute.

  Sarah grabs Sia, she is not going anywhere, let’s complete the game. Don’t play it as a formality. We can start with Karan.

  Gaurav asks the question, what do you want from Sia?.

  Rahul and Gaurav both looking at him with keen interest. Others do not know the whole story but understand something is cooking.

  Karan understands the intention behind it. He mischievously smiles, Stop spilling things, whenever we meet. Sia’s embarrassment is the sign that he dodged a bullet. To change the subject, he announces Sarah is next.

  Rahul has sensed the intentions of Sarah. He softly asks, Who do you want as your chauffeur for tonight?. Sarah blushes, Karan if he feels up to it.

  He smiles wickedly - Karan, she is your duty now? Sia offers Gaurav, if you want, We will drop you. Rahul offers another option as its already late, you can bunk with me here.

  Karan doesn’t like the idea of him staying. I will drop you first and then Sarah. Or Sarah first then you. Gaurav smiles, in current situation bunk, sounds good. Sia explains Sarah doesn’t live in the city. You have to drop her at the airport. Karan gives a roughish smile, Gaurav you bunk.

  Everyone started packing their things when Sarah stops them. Rahul’s turn is still remaining. Vishal retorts, he is an open book. Give him some dare he provokes. Before Karan can give him a dare, Sia requests a last round of margarita from Rahul. Vishal and Gaurav join him to make drinks. Rajeev stayed with Karan to know how he and Sia meet.

  The girl gang is discussing the next meet, but Sia is missing. Karan’s eyes started searching for her. She is too drunk to be left alone. Rajeev understood and mentioned that she is wishing goodbye to other guests downstairs.

  Karan scolds his mind to concentrate on Sarah rather than Sia. His mind thought of a reason to find her.

  ********

  She is ordering cabs and arranging a car for guests. Sia felt a sudden heat when she heard her name from the back. She turned to confirm its Karan. Do you require any help?. Sia is too drunk to be polite, what do you want?. Karan reply was simple, there is no need for Gaurav to know about the software development, kindly keep your mouth shut. He left without listening to the answer.

  Sarah has come down searching Karan, but she kept her the company until all the guests left. It seems like they have missed margaritas. She said goodbye with the heavy heart to Rajeev and Ayushi. Vishal and Vicky left 5 minutes apart from each other. Sahra is leaving now with Karan, she gave a bear hug to her. Now the three of them are left to keep each other company.

  Rahul and Gaurav decided to pick up the mattresses and put off the bonfire. Sia has closed the garage shutter. Switched on the lights and opened both the bedrooms. Sia is all ready to drop dead on the bed when she heard them talking in the hall. She is speaking in half-sleep - Good night I am turning in, you both should do the same. Rahul softly pushes her to the sofa, Princess not so soon, the last drink is still in process.

  Gaurav is standing in the hall is looking at Sia puzzled. She smiles sheepishly, I am not very good at handling alcohol. So he invented the last drink.

  He shouts to Rahul sitting next to her, I will have one too. Rahul is back with 3 cups of dark lemon coffee. They chatted about the time when they coded for passion. Sia’s eyes show a longing for that time. Gaurav doesn’t like to remember the past, but with them, he feels like sharing.

  The one with the Car Scandal

  While everybody is going to sleep, there is no thought of sleep in Sarah’s and Karan’s mind.

  Sarah speaks seductively, Is there anything fun to do around, at this hour. Karan matches her tone, what’s on your mind? She plays the game along, Something of remembrance. A happy ending.

  Karan can’t hide his discomfort with commitment. I don’t believe in happy en
dings. In a merrier tone he flirts, I can make it memorable.

  Sarah gave a bright smile, me too.

  Leaning towards Karan, she softly grazes his thigh. So, let’s calculate how much time we have. I have a flight to catch at 7, it’s around 1 now. We have to reach the airport by 6 and its 1-hour drive from here. We have to leave at 5. So what do you think?

  Softly purrs in his ear, Can you make me happy in 4 hours Mr. Mehra?

  Karan closes in with a sexy grin, I can work with your given timelines.

  Just, No strings attached. She promises with a naughty smile, No strings attached.

  Karan closes the distance between their lips, the hunger consumed them. He moves back as he hit the roof clutching her ass. Car or hotel your choice? Sarah gave an exciting look, scandalous car memory. Slowly releasing him she whispers, Mr. Mehra makes me happy.

  He found a deserted plot and parked inside the gates. His gaze is hungrily roaming all over her body. As she leans forward he closes the distance, his lips are devouring the taste of her.

  She can feel his tongue sensuously playing with hers. In the eagerness, she bites his lower lip with an intensity that excites him more.

  She can feel his hands harshly clutching the sides of her dress. In a quick move, he pulls it over her head. It leaves her wearing a sheer red lingerie set and high heels. She can feel the way his lips are teasing the panty lines, a soft moan slips from her lips. He moves the seat back lowering himself over her. His warm breath near the ear is causing her to tremble in response.

  Sarah can feel the soft touch of his lips and hands everywhere. As he is familiarizing himself with her body structure.

  He slowly moves upwards completely facing her. What you want me to do?

  Whatever you want, her reply is between deep breaths.

  She feels hot under his intense gaze. Slowly circling the breasts he kisses the nipples above the soft cotton material. Softly biting of nipples, has sent ripples of shock waves in her body. Locking the gaze he opens the bra in one swift click and starts licking and biting them furiously.