Wrong Impressions

Chapter 3

*One month later*

Teja stood in front of the large mirror in the hotel's bathroom and ran a hand over her lehenga that she had chosen to wore to her friend's wedding; Zeniya. The two had met during her Marathi film shoot so most of the people present were from the Maharashtra film industry or the sports industry since the person she was getting married to was a badminton player, but there was no one that she knew well. Maybe on a name basis or as acquaintances but nothing more. She could have conveniently missed out on the wedding but her best friend, Ashrita had coerced her to attend as she was invited as well and it had been a while since the two had met.

"God knows what's taking her so much time," Teja muttered to herself as she headed towards the banquet hall, fiercely typing away on her keyboard. Ashu finally called her to tell her that her parents-in-law had landed up spontaneously on their door and she couldn't wiggle her way out, leaving her stunned and annoyed. "Ashu yaar. I don't know a single person here. If you had only told me earlier, I wasn't even planning to attend." With hundreds of apologies, Teja finally kept the phone knowing there was nothing she could do now except perhaps send her best friend a couple of annoying texts. Which she did. Teja could obviously randomly strike a conversation but everyone seemed to be already in one and she wasn't one to force it. Maybe if she was in a setting where she had to converse with people, she would but over here, there didn't seem to be any need. Plus, approaching someone and talking to them out of the blue was so not her scene. Taking a deep breath, she checked her phone again, rolling her eyes at the apology texts that Ashu sent, promising to make it up to her as she made her way to the bar to get herself something to drink before deciding what to do with her situation.

"I thought that frown was only reserved for me. Should I be jealous or relieved?"

The voice made her jump in surprise as she was lost in her own thoughts and she turned slowly to see who it was. Teja should have figured out from the familiar sound but who would have thought that the one person she would run into in a wedding that wasn't even in Mumbai would be none other than Karan Kundrra.

It had been a month since their last meeting at the bar after the shoot. The image of him walking off coldly after saying those harsh words was pretty vivid in her mind. Teja remembered how she was left alone with two of her friends who were extremely drunk and on the verge of passing out and had been wondering how in the world was she to escort them back to their places when he had turned up again. To say she was taken by surprise would have been an understatement since she was cursing him under her breath at how inconsiderate he had been, leaving her to handle the two when he was aware of how drunk they were. And that's what she had thought of him - Karan Kundrra, the inconsiderate, egoistic brat who didn't care about anyone but himself. But he had surprised her by returning and had not only taken care of Vikas but also helped her tuck Rashami safely in her car. She had wanted to thank him but he didn't seem to want to bother with the thankyous and the goodbyes and had left as abruptly as possible. If anything, it had made her feel extremely guilty. But it had been a month and she had long forgotten about the events or him.

"Hello to you too, Karan." Teja chuckled, shaking her head at his question as she turned to face the bar and stared at the drink options in front of her. Marathi weddings seldom had bars but since the groom's side was Punjabi, there had to be one.

Karan quirked his eyebrows at her response. He was expecting her to snap, especially with that mood (and he could tell with one look at her that she was in a mood) but instead, he got a sort of smile and an actual greeting. Whoa. Truth be told, Karan wouldn't have approached her, not after that night. There were several nights after that when he had her in her mind and wanted to clear off whatever impression he had formed by a text and apology on Instagram but it felt weird. Eventually, he too had forgotten but watching her enter the ballroom with a lost expression, he just couldn't hold himself back. It wasn't just the lost Tejasswi that had pulled him. It was how she looked... and good lord, she looked absolutely breathtaking. The moment Karan's eyes landed on her, he was a goner. His heart was drumming wildly against his chest and he had to force his eyes away from her to avoid looking like an idiot. It wasn't the first time he found her attractive. Karan had found Teja adorable the moment she had walked into the sets of LvG where they were debating but their little tumble had made all of the attraction had taken a backseat. Watching her now as her face turned from lost to annoyance, it was impossible for him to stay put. He had to approach her.