#1 in indian on 25th Dec, 2022.
#3 in bollywood on 10th Feb, 2023.
Previously titled, 'The Medical Hostel.'
The book gets better as the chapters go on.
Zivah and Vedika are roommates, but nemesis. Emptied of their daily arguments and inevitable pres...
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CHARLES AND FRANKS is not the nightclub that I had pictured in my mind.
I thought it would be a crowded place with humans hurling themselves at each other while the music hammered from the loudspeakers at full blast.
On the contrary, there is a lot of peace and quiet in this place.
Two bouncers are out, half asleep, and they just let us in, no questions asked.
We descend a set of dim wooden steps and find ourselves in a large room carpeted in red, with chandeliers, a dance floor, a bar. Arjun kept me cornered at all times even though the bar was mostly empty.
I skim my eyes around, scanning the entire bar for a particular pair of eyes.
My phone ringed and I looked at the caller id.
Dhruv.
I answered it.
"Behind you." His voice was slurry but sent a wave through me.
I turned and there he was.
As we rushed towards him, the smell of alcohol hit our face. He was leaning against the bar, his eyes half-closed and his words slurring.
"Dhruv, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
Dhruv turned to me, a big smile on his face. "Zivah, my girl!" he shouted. "I've been waiting for you." I looked at him with concern, but before I could say anything, he took my hand and pulled me closer.
Arjun scanned him from head to toe searching for anything suspicious.
"I love you, Zivah," he said, his voice slurring. "You can't belong to anyone else but me. Promise me that."
My heart sank. Arjun eyes remained fixed at him.
"Dhruv, you're drunk," I said gently. "You don't know what you're saying."
But Dhruv didn't listen. He kept talking, telling me how much he loved me and how he would do anything to be with me. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I looked at him. A part of me believed his words but the other part knew that this was just a very-drunk Dhruv talking. He didn't really mean what he was saying.
I was so thankful when Arjun stepped in, pulling Dhruv away from me and helping him to his feet.
"Come on, bro. Let's get you home," he said.
"No, Arjun. No." Dhruv pushes him away -and turns towards me. "I want you. Whatever you are, however you are, I want you. All this fucking time you've been messing with my head and still I can't get a hold of you. This time I want to fight and get inside that head of yours and prove it to you how much this is meant to be. How much we're meant to be. Over and Over again. Do not doubt me."
I froze. The world around me seemed to fade away. My heart pounded against her chest as I looked at him, my mind racing with a million thoughts. But none of them came even close to explaining what I felt at the moment.
