Opposites Attract

34.

When life hits you hard, lie down, take a break, re-energise yourself and start again.

°°°°

As soon as Aditya enters the main doors, the lights which were previously turned off, are turned on.

I hear hear shouts of happy birthday Sierra. Aditya freezes. The cheers soon die down too.

Uh oh. I rush quickly inside and find the hall beautifully decorated. Jacob, Noah, Ethan, Liam, Lena, Sophie are all here.

The atmosphere turns awkward before Lena starts laughing. "Bad timing." She says making us all laugh.

"Happy birthday Sierra." Jacob says and pulls me into a hug. I get a feeling that he is expecting a kiss so I pull away from him real quick.

Everyone hugs me and wishes me and last is Aditya. He keeps me close to him even after I pull away. Everyone gawks at us while I put on an awkward, hesitant smile.

Ethan brings the cake on a cart.

When he pulls the lid off, I find a messy sponge cake on which is written something like 'hapy bda Sera' with chocolate.

I laugh. "What's this?" I ask.

Liam slings an arm over Jacob's shoulder. "Lover boy made this." He says making me go pale. I put a finger on his lip signalling not to say anymore while Aditya is staring at the cake.

Liam arches a brow but accepts nonetheless.

"Really? Jacob? The man who always stay a good ten feet away from kitchen?" I tease.

"It may look.. like a disaster. But maybe it tastes nice." Ethan says making us laugh again.

"I tried." Jacob says, slightly embarrassed. I so wish I could kiss him right now.

"That's all that matters to me." I reply. Now this attracts Aditya's attention and I mentally slap myself. It was way too cheesy.

Noah comes to my rescue by bringing me a knife. I cut the cake and give a bite to everyone. After that the boys set the table. That is excluding Aditya while Sophie, Lena and I chat. I introduce them to Aditya who charms them almost immediately.

Did I tell that Sophie has moved in with Ethan? After their long heated arguments, and almost break up, Sophie realised Ethan means more than anything to her. She is still pursuing her modelling career but is keeping it more low key now.

The Perez mansion is under renovation so Lena is staying with Liam for the time being while Mr and Mrs Perez are having kind of a world tour.

The two of them have been driving me crazy. They fight almost everyday and come here soon after and complain about each other. Most of the time I put on my headphones.

Over the dinner table I introduce Aditya to Liam and Ethan as well.

"Tell us about some stupid things Sierra did when you guys were little. She is so mature that it's unrealistic sometimes. I really want to know that she was not always like this." Lena says to Aditya.

He smirks. "No she was not. She was the silliest girl I've ever known." He replies.

I cover my face with my hands. "You are not doing this. You are my best friend." I say.

"No. We want to hear." Liam supports his sister.

I sigh. Aditya smiles triumphantly. "She was very careless as a kid. Always loosing her hair clips and head bands and all. So once her mom bought a really pretty and expensive headband for her and she lost it at my birthday party. That night she refused to leave my house. She was crying and crying as my papa tried to take her back home. She stayed at my house the night and the next morning her dad coaxed her to go with him."

This earns laughs and chuckles from people. My cheeks turn hot.

"Did she ever had an intense crush on someone?" Sophie asks.

"I hate you all." I say. They ignore me.

"Oh she did. Wasn't it seventh grade Saras?" He asks rhetorically. How does he still remember that? I nod. "So there was this far far away cousin of hers. He was four years older than her and they met at a wedding. She liked him from day one. They met two or three times after that and her crush intensified. She stalked him on Facebook and used to write imaginary love stories in which she and him would be the main characters and see his picture every night before going to sleep." He concludes.

Everyone has a good laugh and my cheeks burn like never before. "Kill me now." I murmur. Then I glare at Aditya. "I hate you so much."

He takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it. "You know I love you." He replies. The atmosphere shifts once again.

I can feel Jacob's glare on our linked hands.

"So.. seeing her after all these years. How do you feel?" Lena asks. She is not helping.

"Happier than I ever could be. I cannot describe the feeling." He answers.

"It's so sudden. Why now and why so suddenly?" Sophie asks.

Aditya sighs. "I was hoping to disclose it tomorrow but I guess I have to do it now." His eyes meet mine. "Your uncles have arranged our roka Saras."

I cough on the food I was eating. Aditya rubs my back.

"What does it mean?" Noah asks.

"It.." Aditya starts but I cut him.

"It means they are arranging our marriage." I tell.

A pin drop silence falls like a blanket in the hall. Jacob abruptly gets up and leaves the hall. I get up too.

"Let him be Sierra. You know his anger. Let him cool down for sometime." Liam suggests.

I sit down with a sigh. This is getting more and more complex.

"But it won't be happening anymore." Aditya breaks the silence.

"What?" I ask.

"Our roka. I came here to take you back to India for it but I see you are already engaged."

My face pales. "How.."

He holds my left hand. "The ring is pretty hard to ignore. And the way you and Jacob look at each other tells the whole story." He gets up too. "But I am disappointed in you Saras. You should've told us. Your uncles have been looking for your groom for almost an year. They will be so disappointed. More than I am. I never expected this from you." He too leaves the hall.

But while Jacob went upstairs, he goes out of the house.

I sigh and bury my face in my hands. "I messed up."