Chapter 4 Justin

• "Good morning everyone," Trisha greeted her family seated at the table having breakfast. Everyone returned her greeting. Trisha took a slice of toast and a cup of coffee and went to sit next to Steve. She had tossed and turned most of the night and badly needed the caffeine. She had tried to read a book, but all she could do was think about seeing Justin today. In the last five years, she had seen pictures of him on her brother's social media and she knew that he was even more good looking now than he had been five years ago. Whenever, she looked at his pictures, her heart alays skipped a beat. It did not help that her parents had left her room exactly the way it had been fives years agao and it had reminded her of the last night that she had spent there and all the crying that she had done. She had even tried listening to music, but she kept hearing those words over and over, until exhaustion made her fall asleep.
• "Is that all you are having? I made your favourite parathas." Her mum offered her one, but Trisha shook her head.
• "No mum. Toast is all I feel like having for breakfast right now." Just as she bit into her toast, the doorbell rang. Rakesh got up from the table to go open the door.
• "That will be my friends. They are going to help us take all the things to the venue." After hearing that, Trisha found it extremely hard to swallow the toast that was in her mouth. Was her day going to be spoilt so early? She had prayed that she would only see HIM at the party, where there would be lots of peope and she could avoid him for the whole night, but it seemed like the fates where not on her side.
• "Hey, are you okay? You look a little pale," Steve gently squeezed her shoulders. She couldn't look him in the eye, so she just nodded. She could hear voices in the passage and tried to hear if one of them belonged to HIM. but she could not make out the different voices. As the voices got closer, Trisha felt her hands tremble and her throat constrict. She swallowed the last bit of toast she had in her mouth. It felt like pieces of glass going down her throat.
• "Good Morning Kumar family," a couple of voices chorused together. Everyone seated around the table echoed their greeting except for Trisha. She was too scared to turn around and see HIM again. Her heart beat wildly.
• “Hey, guys this is Steve, Trisha’s friend and you guys remember my little sister Trish.” Trisha had no choice but to stand up and turn around to greet them. As she turned around to face them, she let out a sigh of relief. She only knew two of the five and HE was not one of them. Trisha said a silent prayer of thanks.
• “Oh my God Trish, you are all grown up and wow.” Trisha’s father cleared his throat to let them know he was around and Amith, blushed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. When he snuck a glance at his other four friends, he saw that they all had smitten looks on their faces. Akash, the other friend that Trisha knew cleared his throat and said, “Welcome home Trisha. We all missed you.” Rakesh gets up and stands in front of his friends.
• “Guys, this is my baby sister and that means hands off,” he warns them. They just nod. Trisha giggles at their expressions. She feels giddy with relief that she did not have to see HIM as yet.
• “Right everyone, mum, Trisha and I are off to the beauty salon. Khushi made appointments for us to get our hair, nails and make up done. We are meeting Khushi and Anisa there. So we will see you later,” Trisha’s mum announces as she gets up from the table. The men all groan.
• Justin POV
• “Oh, for f*** sake. Can this woman not get a hint? If I didn’t answer the other fifty calls that she made, what makes her think that I was going to answer this time,” Justin curses again as he flings his phone onto his bed. He was supposed to go help his best friend set up for a party tonight, but a work emergency came up and he had to go into the office to sort it out. He had joined his father and his brothers in the prestigious family law firm after graduating with his law degree. He enjoyed his job immensely, but his brothers and his dad still treated him like a child. He had worked really hard to get some of the big corporate companies as clients and he had to work twice as hard to prove to his father and brothers that he was partner material. His dad had promised that if he won this case, then they will make him a partner. He had worked very hard to get all the evidence and he knew that he will win this case next week and then he can take it easy and manage the clients that he had and did not have to work so hard to get more new clients. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was really looking forward to today’s party. Uncle Anil and aunty Sandra were like second parents to him. That was his second home, and he was always welcome there. But if this annoying woman was going to be there, then his entire night was going to be stressful and totally unbearable. He was hoping that she will find a new prey at this party and leave him alone. He needed to have a quick shower and then go to the venue and help his friend out. He felt really bad that he could not go earlier and help, but he knew that Rakesh understood that work always came first. The Kumars also lived by that philosophy and that is why they had one of the biggest accounting firns in the city.
• One hour later, Justin pulled up outside the venue that the Kumars had hired for the event. There were quite a few vehicles already there. He got out and walked in. The place was beautifully decorated, it looked like the inside of a palace. He looked around for a familiar face and spotted his best friend, Rakesh near the stage. Rakesh was dressed in a beautiful cream and teal Kurta. Justin was dressed in a black suite with a sky-blue shirt. He walked over to Rakesh and patted him on the back.
• “I am so glad you finally made it,” Rakesh gave him a brotherly hug and they both walked over to the section where the food was being set up along with a whole lot of delicious looking sweets, cakes and fried snacks.
• “Everything looks really good. The decorators did a fabulous job.” Justin commented as he looked at the food. Suddenly his tummy rumbled, and he remembered that he had skipped lunch. Rakesh laughed out loud and offered him a plate of snacks. Justin could not resist and helped himself to a few of them. He was really starving.
• “Hey, Justin, you finally made it,” Kyle, one of their friends tapped him on his shoulders. “This is Steve Hayden, Trisha’s friend,” Kyle introduces him to a good-looking man around his age. He was curious as to what attracted Trisha to this guy. He fondly remembered how Trisha used to have a crush on him. He did not know why he felt a little bit disappointed that she had a boyfriend.
• “Nice to meet you. Where is Trisha.” Justin looked around hoping to see her. He vaguely heard the response. It has been five years since he last saw her and was really curious as to how much she has changed or whether she looked the same. He still felt so guilty about the last time that he saw her.