Chapter 9: At the Duke's

Saniya then saw two security guards coming towards them, and she got frightened again. She suspected that Arjun must be boasting in vain and the guards would stop them to check the entrance passes, but she was surprised to find that the guards indeed greeted Arjun as though he was their boss, and they also welcomed her! "Welcome to our pub madam," one of them said, clearing the crowd in between to make way for them.

The staff inside arranged a special couch for them to sit and also asked her very politely, "What would you like to have mam?"

"No thanks, I don't want anything now" replied Saniya.

"Make yourself comfortable, this is really my own pub; please order for whatever you would like to have. You are my special guest; do not worry about the bill, they are not going to charge anything from you. Just feel free and order something for both of us... today I will have my drinks as per your choice" Arjun said to her.

Saniya was cheerful now, "O really? Then please bring two shots of Tequila for me and also whatever is Arjun's favourite, which he prefers usually."

The staff bowed down, "Sure mam...... give me a second, it will be there on your table mam........."

Meanwhile, Arjun's friends came up to meet them. Arjun introduced Saniya to all of his friends.

Saniya asked him, "You told me that you are running this pub with another friend, who is that partner?"

Arjun said, "Oh yeah! Hey where is Pooja..?" he asked others and instantly the lady came forward. "There she is...... my dearest friend Poo.... the night queen of Dukes" Arjun introduced her. He gave a friendly hug to Pooja and this made Saniya uncomfortable!

All his friends sat on the chairs around them while Pooja sat next to Arjun, on the same couch. She was getting closer and closer to him gradually and was also holding his hand, and they were laughing away all the time as Arjun was cracking jokes. Arjun too had put his hands around Pooja's shoulders and both were enjoying the drinks together.

When Saniya noticed this intimacy, she started feeling possessive for Arjun. Her behaviour made it very obvious as she started to pull him towards her. She was also trying to interrupt in between, in order to catch his attention and she kept staring at him so that he would look at her.

At one moment when Arjun happened to look into her eyes and was also holding her hand casually, she felt like melting in his warmth; there was sweat on her forehead, even though the place had a centralized air-conditioned system.

On observing this Arjun asked her, "what happened? Are you fine?"

"Yeah, I am........." Saniya replied blushing.

"Then sit comfortably, they all are my friends; just be relaxed as they are all very good. You must try to mingle with them, I will be back in few minutes...." he commanded and went away.

Saniya got anxious, "Where are you going, leaving me alone here...?"

"I am not leaving you alone; you are with my friends. Have fun, I will be back soon..." Arjun and Pooja both stood up and moved towards another room in the pub.

Many doubts started cropping up in Saniya's mind, about Arjun's relationship with Pooja. She asked one of his friends 'Karthik, where exactly are they both are going??" Karthik told her that they both were going to the smoking zone as inside the pub area smoking was not allowed.

Saniya asked again, "do they both smoke??"

Karthik replied coolly, "yes of course they do"

"As for Arjun, it is fine but what about Pooja? Does she also smoke??" she looked astonished.

Karthik answered her, "yes she does smoke whenever she feels to do so"

"Oh! Is Arjun, a chain smoker....?" she asked Karthik who replied again, "Not really, but sometimes yes when he is drunk."

Then after a pause, she asked him again, with some hesitation though, "Don't mind me asking this, what the relationship between Pooja and Arjun is?"

"They both are very nice friends and good business partner too," he informed.

Saniya was getting inquisitive, "apart from this, whether they both are committed to each other?"

"I don't have any idea about it.... I am his manager so they hardly share anything personal with me" he explained.

Saniya could judge that Karthik was hiding something from her; she tried to put pressure on him by asking whether Arjun loved anyone.

Karthik looked at her with a smile and said; "I don't know about Arjun, but I am single and I will let you know all about myself if you are interested to know me."

Saniya got irritated at this, as she actually wanted to know more about Arjun. She went to the bar counter and ordered another shot, and then again and again, she went on with more number of Tequila shots. She wanted Arjun to come out of that smoking room as she was getting impatient. Due to that stressful state, she consumed so much of Tequila; she was not in her senses now and happened to ask Karthik for a dance. She was not behaving properly as she had drunk heavily. She was not even enjoying her dance with Karthik, in her mind she was thinking about Arjun. Her eyes were continuously searching for him.

Finally, Arjun came out and started dancing with her. Saniya moved closer to him. Her behaviour showed her fondness for him and that she liked him from the depth of her heart. In such a drunk state, she was about to kiss his cheeks, but that very moment she realized that it wasn't Arjun but actually Karthik!! She had been dancing with Karthik and not with Arjun, all the while. She got frustrated and went to drink more pegs!

She then noticed a couple on a sofa at the corner of the pub, enjoying under the cover of darkness. She walked towards them and was shocked to find that Arjun was romancing Pooja secretly there, in the dark. She got tensed and went closer, with the intent to separate them apart, but then she found that it wasn't Pooja and Arjun at all! She felt much relieved then.