Diamond Hearts (Volume I & II)

9. Celebrity?

"Are you serious?!" Elisha screamed.

Kuhoo withdrew her ear away from the phone "Okay... I know I should have told -"

"No, no, no. This is so cruel of you. My bae wasn't such a hideous human. How could you not inform me that he has been following you?" Eli turned the head sideways.

Kuhoo chuckled, "Stop acting so pricy. And don't expect me to say all those 'You look cute when angry, blah blah'. I'm sure Vihaan says more interesting stuff than me."

Elisha blushed covering her face. Surprised, Kuhoo quickly took a screenshot. She hadn't seen Eli turning this red for the longest time.

"Oh, my God! You guys are up to something, aren't you? I need all the details!" She laughed as her best friend gulped for a moment.

"Wait a second; don't try to change the topic. Dr. Chaturvedi, why did you hide it from me?" Elisha questioned.

Kuhoo sighed, "I didn't. We are talking today after last Sunday. I got know that he is the new owner of this flat next to me on Monday. I was going to tell you about it but I have been so occupied with -"

"Since when did we become busy enough not to give life updates to each other? There is a guy you randomly met in a club and offered you to sleep with him, you refused and then suddenly after sometime my best friend who hasn't touched alcohol in last four years was drunk. The same guy drops her home in that state and guess what the next week he is everywhere around. Don't you find it suspicious?" Eli gave a pointed look.

Kuhoo clicked her tongue, "Didn't you hear me? He bought it recently. Our equation has been a bit weird but... but he means no harm."

Elisha frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, although he has been eating my head the whole week, but Mahil is sweet. He helped me, twice. I didn't even thank him after the club thing you know, but still he cooked for me last night," Kuhoo smiled.

"Oh, so his name is Mahil. Let me talk to him, I guess, I couldn't make it clear earlier that -" Eli stopped for a moment and raised her eyebrows, "Wait, cooked for you? What does that mean?"

Kuhoo explained the scenario. Elisha's anger slowly subsided and sheer surprise took over her features. Her best friend talking animatedly about a guy felt delightful, although she sensed a trouble as well. I trust him. She refrained pointing them out again but Kuhoo's words from that night did ring in her mind. Perhaps, it was better to go with the flow.

Eli wriggled her brows, "Probably, this is the first time when a man entered your place. Eh, let me rephrase it, the first time when another human came to your residence. How do you manage to live all alone? Social life is no joke, darling. It is like a therapy, even for introverts, once in a while. And you weren't an introvert in the first place."

Lying comfortably, Kuhoo took the support of head rest, "People change, what I was back then and what I am right now, are two different things. All this is fancy and hectic. Our friends from med school would give so many things to work here in Chicago, earning this amount but I... You know what I wanted from life and staying miles apart from my country wasn't exactly in that list. Adi forced me to go for the first step of USMLE saying he would want us to be together during the post-graduation."

"That idiot always had a thing for work culture in foreign countries. But God really loves to test us. You got what he wished for and he is engaged to be married soon. Like you guys exchanged your dreams or something," Eli spoke in a flow only to stop suddenly, "Oh, sorry. I... How are you handling the news? I know we decided not to talk about this but still..."

Kuhoo nodded, "I'm okay. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. His engagement came to my mind only a few times during the whole week."

Elisha smiled, "That sounds like some progress. So, you don't think about that night anymore? Although you never tell me what Mr. Jyotiraditya Bharawaj exactly said for my girl to be drunk the first time in life."

Kuhoo sighed lowering the face, "It was a mad night. We both dreamt of a future together, right? It wasn't like I forced him to get married, then how did he decide to break it off alone? I was angry, hurt, all at once. A few things he said that night were such pathetic lies that my blood still boils when I think about them. He just needed reasons to get away. It hurts that such a man is a part of my past. I can't un-love. I hated him for a long time but I owe so much to him. If not for Adi I would have been broke both emotionally and financially. Of course, my efforts for this career growth count a lot but he believed in me back then when I didn't," Kuhoo paused and chuckled for a moment, corner of her eyes filling with tears, "You remember how Adi had taught us self-defence skills. Mahil was cursing my trainer the other day. It seems the trick still works."

"Did you try it on him?" Eli chortled as the memory of a fussed Adi teaching them self-defence techniques came to her mind. The man cared too much for her best friend; it was unfortunate that both had parted ways. She tried contacting him when Kuhoo was leaving the country but he completely avoided conversing with people related to his ex-fiancé.

"Thrice." Kuhoo laughed whole-heartedly.

"Interesting." Eli spoke in a particular tone and nodded as if asking the woman in front to elaborate more.

Kuhoo rolled the eyes, "What can I say? The man is such a cry baby. He throws tantrums, fights with me for no reason, takes an offence when I call him Mr. Malhotra, gives me reasons to almost suspect him as a pedophile, but then he comes up to explain things making me embarrassed and acts eh- cute at times?"

"I'm turning off the camera. What was his surname, again?" Eli said.

"Malhotra. Why?" Kuhoo frowned as the screen went black.

"To search for his instagram profile. It isn't every day that- OH. MY. GOD. This... Are you sure... I... What the hell is this?" Elisha was baffled looking at the search result.

"What's wrong?" Kuhoo asked.

"I sent you a screenshot. Is it the same guy?" Eli questioned.

Kuhoo checked the image sent by her best friend, "Yes, that's him. What happened?"

"His account... It has one million followers. That too with a blue tick," Eli found it difficult to close the wide open mouth.

"What?" Kuhoo sat up with a jerk.

"Two times Winner of Chicago dance championship. Runner up of LA dance battle. There is so much on his account. This guy choreographs for events, high class marriages and all," Eli scrolled through the mobile screen.

"Okay, that's too much to take in. He did tell me that he is a dancer but this is -" Kuhoo couldn't find the right words.

"Huge?" Eli suggested.

"I guess. Why does he live in a simple society? Although this is a rich locality but fine enough for celebrities, I don't think," Kuhoo wondered.

"This is weird. There is a celebrity living next to you and we didn't even know that he was one. Is this guy really popular or something? For a second I thought I came across a wrong account. He must be extremely down to earth to cook for you or it is possible that -" Eli stopped realizing the conclusion might scare her best friend, especially when she wasn't sure regarding the guy's feelings.

Kuhoo was about to say something when the doorbell rang, "Someone is probably at the door. I'll call you later then?"

She walked ahead to the living room after cutting the phone call and turned the knob. Mahil stood on the other side, holding his left hand meticulously in the right palm, "Do you have some ointment or anything?"

"Oh, come in," She further opened the door noticing a small amount of blood coming out of a cut on his index finger.

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