A tired, sloppy yawn escapes my mouth as I rub my eyes. Blinking a few times I open my eyes, the dryness in my throat still evident. I run my hand through my hair and fix them a little. Holding the shoulder of my shirt I pull it up, she didn't even allow me to change from my pajamas

I don't understand why I am up early in the morning at sharp 5 am. Jasmine woke me up with a banging on the door and now here I am sitting on the couch of our backyard.

The morning is cool and pleasant, as the sun slowly rises from the horizon covering the skies in golden color. As beautiful is this view, I would rather watch it from my room instead of coming in the open

Jasmine stands in front of me at a distance of a few feets she has a whiteboard set while she draws her family tree.

It's a never ending family, more like a whole town that she is describing

Her hand moves across the white board scribbling in a rough manner as she draws a flow chart. Taking a sip of her tea from her favorite mug, which is cat shaped. Her hair set in a neat long braid, not missing a single strand to make her look shabby or uncomfortable in this weather

She is in her casual clothes, an oversized t-shirt and some printed pajamas. I am a type of person who likes organized things, seeing this mismatched attire gives me a ick. My eyes trail down to her feet, that pink fluffy slippers she is wearing that has some kind of rabbit ears gives me a headache

Why can't she wear a whole set?

She suddenly turns towards me and I straighten my posture to hide the boredom I have been feeling. She tosses a notepad towards which just hits my chest and fall to my lap "opps?" She says in a half sincere manner

"You could have gently passed it to me" I mutter while opening the book and grab a pencil from the coffee table before she throws it in my eye

"Okay, now listen properly and you gotta remember everyone" Jasmine says while tapping the back of the marker on the board, I can see the sleepiness in her eyes yet she is concerned

"First one is my dadi, my Paternal grandmother. Her name is Radha Singhania, she is now old and her memory is a bit weak but she is really active physically. She is sweet but strict when it comes to discipline. Remember to respect her and listen to her. Always!" She starts explaining, emphasizing the words when she talks about respecting her Grandma

I nod understanding it, and respect the elders. I scribble it down on the paper as she moves down. I wanted to ask about her grandfather but when I notice that she hasn't drawn him, I know he is no more. It's better not to mention it again

"My grandmother has 3 kids, my uncle, then my father and the my aunt" She says while circling three names

Vinod Singhania, Vikas Singhania and Indu Verma

"First my father, He is the chairman of Royal Crest. They are a 5 star hotel franchise in India. My papa is like water, calm and peaceful but don't do talk bad about any of his family or else that water can turn into a tsunami" she explains and takes a sip of her tea

'be careful around her father' I note down in my book

"My mother, Roshni Singhania, is very much a mother. Sweet, gentle, caring and loves feeding you" Jasmine speaks, a small smile forming on her lips but a bittersweet one. As if she misses her

"So can I expect to be fed well?" I ask in a teasing tone to divert her mind. Her head snaps at me, eye narrowing "Yeah maybe, aapki bahut acchi khatir dari hogi" she replies with a mischievous smirk making me suspicious

[Translation - You will be taken very good care of]

What does that mean?

Before going to India, I should buy a dictionary

She quickly turns away and writes down the name 'Veer singhania'

"He is my brother, cold, strict, unfriendly. He knows that we are just fake dating but be careful of him, he isn't your fan" she mutters setting her mug down and looking for my reaction

I raise my eyebrow in surprise "why? Did you snitch about me to him or something?"

Jasmine scoffs while crossing her arms "I didn't need to, after what my mother and sister say and conveyed to him. He already has some 'opinions' about you "

I sigh, letting my head fall back, resting on the backrest of the couch. I was too angry and impatient that day to realize what I did, but it's not my fault completely. I had no idea that her family was watching us over the video call. If i didn't react that way, this fake dating thing would have never happened

Is that an advantage or disadvantage?

At least I get what I want but there's still so much to pay for that

Her hand grazes over my face and snaps, the sudden action makes me flinch and lift my head up. She stands before me, as I am sitting which makes her shadow caste over me "focus, because you gotta memorize all or else forget about painting" she says giving my forehead a gentle push with the marker

What was that for?

I scoff rubbing my forehead and lean back against the couch watching her walk back to the board. Her braid sways with each step she takes, how can she even maintain her hair like that?

Another yawn escapes my mouth and I stretch my arms trying to wake up. I wanted to get myself a black coffee because it would help me function properly but she didn't allow it saying we have no time to waste

It's true because we have another exam tomorrow and gotta prepare for it, so it's better to wrap things up quickly

"Next is my uncle, he is also the chairman of Royal Crest but in the North. He sometimes visits us and for the wedding he will be present for sure" Jasmine says, a small frown of annoyance lingering on her face while she circles his name three times "Never ever even by a joke or mistake say that this is a fake dating agreement. He will create a war"

her attitude changes to a serious one while she speaks of her uncle, I can guess her relationship with him isn't good

Watch out from the uncle noted

"Next is my aunt, she is like a cow, all innocent. She is too devoted to her husband that she would do anything for him. Still doesn't mean she can be taken lightly" Jasmine says "Then their twins, Kunal and Nikhil my cousins. They are identical in such a manner that even their brains think the same way"

Drawing two small circles and then adding a few lines to it, she names them as her cousins. The weird figurines she used to refer them was quiet not necessary and they look like stick dolls

"You can be friendly with nikhil but not Kunal, that guy is a carbon copy of his father" She mutters with a grumpy face "they fight sometimes but these brothers got each other's back so don't be too friendly nor ignore them completely" she adds

"Like I am even interested" I sigh, taking it down on the notepad. Her expressions change in the swiftness of lighting while she says the biography of her family members.

The hesitation and secrets are clearly evident in her words. The way she stops herself while talking about a few members of her family, contemplating the words to say them or not

I know she is hiding something. My curiosity has never been this high about something or someone. No matter how much I wanna ask her, I know it would only give me snappy responses

I don't know how this will work out

How we will work out?

I am aware of her hatred towards me. Due to my past actions and misunderstanding that has led to a bitter feeling towards me. I don't blame her nor do I reciprocate that hate

I might dislike her presence or the unluck i have received due to her. But hate is a strong word, I do feel it towards someone but not her. Maybe my teasing and comments have made her feel more butter towards me.

I didn't realise why I had grown fond of her reactions when I riled her up, maybe because I was able to speak out myself without being judged?

Charlie sits beside me on the couch . I am surprised that he is awake early in the morning. I don't know what habits that wildcat put in him that he wakes up early yet he sleepy the whole day and then too active at night

As the time passes, the sun slowly starts moving up to the sky making it brighter. The chirping of birds can be heard more clearly and a few of them are flying around too.

I turn the pages to write down everything she explains about her family, especially the important points. Whom to stay away from and whom to get close with. In between she also mentions a few culture and traditions that I have to remember when I meet her family

How to say hello and all

My eyes drift over to her face, the small hair strands falling on her eyes which makes her blink. The sunrays falling upon her face creating a new texture, half of it under the shadow and her side profile on display. The golden hue mixing her skin tone to a new one

Her complexion differes according to the lighting and that's the most fascinating part

I still haven't figured out the perfect colour combination for her complexion, maybe it will happen when she is right in front of me

Turning another page I decide to draw out a sketch of her face structure. This notepad is too small for the whole body sketch but right now I can work with some of it

Keeping my eyes on her, I slowly glide the pencil on the paper. Creating an outline of her eye first, how her eyes are doe yet have the hint of leave shape. The sharp ends of her eyes that makes her look indicate when she glares. Her eye colour is a mix between dark brown and cocoa that I can't catch due to her constant body moments

I take my time studying her features to draw them perfectly, the way her eyes glimmer and the way her lids open and close as the light strikes her vision. She steps away to reach out of the way where sunrays fall

My concentration grows when the noise of birds and trees fades away and I could only focus on the scraping against the paper. My attention is being focused solely on the sketch instead of her words, my eyes flickering at her and back at the paper

My hands seem familiar with her contour, the ease I take to shade her eye. My gaze trail down to her lips, the light reddish pink texture. Her soft fullness of lower lip and the upper one being too similar to match a cupid's bow

The pencil traces down the shape of them, she talks her lips opening and closing with each word uttered through them

For a second her eyes meet mine and my hand pauses, she is a bit far to notice what's drawn in my book. She tilts her head to the left slightly as if she is figuring out something. I keep my expressions neutral "what happened?"

She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly "nothing, so as I was saying..." her words trail off when she turns around and scribbles more on the board.

I had to stop because I couldn't see her face anymore. Letting out a sigh I glance down at the incomplete sketch. a wave of confusion takes over me when I realise what I just did

Why was I sketching her instead of listening?

I shouldn't be

I should be focused on something else yet got diverted. As if my hand was moving on its own and I didn't have much control. I didn't even realise it was 7am already, time passes like a breeze of air. I was too occupied to notice

My fingers grip the edges of the notepad and I sit straight, my gaze intense on her drawn features. The question is still lingering in my mind asking why I would do that

Suddenly, Charlie's paw is on the paper pulling me out of my thoughts. I glace to my side to see him keeping his paw on the sketches, despite his claws he seems to be more careful with the paper. With a slow motion he brings down his paw from top to bottom as if he caressed it

"Like it?" I ask in a soft tone. Charlie acknowledges my words and looks up at me, with a small meow he responds. An unknown smile forms on my lips, maybe with pride or satisfaction

✄-------

"I didn't see you at University today, what happened?" I ask on the phone held against my ear as I lay down on my bed. The mattress dipping with my weight and eloping me in a soft embrace

A soft sigh escapes my mouth when I feel comfortable after spending a heatic day. From Jasmine's long lesson about her family, then attending my classes and finally completing my studies

"I..hm I had work?" Loren says in a sheepish tone. I haven't seen him yesterday nor today, for some reason I have been finding his behaviour quite suspicious. Not just yesterday or today, this has been on for a couple weeks now

I decided to call him and confront him about his disappeared and yet again he is being secretive

I scoff rubbing my forehead "you are being really suspicious now a days. What's going on?" I ask, trying not to sound too demanding. Of course he can do whatever he wants and keep things private but shouldn't lie atleast

I hear him sigh from the phone, from years of experience I know he is going to say something

"I am dating someone that's all" he blurts out taking me by surprise. I get up and sit on the bed processing this information. It's not like he haven't dated before but this was quite random and after so long. "Oh, that's a news to be heard. Who is it?" I ask

After a few seconds of silence he speaks again "someone from our university. I will tell you soon, gotta go now"

"Wait-" before I ask him further he just hangs up. I scoff and look at my screen in confusion and surprise. Okay he is dating someone from our university but what's up with the rushing and muting?

Anyways, that's his choice

It's 9pm right now and before going to sleep I could revise a bit to stay updated. I get up and walk over to my desk to study but a notification on my phone grabs my attention. I sit at my desk and look at the screen to see some message from Instagram

As I open the app, I find a random dm request from an unknown person. I usually don't like answering them so I decide to ignore it. As I was exiting the app, I pause when something familiar catches my eyes

I frown and go back to the app and open the explore page and click on the reel which grabbed my attention.My eyes widens slightly when I realise my doubt is true. Leaning against my chair I watch the reel which ended on my explore page and nearly reaching a million views?

It's Jasmine's

She is dressed in another one of her traditional outfits if I could guess. A light blue crop top and a long embroidered skirt with delicate work of sparkles. A long scarf draped on her shoulder and attached to the back of her skirt. Yet it's not revealing but something else

A bit more captivating than it seems

Her wavy hair flowing down reaching her waist. With not much jewellery she keeps her makeup chic.

Some Bollywood songs plays in the background and she lip sync to it while showing her outfit. Playing with her dupatta gently or giving a half twirl flaunting her figure

A soft smile dancing in her lips as she continues, her eyes sparkles with happiness like she enjoys this very much. The blue colour matching her brown eyes contrast flawlessly

Despite the reel ending I could help but continue to watch it a couple of times. Observing her every moment and expressions. Smiling to myself throughout it

My eyes flickers to the amount of likes and comments this particular post have gained

Well I am not surprised

My fingers hovers over the heart icon, contemplating to like it or not. Will she know? Her reel has already gone viral and gained thousands of likes, mine will get mixed and she wouldn't notice?

But why do I wanna like it?

Letting out an annoyed groan, my finger presses on the screen unconsciously. I jerk in panic but luckily I didn't like her post but clicked to the comments section. I sigh in relief but that fades when my eyes fall on the comments flooding in her posts

There are like thousands of them spamming through the comment section. And each of them complimenting her. A frown forms on my face and I lean forward, gripping the phone tightly I scroll through them

Reading each of it

'you are beautiful'

'damn why didn't I notice a beauty like you?'

'Blue suits you, it's my favourite colour too'

'wow, so this is called mesmerizing'

'Beautiful, gorgeous , stunning '

I scoff escapes my mouth in annoyance and disbelief. Reading all these flirty comments from men who couldn't hold themselves back. Seriously? Do they have nothing else to do or what? Writing all these cheap things thinking they have a degree in rizzing someone

I couldn't help but roll my eyes and start reporting them. Especially the onces who are desperate to sneak into her dms. There are like a thousand of them but I have plenty of time to report on these useless people