PreeRan OS : Straight From the Heart ! | Kundali Bhagya | Shraddha Arya | Dheeraj Dhoopar

 Sitting in a secluded corner of the Fable Cafe, Preeta stared at the text message in her phone for the umpteenth time.

Fable Restaurant

Be there by 8.

It's urgent! Tell no one.

Just umm be there

- Karan

'Are you trying to kidnap me?' She had texted him back right away. 

'This is important Preeta. Just be there!' He had replied.

She had gaped at his reply. Itna hi important hai toh call kar leta! She had thought as she had typed a firm NO. But then she had noticed that he had referred to her as Preeta, not psycho, not mental. Then this had to be really important to him. She had noted that he acknowledged her by her name only when it was absolutely important. She had erased her reply and sent him an 'Okay'

Now sitting at the very same cafe, she could not help but regret her decision. The audacity of that man. Had asked her to be on time and had not shown himself yet. Maybe he just wanted to make a fool of her. She had almost made up her mind to get up and leave, when he at last graced her with his presence.

"Hey There. How are you doing this evening?" He asked in his chirpy voice as he took the seat opposite to her.

After showing up an hour late, he had the nerve to be witty. "How do I look Karan? Actually how does a person who has been waiting for over an hour look like?" 

"I don't know. Yeh kaisi baatein kar rhi ho tum? I asked you to meet at 9." He looked down at his watch. "Adha ghanta upar neeche chalta haina." He said as he indicated the waiter to get the menu card.

Before she could correct him and give him a piece of his own mind, he spoke again. "Preeta yeh sab chodo na. What will you have?" He asked in a sugar coated voice and passed her the menu.

She scanned through it and settled on Cinammon Latte. His suddenly over the top sweetness had not gone unnoticed by her. She slightly lowered the card and gave him a suspicious glance. He was fiddling with the salt and pepper on the table, looking everywhere but at her.

"Karan tumhe kuch kehna hai mujhse?" She asked curiosity getting the better of her.

"Preeta i mcmcj bxbjdjd." She strained her ears as he mumbled something.

She leaned her upper body over the table, closer to his form. "I did not quite get what you said. Can you repeat?" 

He cleared his throat and looked down for a minute before he spoke again. 'Well this should be interesting i have never seen him this uncomfortable specially with a woman.' She thought.

"I need your help Preeta."

He was nervous, he wanted her help with this and he without a doubt had expected her to laugh at him, make fun of him.He was also ready to vow to never to irritate her, if it came to that. But Preeta did nothing of that sort. In fact she looked at him earnestly, silently urging him to continue.

"See I want to throw this surprise birthday party for bhai but I am failing to keep it a secret. He knows that something is up. He keeps questioning me and the other family members. But it's almost done, just last minute stuff is left. We are throwing the party tomorrow. If you could please take him out I don't know to a mall or something or whatever you feel that will make all of this seem less suspicious."

He had said all of this in one breath and she had to keep up with his lightening speed to hear and understand everything he said at the same time. She had only one question in mind. "But why me?"

He rolled his eyes as if she was questioning him something that was as obvious as a sunrise in the east."Because it's you Preeta. He trusts you and he wouldn't doubt your intentions. Just take him out for the day tomorrow and bring him to this place in the evening." He said with a sense of urgency and placed a small folded piece of paper on the table.

"Rishabhji ka birthday hai kal. Yeh bahut achi baat hai." She said as she picked up the paper. 

"Please say yes Preeta I just want to make him feel special."

She wanted to tease him and was going to make him plead but he had pretty much done that already. "Sure. Anything that i can do to help." she stated. She could sense by his demeanor that this was really important to him. She knew how much respect and love the Luthra brothers had for each other. She dint know why but she felt happy that Karan had trusted her with something that was so close to his heart.

He flashed her his million dollar smile and before she could react, there table was suddenly surrounded by his fans, mostly women asking for selfies and autographs.

"All this attention must be so overwhelming." She pointed out after he signed a few autographs, clicked some selfies and bid them goodbye.

"It is actually! Every time they come upto me, I feel special." He said as he noticed how sad she had suddenly become. "Arre itni upset kyun ho rahi ho? Obviously tumhe itni attention nhi milegi because you are not the star Karan Luthra but jitni normal logon ko milti hai utni toh milti hi hogi." He said trying to lighten up the situation. Little did he know that he had touched a soft nerve. 

"No not really." She said as she toyed with her duppatta. "I never had that kind of attention and love showered on me. All through my teens I was busy trying to make two ends meet. Probably because I never had the time. I was either studying or working. Taking care of Srishti and Papa was my utmost priority. I never experienced what it felt to have a man's attention. I started believing that I was not pretty anymore And-" She pushed back her tears and looked away as she realised that she had said too much. "I am sorry. I don't why I started talking about all---"

He took her hand in his own as her voice broke in the end. He was wrong when he had told her that she looked the most beautiful when she was scared. This Preeta, the vulnerable woman sitting right in front of her, this pure and transparent version of her was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

"You are wrong Preeta. You know nothing. Look around you. There." He said pointing at a table diagonally opposite to them. "The guy over there has been looking at you for quite some time even though he is out with his girlfriend." She wordlessly followed his gaze. "And look right behind me. A little to your left." He said as she titled her body to see. "That guy I am sure is shooting daggers at me because he is jealous that you are with me." He kept pointing until Preeta asked him to stop.

"Karan I appreciate you trying to make me feel good. Did it strike that all those people are looking our way because of you. Men are your fans too."

"Preeta look closely." He said urging her to look again and she did. She finally saw what he had been telling her to see.

Karan tugged her hand still encased in that of his to make her look at him again. "Un sabko chodo Preeta. Tumhe samajh nhi aa rha that I have been secretly stealing glances at you all night. You are beautiful Preeta, inside out. And the fact that you don't know that, just enhances your beauty. You don't need our attention to be beautiful, you just have to believe in yourself."

He did not care that he had just complimented her and openly told her that he had been secretly admiring her. He wanted her to see herself through his eyes and know what an angelic beauty she was.

Preeta was floundered. She was experiencing numerous emotions all at once. She was angry at herself for having blurted out her innermost inhibitions just like that and Karan, what was with him today. This was not the Karan she knew. He had not only understood her but also made her feel at ease.

"Shall we then?" He asked getting up. "I will drop you home."

She nodded and took his hand which was astonishingly reassuring. As she exited the cafe, she looked around at women, following his every move and particularly digging holes at the sight of their interlocked hands. She had been floored by his compliment. But maybe it was not that big of a deal for him. He was charming, he said and did things like these all the time to impress women. Maybe she should not take whatever he said that seriously.

"You definitely should take it seriously." He said voicing her thoughts. " I do go around giving compliments but this one." He said leaning down and whispered in her ear,"I truly meant it, straight from my heart." 

Her cheeks colored and she tried her best to avoid his gaze. To say that she was startled would be an understatement. She was completely dumbfounded.

"Ek aur baat." He said as they waited for the valet to get his car. "Ab yahaan khade rehke yeh mat sochna ki mujhe kaise pta ki tum Kya soch rhi thi. I may not know you properly yet, but I know you well enough to understand what is going on in that little head of yours." He said winking at her.

She gawked at him, truly speechless.

Writer : Natasha