Time passed awkwardly as they stared at each other. The kind guy grew more and more nervous as people in the park became increasingly curious, seeing their awkward trio.
"Um, my name is Raj, and if you both don't mind, can we get on with it already?" Raj asked, reprimanding himself internally for stepping into the ring of these cats.
Observing Raj's evident discomfort amid the curious onlookers, Aishwarya offered a gentle smile while placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The contact number is right here on the ID card. If you're not feeling well, it's best to make that call sooner rather than later."
Raj flinched as he was caught off guard by her sudden suggestion. As a guy who got easily scared, he dropped his phone while feeling flustered, naturally.
Aishwarya and Sophie struggled to stifle their laughter while looking at him fumbling with his phone.
Their trembling shoulders and strange faces caused his red face to turn ripe as a tomato. Feeling ashamed, he desperately controlled his desire to bolt away from the scene.
Once Raj had retrieved his phone, he sneakily checked his reflection on the screen, thinking his face hadn't turned a shade redder than usual.
He attempted to dial the number without any blunder to show his composure, his hands, however, betrayed him with noticeable tremors.
Aishwarya looked at him, who was trying to act cool while trembling like a leaf stuck in a cyclone, adding to his embarrassment.
She sighed as she gently but forcefully took his phone away and flashed him an encouraging smile and a pat on his head. (She couldn't resist his cuteness.)
Meanwhile, Sophie looked at them strangely, wondering why she was still there.
According to her, Aunty looked like she was having fun, and the guy had the situation under control but Raj's tremors continued to worsen increasing the attention on him—umm, maybe not.
' Yeah, I am still here to control the situation. I am not worried about the guy at all.' She thought to herself while hardening her facial expression as she glared at the crowd near them.
While Sophie was trying to convince herself that Raj was just blaming his shyness and incompetence, Aishwarya had already dialed the number and was waiting for the call to be picked up when someone shouted, "Excuse me!" and ran toward her like crazy.
A strange man wearing a pink hoodie and khaki pants, with his shoulder-length silvery hair flowing in the wind, stopped near them and took deep breaths to calm his racing heart.
"Why did you run off? If you continue to run like this, your son is going to kill me." Just as he finished complaining, he took a look at her face and his face turned pale white in fear.
"Oh, my God! What kind of atrocious shit have you done to your face? Please tell me nobody clicked a photo of you. (He clicked one without telling her.) And you haven't called your son yet, right? RIGHT?"
Aishwarya looked at her son's friend Nitin, who had gone bonkers in panic.
Her eyes were filled with pity, but instead of trying to calm him down, she showed him the phone screen where his friend aka her son Kunal was waiting patiently to talk to him.
Nitin refused vehemently opting to run away as Aishwarya tried to force the phone on him. The reason was simple: she didn't want to hear her son nagging, and his friend was too scared and guilty to talk to him.
As they played the game of forcing the phone on each other, Sophie had already left. She could see the close bond of the crazy running duo, understanding that this matter was now finished.
Left alone Raj's trembling increased so much that he looked like a worked-up engine, he looked at Sophie's with tearful eyes.
But despite his fear, he didn't run away, making sure he wouldn't make the same mistake of trusting a stranger as he made years ago.
Meanwhile, the son on the phone waited patiently for his mom and friend's banter to end, as he already knew who was going to win this banter.
This wasn't the first time they were fighting like this, and their argument with some physicality involved meant that the situation was under control, and he could calm down.
The only problem now was that he had a shoot going on, and because of him and their banter, his shoot was getting needlessly delayed.
It didn't help that it was his first time shooting as a model, and the staff's red eyes were explicitly telling him to finish his business. But this was something he could manage, hopefully.
********
Back to the park,
Nitin and Aishwarya's game of tag continued, ending with Aishwarya winning the challenge after throwing Nitin on the ground.
A tired Aishwarya lay on the ground, her bountiful chest moving up and down as she took breaths to stabilize her breath.
Raj focused entirely on Aishwarya, hurriedly changed his line of sight as he couldn't handle her now sexy look.
'Buddha is merciful. Buddha is merciful.' He forcefully pulled his thoughts out of the sexy gutter and focused on god-related matters, trying desperately to change his blood direction.
Grinding his teeth Nitin looked at his friend's mother with his fists trembling in agitation. Her playful wink failed to calm his anger as she handed him the phone with a triumphant smile.
Looking at her jumping up and down while humming a song, he regretted going easy on her. As he put his phone in his ears he was unexpectedly met with a cussing voice
"You bloody bastard. Who were you busy fucking while she was wandering around." Nitin cut the phone triumphantly after forcefully making Aishwarya the villain.
Kunal, who was roaring in anger, was cut abruptly as his friend had cut the phone.
Kunal chuckled, his body shaking strongly as he put the phone down.
"Umm, Sir, are you okay, and is your mother fine?" The British photographer Meghan patted his shoulder, feeling concerned at his abrupt behavior change.
Kunal belatedly remembered that he was in the middle of a shoot and apologized profusely, as he assured that everything was fine with a wide smile.
Contrary to his angered self, he reassured the staff on the shoot smilingly with the upper button of his shirt opened, showcasing his sexy collarbone. The female staff nodded at his every word with flushed cheeks and dreamy eyes.
*****************
A few minutes earlier, when Nitin was getting admonished by his friend, he abruptly caught Aishwarya's hand and cut the phone with it, shouting at Aishwarya to not cut it.
Aishwarya was speechless as she looked at Nitin, who was smiling in triumph at his little ploy, she pitied his dumbness.
Even though he was saved for now, what about when they got back? Who was going to save him then?
Raj, who was still there, wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it as he stared at the eccentric duo, and the people in the park were speechless at their strangeness too, and this was wording it nicely.
Nitin, who took a second to realize that he had fucked up by cutting the phone, felt his breath hitch as his heart started to drum threatening to burst out of his ribcage.
Feeling the world blank out he collapsed, caught in Aishwarya's arms like a hero catching a falling heroine, as she gazed at him weakly he smiled weakly at her.
Aishwarya, while leaving the park, glanced at Raj, who was staring at the ground with his head bowed due to some guys he might or might not know surrounding him in a circle.
Raj's face hardened as he noticed the notorious group that had made his life a living nightmare approaching while licking their lips lasciviously, their eyes glinting with lips.
"Hey, do you have her contact number? I want to do her like I did your friend." The leader laughed as his little brother hardened at the ways he would do Aishwarya forcefully.
Hearing their question, Raj shook his head frantically.
' I won't let you destroy another life, never.' Raj thought as he hunched his shoulders hiding the knife in his hands.
As he noticed Raj's distorted expression, a glint flashed in his eyes. Fixing his spectacle, he gestured for his group to take Raj out of the crowd's eyes.
Raj's distorted expression slowly transformed as his eyes bulged and his face alternated between red and blue.
He was resolved to not open his mouth no matter what they did to him as the face of his despondent friend flashed in his mind.
It was at this moment when Aishwarya shouted for him, noticing that their interaction was not going well, and they kindly asked him to take them out of the park. (She understood that he was dying from all that attention. )