Siya woke up to a shrill argument slicing through her deep sleep and she jerked upright in the bed. She pinched her nose bridge to shake off the sleepy fog and realised the sound was coming from the living room in the suite.
She rushed out of the bedroom and found Luv and Kashvi standing around the dining table, in full combat mode.
Luv flung his arms wide in the air. ‘You have such trashy tastes that I can’t even take your opinion seriously!’
‘Says the guy who cooed at a cheap rom-com last night after finishing up my entire emergency ice cream stock!’
It took a moment for Siya to relax her defensive posture and look around the table. Abhay sat at the end of the mahogany table, watching them argue with amusement. Meera and Raghav were next to him, shovelling breakfast from the wide spread of items.
Perched on the island counter eating an apple, Swayam said, ‘Hey! I suggested that movie and it was not a cheap one.’
‘And that’s why I will never again ask you to choose a pick for movie night,’ Kashvi retorted.
‘What are you guys doing here?’ Siya interrupted, and everyone turned to look at her standing at the door.
‘Siya,’ Kashvi said and threw a napkin at Luv when he was about to speak. ‘You gotta weigh in. These idiots are taking all the fun out of this competition with their stupid opinions.’
Meera rolled her eyes and teased Siya. ‘Abhay invited us all for breakfast. And don’t ask any follow-up questions unless you’re ready for chaos.’
‘It must be important enough if you had to wake me up that way. Did Luv steal someone’s power bank again?’
‘That reminds me, I want mine back,’ Raghav chimed in before resuming the game on his phone. Luv dismissed him with a swat of his hand.
Siya rounded the table and took the empty seat beside Abhay as everyone bickered. He smiled at her and the colour rose in her cheeks when she saw the hickey on his neck, peeking out from under his white tee. He caught her blush and smirked at her.
She playfully punched his chest and turned back to Kashvi. ‘So, what happened?’
‘I need time to hide the knives before you tell her. Either way, you’ll need this,’ Abhay told her and placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of her. The smell of roasted coffee beans and cream was like sunshine in a cup, and the heat chased away the last tendrils of sleep.
Kashvi barked a laugh. ‘Jiju is overselling it. Luv insists that your love story is enemies-to-lovers, I say that it’s childhood love, and Swayam here foolishly thinks it's unrequited love.’
‘Don’t forget, I voted for star-crossed lovers,’ Raghav offered, still not looking up from his phone.
‘Right! That too. So Di, which is it?’
Eyes flickering between them, Siya asked, ‘What? Whose love story?’
‘Yours and Abhay Jiju’s, who else’s? I know Swayam and Luv are both wrong and I’d love to witness you rip them a new one. Let’s get started.’ Kashvi enthusiastically clapped her hands. Swayam laughed at her antics, finding her adorable.
Abhay caught her bewildered gaze and raised his cup in sympathy. ‘I did warn you.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Siya mumbled.
‘Stop confusing her!’ Meera scolded them. Turning to Siya, she explained. ‘Luv found one of Kashu’s romance novels, and together with Swayam, finished it in one sitting. When PR began running your love story on social media and used #enemiestolovers, Luv supported it but these two idiots vehemently fought against it. Since then, it has become an everyday debate.’
Luv leaned forward, waving a piece of toast and spoke in between bites. ‘See, Kashvi’s argument is that your story is one of childhood love because Abhay liked you since he was a boy. But, in my opinion, you became enemies as soon as both of you were born into the Kashyap-Agrawal fiasco, so that makes it enemies-to-lovers. And Swayam’s reasoning is too stupid to consider so pick one between ours.’
‘I’d love to pick up a knife instead so I can stab all of you to my heart’s content,’ Siya smiled, showing her teeth, and Luv slowly leaned away.
‘I knew she’d threaten them with a knife, but they never learn,’ Abhay mumbled to Meera who nodded back in understanding.
‘In that case, you should know that all of us do agree on one thing that both of you represent. Grumpy x Sunshine.’ Kashvi smiled back with just as much edge.
‘Aww,’ Siya cooed.
‘Not you. Jiju is much more sunshine compared to your grumpy ass,’ Kashvi burst her bubble.
‘I’ll disown you,’ Siya warned, pointing her fork at her younger sister.
