C27 Cough**Cough! Did You Smoke???

"Cough**Cough! I...I need to go now." Anna knew what he was going to say further but didn’t want to listen to it so she stopped him in between. He was just smiling all the time looking at her red face. He too didn’t continue when she stopped him.

"Sure! By the way, I think you need to reapply the lipgloss as I licked it completely. It was tasty but.... not more than you." Asher said the last line in a flirty way.

She couldn’t find the words to beat his shamelessness and couldn’t help but frown. She then straightened herself up and started to walk out of that shade.

"Washroom is on the right side of the hall just follow that corridor." And pointed in the direction of the corridor far away to their left side.

She heard it but didn’t turn to look at him and dashed in that direction. She was walking as fast as she could without looking back at him. Asher was watching her retreating and had an ear-to-ear smile on his face which was very rare to see. His cute canines made it look very attractive. If there was any standard measurement to calculate the best smile, then he would have got 11/10. He was standing there with his hands tucked in his pants pockets. As she reached halfway, he too walked behind her but moved in the direction of the hall’s door through which he came out before. It was opposite where Anna went.

Anna reached the corridor. She stopped and looked back in the direction of the shade but couldn’t see Asher. She continued to walk while looking back in the direction of the shade, searching for him without realizing she was going to bump into someone. Just after a few steps, she bumped into a man. Her head got hit hard to his chin and she was about to lose balance but pair of two strong hands held her before she could fall.

She closed her eyes in anticipation to feel the pain of falling on the floor but to her surprise, her upper body was in the air with her feet touching the ground. She felt one hand around her waist and the other below her shoulders, slightly away from her neck. She opened her eyes and saw a pair of gray eyes staring at her face. She too stared back at him with her shocked eyes. She started to sniff as she smelled something while he was still holding her in his arms. She started to cough.

"Cough**Cough! Did You smoke? Cough**Cough! L...Let me go. Cough**cough!"

He helped her to stand up and she immediately got away from him rubbing her head where his chin hit it. She didn’t say sorry or thank you. She was still coughing and entered the woman’s washroom without looking back even once.

In the evening, Evan came to the venue with the whole family but alone in his car. Everyone went to the party hall and was busy attending to the guests but Evan picked one wine glass from the drink tray and got out of there. He headed in the direction of the lawn and went far away from the hall. He sat on the wooden bench which was long enough to accommodate two to three people. He sat there, silently sipping the wine from the glass. Time passed by just like that and he finished the wine in the glass slowly enjoying every sip of it. He put that glass on one side at the bench then took out the cigarette pack and a lighter from the inner pocket of his jacket.

As he was just about to pull out one cigarette from the pack, he heard the voice.

"Brother Evan! Why are you here? I was searching for you in the hall." That was Aiden, standing a few steps away from him with his cousin Wang Peng.

When he saw Aiden, He put the cigarette pack and lighter back in his jacket’s pocket and said, "It was suffocating there."

"But Brother Asher is also not there and you too are here. I am getting bored." Aiden said it with a sad expression.

Evan looked at cousin William with a questioning look to which Cousin William replied, "Asher hasn’t arrived yet."

Even then signaled Aiden to sit beside him. Three of them sat there and started to chat. Aiden was telling them about his new gaming beast and both were listening to it carefully and patiently. Cousin William too was telling them about some interesting and funny stories to which Aiden was laughing and Evan was having just a light smile on his face. As they were chatting, they could hear the sounds coming from the hall. The MC’s funny speech, cake cutting ceremony, and then the music.

After some time, Evan looked at Aiden and said, "You should go back to the hall. Asher must be there now. I’ll be there soon."

"Ok brother Evan." And Aiden and Cousin William headed back to the hall.

Evan got up from his seat and went to the tree which was close to the bench. He took out the cigarette and lighter again. He lit up one cigarette and stood under the tree resting his back on the tree trunk with his one leg bent backward. He was busy in his thoughts while smoking, finishing the cigarettes one after another. After some time he saw a girl in a pink dress, who was entering into the shade which was exactly opposite and perpendicular to him. That girl stood there with the support of the railing. She looked frustrated and was pressing her temples with her fingers. She was far away so he couldn’t see her face.

As he was observing her, a cigarette in his hand finished. He opened the cigarette packet again just to find out that there is none inside. He threw that packet into the nearby dustbin and headed in the direction of the washroom through the corridor. He wanted to get fresh before going back into the hall.

As he took a left turn to the corridor, just then Asher came out of the hall. Both missed each other by just a few seconds. Evan went towards the washroom and got fresh. When he got out of the washroom, his phone rang and he stopped in the corridor to attend to the call. It seemed like an important call, as this another ’man of few words from the Smith family spent a long time on it. He finished the call and was about to walk, but just then a girl bumped into him.

His chin got hit hard to her head. He held her involuntarily to protect her from falling. He was about to drop her down, as so many girls tried this kind of trick to get close to him but he couldn’t do that. He looked at her face. Her eyes were shut tightly with her lips pressed in a thin line. She was tightly holding his arms almost burying her nails in his skin.

As he was staring at her face, she opened her eyes. Pair of deep golden-brown eyes looked at him with shocked expressions. They were shining like bright stars in the night and looked innocent like the eyes of a scared kitten. Suddenly that girl started to cough.

She sniffed and coughed again then asked, "Did you smoke? L. Let me go. Cough**Cough."

He was stunned by her sudden and odd reaction, as he was busy admiring her face specifically her bright and innocent-looking deep golden-brown starry eyes.

Her reaction brought him back to his senses and he helped her to get up. She immediately got away from him while coughing and entered inside women’s washroom. He was surprised to see her reaction as she didn’t react like other girls. She didn’t say sorry or thank you and didn’t look back at him even once.