“Well, she knows we’re having it and she’s choosing not to be here. I’m the host, I need to be on that dance floor with my guests.” He flashed his eerily white veneers, a smile that didn’t even make it to the general vicinity of his eyes. “Do you know why this is a dandiya night? It’s the New Year, not Navratri. Why do you think I’ve gone through all this trouble to do more than gather people to eat miniaturized fancy food?”

“I don’t know.” Vansh threw another look at his phone. Come on, Knightlina!

“Because I like to dance. And no dancing is more fun than dandiya! I know you like to dance too. I saw you on the floor. No one moves like that unless they love it.”

“I do like to dance.” Vansh threw a glance around the floor, where the concentric circles of dancers had formed again and the DJ was about ready to send everyone off into spins. “This is such a great idea, by the way. Did you grow up with Navratri being a big deal?” Maybe he could distract Mehta for a bit and Naina would get his messages and turn up.

Mehta threw him a look he’d have thrown at a pathetic puppy who’d had a bad idea and was about to get kicked for it.

“Growing up I wasn’t allowed into the Navratri venues except to make sure the toilets were clean enough to not stink up the place.” He smiled as he said it, eyes angry, and Vansh’s gut twisted in that way it did when the unfairness of the world made itself evident.

The way Mehta’s eyes narrowed, it was clear what he thought Vansh could do with his sympathy. “So now, when I can enjoy a dandiya night because I made it happen, I don’t appreciate my time being disrespected. Let’s get this over with. We don’t need Naina for the meeting. It’s my money, not hers.”

Good thing Mehta made it hard to sympathize with him for too long. “Actually you’ve already pledged the money to Naina’s project, so technically it is her money, or at least her project’s money.”

“I love how noble you rich people think you are.”

You’re literally rich enough to buy everything my family owns a few times over, Vansh wanted to say, but he smiled.

Without waiting for a response, Jiggy turned and started walking. “You can fill Naina in later. If you can’t calm a woman down with that face, what good is it?”

With another desperate look at his phone, Vansh followed Mehta. Why wasn’t she here? He’d sent her twenty texts.