Note:Lots of hints in this one. Post your guesses in the comments sections, I would like to see how many of you see the hints in this chapter :)
Chapter 22: The cosmos conspires with a little help from friends and loved ones.
"Guys shall we have ice cream?I could do with a fudge sundae" said Saumya. "Really Sumo??after all that dinner you want ice cream?Honestly there won't be enough chairs in this house to fill you soon!" said Rudy. "Shut up Cry Baby!" said Saumya with a punch to Rudy's bicep. "Hey watch it!" said Rudy and danced out of her reach. "Children please, behave!" said Om. "Om bhaiya, firstly this is our girls night, Rudy gate crashed and now he is interfering with our ice cream plans!" complained Saumya. "Well, it is not really girls night till Lady Baba comes, is it?, good job ignoring her btw!" said Rudy. "Well, we did not ignore her..." began Saumya, "Actually, she called just now to let me know she will get here a little after 11 PM and to inform Shivay of the same!" supplied Prinku. "Great then!" chimed Rudy seizing on the opportunity, "You guys hang out with us, till she comes and then continue your girls night!" he said. "Sounds fair to me!" said Om, "Besides, I could do with some sensible conversation" he said looking towards Mallika and Anika. "No!!" screamed Rudy, "No please NO!" he said. "Yes of course, sensible according to Rudy is spelled with a C" sneered Saumya now, "How can anyone be sensible around Cry Baby?!" she mocked. "Guys, you really need to stop! Now!" said Mallika, with some authority. "I know, why don't we play some game till Tia comes along?" said Anika. "Great Idea!" chorused the gang.
"But what do we play?" began Prinku. "How about Monopoly?" asked Anika. "NO!!!" screamed the rest. "O..OK!" said Anika looking rather confused. Sighing, Om began to explain "You see, monopoly is played rather realistically in this household by Mr Oberoi and Shivay. When we were kids, we played with the British board and Shivay used to get all revved up by the game. One day after beating Mr Oberoi by a margin off 1000 pounds and 2 hotels, Mr Oberoi got so happy that he bought hotels in all the places Shivay won on the game in real and gifted it to him!. The same happened with the Indian and German boards." "Yeah and if that wasn't enough, Shivay tried teaching us business strategies with that game and ruined it for me forever!" added Rudy. "OK, OK, I know, how about Jenga?" said Prinku, "NO!" screamed Rudy and Saumya in unison, "Mallika didi will start about structural integrity, and Om bhaiya about art!". "Hmpf!" was all Mallika said. "Well then, what do we do?" sighed Prinku. "You know, one advantage of not having so many options for Sahil and I was that we would fall back on the classics!" catching the clueless looks on their faces, Anika added "Lukka Chuppi!". "Perfect!" squealed Saumya immediately, "The mansion is big, we have many places to hide!". "Yes!!" agreed Prinku and Rudy in unison. "Ok!" said Om, "But lets stay away from Dadi's quarters, I don't want her to be disturbed. Shivay.." he began, "Oh we can leave the Bagaad Billa out of it!" said Anika. "Ok!Anika didi, you are so cool! Great idea!But the house is big, so lets partner up! Sumo with me!" said Rudy dragging a rather pleased Saumya towards him. "Ok! Om with me!" said Mallika, passing Om a rather knowing look. "Ok! Anika with me!" squealed Prinku. "Ok, Rudy and Saumya, why don't you guys seeks first? Give us a 10 minute head start and then start looking!" said Om. "Ok!" agreed Rudy and Saumya. "Lets go then!" said Prinku as she pulled Anika with her.
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"That was neatly done" said Om to Mallika once they were safely away from the others, "Spill. What is it that you want to talk about?" he asked. "I am worried for Shivay. I hoped that he loved Tia and hence the wedding, but it is evident that he does not. I assumed once the initial awkwardness of the arranged marriage set up wore off, his feelings for her would have developed, but I can see it is not so." she gushed. "Oh and while there is that, how is that Anika called him Bagaad Billa and she lives? Why did he not kill her yet?" she asked.
"Ok, first, I agree with you. Shivay does not love Tia. I don't think she does either. She wants to marry him though. I don't think Shivay will listen to either of us about this. All he sees is money, mergers and a mirage of a marriage. With Anika, though. It is a little complicated. Trust me, she does lots more than call him Bagaad Billa and gets away with it. She has him believing that she is an unqualified event planner. In her words, he is right, she is an unqualified event planner. But that she is a very qualified lawyer is a fact lost on him to her immense joy." said Om.
"Wow really?" asked Mallika, genuinely surprised. "Also Mallika, Dadi, Rudy and I know that there is something there between them. I mean, he is not Shivay around her. He lets her call him names and openly challenge him, and he goes out of the way to convince her that he is right. She began making fun of his espresso habit and to make her appreciate the beverage he had her sampling some" continued Om. "No way!!" said Mallika. "Yeah and you know what she did?she didn't like the taste of it and reflexively spat it out on his shirt" said Om. "Oh dear lord!" said Mallika. "Yet she lives and breathes!" said Om.
"Om if this is true, then there may be something here. Shivay and I share a beautiful relationship that of friendship and love. I wish and really hope he finds true love. If I can help him there, it will be great!" said Mallika. "Really?" questioned Om quietly. "Yes, I know what you are thinking, and if Sid and I loved each other any less you would be right. Maybe, if you had asked me few years ago about this I would have answered you differently. But no, I will not be jealous of the girl whom Shivay loves. I will be positively happy. If I get any hint that the girl could be Anika, I will do my best to nudge them on that path. I will not meddle though, I want Shivay to fall in love and experience all it has to offer on his own." said Mallika.
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"Sumo you know that O and Mallika didi are discussing something right?" asked Rudy once he was alone with Saumya. "Yeah and I think I know what they are discussing.." said Saumya. "About Shivay bhaiya right?and maybe Anika didi?" asked Rudy. "Wow dumbbell, you are not so thick after all!!" exclaimed a rather astonished Saumya. "Oh come on Sumo, I am not stupid. Besides thats whats on all our minds. I have a plan actually, which will be much better than O's" said Rudy. "Umm... what?" asked Saumya genuinely intrigued. "Well, we get Shivay bhaiya to talk to Love Angel!" exclaimed a delighted Rudy. "To WHOM??" spluttered Saumya. "Love Angel, you know our on campus RJ??" said Rudy. "Umm.. but Rudy, seriously? she is a student, some one young, she doesn't have the maturity for bhaiya!" said Saumya. "Wait, how do you know she is a student and is young?" asked Rudy, "Our campus radio station is not exclusive school property, plus Love Angel logs in remotely. Do you know her?are you holding out something?" demanded Rudy. "No" lied Saumya quickly. "Dumbbell somethings are obvious, besides, why her?" asked Saumya rather quickly before Rudy could ask more. "Well, she helped with Bhavya and Bhavya was a tough nut to crack. Just like Bhaiya is. Also Bhavya is older so if she could help there she can help here." stated Rudy.
"Umm" was all Saumya managed to say. How could she let Rudy know that she knew who Love Angel was. That it was her plan that helped Love Angel bring Bhavya and Rudy together. She would have to distract Rudy and subtly so. She would thank her stars later, from distraction came through Tia. *******************************************************************
Anika and Prinku oblivious to the fact that they were the only ones playing the game, made a beeline for the choicest of hiding stops. "Anika, the Terraces are perfect. No one comes here, Oh shoot!" said Prinku frowning now. "What happened?" asked Anika. "Tia is trying to get through Bhaiya and is failing. She wants me to relay a message. Like I have nothing better to do!" pouted Prinku. "Hang in here! will be back in a flash!" said Prinku and rushed out towards Shivay's library.
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Recognizing the knock to be Prinku's Shivay asked her to come on in. "Bhaiya for God's sake, can you not answer Tia?" began Prinku in irritation, "She wants you to know when she is getting here. We both know it means she wants you to be out there in the front to welcome her in and that she is too scared to tell it to you, hence she uses me!" one look at Shivay and the irritation was gone quickly replaced by nervousness. "What I mean to say bhaiya is..." began Prinku as Shivay held his hand up to stop her. "How much of this outburst is because you don't approve of Tia, and not because you don't like playing messenger?" asked Shivay point blank. "Bhaiya, I am sorry. I just don't know. I don't know if you love her. Yes, I know what you think about love, but there is something missing between you guys. I know you think I am a kid, but see Mallika didi said stuff too. Stuff I agree with and" she added giving Shivay that look, "We know you don't think Mallika didi is stupid" she finished.
"Well anyway," she added before Shivay could get a word in, "I will get Tia, we will be by the Terraces, do come down and greet her!" she said and flashed him a smile before walking out.
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Mallika seriously knew how to mess people's heads!, thought Shivay. What is this big deal about Love anyway? he mused. What does it even mean?. If anyone asked him, marriage was a sham and weddings were pageantry. I mean come one, he thought, look at Bade papa and Badi ma. He loved and adored Bade papa, but he could see through their sham of a marriage. He saw the million bruises and scars Bade papa put on Badi ma's heart. Then there his own Ma and Papa. Bored as hell and frustrated. Besides from when did Love become exclusive to male and female?He knew love, he loved his family to bits!.
But, he thought. Prinku could be right. Marriage was a business deal and like with any good business deal, there were appearances to keep. Sighing, he decided he would go down to the terraces and greet Tia. Hell he would do more, he would hug her! there! that ought to do it!. Grinning he decided, he would change first and then head down!.
**************************************************************************** As Anika waited for Prinku to come back, or even Rudy and Saumya, she gazed out off the open spaces of the Terraces. The Terraces, what a fancy name she thought. That place indeed was beautiful. Huge french windows opened to wide balconies with views to the Oberoi gardens. Varieties of Jasmine plants were used to landscape the place. The heady perfume from the jasmines combined with the cool breeze lulled Anika's senses into calm. She breathed into the perfume and reveled in the peace she felt, till with a jolt it snapped. See the Terraces were undergoing a routine inspection and unknown to Prinku, lights to the Terraces were being turned off for power related inspections. With the fuse disengaged the Terraces were plunged into darkness without only faint lights from the gardens providing any sources of visible light.
Anika was afraid of the dark. Something she did not tell anyone yet. Darkness brought back memories from her childhood, memories that she wanted suppressed. Within seconds, calm turned to fear. Beads of perspiration began to dot her forehead. "Focus on the garden!" she chanted, struggling to calm herself down. She was all ready to give up and turn around and run, when a pair of strong arms caged her in. Ideally, she should have felt dread, after all a pair of unknown arms had gripped her in the dark. But she felt oddly secure, safe even. She could feel the rapid pulse beat against her back. Strong and fast, as fast as her own heartbeat.
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As Shivay made his way to the Terraces, he realized he failed to inform Prinku about the maintenance scheduled for that area of the house. Well, a little bit of dark could be handled. Thinking thus, he entered the Terraces. The place was plunged into darkness with faint shadows of light from the gardens casting an eerie glow about the place. Against the open French windows, was a silhouette. "Tia?" his brain thought, definitely not Prinku. "I could hug her from the back, surprise her and get it over with!" he thought. Quietly he moved into the dark, and made his way towards Tia. As his arms came around her, he wanted to yell "Surprise!" and feel like a complete moron, but the words died in his mouth. "This is not Tia!" his brain alerted. Ideally he should have moved away, after all it was an unknown woman. But he felt warm. He could hear a heartbeat race strong and fast. Just like his own.
Edited by writerff - 6 years ago
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