Chapter 6
What was more confusing was the fact that none of them in the family- not even Arnav negated her statement.. Are they hiding something from her? She knew whom to target- Dadi already looked like a volcano about to erupt and nani looked worn out.- so both of them were out of option also she didnt want to upset them further.
Arnav or Akaash wont tell her anything that they knew would upset her... Then she had decided to ask NK. As she walked towards his room, faintly feeling already nauseated thinking about her doomsday birthdays she heard NK's room empty.
She was about to leave the room when she saw him crouching on the floor beside the bed
"Hey Look, I am not dumping you- I just cant come now" Anjali heard NK speaking on the phone.
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"Please understand- My family needs me now"
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"Why? What happened?
____
"What? Dont joke" Nk called into the phone as he got up suddenly
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"But... but.. wait what? thankgod.. For a moment I thought- "
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" positively pregnant- seriously I dont know how to react to this- Ofcourse I am happy! ... " he stopped abruptly as he saw Anjali in the room.
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"Hey, Look I will call you back a little later." he said abruptly cutting the call.
"What is it Anjali? why are you eavsdropping ?" he snapped at her.
"I did not eavsdrop on you.. I just came to talk to you" She told indignantly.
"You should have left when you found me talking on phone"
"Why is it that important? who was it then on the phone anyway"
"Dont be so nosy- it was just a friend"
"Why are you so tensed if it was only a friend?" Anjali grew more inquistive
"Come to the point Anjali" Nk told her frustrated
"What is happening in the house NK? what are you all hiding from me?"
"No one is hiding anything from you- You would have known everything if you had attended the meeting today"
Anjali creased her eyebrows and looked at NK
"Tell me then, Why did Susheela aunty say like that? are we doomed?"
NK looked at his younger sister was some time, He being just two years elder to her, had always fought with her unlike her other two brothers, but still he loved her. He knew how Anjali felt about her mother's death- It was imprinted on her mind very early in her life that it was because of her that her mother left this world... May be because of their father who didnt get as close to her as he was with his sons citing unreasonably that she was in some way the reason for his wife's death or because of those nosy and loud relatives of theirs, who would pass snide remarks at her when she was only a young child.
Normally at an age when children get excited about birthdays, Anjali used to recoil, thinking about her mother's anniversary two days later. So the three brothers learnt very early in life and promised eachother, that they would be the mother to their young sister, and treat her like a princess. They have always then protected her from any kind of attack from the family members and relatives.
Arnav had instructed them all not to tell her anything until her birthday, not to give her more reasons to brood. Already she had been feeling dreadful that her birthday was the most unlucky day of the year, and she lost her father too now just five days before the day.
"Are you going to tell me or not?" She asked finally tired of waiting for him to answer
"No- I cant tell you now- It was your mistake- you missed the meeting"
Anjali looked at her brother with a wicked smile.
"I am going right down and tell dadi that you made some one pregnant back in Australia and came running here and thats why you dont want to get back there"
"What? I didnt make anyone pregnant" He looked horrified.
"You were speaking about Pregnancy on phone to a girl"
"How do you know it is a girl?"
"because a boy cant make a boy pregnant"
"It was a dog"
"What ?" she asked breaking into laughter
"Shutup! My friend's dog is pregnant"
"because of you? - oh my god- " she started laughing again
"Shutup Anjali" NK charged at her as she started to laugh like a maniac...
"Now if you dont tell me about the meeting, I am going to tell everyone about this - and I have skills to make it sound like it happened for real" she threatened him...
"Alright, but promise me not to feel sad about it- this - this is not related to your belief in your birthday luck" NK agreed finally
trying to save him from embarassment
"Ok" Anjali said as she squat on NK's bed, ready to listen to him.
****
"What is this Arnav? I cant accept this" Akaash dashed into his brother's home office in the first floor clutching a file
"What is that?" Arnav asked looking up from the bunch of papers that he had been going through
"The UK venture- You asked Mr.Roy to prepare this doc to change the propreitor ship from your name to mine- His assistant just and just delivered this now"
"Its not about your acceptance- its about my acceptance - and NK's and Anjali's as well to an extent - as I have pulled in family money into the venture"
"I cant let you all do this - I cant be selfish"
"Where are you being selfish in this Akaash" Arnav asked as he moved around his desk and leaned back on the front of the desk supporting himself.
"You are doing this for me and Payal's sake isnt it? To enable her parents agree for her hand in marraige with me"
"Good heavens- No" Arnav laughed "Do you really think that this will change Mrs.Sharma's mind?"
"No" Akaash told a little confused "then why are you doing this? I thought this was your plan to bring us together"
"We dont have to do anything as far as you and Payal are concerned- Not atleast for now, We have a willing Payal on our side."
"But - her parents -"
"Akaash, Last time I checked there was no law which mandates that the parents of a major girl should agree for her wedding with her darling"
"Arnav" Akaash grimaced
"Dont worry Akaash, we can afford to wait until the Sharmas make their next move- We dont really have to bother much until Payal succumbs to her parents pressure and consents to get married to someone else. "
"Do you expect her to?"
Arnav smiled at his brother
"Man, really? you are the one who is in love with her- You should know better"
"But your judgements have always been right - I - " Akaash stopped not knowing what to say
"I dont see someone with the likes of Payal giving in to threats anytime soon"
"So then why did you do this?" Akaash asked showing his brother the legal papers that he was holding
"Oh that, it was simply to ease you to take decisions for the venture- freely and prove your mettle"
"But why cant you register it in name of all of us and make me the power of attorney?"
"because we are starting this in UK- and all of us are majors and not UK nationals- and entitled to Income tax payment for the
venture- which means we would be paying 4 times the tax if I did that - this way we can save money"
"You can still the proprietorship yourself and give me the power of attorney"
"I can, But this way, I can make you take responsibility for your decisions and action"
"but Arnav-"
"And it is simply called trust- I do trust you with this- and I mean it- Take this as a simple gesture to show you that"
"Bhai" Akaash called out in a hoarse voice as he came forward to hug his brother. Arnav knew none of his siblings called him Bhai unless they were really worried or when they were really feeling overwhelmed. He returned his brother's hug.
"Dont feel so overwhemled with all this - The next venture I start might be headed by Nk or even Anjali if I feel they will be good enough for it- It doesnt really matter much- As far as we are together in this- All the time."
Arnav's mobile rang at that moment, and he picked up confirming to Mr.Roy that they have recieved the document that he had requested for. He disconnected the call after giving instructions to the lawyer to prepare the sale deed for the rest of the estates- and get them the draft document by tomorrow.
"Ok then" he said looking at Akaash "go through it and say if you are Ok with the terms - the rest of us will have to give a no
objection certificate later"
"What about the estates deal?"
"That is almost finalised- We can have the registration coming week, depending on Mr.Kher's availability"
"So Anjali knows about it?"
"Oh yeah- that bugger NK told her yesterday night"
"I thought so, when she told us all this morning that she was not ready to celebrate her birthday with all that puffy eyes- thank god she was alright by evening"
"Hope you are right" Arnav muttered as Akaash turned to leave
"You havent touched your dinner- Its gone cold"
"Oh I was engaged with some work- I forgot about it"
"Shall I ask Hari Prakash to bring something for you?"
"No dont bother, I shall go grab something from the kitchen myself"
Akaash nodded as he left the door closed after him.
****
As Akaash climbed the steps to his room in the second floor, he saw Anjali standing alone in the terrace balcony of the second floor.
He immediately knew that the girl was spending time brooding about her ill-luck.
"Anjali"
She turned back and looked at him
"Hi Akaash"
"Are you upset?"
"No, I was just watching the vehicles on the road"
He went and stood near her holding her by her shoulder.
"I am not upset- really"
"I will watch vehicles with you" he said quietly as she laid her head on his tall shoulders
"Why does it always happen on my birthday Akaash- all bad things happen around my birthday isnt it?"
"This time, something good happened Anjali- we found out a lot of things- you know - We found out about the state of affairs- at a point in time where we can do something about it- all is not lost- and we also came to know who are genuinely good friends and who were all just opportunists "
"hmm, but why does it always happen on my birthday"
"What always happens?" Akaash asked her back worried
"that we always run out of icecreams and when I want to eat some, I have to wait for one of you to fetch it for me?"
"What ?" Akaash asked holding her in arms length and looking at her strangely "Are you for real"
Anjali grinned at him
"I told you I am alright, I want to eat Icecreams now"
"Look at the climate Anjali- its about to rain"
"Yeah I know, But that doesnt mean I cant have Icecreams- cant you even do this simple thing for your only little sister on her birthday?" she pouted.
"here!" another voice called out from the door entrance.
Both of them turned to look at NK standing there with a family pack on his hands
"What took you so long?" Anjali asked as he came forward giving her the pack.
"The delivery guy came just now" NK told as he tried to get a spoon out of the bucket. Anjali pushed his hand away
"You already asked him and then you asked me too" Akaash asked his sister trying to understand
"yeah, I thought I can do with two- No issues, I can manage with one"
"Give me some, I ordered for it" Nk argued, as he tried to reach the bucket.
"You should have ordered more if you wanted to taste - this is mine" Anjali told again denying him, moving to the far corner of the
balcony.
Akaash turned to leave the balcony- "Ok guys- good night then"
"Woah--- Is'nt it Payal?" NK called out as Anjali also turned to look at the direction of NK's vision.
"yeah it is" Anjali called out
"Dont bluff- both of you" Akaash turned back again
"No we are serious- She is fighting with that Auto wala" NK told as Akaash came to the edge and saw it himself.
There was an auto standing just outside the gates in front of the terrace balcony where they were standing and Payal who was in her night shirt and pants was now entering the gates of the Mansion with the auto wala tagging behind her. The security who was not sure if he had to let the autowala in or not was coming behind them
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