Chapter 18

Lol, I'm so thrilled with the response to this part! But there's a few more twists coming up before the end!!!

Chapter 17:

Raj was just sitting down to do some study in the mess before dinner when suddenly there was a loud disturbance. Navin and Tanu walked in, both looking incredibly happy while Navin was whistling loudly. Raj was just shaking his head at their behaviour when Navin clapped his hands to get everybody's attention.

"Suriji, serve chai to everybody on my behalf!" He announced happily, and Raj thought that Navin was just a little bit too happy about him giving his ring to Naina. This really was an over reaction. He wondered how many more days this was going to carry on for.

He tried to slump in his seat and hide behind his book to escape from their notice but it was far too late, Tanu had already spotted him and was pointing him out to Navin. Raj wondered if he could escape somehow as he had a very bad feeling about what was about to happen, but as he got out of his chair intending to make an exit, he found Navin in front of him.

"Raj, mere yaar, mere doost, mere humdum, I love you!" Navin announced with so much feeling and so loudly, that everybody in the mess turned around. Just as Raj was trying to decide how he should be responding to this, Navin grabbed him in a tight hug.

Spotting Alekh over Navin's shoulder, Raj made an expression that clearly said, 'What the hell is going on here', but Alekh gestured helplessly. He was completely and utterly clueless about what had gotten into Navin.

"Uh, that's very nice Navin, and I love you too of course," Raj said, patting his friend on the back gently and hoping that it would calm down, "But would you like to explain exactly why you've decided that you love me so much today?"

"Oh Raj, I'm so happy!" Navin told him, finally letting go of Raj "And Tanu is too of course!" Tanisha nodded enthusiastically and suddenly Raj found himself being hugged by her instead. Right, far too much hugging without knowing the reason why… His feeling about this was getting worse and worse…

"Yes… and why are you happy?" Raj asked him, "Have I missed something here?" He glanced desperately at Alekh, wanting some help, but Alekh wasn't about to step in. He was completely on his own.

"Well we've been waiting for so long…" At Tanu's cough, Navin quickly changed the sentence, "I mean, it's such a surprise, but of course it's the most wonderful surprise that we could ever have gotten! I can't believe you hid this from us all this time!"

"Navin, exactly what surprise are you talking about? What have I hidden from you? There's nothing that I haven't…" Raj suddenly stopped talking.

Oh no.

It couldn't be that…

"Well there's no point in hiding it anymore from anyone!" Navin told him, utterly ecstatic, and then as if to prove his point, he climbed onto the table that Raj had been sitting at and gave a sharp whistle to get everybody's attention. Which he hadn't really needed to do, because everyone had been staring at them from the time he declared that he loved Raj.

"Listen up, everyone!" Navin announced, "Not only the chai, tonight you can have whatever you want at Tanu's and my expense. And do you know why? I have a very exciting announcement to make!"

Raj really thought that it would be best if he ran out of the room right now before Navin said whatever it was that he wanted to, but the exit was blocked by everybody who had gathered around to watch.

"I would like you all to know, that my best friend Raj is now officially going to become my brother in law!" Navin announced and the room erupted into applause and whistles.

Well except for one person who stood silent and in utter shock.

Raj just stared at Navin as if he'd lost his mind. As far as he knew, Naina and he were only pretending to be dating, and now Navin had just announced that they were going to get married.

There had to be some mistake… some misunderstanding… Did Naina even know about this?

Navin climbed down from the table and came over to hug Raj again, a huge grin on his face.

"It's so wonderful, isn't it Raj?" he asked him, "We're actually going to be properly related!"

"But Navin, me and Naina, we're not… I mean… it's not… I didn't…." Raj was still in so much shock that he couldn't even get the words out.

"Don't worry Raj, you don't have to pretend anymore, I'm really not angry about you hiding it!" Navin told him, "And Naina has already told everything to Ma."

"Naina told everything?" Raj asked in disbelief. As far as he knew, he was the only one that was actually in love in this fake relationship. "Exactly what did Naina tell her?" Raj asked curiously, still having no idea how this could've happened.

"That you're in love with each other and are planning to get married after you finish your training!"

In love with each other… could Naina also be… but if she was really in love with him then why had she chosen to tell her mother before she actually told him?

Something had to be wrong.

Raj laughed nervously, once again glancing over at Alekh whose expression clearly said that Raj was on his own with this one.

He was trying to think of something to say when an orderly came into the room and announced that he had a phone call.

"I'll just… go and get that…" Raj told them, quite subdued, and then practically ran from the mess.

He just hoped that it was Naina on the other end of the line so that he could finally get some answers.

**

"Hell…"

"Oh god, Raj, thank goodness you were there. I've got something to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to react."

Naina hadn't even let him finish saying hello she had been so desperate to talk to him, and the sentence had come out in one big rush.

"Could what you have to tell me be the same thing that Navin just announced to the whole canteen?"

"Uh, Navin? Oh god… he didn't did he? What did he say?"

"Well, by now the entire academy knows that I'm going to be his brother-in-law." Raj told her. Honestly he wasn't sure whether he should be upset, or amused, or worried, or hopeful.

Raj could hear Naina groaning on the other end of the line, but when she finally spoke she sounded very worried.

"You're not angry about this, are you?" Naina asked him, "I'm so, so sorry that this happened. I didn't even get a chance to speak to you… and I just panicked… and I was thinking about how much I wished you were there with me… and then I just said it… and Ma… how could she even… And I really didn't mean to…"

"Naina, just take a deep breath, relax and tell me what happened." Raj told her, as she was currently making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"Well everything was going fine," Naina told him, "I'd just gotten the photos back from Republic Day, and you know there's a really nice one of us together, and I was thinking that I'd send you a copy…"

"Naina, could you please just tell me what happened?" Raj asked her, knowing that she'd gone off on a tangent that had nothing to do with it.

"Right, of course." Naina tried to calm herself down, and took another deep breath. "Well I got home and there sitting on my couch was Huda and his mummy."

"Huda?" Raj asked her, "Who's Huda?"

"That guy who was following me in Nainital, you know, you pretended to be my boyfriend to get rid of him."

"Oh, right." Raj did remember now, "So what was he doing in your house with his mother?"

"Raj, think about it, what do you think he was doing in my house with his mother?"

"That…" Raj was honestly angry, and had to stop himself from saying some very rude words about Huda. "Even after he knew that we were dating?"

"Well that's the problem, his stupid cousin goes to my college and she told him that we weren't really dating."

"That…" Raj once again stopped himself, "So then what happened?"

"Well then they went on and on about all the buffaloes they have, and their factories, and Ma decided that she was going to condemn me to a life with him! I couldn't do it, Raj, I just couldn't!"

Naina was starting to get hysterical again, and Raj knew he would have to calm her down if he wanted the rest of the story.

"Buffaloes? How did buffaloes come into this story?"

"Well they have ten! Ten! Can you imagine? I don't even like buffaloes! I don't want to live with ten buffaloes and have to milk them!"

"Naina, just calm down and take another deep breath," Raj told her, "Nobody is going to make you milk buffaloes, I won't let them. Just tell me what happened next."

"Well they left, and Ma thought that it was a really good proposal, she wanted to accept it and she wasn't listening to any of my protests…. And all I could think of was how much I wished you were there with me, and I just said it. I told her that we were in love and wanted to get married."

Raj sighed with relief, at least he finally had the full story now.

"And she's happy with that?" he asked, "She wants us to get married?"

"Happy? She's over the moon!" Naina told him, "She wants to arrange our marriage as soon as possible, in fact I think she's already deciding on caterers."

"Well… does she want veg or non-veg?" Raj asked, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit.

"I can't believe you're joking about this!" Naina exclaimed, "I didn't even ask you about this, and now you're going to be forced to get married to me. Aren't you even a little bit angry that I did this?"

"Naina," Raj told her, feeling ridiculous for smiling despite the present circumstances, "I can think of far worse fates than being married to you."

"Oh," Naina replied, and was at a loss for how to reply. "Oh…"

"After everything that we've been through together," Raj continued, "The least that I can do is save you from a life of milking buffaloes."

"Then… we're really going to get married?" Naina asks him, Raj is relieved that she sounds much calmer and not as upset as he thought she might be.

"I don't know, Naina, if you want then we can try and figure out a way to stop it. It's your decision and I'll help you whatever you choose."

"It's not that I don't want to marry you," Naina admitted, sounding a little embarrassed to be saying it, "It was just that I didn't want to get married just yet. Do you think that if we asked them they would at least wait to get us married until I'd finished my education?"

"So then, you do want to marry me?" Raj asked, feeling stunned by this. As soon as he had heard the story about how it happened, he had expected Naina to resist the wedding and try to find ways to avoid it. Now he was starting to feel some hope that maybe, just maybe she might feel the same way about him.

"Raj, I can think of far worse fates than being married to you," she tells him softly, repeating his words from earlier. Then her tone changes to a more mischievous one. "Like being married to Huda." She adds, and Raj starts laughing.

"Well I'm glad that I'm at least a better choice than him." Raj tells her, "Otherwise what hope do I have in life?"

Naina laughs at this too, and then sobers up, realising that this is a very important conversation for them to be having.

"Raj, it's not just that… I really do… I mean I…" she stops suddenly, not quite sure of what it is that she's trying to say or whether she should say it on the phone or not. "Well you know, I… you're…"

"It's okay, Naina," Raj tells her, and she could swear that it sounds like he's smiling, "We'll talk about this when we meet in person, I have something to tell you but I don't want to say it on the phone."

"Something to tell me? What?" Suddenly Naina thinks that it's very important that she finds out right this instant.

"Wait until we see each other properly, it's not the right time now."

"Oh, okay, well then…" She couldn't stop thinking about what it was that he had to tell her, and she found herself impatient to hear it. She wanted to meet him as soon as possible.

"I think I'd better go back to the canteen before your brother makes the family bankrupt by treating too many people to chai." Raj joked, trying to keep the mood light before he hung up.

"Typical," Naina said, sounding amused, "He can never keep his happiness to himself."

"Well at least he's happy for our sake, and he really has worked hard for it." Raj tells her, "He and Tanu must be ecstatic that their mission was successful."

"You know Raj, I'm not too disappointed that Operation Confusion failed," Naina admits, "Maybe Operation Marriage really was the right mission in the first place."

"You mean…" Raj started to ask her.

"I'll talk to you later," Naina told him, and hung up the phone quickly before he could say anything else.

Raj walked back to the canteen in a daze, thinking about the last thing that Naina said. She felt that Operation Marriage was the right mission, that meant that she was happy to marry him, that meant that… A grin spread across his face. The next time they saw each other he would tell her everything about his feelings. After all, if it's not time to confess when you're about to get married then when is it time?

He was going to get married.

To Naina.

Operation Confusion had been completely abandoned.

Walking back into the canteen, Raj witnessed Navin promised Alekh as many bottles of daru as he could ever wish for, and smiled. Navin still had no idea that Alekh had been playing both sides the entire time.

"Navin, could I speak to you for a minute outside?" Raj asked him, "You too, Tanu."

Looking at Raj curiously, they both followed him outside and he led them into the grounds so that they were away from where anybody could hear.

Navin momentarily became worried, it was obvious that Raj wanted to discuss something serious, and Navin suspected that he had just gotten off the phone with Naina. There wasn't any misunderstanding was there?

As much as Navin had started this operation in order so that he and Tanu could marry, now he was just as worried for both Raj and Naina's sakes. The more that he thought about it, the more that he really wanted Raj for a brother-in-law. It would just be perfect, he would never have to worry about his sister's happiness and they could all be together for the holidays.

Navin was just worrying that Raj was about to say that they weren't actually getting married when his friend finally spoke.

"I just talked to Naina," Raj told him, "We weren't really planning to tell anybody yet, but your mother was thinking of accepting another proposal so she thought it would be best to let her know. That's why I was a bit shocked when you announced it, since I hadn't been expecting it just yet."

Navin and Tanu both sigh with relief, at least this means that Raj doesn't actually object to the wedding.

"So yes," Raj tells him and a grin spreads across his face, "I will be becoming your brother in law."

Navin lets out a whoop of joy and this time Raj is glad to hug him. He knows that he and Naina are getting married in quite strange circumstances, considering that they've only been pretending to be dating and haven't even said that they love each other, been on a real date or even kissed yet.

But he's still happy.

"And you'll soon be my official sister-in-law." Raj tells Tanu happily, and she gives him a quick hug.

"Just think," Tanu says excitedly, "Maybe we could even have a joint wedding… wouldn't that be fantastic?"

Navin and Raj both give her looks that say they clearly don't think so.

"Tanu… way too filmy." Navin tells her, and Tanu has to agree, he's definitely right.

Raj is still standing there with a silly grin on his face, when Navin decides it's a good idea to discuss the next important topic.

"So now that it's all decided, you should inform your parents." Navin tells him, "Ma and Baba want to meet them as soon as possible."

"My parents?" Raj repeats dumbly as if he has no idea what Navin is talking about.

"Well yes Raj, generally people do tell their parents when they want to get married, and then the parents sit down and discuss everything. You know how it works."

Raj just kept staring at Navin as if he'd gone crazy. His parents… he hadn't even thought about his parents or how they were going to react to this.

Suddenly Raj began to feel very, very nervous.

"You know Navin, I was thinking, wouldn't it be good if Naina and I just eloped? You know, got married quietly and then told my parents?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Raj. You might be my best friend but I'm not allowing my sister to elope with anybody. You two will definitely get married properly."

"Ah, Navin, I really don't think this is a good idea." Raj told him, "If we tell my parents then this marriage is going to be over before it's even begun."

"Raj, all I know is that if you want to marry Naina you're going to have to find some way to manage your parents." Navin replied, "They can't be that bad, can they?"

Oh yes they could, and Raj knew it very well.

That was it, finally when Naina and he had decided that they were ready to get married, he realised that it wasn't actually going to be possible.

Operation Marriage had just been derailed.

Operation Confusion was back on track.

And the real shame was, that everybody involved would've preferred it to be the other way around.

**

Meanwhile, the next day Naina had no idea that anything had changed, since she had left for college before Raj could get an opportunity to call her.

She was going to get married.

And the funny thing was that she wasn't even upset about it.

In fact she was feeling strangely… happy.

After all these months of planning and scheming, surely she should feel a little bit of regret that none of her plans had worked out?

But all Naina could think of was Raj's voice on the phone saying that he could think of worse fates than being married to her. And he had said that he had something to tell her…

Naina just hoped that she was right about what it was.

Because ever since she had declared to her mother that she and Raj were in love and were planning to get married she had become more and more sure that this had been exactly the right thing to say.

Arriving at college, Naina's first task was to go and find Mahi, who was sitting completely unaware with her friends, gossiping about boys.

"Ahem." Naina announced her presence and everybody turned around, smiling and welcoming her.

"Well everybody, I would like to make a very important announcement." Naina told them, "I'm getting married."

The group erupted in squeals and cheers, before Naina held up a hand to silence them. "And no, Mahi, he is NOT your cousin who came to my house yesterday in the mistaken belief that I was single and interested in him." Naina glared at Mahi, who at least looked slightly guilty.

"Then who are you getting married to?" One of the other girls asked.

Naina smiled, her entire face brightening with the expression.

"His name is Rajveer Singh Shekawat." She announced, "And I love him very much."

And this time, it was neither a lie, nor an excuse.

It was the absolute truth.