Chapter 2

Bella was sitting with Mayur in Hotel Sea Princess. It has been about forty-five minutes since she came there. Mayur had come late. Bella hated when people kept her waiting. She was about to leave when Mayur had shown up grinning from ear to ear. He was not at all sorry that he was late. In fact, he didn't even realise that he was late. He just slid in the seat opposite her as if he was perfectly on time. Bella had expected an 'I am sorry to have kept you waiting' at the very least. But so far nothing.

The moment he arrived, he called a waiter and ordered a cappuccino for himself and a cold coffee for Bella. Then he had had the audacity to say, "I know you girls cannot handle bitter coffee." Bella hated cold coffee. She always had an Americano. But this arrogant idiot had not even bothered to ask her what she wanted. Three minutes into the meeting, he already had three black marks against him. Bella thought, "At this rate, I might not have to use Mahir's idea at all."

As soon as the waiter disappeared, he started talking about himself. After talking about himself for the next twenty minutes, he seemed to realise that Bella had not uttered a single word since his arrival.

"Bella don't be shy! Come on. Say something. I am the only one who has been talking. And why aren't you drinking your coffee? Didn't you like it?" Mayur asked her as though he had done nothing wrong.                                       

Bella being a girl of very few words around strangers, replied curtly.

"You have talked non-stop since your arrival. So I thought why not enjoy the view till you stop?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. 

But Mayur was apparently dumb. Bella's snub went unnoticed by him. He laughed instead, "Hahahahahahaha Bella you are so funny! I think we will get along really well. Well, you talk about yourself now," he told her as though giving her a great chance. 

"I don't like talking about myself. You ask me a question and I will answer it," Bella replied shortly. 

"Okay, I was thinking about you know, our marriage and I wanted to ask you... have ever had you know... I mean have ever done that. I mean are you a... a... a..." Bella's eyes narrowed at Mayur's question. 

"Virgin? Are you asking me am I a virgin? Are you asking me whether  I have had sex with anyone?" Bella completed his question looking disgusted. 

Mayur looked scandalised "Ummm... yeah..."

"Are you?" Bella countered. 

"What?" Mayur asked looking askance. 

"Are you a virgin? Have you ever had sex with anyone?" Bella repeated her question. 

"How does that matter?" Mayur asked diffidently. "And anyways stop saying those words," he continued disapprovingly. 

"I mean, come on! You can discreetly ask me such a personal question in our very first meeting, and I can't even say those words? Like, really?" Bella asked him in a barely controlled voice. 

Normally Bella would have stopped entertaining such a person long ago. But that day's mission was to push his buttons and get him to make a fool out of himself. So far he was making a fool of himself quite willingly. That was her and Mahir's plan.

ELSEWHERE...

At some cafe, Mahir was sitting, waiting for the girl Tanya to show up. It has been quite some time and Mahir was beginning to feel anxious. Anxious not because that girl had failed to arrive, but because of her late arrival, his plan was going for a toss. Presently he saw a girl being led to his table. He stood up and smiled at her. She smiled back. He gestured for her to sit opposite him, but she slid in the seat beside him.

Mahir was feeling uncomfortable. He was not someone who felt comfortable in physical proximity with a stranger. He tried to distance himself from her.

"Hi! Why don't we order something?" she asked brightly. 

"Sure. What would you like?" Mahir asked her. 

"I will have a grilled sandwich. You know, I like men who like to take charge, if you know what I mean?" she replied looking coy.

"What? Hmmm. Yes," Mahir looked somewhat shocked at her bold words. 

"What do you want?" she asked him seeming unaware of his discomfort. 

"I will have one Chocolate Brownie," Mahir told her looking uncertain. 

"Yummm. Chocolate! I love chocolate," she said sliding a little closer to him. 

 She winked at him. "Okay this is going a bit too far," Mahir thought. Suddenly he became aware of the fact that her hand was resting on his hand and her other hand was playing with her hair in a very suggestive manner. Feeling supremely uncomfortable, he excused himself, saying he would like to visit the bathroom and almost ran towards the bathroom.

Once safely inside, he took a few calming breaths. Once he was calm enough, he picked up the phone and called Bella.

"Come on Bella pick up the phone. Come on..." He waited impatiently for Bella to pick up her phone.  "Oh! Hi! Bella, how is it going?" he asked relieved that she had picked up the phone. 

"Hi jaan! Everything is going smoothly. How is it going for you?" Bella's voice acted as a soothing balm on his frayed nerves. 

"So far izzat bachake bhaag raha hu. I am in the bathroom, hiding from her," Mahir replied. "I am about to start our plan. You do the same. Okay? All the best!" 

"Ya, I will. Bye! See you tonight," Bella disconnected the call. 

Mahir came out of the bathroom and proceeded towards his table. This time around he sat across from her. Before she could say anything he said, "It will be easier to talk this way"

"Yes, you are right," Tanya agreed with a faint smile on her face. 

"So, Tanya, what do you do for a living? I heard you are an engineer? So that must make you really smart." Mahir said the last part as mockingly as he could. But Tanya didn't notice the change in his tone. She replied innocently.

"Yes. But after completing my degree, I realised that this is not what I want to do. So I took a short course for photography. Now I am a professional photographer and I am also trying my hand at interior designing."

"Oh wow! You are so confused. I mean my Bella is so clear as to what she wants in life," Mahir said. Praising Bella came naturally to him and didn't need to put in any effort for that. 

"Bella?" Tanya asked politely. 

"Bella? Bella Kapoor? Come on! You must have heard of Bella Kapoor right?" Mahir asked her. His tone was seriously offensive now. Even Tanya noticed it. 

"Oh yes. I have heard of her," she said. 

"So as I was saying, my Bella was very clear right from her childhood as to what she wants to do with her life. I hope you know how to cook right?" he continued, pretending not to notice her discomfort. 

"What? God no! I hate cooking. I mean, I never did have any time for all this nonsense," Tanya replied somewhat defensively

"Why?" Mahir questioned her. 

"Oh well, I was always busy studying. And anyway, we always had a maid for cooking. Why should I learn all this backward stuff?" Tanya was becoming increasingly defensive now. Mahir felt bad for making her feel bad about herself but he had to do whatever he had to, to make her reject him. 

"Even we have maids for cooking. I mean we have multiple servants for almost all the household chores," Mahir bragged. "But even then my Bella can cook all kinds of food. Not just Punjabi food but south Indian, even Italian, Mexican, Chinese..." he let his voice trail ooff. 

"Oh really?" By now Tanya has noticed how he had said my Bella multiple times. And she is feeling really pissed off.

"Yes. And please don't say you were busy studying. Bella went to Cambridge University to complete her MBA in Business Management. She graduated with top marks," Mahir braced himself for the impact that his words would trigger. 

Tanya was now really irritated, "Okay so why don't you..." she began but Mahir didn't let her complete.

"You know, you should meet Bella and learn a few things from her before our marriage. She will teach you how to make all of my favourite food items," Mahir hammered what he thought was the final nail in his coffin. Mahir was feeling very guilty. He knew he was being very unjust to this girl. Also to some extent, he was insulting her. He did not want to do this but he had pushed on for so long and he could see Tanya really struggling to keep her temper from rising. He saw her take a deep breath and she said, "Hey it's all right. I know this is simply your defence mechanism. I was out of line earlier on. But I was just testing you to see if you take advantage of the fact that I am sitting so close to you or I am holding your hand. But you didn't. That proves that you are a decent guy. Let's start over again," and she extended her hand towards him. 

AT HOTEL SEA PRINCESS

 Just then Bella's phone rang. She noticed that its Mahir calling.

"Oh! Hi! Bella, how is it going?" Mahir asked her. 

"Hi jaan! Everything is going smoothly. How is it going for you?" she cooed feeling stupid but was rewarded for her efforts when Mayur's eyebrows shot up at jaan. 

"So far izzat bachake bhaag raha hu. I am in the bathroom, hiding from her," She heard a desperate plea for help in his voice. "I am about to start our plan. You do the same. Okay? All the best!"

"Ya. I will. Bye! See you tonight" she disconnected the call. 

"That was Mahir Sehgal. My best friend," she answered Mayur's questioning stare. "So what was I saying? Yes! Are you a virgin?" she continued. 

"Ummm" Mayur fidgeted a bit.

"Okay, I will answer first..."

" No, wait. You don't have to answer that question. I am sorry. I was just testing you. I wanted to know if you are someone who can stand up for herself. And I was right. You sure know how to stand up for yourself. I know I had no right to test you but I did not want to end up marrying someone who does not have a voice of her own. If you can forgive me, I will like to start off again. Hi! I am Mayur, and I am extremely sorry for arriving late. I know you hate being made to wait. I do too."

Bella was stunned hearing those words. Mayur is standing in front of her with his hand stretched. Bella reluctantly took his hand.

"Hi! I am Bella," she replied in a deflated sort of a voice. 

"And I know you only drink Americano, so I will order one for you," Mayur continued. 

"Excuse me for a bit. I will be right back," Bella rushed off to the bathroom. Once inside she took out her phone.

"Hey, Mahir. Our plan flopped. This guy is actually quite decent. There is no way I can reject him because I will not have any valid reasons. Now, what to do?" she informed him. 

"Same here. She saw through my rude behaviour. Let's tell them the truth. They deserve to know," Mahir replied. 

 Bella went back to her table.

Listen, Bella, I know you are an ambitious girl. I know you singlehandedly manage your business along with your father. I also know that you are the heir apparent to the Kapoor Group Of Companies. And that's all right. I want you to know that I will not expect you to stop working with your company after marriage. In fact, I do not expect you to work in my dad's firm at all. You can continue to expand your companies. I will support you," Mayur's sweet words were making Bella feel even more guilty now. 

"That really sweet of you Mayur, but I do not want to get married. I have my reasons. But I want to be honest with you. It's got nothing to do with you. I am simply not ready to get married. Despite your promise of supporting me and never pressurising me, I cannot bring myself to say yes to you. I hope you get it," Bella told him frankly. 

" It's your decision Bella and I respect that. But how are you going to convince my parents? I cannot simply reject you. I will have to give some reason and I cannot think of a single reason to reject you," Mayur told her. 

ELSEWHERE

After his call with Bella ended, Mahir turned to Tanya

"Listen, you are very sweet but I can't marry you. I don't want to marry anyone. So please can you reject me?" Mahir realised that his approach was rather tactless but he did not have time to frame up a tactful refusal. Tanya was already looking at him curiously as she had heard his side of the conversation. 

As expected, Tanya was confused, "What?"

"Please?" Mahir pleaded. 

"I respect your decision, Mahir. I guess I should thank you for being so honest with me. But I can't reject you just like that. I will have to give some reason," Tanya replied trying to hide her own confusion at the sudden turn that their conversation had taken. 

"You can say that I misbehaved with you," Mahir suggested, relieved that she had understood his dilemma. 

"No, I can't. I cannot defame you like that. We will have to think of something else," Tanya rejected his idea firmly. 

"Listen we don't have time. Our parents will today evening and..." Mahir began desperately but Tanya interrupted him.  

"I know. Don't worry we will think of something," she said comfortingly. "Hey! Can Bella help us? Can she help us convince my parents that you are not right for me?" she asked suddenly. 

"That was Bella on the call. She is in the same situation," Mahir replied glumly. 

"That's great then," Tanya's sudden excitement puzzled Mahir. 

"Huh?" he asked confused. 

I mean you both can help each other. Provided the guy she is sitting with agrees," Tanya elaborated. 

"He probably will," Mahir replied. 

"Okay, call her," Tanya insisted. 

Mahir called Bella.

"Hey listen, Tanya has got a plan. Put your phone on speaker mode," he informed Bella. 

"Hi! I am Tanya. I have a great plan for Mission Rishta Break..."