AnSh FF: NO GREATER LOVE: Chapter 15 p42 12/06 - Page 5

Shiv got up and got ready and made his way downstairs. His eyes looked for her face, his ears waited to hear the chiming of her bangles; her anklets. He heard her voice then coming from the kitchen, her laughter, like bells, the joy he could hear filling his heart with immeasurable happiness as he made his way towards her. Jealous perhaps that it wasn't him who had made her laugh, but eager nevertheless, to know the reason behind it.

He walked in to find Mahi seated on the kitchen table as Anandi made puris, telling her about his match in a week, telling her how he had to go to Mumbai that night, and listing off reasons why he didn't want to go to a party he had to make an appearance at the next day. As if on cue, as if her heart had known he was nearby, as if it had started to beat a little faster than normal, she turned towards him, all the attention Mahi had held now directed towards him as she smiled. Before Shiv could say anything, she turned back and said to Mahi, 'Maine suna hai koi aur bhi aarahi hai iss party mein. You should go, talk to her, try and make friends.' Shiv looked at her, then at Mahi, with a confused expression. What were they talking about? Mahi liked a girl? He had told Anandi but not him?

'Kya baatein ho rahi hain, mujhse chupakar', he asked and as he looked at Anandi he felt his heart flutter overwhelmed with love. She was so beautiful both inside and out, she had so affectionately made his family a part of her life. Anandi turned away then scared that everyone in the kitchen including her husband would hear the loud dhak-dhak sounds her heart had started to make when her husband was around her. 'Nothing really, Mahi is leaving tomorrow so we catching up before he leaves on certain private and personal things', she replied. Shiv came up from behind and put his arms around her 'what private and personal things is he telling you that can't be shared with me?' he asked; but she elbowed him off. 'Kya hogaya hai?', Shiv asked her with a surprised look. ' Mujhe bahut kaam hai, aur sab log yahaan hai, what are you doing? Anyways Mahi is going, he has a match next week, and he needs to practice so he is going to Mumbai tonight. You should spend some time with him. I am not going anywhere, am I? We can talk later', Anandi replied.

Shiv turned to Mahi looking dejected as Mahi gave him an amused look. Shiv suddenly grinned at him; he had an idea. There was a conference in Mumbai that Shiv had been invited to and he had wanted to go. This would be a perfect opportunity for them to go to Mumbai, watch Mahi play, meet his friend and spend some time together. It was a plan. All he had to do now was plead with his wife whom the execution of this entire plan depended upon, and knowing how concerned she always was about everyone else in the family this would be no easy task.

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Shreya Singh walked into the ballroom and heads turned to look at her. She was wearing a short dress that her stylist had picked for her. It was a Namrata Joshipura dress and although she had liked the Elie Saab dress more, her stylist had felt that she needed to promote Indian designers as well and the dress had looked lovely on her. Nude Louboutin shoes and a Herve Leger clutch had completed her look. Her hair was in soft curls and her make up light. Shreya was used to all the attention. She had always been the prettiest girl around and she was now one of the top models in India about to make her debut in a film starring the biggest superstar in Indian cinema. Her career was on a high. Despite all this, Shreya longed to find true love, she knew it would sound filmy to anyone who heard it but she wanted to be romanced in true Bollywood style, she wanted to be swept off her feet, she wanted to be courted, she wanted a big fat indian wedding with all her relatives and she wanted a doting sasuma and jethani. She wanted it all. She believed that times were changing and actresses could work in lead roles even after marriage.

As Anandi went downstairs the next morning, the photo and caption on the front page of the two newspapers the family subscribed to had caught her eye. Mahi was shaking hands with Shreya Singh, smiling at her as she returned the smile. The headline had read: BUSINESS MEETING OR MUMBAI'S NEXT HOT NEW ROMANCE: VICE-CAPTAIN and TOP MODEL! Anandi shook her head with a smile: her devar had certainly not wasted any time; what remained to be seen was the family's reaction, especially her husband's.