Meeting of the mothers
Two other families were there, all from the neighborhood
The house was large and beautiful
She had a female cook and a male helper
Drinks and appys flowed like Yamuna after the monsoons
Neel drank beer but not his FIL or MIL
Gagan introduced her and not Neel
"Arey hum miley hain" beta" Ragini smiled
"she works in the same ad agency aunty, she is the Creative Director" Gagan said
"Aapko mere saath agle job interview mein jaane ka hai" Suvi smiled shyly
"Arey boss maine, Naren Noodle dekha Nihar ke room mein" Gagan looked stunned
"AAPKI creativity hai?" Ragini smiled surprised
"Aunty maine sach bata diya warna Neel ne saara credit le lena tha" Gagan laughed
"She makes killer pao bhaji aunty" Gagan said
"UP mein kehne ka... dal chawal...(nodding) Punjabi mein makke de roti" suvi drew analogies
"Preet doesnt make it yaar, she makes dhasoo chicken tikka tho" Gags smiled
"Paas mein rehti hain aap?" Ragini asked
"Yaha se 10 km par hai" Suvi said
"Mujhe Mumbai ki yaad aa gayi" Bhuvan smiled joyously
"Mumbai mein kuch special nai Uncle" she said bluntly
"Aap gayi hain kabhi?"
"Thoda time ruki" she said
"Preet ko kaise jaanti hain?" Ragini asked
"Ek baar Neel ke ghar par"
ragini nodded disarmingly, no idea Preet had caught them making out
Neel supervised the boys talked with men
Teased Preet
He appeared happy and relaxed Suvi noticed
Like his in laws were his own parents?
They uttered his name in every sentence as well
She didnt know her in laws were even alive until Rutwik's truth came out
He had told her he was an orphan
Neel was a normal son in law she concluded
When dinner was served, he handed her a fork and a spoon
Suvi added mirchi ka achar in Aadhya's dal chawal after neel commented dal was "great" and not spicy at all"
Bhuvan looked on startled "She loves her spicy food" Neel chuckled
Rotis were soft as a blanket, tearing on touch, the food absolutely delicious
Paneer made two ways, malai koftas, stuffed shimla mirch, and Punjabi chholey and moong dal
Preet brought out a hot roti and tore it up in half and gave it to her husband and Neel
"Usko de yaar.. mehmaan haiga"
"That probably means Nihar is not welcome everyday" neel laughed
"Saale" Gags shouted
"Sorry Oh sorry sorry Uncle ji" he back tracked
Bhuvan smiled content
"its OK" he said
There were no coy glances exchanged no coquettish smiles no contrived attempts to avoid Neel or sitting by Neel,
Aadhya LOVED stairs she either chased kids or was chased by kids
Preet appointed her oldest a 14 year old to trail Aadhya
"Aaj saara veg item hai, phir kabhi ao, Punjabi fish khilati hoon" Preet chuckled
"Aisa gunah mat kar Preet, phir woh fish khaana chhod degi" Gagan chuckled
"Gags please" preet shouted
"Aap Gags bulate hai inko?" she asked
"Kyon ki yeh CHUP nahi hotey... GAG? get it?" Preet guffawed at her own joke
Neel and Suvi's gaze met across the giant living room
For a nano second
They both thought about how they craved to say each other's names while love making
Ragini was was washing her hands
And Bhuvan went looking for Nihar
"Ghar mein kaun kaun hai beta?" Ragini asked after she returned
Gagan and Bhuvan and Neel and the other men wandered on the street
"Main aur Aadhya, aur Tai"
"Woh nahi aayin?"
"Nai... wo kahi nahi jaati hai" Suvi said
Ragini smiled at the lack of grammar skills causing Suvi to speak disrespectfully
Preet showed them around and and her studio, where she made hand crafted lamp shades with natural materials
And talked about her NGO and stuff based in the remote Punjab village where Gagan's company manufactured drugs
They came down in an hour, and the men were back she went to the rest room and when she stepped out
"She heard her daughter upstairs and went up
"Main idad nai hai... Main idad nai hai' Adhya was screaming... trying NOt to be found in hide and seek
Suvi laughed and did "shhh" multiple times
But Aadhya being 5 did not get it
Then the boys didnt make her "it" Considering she was only 5
The other girls in the group were 10, 12 etc...
The next time Suvi and her shut the lights out and hid behind a study desk in Maneet's room
Aadhya escaped when she heard the bathroom door
Suvi stood up wondering how the kids could find her, and assumed the bathroom had another door on the other side
IT WAS NEEL!!
The bathroom light was on
His shirt was wet
"Mango custard mein naha liye hum" he laughed
"Meetha mast lagta hai kya aapko?" she mocked "Jaldi jaldi mein khaaya hoyega"
He pinned her or atleast stood in front
"Neel" she whispered
Trembling
"They are all down eating custard" he said
Neel" she squirmed
"suvechha" he returned the favor
"I AM BEGGING YOU" he said hoarsely
And she was noble she wudnt let him beg too much
After the first kiss Suvi said "Tumne khaate time giraya?" she whispered
He had tasted like mangi custrad to her
"Agar nahi khaate to 100% nuksaan tha na... abhi to sirf 20%" he laughed
She moaned as he let his right hand creep up under her stiff pallu to cup her curve
And groaned... agonized... and kissed her rough
Gagan called his driver from Sector 3 and had her dropped
They returned at 1 AM
And Bhuvan yawned on the sofa
Ragini went to change
"Pasand karti hain aapko?" he said all of sudden
Neel felt a golf ball fly up his wind pipe
"Jee?" he asked baffled
"Suvechha aapko pasand karti hain?" Bhuvan spoke firmly
NO IDEA HOW TO ANSWER THAT
He tried to channel all of Suvechha's expressions all evening long JUST to be able to place WHICH of her expression had given his FIL the clue
There was NO interaction that could have caused Bhuvan to come to that conclusion
NO WAY!!
They were discreet to the point of being invisible to each other in the living room
HOW did he know? Neel wondered astounded
Upstairs Ragini changed, texted Preet to thank her
"Beta Suvechha ka last name kya hai?" "I think she told me I couldnt catch it in the din" she texted
Gurpreet texted "Dhabolkar" AND then realized the besan laddoo dabba event
And shouted OMGEEE! OMGEE!!!
"Shubhangi is her mother?" Ragini asked
Gurpreet rolled over and slammed her face into the pillow squirming
"Oh shit! "oh shit!"
Gags shouted "So ja Preeto"
"Yes Aunty" Gurpreet texted with shaking fingers
Ragini stared at the last name for the longest time...
Anupamaa
