Sibling in law
Kalyani and her stayed up until 2 AM giggling as she invited her to sleepover, her parents Rohini apartment was on the 10th floor, this bedroom had windows and doors opened out to the front lawn. She made sure the curtains were drawn and the room Kalyani and her were in, all outer doors were bolted
“Are you afraid to sleep in this house?”
“Are you?” Kalyani whispered
“Low key”
“My Ma is too, she hates it here, Baba visits mostly” Kalyani giggled breathlessly
“I LOVE your Ma” Viveka settled in closing her eyes
“Tayiji and I used to speculate WHO bhai was going to marry, can I say something? I AM SO HAPPY HE married YOU” Kalyani gave her a hug
“Thank you”
“Umm.. so who did your Tayiji want him to marry?”
“You know… someone like HER” Kalyani laughed uncontrollably
Viveka tried not to laugh
“Matlab?” she pressesd
“You know someone like Lekha Bhabhi”
“She is sweet” Viveka said politely
“Oh pleez, she told me I have too many pimples on my face I should think about getting it surgically smoothened”
“Oh wow!”
“My Mom has too as you noticed”
“I told her Ma does too”
“Yeah, its all genetics, I have really long arms” Viveka raised an arm”
“YOU DO” Kalyani laughed again
“She said your Mom needs to do something about that”
“Sorry” Viveka tried not to take sides
“She returned the red border saree Ma gave her” she said grumpily
“Oh no”
“She said she would look like a Bengali grandma” Kalyani was hurt
“I love it I will wear it after my parents return” Viveka told her
“When Bhai and I met you at Kamla Nagar”
“Oh yeah?” Viveka’s heart raced “TEAAAA!”
Viveka was wide awake now, tho her eyes were closed, the swishing in her belly almost audible
She was looking at her phone
“Kalyaniii”
“Sorry… yeah, where was I?”
“What did you guys talk about”
“Oh yeah yeah… yeah, Bhai asked me if I like you”
“HE DID?” she smiled in the dark
“hes like,”she is crazy smart”
“Really? Nothing about how hot I am, my curves? My lips? My hair”
“bas?” Viveka felt deflated
“BHAI NEVER says that about any girl”
“HOW MANY girls has your Bhai been with anyway?”
“He was a model Bhabhi, he ,modeled shirts, at this really cool lit place in London”
“Good, they had lights” she mocked
Kalyani started roaring loudly
“Shushhhhhh kitna zor se hasti ho tum?” Viveka sat up in shock
“You are funny… if Bhai hears this he is not going to be happy”
“#Shocked” Viveka muttered sarcastically
“He is very proud of his modeling days” Kalyani supplied another juicy nugget
“Kya kar rahi ho?”
“I just told him he got roasted”
“Kalyaniiii,” Viveka rolled her eyes, she feared no one, she didn’t believe it
“Are you afraid?”
“Tumhare bhai se? KYON?”
“Bhai has a mean gussa”
“Don’t worry I don’t think I am afraid”
“she is not afraid of ur temper” Kalyani texted
“Has he said anything else about me?” Viveka asked with longing
“He says you know you look good in a saree” she whispered as if it was some state secret
“HA” “Your brother is a smartass” she said
Kalyani furiously texted that, the blue light seeping thru the duvet
“Kya kar rahi ho blanket ke neeche
“Just chatting with friends”
“I have to go see your Tayaji at 6” she yawned and rolled over to her side
Patted Kalyani’s head
“You should hang with my twin sisters when they return home
“I already have them on every SM”
“Nice… Karuna kuch post karti hai?”
“OMG u are totally snooping Di”
“Haha did u just call me Di?”
“Umm.. hahaha I guess”
“I like you Kalyani, tum ekdum sweet ho you remind me of my sisters” she sighed
“Thanks, I like you too” “the most”
“Don’t be rude you cant hate Lekha Bhabhi”
“Yes I can” she said with a 20 year old’s impudence
“So jao abhi”
“Do you think Naina Di is mad at me?” she asked staring at the ceiling
Viveka’s heart skipped a beat
“Why?
“I told her I wont call her Bhabhi” she said grimly
“Hmm” Viveka felt a surge of grief.
She wanted to see Naina right away
She would have given an arm and a leg to be here
“Naina is a sweet kind person she is my best friend” Viveka said firmly
“I know, I am sorry…” Kalyani was ashamed
“Lets not talk about what she said or u said I don’t want to know” she said sadly
“I didn’t mean to hurt you Bhabhi”
“I know love…. Naina loved.. loves Inder”
“He always called me motoo” she revealed yet another insecurity unwittingly “Tayiji never defended me” she sighed
Viveka realized that must have been why she didn’t want to like anyone Inder liked
Smrita’s acute focus on appearance had sent Raanav into modeling and Kalyani to resent Naina for no reason
“U know what? I heard her say “chashmish” about me to Viren Mamaji” Viveka giggled sharing her own secret
“SHE DID?” “She is awful Did u tell her off”
“Nope” “I wear glasses so why bother” Viveka laughed hysterically
“We should join forces and launch a rebellion”
“Log yoon hi berozgar economists ko dosh dete hain”
“Your Hindi is on point Bhabhs”
“I feel very cool when you say that” Viveka chuckled
“Did you know Bhai has a music company?” “A record label” “Production something”
“Oh?”
“tayiji was furious he abandoned it”
“Does he do sound mixing at home? I see a bunch of stuff in that other room”
“Yep”
“We don’t know each other much” Viveka admitted quietly
Kalyani didn’t ask why. She probably knew Viveka realized
Which was OK
They drifted off to sleep
Viveka woke at 5 AM, Kalyani woke from the stirring and demanded to know where she was going
“I have to go see your Tayaji?”
“SO EARLY? I think my Baba was going” she rubbed her eyes and grabbed her phone
She went into the shower, and when she came out Satyen’s brother was waiting in the suite’s greeting room
Mahesh was also there with chai
She grabbed her travel to go mug and left with him
She ran back in and kissed Kalyani on the forehead as she slept
Thoughtful and kind…. Viveka realized
Her phone flooded with videos and texts from family, it was the day before wedding Dec 14
Tayaji was funny and talkative just like his brother, he told her everything about how they were raised how Satyen is so remarkable and how he feels no envy
He didn’t talk much about Smrita
Viveka did not mind that at all
She texted her parents that she was up
Calls started raining on her phone, they arrived at the hospital around 6:20, raanav was leaving for Aurangabad at 8ish flight was at 10
He was probably going to shower at the private lounge she thought
He was shocked to see her
He was on the phone, he froze in his tracks when he spotted her
“
Debate Mansion
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