Part 3
Gauri would have turned away at that moment but she realized her father had noticed her and was extending a hand towards her to come and meet them. Gathering all her poise and with a confident smile she did exactly that.
Vishal extended his hand as he saw his daughter approach their group.
"Thank God you finally got the time to talk to me. I was just thinking of calling you to come and meet these two. They have been just so very impatient." He addressed her, and added as an afterthought. "You do remember them, right."
Gauri nodded her head in response with a bit of uncertainty. Although she remembered meeting Kamini, she wasn't sure that she had ever had a heart to heart chit chat with Aditya Mittal. And he did not look the kind of man who would be interested in anyone if they didn't contribute to his accounting spreadsheets. But etiquette dictated that she be graceful and enthusiastic as she met them, so along with the brightest smile she could muster, she faced them and greeted them by folding of hands and a nod.
In a matter of minutes she realized that she was not the best actor at the social scene, Aditya Mittal surpassed her by leaps and bounds. After the initial greeting he stepped over the mantle as her honorary uncle and took to reminiscing back to her childhood and how he and his wife regretted not being able to meet her regularly. Then the talk reverted to her plans while she was in London and in no time she landed up with the invitation for a tour of good haunts with their son as the guide. Inward she sighed, asking herself yet again why people assumed that because she was coming back to London after a long time, she was a stranger to this city. She had been born here after all and she did spend her holidays here even if it was a couple of weeks per year. Not to mention some of her friends were from London too. She wasn't sure of the invitation also as the young man in question she had never met with, though she had been hearing a lot about him in the recent days.
Pratham Mittal was a few years elder to her. He too had an elite upbringing with Swiss boarding schools and top American universities, from what she had heard. And who was now a Vice President in her father's Company. Well technically the company was his father's too. And though she had misconceptions about people who took the easy way out and started their careers with their parent's help, her father had insisted that it was not the case. He was good in his job and there was nothing wrong if they utilized talent such as his instead of offering it to a rival company for the sake of principles. In short, he was the example Vishal Agarwal was currently referring to lure back his daughter to work for him instead of joining another firm. And Gauri was hell bent on turning a deaf ear to such persuasions. So when the talk around her reverted to the man called Pratham Mittal, Gauri came up with an excuse and went to meet some other of their associates.
The party was a huge success. Even as the clock struck midnight, the place was crowded and humming at a consistent level. But Gauri wanted a moment of respite from all the noise and all the people who seemed interested in making acquaintance with the newest entrant at the social scene. With these thought in her mind she made her way towards the quieter room along the hallway and spotted a balcony. Since the weather was comparatively warm, she decided to get some fresh air. And as she gazed out at the scenery before her, she was taken by the vast landscape in front of her. In the moonlight, everything looked so serene and the accompanying stillness provided a welcome distraction. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed a couple lost in an intimate embrace in the dark shadows of the balcony. "Almost" being the operative word.
The lady in question suddenly let out a giggle, whose shrillness scared Gauri out of her wits and disturbed her moment of peace. As Gauri turned to the source of the sound that had startled her, she was met by a pair of deep black eyes.
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
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