Chapter 2
Geet stepped into the kitchen, pulling out a pan from one of the cupboards but her mother stopped her. When Geet asked why she gestured to the containers beside her, and she rolled her eyes.
"The leftovers of their family dinner, a speciality of the Handa household."
Rekha signed that she had made the food from her bare hands and it had hardly been touched, thus it would be a shame to let it go to waste.
Geet sat down on the stool, opening the container. "Meat again? Did you tell Ms Singhania that we live off rice?"
Her mother ignored her usual sarcastic comments and instead handed her a letter that came from Pari.
"Can I eat first, Ma?"
Rekha stared pointedly until Geet sighed and took the letter from her hands.
"Pari says the weather is glorious, and she takes walks on the beach everyday. Her studies are going well, she's preparing for exams and..." Her eyes stopped at the next sentence, widened and then gasped. "She's getting married?!"
Rekha's hands flailed furiously, demanding further detail.
"She met someone... Paul from one of her law electives. They've been together for a year and he proposed! She says he has a beach house by the sea - oh Ma, imagine when we go to visit!"
Rekha signalled that she wanted to call Pari, but Geet shook her head. "She'll be busy, plus we can call tomorrow when it's early morning there and we'll be less tired. For now we have to save up as much as we can because we are going to be at the wedding, no matter what! I'll take extra shifts before college starts again and you can ask Ms Singhania for a raise, right?"
Her mother looked forlorn and weary, but Geet overlooked her subdued nature due to the sudden surprise of Pari's engagement. She relished the food, her mind some thousands of miles away to the perfect life of her sister. Perhaps by simply even getting a chance to visit Pari, she would be fortunate enough to inhabit some of her luck too.
***
The next morning, Geet sat beside the house phone, punching Pari's number in. She had hardly slept a wink all night, the restlessness to talk to her sister growing with each passing moment.
The first call didn't go through and the second call was disconnected. Mumbling angrily, she opted for third time lucky - telling herself that she would call Pari all day if she had to unless she answered the call.
***
Pari was walking under the baking California sun when her mobile rang for the fifth time. Recognising the number, she realised there would be persistence until she gave in, so she took the call.
"Pari? Can you hear me? It's Geet!"
"I can recognise your voice."
"Good because I was starting to think you'd forgotten us! How are you, how is university and how is your new fiance?"
"Everything's going great, look I-"
"Pari, Ma and I are going to come for your wedding so do you have an exact date?"
"Geet, I'm kind of busy right now. I'll call you later."
"But-"
"Send Ma my love."
Pari cut the call, shoving the phone into her bag and heading inside. She positioned herself in her usual spot, threw her bag at her feet and tended to her first customer; a regular who ordered a latte. She had found out from friend conversation that he was also Indian like her and a student on his summer holidays, living in his father's villa.
"There's your latte, Maan. It's on the house today."
Maan took the cup from Pari and smiled. "Cheers, have a nice day."
"You too."
She watched as he sat at his usual spot beside the window and lost himself in his laptop. How she wished she could feel as content as he looked, if only she could have lost herself in her world of books and studies. The lies that she fed her family back home satisfied their worries, but it was eating inside of her with each passing day.
***
Naintara Rathod walked along the plush carpet of Rathod Electricals, her heels pushing into the luxurious fabric. She opened the door with one hand and used the other hand to brush her shirt into place.
She stopped before her mother's desk, who was accompanied by a man whose sight was becoming far too familiar for her liking.
"Naina, take a seat please. We need to talk to you."
"I already know what this is about. Don't you read the headlines?"
"Naintara, can you do as your mother asks?"
"Don't tell me what to do, I barely know you."
"Naina!" Sushmita stood up furiously, ready to go to blows with her daughter. Mishal placed his hand on her arm gently and she cooled down, understanding that an argument would drive Naina further away from her.
"Can I go now?" She walked away, unperturbed by her mother but the next set of words stopped her.
"Remember who pays for your education and lavish lifestyle before you display your attitude."
She halted to a stop mid stride, and then turned her head a fraction. "I would have asked my father if it troubles you so much. But I forget that my mother looted him for his every last penny to run away with her toyboy lover."
Sushmita's horrified expression said it all as she watched Naina storm out. Composing herself, she sat down and rested her head on Mishal's shoulder.
"This is harder than I expected. And what about Jay?"
"I'll arrange for Sunday dinner and present them both with a clause. Such a clause, that they'll have no choice but to accept our impending marriage."
Sushmita raised her head up. "Clause? Mishal, they're our children; not our clients."
"They're our children who live off the thriving successes of their parents. I can say with certainty that they expect a share, if not the entire business once we retire. With our companies merging, we're talking profits well into the billions. And neither Jay nor Naintara will want to be disinherited from that. Look Sushmita, business is all we know and sometimes, business is what we need to bring our offspring into line. Trust me on this, hmm?"
***
Geet and her mother sat on the floor of their small living space, sifting through bills and important documents. Geet noticed a change in her mother at the news of Pari's engagement; disappointment, perhaps, in the lack of her sister's involvement and affection towards her only family. Confusion, as to how it all came about. And loneliness - before Pari's departure to the States 2 years ago, they were not only mother and daughter but best friends. Geet often felt like the odd one out, but it seemed that the allure of the American Dream had made Pari forget about her roots back home.
It would be a lie to say it didn't hurt her, to witness her own sister become a stranger. But it was particularly hard to witness her mother cope with the change.
"Ma, when do you think we should fly out to see Pari?"
Rekha looked up at Geet and grabbed her notepad and pen, a device she always used when she needed to have a long rant.
'Not we. Me. I'm going alone.'
"What?! It's my own sister's wedding and you're going to stop me from going?!"
'I'm not going to partake in her wedding activites. I'm going there to find out what is really happening with my daughter. I have a gut instinct and it's not good.'
"You worry too much, and you always have. Sure, she's changed but who wouldn't, living away from home for so long? You know I've been dying to go to America ever since she left, and I've never been abroad. Please Ma, please take me with you?"
'I'll think about it.' Rekha stood up to fetch a glass of water, and Geet was all too aware of what that really meant. She decided to take matters into her own hands and vowed to call her sister on her way to work in the afternoon, demanding to hear the absolute truth.
***
Precap: "I'm Maan Khurana, the heir to a huge construction company back in India, and I do not give two hoots about the consequences of any actions of which I'm about to take part in on this very night."
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
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