COOL DUDES CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3 – THE TRUTH UNFOLDS

NK was still in his self praising mode. "How can I not have a girl friend?"

Akash gave him a get-over-yourself-already look and asked him one final time, "Dude!! Come on" Akash was a very calm guy but he was not that calm.

NK went back to the sofa followed by everyone. Khushi and Payal were a bit tired by following him around. They were wishing that he would sit down and talk to them.

"Well you see……I liked her…and she liked me…and one day…for Akash's wedding….I had to come to India…and….." NK said and Akash went back to that time. He was thinking about his marriage. It had just been 6 months but Akash and Payal had been through so much already. "…..and I asked her if she wanted to come…but she refused" NK continued.

"If you liked her…how come you came looking so happy….?" Asked Akash. He was wondering how a man can be always so happy even after breaking up.

"Every laughing face has tears which wash it away at night" said NK. He was becoming emotional, a bit too emotional that is. Khushi could not bare that sight of NK. She gave her a sympathetic look. She kept her hand on his shoulder to let him that she was with him, they all were.

"Okay…so you just forgot her…." Asked Akash. He could not stop himself from asking that question.

"Of course not…well I made new friends when I came here…" he looked at Khushi and remembered how they bonded in friendship almost instantly "…. and I was giving myself time. I thought I would be able to move on in life very easily…but I guess I was wrong. I still miss her" he sighed.

"Do you like her or do you love her?" asked Khushi.

"What difference does it make?" asked NK in his innocence.

"It makes a lot of difference NK bhai…if I had just liked Payal ji..the I would have never ever courage up and ask her to marry me…." Akash replied.

"Well..I do miss her and I do want to talk to her but I don't know what love is…." He said and looked at everyone. "I guess that answers your question right?" NK asked innocently. He knew what everyone was thinking and even he thought that he did not love her.

"Absolutely wrong Nanhe ji….you need to know if you love her or not. Actually love is weird in that way….or it has changed its meaning in today's generation or may be we are simply dumb enough not to understand what exactly it is…." Khushi said and everybody stared at her. "Okay I guess I am rambling……." Khushi said feeling embaraassed.

"No No Khushi ji…I know what you mean…..you had to persuade Payal ji to listen to her heart for me right…that's what you are trying to say?" Akash said. He was sure that he was may be sure. Payal was embarrassed at that moment. She practically wanted to run away from there.

"Exactly jija ji….enough in my case…I mean Arnav ji and I ….we also had to go through a phase of that feeling and we did not know for sure that we loved each other or not…." Khushi finally explained. But NK was nowhere near being clear.

"So you guys are saying that I might be in love?" asked NK. Khushi nodded. But Akash just raised his eyebrows. Well….I don't know,……you are from a foreign land and may be you genetically designed differently…." Akash responded along with the eyebrow raise.

NK was not sure on how to respond to that sarcastic comment so he chose to ignore it.

"So you are saying that I am not in love?" he asked.

"May be" said Khushi

"Yes, definitely may be" replied Akash.

"Okay shouldn't you guys be helping me…" asked NK. He had this look on his face. His eyes squinted and meak sad expression on his face.

"We are" Akash replied.

"I am even more confused now…." Said NK as his cousins were making things worse than they already were.

"NK ji…leave all what they have said" Payal spoke, finally rising out of her embarrassment.

"Then what am I supposed to do" NK said. He wanted to get out of the lousy feeling and instead he was getting in more trouble with each passing minute.

"Simply listen to your heart" came Payal's reply. She knew that she also listened to her heart when it was her time. And she knew that it is only thing that helps.

"But that is the whole problem Payal Bhabi…I am not an expert…cant I hire an expert to do this for me" NK said giving up.

Akash, Khushi and Payal looked at each other and though for a moment. NK, for the first time ,was behaving this way. Now they were sure that he loved the girl for sure, otherwise he would not be so confused.

"So you want to be with her?" asked Akash from him. He knew the exact way of solving his cousins problem.

"Were you present here for the last few minutes…if not then you need to ask these both" NK pointed at Payal and Khushi . He was not sure why Akash was lingering onto the same thing.

But Akash knew what he was doing. "Do you think she likes you and she wants to be with you?"

"Like I said…. I don't know" NK got up from the sofa. At least all the ridiculous repetitive questions were making him angry rather than being sad.

"Do you think she has moved on or wants to move on?" Akash asked again.

"I don't know" NK repeated again.

"Do you want to move on?" Akash asked very subtly.

"I don…..I mean no…definitely no…." NK replied. Khushi, Payal and Akash all smiled.

"Hey that was sneaky…" NK said. Akash did not say anything. "But it worked…." NK said. He was feeling relieved. He at least knew what his heart felt. When he knew the problem, he could find a solution.

"Well it was not easy.." Akash said honestly.

NK had his smile back. His heart was feeling all these butterflies in the pit of his stomach and Khushi could see it in his eyes. NK was thinking about her. He went back to his older days, the days before India, before all the weddings in the Raizda house and Shyam and everything else. He went to the time when he was just him and lived a simple cool life. He never regretted coming to India. He loved his cousin family. He just missed his time there; he missed being with his girl friend and the rest of his friends.

"So what are we supposed to do next?" asked NK coming back to the present.

"Woah! Hey! Wait….not so fast.." said Akash holding NK from his shoulder. He wanted everything to go at its pace and not in super jet speed.

"What? " asked NK with that usual chirpiness in his voice.

"First show us her photograph…lets see even if she is a match for you" teased Khushi.

NK did not waste even a single moment and took his phone out. He opened up the pictures folder and swiped to where her photograph was kept. "There she is" NK said with utmost love in his voice.

"Wow!!" said Khushi and Payal at the same time. The girl in the photograph was beautiful and gorgeous. Akash gave NK a smile. They all really liked the girl, at least in 2 dimensions.

"So you think she is okay?" asked NK, although NK had no doubt in that.

"As if you care what we think" teased Payal. NK just blushed.

"Na na Payal ji….you are using incorrect words here. You should say as if he would choose somebody who is not like that…" teased Akash. NK punched Akash on his shoulder.

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" asked NK.

"Since when are there sides?" asked Akash.

"Since its boys and girls" answered Arnav who had just entered the door.

"Bhai….." Akash said in surprise. "What are you doing here? And what about the deal?" Akash was worried. He had worked really hard on that deal.

"Hey relax Akash….they called….I was driving and reached just half way to the office that I received their call.. they were so happy with your proposal that they directly sent there lawyers to our company" Arnav said with a proud smile on his face.

"It means?" asked Akash, yet holding his breath.

"It means that our lawyers are coming home and we have cracked a big deal" answered Arnav.

"Wow!!" replied Akash and he hugged Arnav. Everybody was happy. Arnav and Akash shared a few details and after sometime the lawyers came and Akash and Arnav signed a deal.

"Congrats bro" said NK with pride. He patted on Akash's back.

"Leave that….so we were on sides right?" asked Arnav. Everybody was very happy and so was Arnav. They had all discussed about the deal and Payal and Khushi brought in some snacks after sometime. Now they wanted to come back to NK's problem, or solved issue.

"Yeah….sides….so Akash you are on my side right?" NK asked.

"Forget that…tell me something more important….we are talking about this girl for so long…and yet we do not know her name?" asked Khushi. She was always the more excited one.

"Absolutely….that is the question of the hour" said Arnav.

"So what's the name of the lucky lady?" asked Akash.

"Well her name is…….." NK said. He was practically blushing out of no apparent reason.

(OK….I AM SORRY…I HAD TO BRING ARNAV IN…I WAS NOT PLANNING TO AT ALL…..HAD THE WHOLE STORY PLANNED WITHOUT HIM…BUT COULD NOT RESIST MYSELF….BUT NO STORY IS COMPLETE WITHOUT HIM OR THE OTHER CHARACTERS……STILL THE STORY WILL MAINLY REVOLVE AROUND NK AND AKASH ALONG WITH REST OF THE CAST)