Chapter 41
Heer laughed at the sight as she sat on the bench with Guneet and Swaran, when she noticed that Kunal was nowhere in sight. She quickly got up and said "Yeh Kunal kahan gaya?" as she looked around. She headed straight for Prem and said frantically "Where's Kunal and and Nick isn't here either!"
"Calm down Heer. They must be playing around here somewhere, we'll search for them" Prem said as everyone started to search for the kids.
About 10 minutes later, they met back at the same spot to see if anyone had any luck. However, no one had found them as of yet. Hearing this news, both Heer and Guneet started panicking even more.
"Prem…MUJHE KUNAL CHAIYA…ABHI, ISSI WAQT" cried Heer as Sweety, Swaran and Kiran held her. On the other hand Guneet started crying as well, while Jeeti, Nishi and Ash tried to console her.
Prem had no clue as to what to do to make Heer stop. He couldn't bare to see her unhappy. The garden was so large, that it was a sure fact that they must have missed many parts, so they split up again.
About 20 minutes later, the guys walked back with both boys. Prem was carrying, Kunal, while Amar held Nick. Both mothers rushed over to their sons and embraced them.
Finally, after calming down Swaran asked where the guys found the boys.
"These two were playing near the entrance" Karan replied.
"Beta, what were you doing by the entrance" Heer asked Kunal.
"Mmamma…we were playing" replied Kunal innocently.
Guneet cut in and asked Nick "puttar, why were you not playing here?"
"Ball flew there" Nick replied showing his mom the small tennis ball in his hand. Both mothers sighed in relief that their sons were okay and everyone decided they should head home as it was getting near dinner time.
***
All the men sat at the dining table, waiting for their dinner, but none of the girls came out.
"What is this yaar!? Why are they taking twenty years to bring dinner out?" said Preet as he rested his head on the table.
"Why not one of you go and check what's taking them so long" said Kanwal as all the ladies walked out of the kitchen empty handed.
"What took you guys so long and where's the food?" Neel asked.
"We've had a change in plan" said Kiran.
"We thought we'd do something special for dinner today" Ash said, with Preet's attention quickly shifting to Ash, which didn't go unnoticed by Heer.
"Haan…chalo" Swaran said as all the men got up and followed the ladies out of the house.
"Why are they taking us outside?" Neel asked as he whispered to Preet.
Kiran and Ash had slowed down to walk in front of Neel and Preet as they let everyone else pass. Kiran suddenly stopped as Neel almost ran into her as he asked "what are you doing?"
"Neel, calm down…Hum tumhari izaat ko nahi lootna wale and stop your kusar-fusar with Preet and hurry up" Kiran said as she started walking again.
"One day she's going to die from my hands" Neel said to Preet.
"And when I die, I'll become an aatma and will come back to haunt you. Mein tumhara peecha itni aahsani se nahi chordne waali" retorted Kiran as she giggled along with Ash.
"God forbid anything happen to Ash, but if something happened, then I'd be more than happy to have her haunt me" Preet said looking at Ash, who walked in front of him.
"Preet…" Ash said, not looking back at Preet once.
"Ash…" replied Preet.
"Shut up" she said as she and Kiran hurried up to catch up with the rest of the group.
They all had walked out back and headed towards the outhouse, which looked like a tradition Punjabi haweli rather than the modern one, they had built right next to it. It was a two story home that had been renovated to look like an authentic miniature Punjabi Haweli. The girls opened the gate and led all the guys to the veranda of the home, which now had manja's set up with a bon fire in the middle. The whole atmosphere was created to make it feel like they were in old-day Punjab.
"What's all this?" Karan asked.
"Karan veer, this is our surprise to you all. You've all been living abroad for so long, that we decided we should have a pure traditional-punjabi dinner" Heer said as all the guys started to sit down.
However, they were stopped by Sweety aunty, who said that all the married couples should sit together, while the maids would set out the dinner. Preet rushed over to where Heer was standing and forced her to sit with Prem. Heer sat down in front of Prem as Preet said "Oye hoye, what a hot couple! Kisi ki nazar na lage" as he went forward to get some eyeliner from his mother's eyes and put it on both Prem and Heer.
Heer's face turned light pink and quickly said "Preet, there are other couples here too. Why don't you go and tease them."
"Their turn will come too, but you both are the easiest to tease" replied Preet as he quickly sat down with Ash on her manja. Kiran walked over and hit Preet's arm playfully as she said "get up, this is my spot"
"You're name isn't written on it, so I can sit here" replied Preet.
Kiran raised her eyebrown and folded her arms saying "and where am I supposed to sit?"
"With Neel" Preet replied, as water came out of Neel's mouth.
Before Neel and Kiran had time to argue about this, Sweety aunty quickly came and told her to sit as everyone's dinner was getting cold. Kiran made her way over and sat in front of Neel on the manja as they started eating.
***
It was 1 in the morning, when Preet and Neel finished watching a movie. They were tired from the previous day's activities, so they headed off to get some sleep. Preet was just about to enter his room, when he saw some light pouring out from underneath Ash's bedroom door. He quickly walked over and knocked on it.
"Come in" He heard Ash say, as he made his way in. Ashlesha, who was busy sitting at her bed with books sprawled out in front of her, didn't bother to look up to see who it was. She was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt with her hair tied up and was wearing her glasses. She was so absorbed in her work that she hadn't noticed Preet walk over and sit down across from her, until he said "What are you doing up this late?"
She looked up and sighed tiredly, while saying "I was just reviewing some stuff. I don't want to forget everything I've studied, while I'm on break for the next few weeks."
"I thought you were coming here to stay" said Preet.
"I am, but I'm going to start working in a month" she replied.
"Okay…" Preet said as thought on how to continue the conversation.
"Umm…Preet…if I say I needed your help, then would you help me?" asked Ash.
"What kind of help would a doctor need from a businessman? But sure I'll help you" asked Preet jokingly, Ash pushed her books aside and moved closer to Preet.
"Preet…uhh…there's this guy, I went to med school with and…umm…he sort of likes me" Ash told Preet. He sat there for a minute stunned, trying to register what she had said. Once the fact sunk in, his heart fell…and bad. He tried to cover this up by saying "uh…sort of likes you?"
"Well…I've known him since we went to go live with Nishi aunty and Deep uncle. I don't know how, but we became really close friends and slowly he's became an important part of my life. Then suddenly, he said he loves me before left for India. I told him I needed time to think and he said he'd wait an entire lifetime if he had to."
Preet was glad that the lighting in the room was a bit dim, otherwise the shock and sadness would have been seen by Ashlesha.
Preet cleared his throat and asked "umm…then…do you like him?"
"yeah" she said quietly and finished with "and I've always have…"
Preet sat there quiet and finally said "what's the problem then?"
"That's the thing is…I don't know…I'm just so confused…I don't know what to do or what to tell him. I don't know if I love him or not" she said nervously.
"The best thing I could come up with was to wait a while and see if him not being in my life would matter to me. Do you think that's a good idea?" Ashlesha asked Preet.
"Uhh…yeah, it is. They say that separation is what makes people realize their love for each other" Preet replied.
"Thank you Preet. You're a really helpful friend" Ash said smiling.
"No problem…umm…so I guess I should be leaving now. It's quite late and I think you should go to sleep too" Preet said as he got up to leave. The moment Preet stepped out of her room, the smile on Ash's face disappeared. A minute later, Neel walked in.
"Ashlesha…you like some?" Neel asked as Ash walked over to shut the door, then walking back to Neel.
"No…I lied to Preet…I don't like anyone." she replied emotionlessly.
"Why the h*ll did you lie to him then?" Neel asked.
"First of all, did Preet tell you or did you overhear us?" she asked.
"I overheard, but that doesn't answer my question" he said.
Ashlesha sighed and said "Preet has been dropping hints lately that I'm the next girl on his list to have her heart broken"
"What?" Neel asked confused.
"Everyone knows that Preet doesn't date a girl for long and he's never serious about a relationship and if you didn't notice, he's been acting a bit weird around me. I'm not an idiot…I can tell that he has his eyes set out on me" she said.
"What if he really likes you? Aren't you being a bit insensitive?" asked Neel.
"I'm being practical. When Preet was staying with me and your parents, before his studies ended, he'd have a new girlfriend every couple of weeks. Being a girl myself, I'd warn them about what they were getting themselves into, but they never listened. Of course, afterwards when they broke up, the girls would come crying to me and I'd have to console them. I've seen so many hearts break that I'm not going to let that happen to me" she said.
"I don't know what to say" Neel said.
"I know you're thinking I'm stonehearted, insensitive, and b*t*hy right now, but I'm doing this so my heart doesn't break and more importantly so that this family doesn't break apart again. Preet is my sisters devar and I don't want Heer di to have to deal with any more problems than she has to. If something does develop between me and Preet and then he leaves me hanging…it'll split this family up. It's better he get's disappointed now, then me and the whole family later. Plus, this is just a precaution I'm taking so that he doesn't develop feelings for me" she said.
"I guess I'm going to have to trust you on this" as he hugged her before he headed out of the room. However, he stopped when he heard Ash call him.
"I just want to give you a heads up, but the welcome home party being thrown on Saturday, I'd be careful there if I were you. From what I overheard the mom's telling Kanwal and Deep uncle, a lot of girls are going to have their eyes set out on you" Ashlesha said as she smirked at him.
Neel face fell and looked like he was going to be sick as he made his way out, but Ashlesha stopped him again.
"By the way, can you go warn Kiran too. Sweety aunty is thinking about getting her married soon too" she said.
"I'll tell her tomorrow morning" Neel said.
"No…I think you should tell her now, so she can be mentally prepared to what's coming her way. And please, when you tell her, don't get in an argument with her" Ash said.
"I never do!" Neel said pretending to be shocked.
"Oh really!?! Well…I think you should try to get along with her more because if she does get married, then you'll regret later that you didn't get to know her. Now, don't argue with me and just GO!" she said before he could say anything else.
***
Neel made his way to Kiran's room to find her still awake. He knocked on the door and walked in to find her reading a book.
"What are you doing up so late?" Neel asked her as she put her book down and rolled her eyes at him.
"You really need to get your eyes checked…I was reading" she replied.
"This late?" he asked.
"I couldn't fall asleep, but you came here just to ask me this?" she asked as she looked at him suspiciously.
"No…um…Ash sent me to warn you that Sweety aunty is thinking about getting you married and that she'll be looking for possible rishta at the party on Saturday" Neel replied.
"Well I guess, Sweety bhua is going be disappointed by the outcome" she quietly said.
"What do you mean?" Neel asked.
"I mean that I'm going to tell her I'm not ready for marriage and if she still doesn't listen to me than I'll just reject every proposal" she said.
"Wouldn't you be hurting your bhua?" he asked.
"Aren't you hurting your parents?" she retorted. They sat there looking at each other for a moment before Kiran spoke up again.
"Look…you can't tell me what to do or not to do as you're in the same situation I am in. However, things are different for me. I've…" but she suddenly stopped.
"I've what?" Neel asked as Kiran started to change the topic.
"Nothing…thanks for warning me though" she said.
"Well since we're in the same situation, I think we need to help each other out" Neel said.
"Oh really…and how is that?" she asked.
"Well…we're going to stick to each other throughout the whole party so we can get each other out of sticky situations." Neel said.
"You know what…as dumb as you look, you aren't and I like you more when you're nicer too" she said as she high-fived Neel.
"And my brain actually functions when you're not arguing with me" he said.
"I argue with you!" she said as she grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. Neel got up and grabbed another pillow hit her as they started a pillow fight. However, Neel tripped on a power cord in her room, causing him to fall over on top of Kiran on the bed. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute before they came back to their senses. They awkwardly got up and looked everywhere but each other.
"I guess…I should leave, before you start another argument with me" Neel said.
"Neel…you are the one to start the arguments…not me" she retorted.
"We'll argue about this tomorrow" Neel said smiling as he left Kiran who was also smiling.
***
The past 2 days had passed quite quickly. They had done a lot of sightseeing and catching up with each other. The morning after his encounter with Ash, Preet was back to his normal, joking self…as if nothing had happened. Though what did get noticed by the family was the fact that Kiran and Neel were seen discussing something quite frequently. However, when someone asked what was going on between the two, they would simple say nothing or that they'd find out soon enough.
The party was about to being in about an hour, when Heer frantically got Kunal ready in a suit identical in design to his fathers.
"Mamma…hurry up…I want to play with Nick" Kunal whined as Heer finished tying his tie.
"You're so impatient beta…now go" Heer said as Kunal jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. Heer made her way to fix the pallu of her black sari as she felt a pair of arms slid around her waist.
"Prem…stop…I need to get ready" she said as she slightly pushed him away.
"Umm…No!" he replied.
"Prem, I'm serious...would you want everyone to say that you're wife isn't punctual?" Heer said.
"The only person that should care if you are punctual or not is me" as he placed a kiss on her neck.
"Prem…I swear…if you don't let me get ready, then you're sleeping on the terrace tonight" Heer said as she broke out from his hold and turned to face him.
"And WHO is going to make me?" Prem said as he advanced towards Heer. She moved back as she hit the dressing table. Prem was about to kiss her, when they heard a knock on their door.
Heer smirked at him as she headed towards the door to open it and found Preet there grinning down at her.
"My internal sensor was signaling me that you needed my assistance!" Preet said as he smirked at his elder brother, who looked a bit annoyed, but was smiling also at his statement.
"Hai mera devar kina sona lagriya…kisi ki nazaar na laga" Heer said as she uthar-ed his nazaar.
"Tumhare devar ka bada bhai bhi bohat sona lagriya hai…uski bhi nazaar utharo" Prem said as he made his way over to Preet and Heer.
"Bhabi…PB is recycling my dialogues…so don't fall into his trap" Preet said as he hid behind his bhabi so Prem wouldn't playfully hit him.
"You don't need to warn me Preet…I'm quite aware of Prem tricks" she said and finished by saying "now will you take your PB with you so that I can finish getting ready?"
"Sure bhabi" Preet said as he pulled Prem out of the room, who was not willing to leave.
**Hi guys! Sorry now cliffhanger today. I had not time to write it and the chapter was getting longer by the minute and I didn't have that kind of time to spare from my studying. I had no time to proof read this so please don't mind the errors. I have mid-term exams on Tuesday & Wednesday, so I'll probably update the next chapter on Saturday. Then I'll get back to my 2-3 updates a week schedule. I hope you all don't mind and all your comments were very sweet. I hope to read more of them to boost my moral, which is sinking because of my exams.**
~Deepika
Edited by Deepika28 - 16 years ago
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