Thanks for the appreciation guys...here's the next part 😃
NOTE-I send a buddy request to everyone who wants to be PM'd everytime I post...please accept it, some of you haven't so I couldn't send the PM 😳
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Chapter 5- Social Networking Faux Pas!
Heer Maan is getting married in two weeks!
30 minutes ago via Facebook for iPhone
...said the status update on Facebook. It was still early morning in London and Saturday at that so a lot of people there didn't know thought Heer as she settled in for the facial. A buzz on her mobile indicated there had been activity on her status…
Preet Juneja likes your status- said the first notification, then, Preet Juneja commented on your status.
I loooovvveee this status bestie turned bhabhi :D and guess what? 30 minutes ago someone else posted the exact same status! You're in for a pleasant surprise btw :P
Heer smiled to herself…life was twisted! This was going to be the first time she couldn't tell Preet what she actually thought…she didn't want to go ahead with the marriage, because for starters…Prem Juneja and she were miiiillllllllleeeesssss apart, if she looked London he talked Tokyo…correction! Delhi! More like Vasant Vihar sector D, Juneja House, Delhi- period! You couldn't even ask him to move to the next street…Heer loved her family, she adored the Juneja but she'd gotten used to her independence in the 5 years that she'd lived abroad…she wasn't sure if she could ever cope up with a family as big and as noisy as the Junejas on a daily basis…then, she knew virtually nothing about the guy…what he liked to do when he came back from work, what he did on a Saturday morning, where he'd want to go for a vacation i.e. if he ever did go for vacations…Heer wasn't too happy but she wasn't your typical damsel in distress kind of girl either…she was a grown, independent, educated woman…she would deal with it!
Two hours later…Heer logged onto Facebook…86 new notifications!
Perfect! – she thought, this is going to be fun!
She knew she'd create a sensation among friends and coworkers…she quickly read through the comments, some said congratulations and wished her a happy life, others…who were closer to her asked if they were going to be invited…but one comment caught her attention in particular…all caps used…it was…
Maya Binder WHAT?? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM ME MISSY!! CALL. NOW. GET READY TO BE GRILLED. THANK YOU. DISMISSED!
Heer smiled, Maya was one of her closest friends. She'd studied at Oxford with Heer …although Maya was nowhere as successful with Heer who had topped up her degree with an MBA, but was well settled nevertheless and worked with her dad. Heer believed in individuality, but with a business as flourishing as Raj Binder's…why work elsewhere? Maya had often said.
Heer was about to reach for her phone and call Maya when she received another notification…a friend request…via friend suggestions, suggested by none other than Preet Juneja…and the person who sent her the request was none other than…PREM JUNEJA!
Heer raised an eyebrow and shook her head sideways…trust Preet to play cupid! He'd always done that in school…Heer sighed as she clicked 'CONFIRM' when actually she wanted to 'IGNORE' and Facebook said on her homepage…
Heer Maan is now friends with Prem Juneja
And less than two seconds later, there was a LIKE and a comment
Preet Juneja kyunki kisi aqalmand insaan ne kaha hai, pyaar ka pehla aur akhri step dosti hai :D
Heer rolled her eyes and was about to comment when she saw that someone had taken no time to comment
Prem Juneja you know what I'm going to do when I come back from Dubai? I will personally burn your DVD collection! And remove the TV from your room…and you know I'll have support!!
Heer smirked…Preet was a movie buff and for his 21st birthday an excited Preet had told Heer that PB got him a 42 inch TV for his room, complete with a DVD player and surround sound system…she knew Lalit uncle had been against the idea, but Prem had managed to convince him.
2 minutes later
Preet Juneja dislikes the above comment!! And truly believes bhalai ka zamana hee nahi raha! Au revior meanos!
A minute later there was a private message in her inbox…it was from Preet
Hey, I wanted to talk to you this morning but damn the zari and mithai wala! Anyway…I want you to know that I know this isn't easy for you…I even wonder how you agreed! You don't even know PB! And you'd always said you wanted a certain kinda guy…so how do you even know he's your type?
Well, so here I am doing what I do best…playing Cupid! Thanks to FB, you guys can take a step forward and break the ice, hence the friend suggestion…I figured the guy should be adding the girl so sent it to PB not you…hope it's okay…
Ignore the comment…a little fun never did anyone harm right? And I'm not worried about what PB said…you're going to be his boss and I'm sure you'd never want me TV-less…right? ;)
Heer smiled to herself…Preet was actually aware of what she was going through, and in his clumsy…not so proper way had tried to help her and was nonchalant about it…she decided to play along and replied
Ah so this was a ploy to save your TV…and poor me, I actually thought you cared! Hmph! xxx
The reply said:
Ah! You figured! You were always smart BHABHI! ;) lol
Heer forgot all about calling Maya as she browsed through the profile of her groom-to-be. Prem Juneja was clearly impressive she thought as she browsed through several photo albums…old pictures, an album titled 'down the memory lane'...she saw childhood photos, school pictures, her brother Nihaal was tagged in several of them. Then came an album titled MIT and she saw his college photos…pictures on campus, his dorm room…a picture where he was standing in the communal kitchen holding a plate of burned chicken…the caption underneath said 'first time I cooked'…then came photos of his time in New York…during MBA at Harvard…his workplace in Delhi and more recent photos with family and an album titled 'round the world'…she was surprised to see that he was well traveled…that too on his own or with friends. That was weird because he was a family guy and Nihaal bhaiyya's best friend…and Heer knew her Nihaal bhaiyya didn't like traveling, his favorite pastimes were playing tennis and squash at the gymkhana or chess with dad when he was home and quiet dinners with his friends who were as boring as he was. But it turned out that his best friend was the exact opposite. 525 friends on Facebook meant he was very social and knew a lot of people…she noticed that he regularly updated statuses and profile pictures…she was pleased until she came across a status he'd posted four weeks ago
Prem Juneja is trying to forget happiness!
That was exactly when her marriage had been fixed with him…four weeks ago…she hadn't known, but he had…and he was trying to forget his happiness which obviously meant that he wasn't into the setup…he probably was in love with someone else!
As she scanned the comments on that status she came across one that stood out
Sanjana Khanna aww baby! What happened?
Prem Juneja hey, nothing! How are you? I miss you
Sanjana Khanna my, my Prem babu…something's up! Why don't I give you a call? Hope it's not too late there?
Prem Juneja :D nope, never too late for you!
And that was it!
Heer clicked on the name…Sanjana Khanna. Unfortunately for her the profile was pretty limited so all she saw was a profile picture of a girl in a revealing black ball gown holding a glass of champagne in her hand…girl was a looker, thought Heer…and he probably liked her…or was even in love with her…he was marrying Heer for his family…that would be typically Prem Juneja! Great!
Heer logged out of Facebook, despondent and decided to call her best friend Maya in London. She didn't know that someone else was browsing through her profile while sipping coffee…
Prem checked out Heer's profile on Facebook…he noticed that although she tried very hard to pose as a serious career woman, she actually was a typical 22 year old. He saw that when he came across an album titled 'my favorite girls'…and as he browsed through the album, he was surprised to see his sisters Kulraj and Veera in it...
Prem smiled…this was good. Heer was his kid brother Preet's best friend, she got along well with his mum. He knew Gayatri had always thought of the Maan sisters as her own and Heer had held a special place in the woman's heart…and that was unconditional, that was way before matrimony had come into the picture…now he saw that Heer did indeed get along well with his sisters…that was good…this was the kind of girl he wanted.
He was further surprised when he saw that Heer had been to Chicago to see his sister Kulraj…he didn't know about that. Kulraj and her husband Kiran lived in Chicago where Kiran had been a resident doctor studying genetics. They planned to move back to India in a few years which was surprising because Kiran had grown up in the US and all his family lived there. He'd come down to India for a cousin's wedding when he'd set eyes on Kulraj…and his jeej liked to tell everyone that it had been love at first sight. Prem smiled, Kulraj and her family were supposed to reach India today…his sister was going to stay for a whole month and leave around the same time he left for London. He missed Kulraj…she was his favorite sibling…
Prem logged out of Facebook and started dressing for the meeting he had as he groaned to himself…who works on a Saturday? Apparently the Arabs did for Dubai was buzzing. He was a happy man…the girl he was getting would get along quite well with his family…that was all he wanted…little did he know…his fianc was not very pleased with him at the moment…
Heer called Maya and waited patiently as the phone rang
Maya- hello?
Heer- hey!
Maya- don't hey me Miss. Maan! We're not talking!
Heer- Maya will you please let me explain?
Maya- no!
Heer- please hun! You gotta listen to me!
Maya- Heer, I really don't have time for this…I'm busy!
Heer- busy on a Saturday morning? All you do on a Saturday morning is arse about! What exactly are you doing?
Maya- packing!
Heer- what for? Business trip?
Maya- yeah…
Heer- oh…where to?
Maya- Delhi
Heer- oh, that's nice...when will you….hey, wait…did you just said Delhi? Like Delhi in India?
Maya- nope…I meant Delhi in Australia! Duh Heer!
Heer- OMG! You're coming here? For the wedding?
Maya- don't get all worked up! I had to come anyway…dad plans to open a restaurant here and I'm incharge…and since you're rude enough to hitch up without so much of a word…I decided to be the nice one and prepone the trip
Heer- awww...Maya! I love you baby! I can't wait to see you! There's so much I have to tell! {Heer got all teary}
Maya- {sensing something's wrong} hang on babe! I'll be there tomorrow morning!
Heer- great! I'll pick you up at the airport…what time are you coming?
Maya- mmm…tomorrow morning 11:30 a.m. IST, it's Emirates so I'm coming via Dubai…EK999
Heer- Dubai…
Maya- he's in Dubai right?
Heer- how do you know?
Maya- I saw that idiot Preet's comment on your profile and I read the comment he wrote…Prem huh? I can't believe you're marrying that twisted freak's bro! they're family Heer…he's got to have the same defective gene!
Heer- Maya! How many times do I have to tell you? Preet's a really nice guy…you haven't even met him…then why does he bother you so much?
Maya- cos he once claimed to know you more than me on MSN group chat!
Heer rolls her eyes- that was ONE TIME Maya! We were 18! 4 years ago! Get over it!
Maya- yeah whatever…hey I really gotta hang up…I'll see you tomorrow hun…lots of packing to do!
Heer- have a safe flight
Maya- I will…you take care
Heer- bye
After she hung up…Heer felt much more at ease…she had two best friends…Preet and Maya. Preet had been with her since they were kids and she'd met Maya at uni but Preet couldn't be the same as Maya cos he was a guy…there was a lot she couldn't share with him…especially now because no matter how nice he was…he was Prem's brother…and Heer knew how much Preet adored his elder brother.
With that in mind, she got up to get dressed for her supposedly 'big evening' as Teji called it…so much for happiness thought Heer.
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Okay...time to vote people! I'm kinda confused about what happens next...should they meet before they get married? Or should they interact on Facebook and not meet? Or should neither happen and they married as virtual strangers?
Fan Fictions
