Chapter 1
"Avni di! Can we have some more coffee please?" came Rosh's yell from the living room. Avni sighed and put the kettle on. "Aur saath mein please kuch khaane ko laana... All this thinking is making me hungry!" Sameer added. Avni rolled her eyes. For the past four hours, Sameer, Rosh and Goldie had been screeching at the top of their voices... at least that's what it sounded like to her. "Pata nahin yeh log kya karna chahte hain!" she muttered, as she brought the coffee and food out.
The living room was a total mess, with papers strewn about everywhere and empty coffee cups littering the table. Avni rolled her eyes again and looked at Varun who was wedged into the sofa between Goldie and Rosh, and was looking decidedly uncomfortable. So Sameer and Rosh had finally managed to rope him in too! Poor guy! Shaking her head at the idiocy of her sister and boyfriend, she set the coffee tray on the table and sat down calmly while the others threw themselves at the food ravenously.
"So how is your plan coming along?" she asked, peering curiously at what seemed like a map of the house. "WHY do you need the house plans anyway?" she asked sternly, looking at Sameer. He just grinned and nodded his head at Rosh. "Di! Tumhe na kuch nahin pata... Jab aise important plans bante hain, you need to know the topography of the place perfectly", Rosh explained, eyes glittering with excitement. Fearing for the sanity of her sister, Avni opened her mouth to administer a well-meaning lecture on the importance of keeping one's nose out of others' business, when Sameer interrupted her hastily. "Your di and my bhaiyya are really one of a kind! It's nearly been a week since we started our plan, par yeh donon hain ki maanne ko tayyar hi nahin... I don't understand why they are trying to ignore something that is so obvious to all of us..." The long-suffering Varun finally spoke up at that "Sameer bhaiyya, main kabse keh raha hoon ki you really should stop interfering...oww!!" he subsided as Rosh and Goldie elbowed him from either side. Avni gave him a commiserating glance and turned to her sister again. "What did you do exactly?" she asked her,. resigning herself to a tale of much excitement (for them) and complete craziness (for her)...
Plan 1
Make Prithvi realise Damini is a girl.
Featuring - One beautiful sari and Roshni Gujral's exemplary fashion sense.
"Rosh, why do you want me to wear a sari today? Aaj kuch special hai kya?" Damini asked, watching her sister rummage through her cupboard looking for a 'decent' sari. Rosh gave a non-commital grunt, and began tossing the saris onto the bed. "Roshni! Stop messing up my cupboard!! And you're ruining my lovely saris!!! Baat kya hai?" Damini said in a frustrated tone. She began putting back the saris that Rosh had so unceremoniously dumped. "Di! Can't you sit down for a while? I can't concentrate with you jumping around like this. Just sit down and let me pick out a sari!" Rosh glared at her sister. Huffing indignantly, Damini plonked herself on the bed and tried to ignore her sister. Fifteen minutes (and an ungodly mess) later, Rosh finally deemed one of the saris to be good enough. "Wear this, please." she said and skipped out of the room, pausing at the door to say "And Di? You really need to go shopping!" Rosh ducked to avoid the pillow chucked at her head and went out chuckling.
Damini angrily draped the blue sari Rosh had picked. "Iss ladki ko pata nahin kya ho jata hai! She's crazy!" Muttering under her breath, Damini picked her files up and came downstairs. Picking up a piece of toast from the table and stuffed it into her mouth, ignoring Avni's protestations. "Stop fussing Avni. I'm really late..." she said, and rushed out of the door. Prithvi was standing by her car talking to Sameer. "Chalo Prithvi, Sameer. I need to get to office fast" she said, coming down the stairs.
Prithvi turned to look at her, still talking to Sameer. At the sight of her, he trailed off abruptly. Jaw open, he stared at her for a good five minutes, before Sameer's amused snort brought him back to reality. "What?!" he snarled at his brother. Damini was standing next to him by now, looking very curious about what was happening. Hoping she hadn't caught him looking, he opened the door for her, avoiding glancing at his brother till she was seated. He closed the door and turned to Sameer, who quickly assumed an innocent expression and just shrugged. Glaring at him for good measure, Prithvi slid into the driver's seat. Trying to contain his smirk, Sameer got into the front seat, mouthing "Bhabhi bahut acchi lag rahin hain na?" at his brother, knowing Prithvi wouldn't say or do anything before Damini. The nasty look he received only made him grin and he looked away, grin growing even wider when he saw his brother surreptitiously adjust the rear-view mirror so that he could catch a glimpse of the not-completely-oblivious Damini...
Sameer smirked at Avni, as Roshni recounted the incident. "See? Agar hum yeh nahin karte toh bhaiyya kabhi Damini ko aise nahin dekhte..." he gloated. Avni just raised her eyebrow, while Varun said "Actually bhaiyya, aap hi ne toh kaha tha ki Prithvi bhaiyya hamesha Damini ko ghoorte rehte hain... Toh yeh sab karne ki kya zaroorat thi? He'd have looked at her anyway. Waise I don't think the problem is that bhaiyya doesn't realise she's a girl..." he proclaimed self-righteously. At this, Avni started giggling, causing Sameer to get irritated "Abey chote! Tujhse teri rai kisne maangi? Just shut up!" he snapped. "Haan... Humare plans tumhare samajh ke bahar hain. Toh tum please humein interrupt mat karo" Roshni added, muttering "Stupid, unromantic, idiotic dumbo!!" under her breath, as Goldie patted her back comfortingly. Glaring at Varun again, Sameer started telling Avni about the next plan...
Plan 2
Make Damini jealous.
Featuring - Goldie and Sameer Saxena's flirtation tactics.
"You remember what to do right?" Sameer asked a nervous Goldie. "Ya... I think" she said, chewing on her nails. Roshni started pulling her hair in frustration, while Sameer rolled his eyes. "Concentrate, Goldie", he said, "Just go up to bhaiyya, look him in the eyes, smile at him and maybe touch his arm... It's not that difficult." Goldie wailed "I know what to do! I'm just scared that Prithvi or Damini di will murder me!!!" Roshni looked heavenwards and shook her head. "Kuch nahin hoga, Goldie. Main aur Sameer hain na. Just go and flirt with Prithvi. Damini di should be here any minute now", she said, and pushed a frightened Goldie into the security room.
Goldie timidly approached Prithvi, who was looking at some papers intently. Praying to all the gods she knew of, she cleared her throat softly. "Woh ... main..." she stammered. At Prithvi's answering smile and quirked eyebrow, her mouth went dry... Oh, the man was so fine! Suddenly, the idea of flirting with him didn't seem all that scary... With a wide smile, she began following Sameer's tips religiously.
Damini was walking past the security room, when a high-pitched giggle attracted her attention. Curious, she went towards the room and froze. Roshni's best friend, Goldie, was in the room with Prithvi and was simpering like the idiot she was. Eyes narrowed, she looked at the giggling girl and a smiling Prithvi with mounting irritation. Feeling sick, she glared at the oblivious pair, temper flaring when she noticed Goldie had her hand on Prithvi's forearm. Feeling the sudden impulse to shoot the girl and slap the smile off Prithvi's face, Damini marched into the room. "What are you doing here?" she yelled at the thoroughly-panicking girl, "Get out now!" Goldie attempted to say something, but one look at Damini's expression told her it would be best to leave immediately. As soon as she left the room, Damini turned on Prithvi. "What the hell do you think you were doing? Bade professional bante phirte ho, kaam ke waqt yeh sab kya ho raha tha? Woh bhi uss bacchi ke saath? Chee, cradle-snatcher!!!" she ranted, restraining the urge to stomp his foot hard. "What! Have you finally gone crazy? She was just telling me about the latest film..." Confused and angry, Prithvi began yelling too.. "Yeah right! And her conversation was so scintillating that you couldn't take your eyes off her face? Waise tumhari choice badi kharab hai. That girl is one of the dumbest, most insipid girls I've had the misfortune to meet..." Damini continued, sarcastically. Prithvi's face turned black with rage. He opened his mouth to yell, when a sudden thought struck him, calming him down instantly. "Are you jealous, Damini?" he smirked at her. That shut her up immediately. She gaped at him wordlessly, with a very flustered expression. Finally, after what seemed like the longest five minutes of her life, she found her tongue again. "You wish!", she snapped and stomped out of the room without another word. Smirking, Prithvi watched her go. Then, he turned back to his files, the smirk replaced by an ear-to-ear grin...
"Ab bolo! Isn't it true that those two have sparks flying?" Rosh asked, as Sameer sat back with a self-satisfied expression. Avni and Varun looked at each other, and then turned back to Sameer and Roshni with a smile and nodded. "Yay!!!" Sameer cheered, while Rosh and Goldie broke out into an impromptu jig. "Guess it's time for plan 3 then" Avni said with a devious smirk, while Sameer looked at her adoringly...
Edited by diya86 - 15 years ago
Cricket
Financial markets and global economy
Ishaani
