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36. A Much Needed Respite
The next day was a Saturday, and I was so glad for it. I did not have to go to work, I did not have to deal with Vyan and his increasing affections and I did not have to face Maan. I had been very low when I had come back home after the argument with Maan last afternoon. Vyan had noticed my mood and asked the reason too but I had waved it off. Although once I reached home, I could not help but let out a few angry tears. Angry, because I knew I was wrong in having pointed out his personal life but what had he done himself? He had started the discussion about my personal life first and when I had done the same, he had snapped. He was so unfair.
I needed a break from all that was occupying my mind and the weekend was just the right time. However, it was not only just a simple weekend, it was going to be a special one since Raya was coming over to stay for two days. Spending time with my sister was what I was looking forward to the most. Raunaq was going out of town on an official trip for two days so Raya was to stay with me. It was not a chance I got more often so I teased Raunaq about it when he came to drop Raya off on Saturday morning.
I extended my arm to him, asking him to pinch. He quirked an eyebrow in confusion.
"Tell me this isn't a dream. Raunaq, the lover boy is actually letting me have his Raya to myself for two whole days!" I had my eyes wide open and an animated expression on my face, which made Raya and Raunaq laugh.
"Don't be so happy. I'm leaving my life with you only for two days. I'm going to take her back as soon as I come." He put an arm around Raya's waist and kissed the side of her head tenderly.
Despite just teasing him a moment ago, I smiled at the couple in front of me and prayed they would always remain so happy and so much in love with each other. Giving a light hug to me and another kiss on Raya's forehead, Raunaq rushed out of the house. Raya stood at the window which overlooked the parking lot to see him getting into his car and driving away. When she kept standing there even after he was gone, I silently walked up behind her and poked her shoulder. She turned to look at me questioningly and I teasingly pointed that Raunaq was gone. She blushed a bit before interlinking her arm with mine and pulling me to the couch.
"Yay! We have two whole days together." She exclaimed, pulling her legs up on the couch and turning to me. "What are we going to do today?" She mused and then continued without letting me respond. "We can go shopping. Or maybe a sisters' day out with any crazy thing. Hey, have you been to that new arena? Raunaq took me to it and it was so much fun."
With silence and amusement, I heard my Chhoti babble on and on about things we could do today, suggesting ideas and then rejecting them the next minute, telling me an incident or two from the places Raunaq had taken her to. I already knew she would always relate everything to Raunaq and it always made me smile whenever she did that, for her overwhelming love for him showed clearly through it.
For all the planning she did of how to spend the day, we both ended up just staying in the house, catching up with what was happening in each others' lives and talking about anything and everything. We had been in touch through calls on daily basis but talking in person was a whole different experience. Between Raya and me, topics of discussion never seemed to end even as we lazily stretched on the bed or sat in front of the muted television so the volume would not disturb our conversation or while I fixed us a light lunch as Raya sat on the kitchen counter.
As we were having our lunch, my phone rang. Seeing G's name flashing on the screen, Raya insisted she would answer it on speakerphone.
"Didn't I call Geet?" G spoke in confusion after a silent second when Raya greeted her.
"You should know who you called." Raya sniggered.
"You two are together, aren't you?" G said in accusation. "And you didn't even tell me! Not fair."
By the sound of her voice, we knew she was pouting. "I am not going to talk to you two."
"Okay." I said and waited silently for what I knew was coming my way.
"How mean! You don't even care!" Raya and I laughed before quickly trying to pacify G sweetly, promising to spend the next day with her.
"Okay, okay. Don't try to butter me up." She said sternly but we knew we were forgiven. "I'll be waiting tomorrow for an all-girls' day. Your Jeejaji will be out with his friends so we'll have the whole day for us."
She excitedly chatted with us for a while before she had to hang up because Ryan was repeatedly calling for her.
With the plan for next day set with G, I called up Anaya and talked her into joining us. She readily agreed, stating Ayush had some plans with Maan and some other guys, which was good since otherwise Ayush liked to spend Sundays at home with the kids.
After lunch, Raya insisted we go out for a walk and maybe a movie. She had recently watched a movie she really loved and was dying to make me watch it, and today seemed to be the best opportunity which we rarely got. It was a romantic tragedy which made both of us cry. When we came out of the theatre, we desperately needed to brighten up our moods so we went window shopping before settling for dinner in a restaurant.
"How is Vyan?" Raya inquired when we sat in the restaurant. "You started working for ARK, right? That's Maan's company. How's everything going there?"
"Vyan is fine, and so is work with ARK." I replied to her before mumbling in a lower voice. "I would rather stay away from both."
"And why is that?" I forgot I was with Raya who had sharp ears and an eagerness to pay attention to the minutest things. "Why would you rather stay away from both?"
Thinking over quickly, I decided I should confide in Raya, so I narrated the argument between Maan and me the previous day.
"Really? I didn't know Maan could have such temper issues." She was as surprised to hear about MSK as I was when I had first encountered his arrogant and haughty self. "What about Vyan? Why would you want to stay away from him?"
I groaned. "Raya, I think he is taking the wrong impression from our friendship."
"Are you saying this because Maan called him your boyfriend?" She asked doubtfully.
"There's more than this. I have felt so earlier too. Even when I went to his house, I felt I was unwelcome for his mother and sister even though Vyan had told me that it was them who wanted to meet me in the first place. I found their attitude really odd. What should that make me think?"
"Hmm." Raya was thoughtful. "So what do you want to do about all this?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should come clean with Vyan and confront him."
Raya was shaking her head before I could finish. "No, Di. That might not be the best idea."
"Why not?"
"Tell me, has Vyan said anything to you straight away? Has he said he likes you?" I shook my head. "So it is possible you're overthinking." I opened my mouth to protest but she held her finger up to keep me shut. "Listen, Di. For once, let things take their own course. Let life lead you instead of trying to take command over it. Maybe it won't all be half as bad as you predict."
"What if Vyan does say something to me or drop a hint that he likes me? Wouldn't it be only fair to him that I tell him in clear words of how I feel about him?"
Raya nodded. "You should tell him how you feel, but only when he drops a hint about his feelings. Do not sour things up between you two based on any assumptions."
Her words were what I thought about as she slept beside me that night. She was right. I should not let my work equation with Vyan suffer due to my assumptions and fears. I would not let that happen, I decided firmly.
The next morning, to my utter surprise, Raya was up before me. When I walked into the living room, I saw her preparing tea in the open kitchen. On seeing me, she began to tease me about waking up later than her for once but I soon turned the tables on her. I knew if it wasn't for Raunaq wanting to talk to her first thing in the morning, she would not have been up at all.
"Dreamy, isn't he, Di?" Her eyes took on a glazed look as she propped her elbow on the counter and rested her chin on her hand.
I quietly tip-toed behind her and gave a light smack on the back of her head, shaking her out of the Raunaq-induced-haze. "Stop dreaming about him for a day, Chhoti!" I laughed at her pout and turned to prepare breakfast.
It was after almost an hour and a half, and countless calls from G that we set out for her house where she was waiting impatiently. Her excitement was brimming out of her when she pulled me in for a hug as soon as she opened the door. It had been quite some time since we had had some nice time together so I was as happy as she was.
We were just at the door when Ayush pulled up in front of the house and Anaya got off the car with her twins running ahead of her towards Sneha, who stood behind G. Shouting out for the hyper twins to calm down, Ayush came to greet us briefly before he drove off to meet his friends. Raya caught little Shay as he passed her and cuddled him so much that he squealed and kicked his legs, demanding to be released and the rest of us laughed at Raya's pout when Shay finally managed to break free.
"Does anyone see any devil horns on my head?" Raya said as she mockingly felt her head. "Why do kids run away from me?!"
"They would surely run away if you squeeze the breath out of them every time you see them." Anaya pointed out with a chuckle as we headed inside.
Our day in started innocently enough as we sat in the living room and chatted. Sneha was already playing mother hen to the twins as she entertained them. Ryan, who had appeared a little later had just greeted us all and sat in a corner with his video game while we caught up with the happenings of each other's lives.
A little while later, Sneha and the twins were already out of sight, reportedly playing something in Sneha's room. Ryan had gone to his room as well so that left us four women to freely talk. It was refreshing to have some exclusive girl time as one after another, spicy topics kept flowing between us.
Almost an hour later, Sneha came running to her mother with Yana and Shay following suit. "Mommy, can we go to the play land in the mall today? Please, please, please? Yana and Shay will love the rides." She was hopping as she put forth her request to her mother, who turned to us.
"What say, ladies? How about going to the mall for some shopping?"
There was a murmur of agreement among us and so it was decided that we would be going to the mall after lunch. Once the decision was made, the kids were excitedly running around, eager to help with setting up the lunch table as quickly as possible so we could go without much delay. It was getting hard to contain the children as we had lunch so G made them all promise to be patient and good kids if they wanted to go. This trick worked, making the hyped-up children manageable.
The next half hour passed in the hustle of cleaning up the table after lunch and getting the kids ready to go out. Raya volunteered to clear the table while G got Sneha dressed and I helped Anaya clean up the twins. Finally managing to usher everyone out of the door, G let out a heavy breath while Raya and I praised the mothers for their stamina of having to deal with kids.
"Oh, there's one more baby who manages to do some of his own stuff but can never find his socks or wallet or keys or files and stuff. He is the most difficult baby to manage." G said exasperatedly, making the rest of us laugh.
G had her car but we had decided to travel by bus today and the thought only appealed the children who were skipping ahead of us as we walked towards the nearest bus stand. Even Ryan was paying attention to his surroundings for a change rather than his video games.
During the bus ride, Sneha somehow happened to be sitting beside me and the girl was a nonstop chatterbox. She kept on talking to me, uncaring of if I responded or not.
"Maasi, look at that kid. He's so cute!" She pointed towards a child walking on the sidewalk with his mother. "But Yana and Shay are cuter." She grinned as she looked at me.
"Maasi, have you been to this mall before?" I shook my head. "It's so fun. They have slides and they have a small maze and it's so cool. But I'm afraid you won't be able to go there. You're too tall for that." She slowly shook her head in regret and I had to suppress my smile and pretend to be sad.
"That's sad. Maybe I shouldn't have come with you guys if I can't play."
"No, no, no!" She quickly reassured. "There are video games which Ryan Bhai likes to play. Tall people play those games. And there's also shops and food and lots of things. I'm sure you will enjoy a lot." She stretched her arm to indicate how much I would enjoy, which made me laugh slightly as I kissed her cheek.
Sneha was such an adorable child and she reminded me a lot of the five-year-old Ryan who was lost somewhere with time. I looked at Ryan who had just gotten up from his seat since we had arrived at the stop where we were to get off. Sneha too jumped up from her seat and pulled my hand in excitement.
"Let's go! Let's go!" She rushed ahead of me even as G called out after her to stick with us.
The mall was huge with lots of things, just like Sneha had promised but everybody made a beeline for the play land since it was getting harder to contain the jumping kids. Once Sneha took Yana and Shay to the indoor slides and Ryan had begged G to let him go to the video game room just beside the play land, all four of us found ourselves seated on one of the tables in the open restaurant across the play land.
Topics did not seem to end between us even as the mothers kept a close eye on the children who were enjoying a lot. If there was one thing we were doing more than talking, it was posing for the pictures Raya insisted on clicking.
"Hey, there's a salon over here!" Anaya exclaimed, pointing towards the door off to a side on the other corner. "That's good. I was wanting to get my hair trimmed for a while. I've got split ends now." She pulled a few strands of her hair to the front and showed it to us.
"This is a great salon. I often come here." G chirped.
"Why don't we all get new haircuts today?" Raya clapped her hands as she spoke and then immediately backtracked. "No no, I won't get one. I love my hair the way it is."
A chuckle burst out of my mouth. "Why don't you say what happened the last time you cut your hair short?"
Raya grimaced as G and Anaya asked with interest what it was.
"It's Raunaq." I spoke when Raya didn't. "He threw a fit the last time Raya had her hair cut till her shoulders." I giggled slightly as Raya pouted.
"What?" Anaya said in confusion. "Why?"
"He loves her hair more than she does. It was so funny the way his face changed when he first saw her after the haircut. His eyes were wide and he was like "you cut your hair? They were so long and beautiful!" And then he stomped away with a grumpy face." I chuckled remembering the day and the way Raya freaked out since that was one of the few times Raunaq was angry with her. "And this was almost three years ago."
"Really?" Anaya said in astonishment. "You haven't had a haircut in three years then? Your hair doesn't look unkempt at all." She touched Raya's hair.
"No, I have only had trimmings in three years. No haircuts for me that would shorten the length." Raya sighed.
"I agree with Raunaq here. Your hair is beautiful, Raya." G praised which made Raya brighten up immediately.
"Alright, we're going off topic. If not me, you girls can surely get new haircuts. Like a makeover." Raya's eyes were round with the prospect.
"Naah!" G declined at once. "My hair is already so thin and limp that if I cut them now, they'll never grow back and I'll end up bald." She laughed.
"Come on, G!" Raya insisted but she was persistent that she was not going to get her hair cut since she had already had it trimmed a week ago.
"What about you, Anaya?" Raya turned to her.
"I think I'll only get my hair trimmed. Can't manage any fancy style if I have to run after the two devils the whole day." She pointed her thumb towards the play land where the said devils were having fun.
"Di..." Raya then turned to me and I immediately shook my head which had her raising her eyebrows. "Why not?"
"I don't want it." I tried to give an excuse but she didn't buy it.
"Huh! Aren't you bored of these long hair now? Come on, time to be a little cool and different!" Raya grinned at me.
"But -"
"Geet, be a good sport. Besides, you don't have any Raunaq who'll fuss over your hair." G tried to encourage me.
Before anyone else could say anything, I spoke. "Even if there was someone who would fuss over my hair, I would cut them the way I want and not the way he would want me to."
"Relationships don't work this way, Geet." Anaya explained. "These little things, taking care of each other's likes and dislikes, moulding yourself to their choices is what keeps the love strong."
G and Raya nodded in agreement.
"But you know, true love is not when they want you to change. It's when they love you whichever way you are and keep loving you whichever way you choose to be."
"That's right too." Commented G. "But still, Geet, one needs to keep working for their relationship. A little compromise, some changes, a little bending along with all your love, is all you need to make your relationship successful."
I absorbed her words in the silence that followed. G was the elder sister who I knew would always show me the right path, she was the sister who had tried to fulfil the role of a mother I had lost just a year ago. I smiled slightly at her, trying to keep her from noticing the sheen of tears in my eyes, when Raya spoke up, breaking the silence.
"Okay, people. We're going off-topic again here. Di, you're getting a new cut, and no arguments on it! What say, girls?" Anaya and G totally supported her so I gave in and agreed for a haircut.
"Yay!" Anaya and Raya clapped their hands in unison. "Let's go then!"
Anaya pulled me up and shared a victorious look with Raya which had me rolling my eyes.
G decided to stay back to keep an eye on the children while we were in the salon.
The salon experience with Raya and Anaya was completely fun. Once I had agreed for the haircut, I actively took part in surfing through the catalogue of haircuts which the attendant handed to us. We chose and rejected quite many styles, making fun of some and trying to imagine how I would look in them. Finally settling for a layered-style with bangs, I sat in the chair for the attendant to begin with me while Anaya and Raya had their trimmings done by the other girl. They were done within almost twenty minutes while my long hair which were being shortened till just below my shoulders took longer.
Raya was continuously taking pictures even as I could not pose while my hair was being cut. As soon as my hair was cut and blow-dried into a side partition, Anaya and Raya took numerous photographs of us while standing in front of the mirror right there in the salon. It was fun to pose and pout, and we stayed there until G called on my phone to ask where we were.
We rushed towards the food court where G had taken the kids since they had been hungry. As soon as G saw me, she whistled and said I looked great while the twins just kept looking at me and Sneha exclaimed in surprise at my new haircut. My eyes settled on Ryan to see a toothy grin on his face as he stared at me.
"How do I look?" I wriggled my eyebrows at him with a grin.
"So pretty!" His eyes were wide and his face was beaming with a huge smile.
As light snacks were ordered and eaten, there was noise on the table since everybody seemed to be talking at once. Anaya and Raya continued to take pictures at intervals. Anaya even told us she had sent some of the pictures to Ayush to make him jealous of how much fun we were having. I had somehow ended up sitting beside a silent Ryan who just observed the chaos around the table.
"Feeling awkward in so many women?" I said in a joking manner and he looked at me.
"Sort of."
"But we're all family. You need not feel awkward among us." I encouraged him. I wanted to strike a conversation with him just for the sake of getting him to open up a bit.
"I know but you're all girls. Except for Shay who is small. And I'm a big boy now." He said as if it was a national debate issue.
"Big boy, indeed." I nodded slowly as I hid my smile. "Do you remember how you always used to run after me when you were little. "Maasi, this. Maasi, that." Always wanting to play and have fun with maasi." I smiled and looked at him. "And you used to talk about all your friends and stuff with me." He looked to the side and I decided it was not a very interesting topic for him to listen to.
"Anyway, what's up with you these days? How is school? And friends?"
"School is fine. I don't really like school but I have fun with friends at school." I could feel he was becoming more comfortable with me. At that moment, we heard a honk and Ryan's eyes immediately looked past me to the road from the glass wall of the restaurant. I noticed the glimmer in his eyes and turned just in time to see a sports car passing by.
"Nice car, isn't it?"
"Absolutely! It's so cool and fast." There was a different zeal in his voice which made me realise he was a growing boy who had developed interest in sports cars. "Maasi, have you seen the new model of Porsche? It's awesome!"
I thought of what to say since my knowledge about cars was ridiculously low. "Is it? I haven't really seen it."
"Of course it is! My friend told me it's super fast and it feels like it flies. He promised me a ride in it as soon as he buys it."
"Your friend is going to buy a Porsche?" It was intriguing to know a friend of a twelve-year-old was going to buy a sports car. I saw Ryan nod enthusiastically.
"Yes. He has a Mercedes but he loves Porsche and I love it too."
"Who is this friend of yours?" I could not help asking it.
"Uhh... You probably don't know him." He shrugged and took a sip of his coke.
"Oh yeah? How old is he?"
"Quite old, actually. Maybe older than you. And he's taller than you. And he has big muscles and a cool body. I'm going to make mine like his when I grow up."
Although his description made me want to laugh a bit, I understood his friend was a man and not a boy of his own age. This fact made me curious to know more.
"How did you meet this friend?"
"You know Mom's friend, Mrs. Khurana? He's her son. Maan. He's such a great guy. I'm sure you're going to love him when you meet him."
I let out a peal of laughter as I found out who Ryan was introducing me to. "Sure. I would love to meet this cool guy." I smiled at Ryan. If only he knew how well aware I was of this cool guy who had fascinated my little nephew. But the thought that Maan had befriended Ryan and that Ryan looked up to him so much, awed me. Was it even possible that the arrogant, pig-headed guy I had just argued with yesterday was so friendly towards a young boy to the point that the boy was almost worshipping him? It was really hard for me to wrap my head around it.
Edited by mayyo - 9 years ago
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