When the groom her mother picked for her abandons her at the mandap, Pragya knows she needs a fresh start in life. By chance she reconnects with her childhood friend Aaliya, and they decide to share an apartment as roommates. But that means that suddenly she's spending a lot of time with Aaliya's irritating brother Abhi and their goofy friend Aakash. Add to that her new neighbors, lively Bulbul and reserved Purab, plus her new work friend Dr. Suresh, and suddenly Pragya's life is more full of people and relationships than she could have ever imagined...
------At Indigo Cafe in Mumbai ----
Abhi sat in their favorite booth with his guitar and lyrics sheet and a pencil. He was wearing a casual blue tee and his usual jeans and dog tags, and all his focus was on the paper in front of him. He ruffled a hand through his spiked hair as he tried to figure out how to fix his latest song.
His little sister Aaliyah came back from the counter with coffees for them both. She put his in front of him and sat down in the single seater across from him to read her cooking magazine. The brother and sister often liked to hang out like this in the quiet little cafe near their apartment. That afternoon, their college friend Aakash whom they had known for 10 years was sitting with them. He was sipping on a cappuccino and people-watching, looking to see if there were any pretty new girls to talk to.
All of a sudden, the cafe filled with people murmuring and everyone was looking at the door. Aakash saw what caused the disturbance and laughed out loud. "Who roams into a cafe in a bridal lehenga!" he said, shaking his head at the strange woman who had just entered the restaurant.
"What?" Abhi looked up from his work. He turned around and saw a lady in heavy bridal attire heading to the counter. He heard her ask to make a phone call, but when he tried to get a look at her face he couldn't see her clearly.
Abhi shrugged and turned back to his lyrics sheet. He said to Aakash and Aaliya, "Looks like she is one of those runaway brides. I don't understand how a girl can do that, way to hurt your family huh?"
Aaliya got up from her seat. "Yes, bhai, but maybe she's in trouble." Aaliya went up to the woman at the counter. The stranger turned around and suddenly the cafe erupted with loud screams.
"Ahhh Oh My God!!! It's You, It's really you!!"
"It's been 15 years!! Like what!!!"
"What are you doing here!"
"What are YOU doing, here, how did you even -!"
These were the high pitches questions being exchanged ! Because when they came face to face, Aaliya found that the stranger was none other than her high school best friend PRAGYA ARORA!
"Oh my god, come here you!" Aaliya said as she pulled Pragya into a hug.
At this point Pragya could not help but cry , this was the first hug she got after what she had just gone through.
Aaliya held onto her friend, hugging her back though she was confused. "Pragya? Are you crying? Are you okay, and what is all this about --"
Pragya pulled away and tried to quickly wipe her face. "I'm sorry, of course I should not just cry on you like that, Oh God I'm really sorry."
Aaliya caught her hand and made Pragya look at her. "Hey, hey. Look at me. You know despite all these years we can still count on each other, right? Tell me what's wrong?"
Pragya took a deep breath and started to explain slowly, but then the whole story just tumbled from her lips. "I moved to Mumbai 4 months ago as I got a teaching job. Then my mum fixed my marriage with an aquaintance. I was happy with it, you know I always wanted to have a traditional marriage. And I thought this guy was great, we were like minded and compatible but he...but he..." Pragya stopped and took another breath. "He left me at the mandap! He just came in and said he can't do this and that he loves someone else and he just walked off! Just like that, he...he broke my family, and I just, I --"
"Hey hey hey, it's okay, shh, shh," Aaliya said soothingly. She pulled Pragya into a hug again. When Pragya calmed down a little bit, Aaliya guided her over to the booth with Abhi and Aakash.
Aakash stared at their approach, amazed that Aaliya was getting so close to a strange woman. "Ermmm, why is Ally bringing that lady over here?" he muttered to Abhi.
"Huh?" Abhi looked up from his work and followed Akash's pointed finger. His eyes landed on Pragya's face and then -
- and then, you would normally expect sparks flying as their gazes locked, a tense moment of attraction stretching into eternity, Allah Waariyan playing in the background of a scene of high romance...but no. This was different.
Abhi stood up in a hurry and Pragya stopped walking and they both stared at each other -
"ABHISHEK??"
"Pragya??!"
This was what that came out from both of them and Aaliya just bit her lip, hoping all hell would not break loose ...
"Pragya oh my god , you , here , I rem -, uh I mean, well you, and Aaliya did not tell me that , I was just, hey did you know I'M A ROCKSTAR ? I MEAN A MUSICIAN .. .IM SORTA FAMOUS!"
Abhi had word vomit, he had no control on what he was saying and both caffeine and adrenaline were kicking in, making him unable to collect his thoughts...
"Bhai , calm down , this is Pragya from high school , remember?" Aaliya said through gritted teeth, trying to calm her brother down from embarrassing her.
Pragya said, "It's okay , I think I remember him , um...Hi?"
SHE THINKS SHE REMEMBERS ME , THINKS WTH : thought Abhi. He was offended and a little hurt that she wasn't sure about remembering him.
Pragya awkwardly took a seat with Aaliya next to her. "Well I'm a professor too FYI , thats what got me here in the first place," she said.
"Ahem, if the ROCKSTAR AND THE PROFESSOR ARE DONE, may I introduce myself to this beautiful lady?" joked Aakash. He Pragya a friendly smile, nodding approvingly at her make up and clothes.
Abhi and Pragya still stared at each other , these two were never in a relationship or never expressed anything toward each other , they were always connected by Aaliyah , whom they both love very much and Abhi had a schoolboy crush on Pragya which only he himself knew about . Pragya always thought he was vain and did not really pay attention to him, except for the arguments they used to get into about stupid little things...
Aakash walked over to Pragya and offered his hand. "Hi, I am Aakash Kaul."
Pragya gave him a hesitant handshake and answered, "I'm Pragya, Dr. Pragya Arora."
"DOCTOR!" Aaliya, Abhi, and Aakash exclaimed all at once. Aaliya sounded excited, Abhi sounded amazed, and Aakash sounded impressed.
Pragya blushed and clarified, "Um, PhD doctorate, not medical."
"Ohhh, right," said the other three.
Abhi cleared his throat. He pointedly looked over Pragya's outfit and asked, "So what brings you here like this, college fashion show?"
"BHAI -" Aaliya started to tell him off, but Pragya stopped her.
"It's okay, he doesn't know," she said calmly.
Aakash said with a laugh, "You know, you like a runaway bride, even Abhi was just saying -"
Aaliya glared at him and hissed, "Aakash!! Shut up!"
Pragya suddenly got up and excused herself to go to the bathroom. As she left, Aaliya noticed that she had started to cry again.
"Can't you two just zip it!" she snapped at Abhi and Aakash.
Abhi made a face at her. "What? We were just kidding! Jeez why does the professor take it so seriously, she hasn't changed at all."
"Bhai, she was left at her wedding just hours ago!"
Abhi and Akash looked at each other in amazement and then at Aaliya. They both felt really bad now.
"Wait, what?!" Abhi demanded.
Aaliya sighed. "I do not know much, but yea , that's the situation here."
Abhi shook his head in disbelief and sadness. Pragya came back to them and Abhi stood up and started to apologize, "Woh, I'm sorry, I -"
"What sorry!" Pragya interrupted. "Sorry you misjudged me, like always? I'm the nerd, the geek, how can I get married, or yeah I deserve to be left alone cause I'm nothing and not capable of being loved, right? JUST SAY IT MR ROCKSTAR! Not everyone has it easy like you." Pragya's anger was powerful, but she was also getting a bit hysterical and you could hear it in her voice.
Pragya's words triggered Abhi's temper. "HEY! WATCH IT , I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING , I DID NOT KNOW ! You're the professor, the smart one, you should have explained right?!"
Aaliya got between them and pushed Abhi back to his seat and drew Pragya away from him. "Okay, okay, cut it out. We're not in high school anymore, guys! Pragya, sit down, come tell us what happened."
Pragya still glared at Abhi, but she sat down and began to tell her story with more detail.
As Aaliya listened and made comforting and supportive noises, Aakash slowly leaned over to Abhi and whispered in his ear, "Anything going on between you two?"
Abhi stared at him in surprise. "What? Me and her? Her and me?"
Aakash gaving a knowing smirk and wiggled his eyebrow at Abhi. "Just checking, 'cause there's definitely something there between you, like an under fire, you know?"
"An under - do you mean an undercurrent?" Abhi asked, shaking his head at his friend's sad vocabulary.
"Ahhh, so you do feel it!" Aakash said in that annoying tone of voice he used when he completely misunderstood a situation but thought he'd figured it out like some kind of genius. Sadly, that happened pretty frequently.
He's hopeless, Abhi thought to himself. He thinks there's an 'undercurrent,' what even!
But Abhi was left thinking, why did he feel different, why did he want to hold Pragya's hand and comfort her? Why did he think she made a beautiful bride, why did he feel like punching whoever left her? Oh no - was it coming back? His crush? That awful crush that had haunted him all through high school and even a few years afterward? Oh man, this could be trouble, he thought...How did she come into my life again?
Was there something between the Rockstar and the Professor, was there something Fate had planned for them ?
TBC
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