MehRya FF: Discovering the Magic Chapter28 pg148 (10/12) - Page 41

Yes, here is an update after 2 days...don't all go into shock😆. It was such an easy one to write, and anyone who had read my previous work will understand why. I figured after such a emotional last update, Mehek was in need for some fairy-god-motherly love, but it also is a critical part of the story. I hope you all enjoy this light update, and to my friend who's name popped in my head when I needed to id a minor character, please don't be offended, I don't think this of you , just that you are such a fun girl😉

Chapter #11

The cast members working the kiosk looked on in absolute relief when they caught sight of the culinary staff heading their way. At barely 2:00 in the afternoon, with another seven hours to go, they were receiving their second restock of their fares. The enclosed food trolleys were arriving just in the nick of time. Traffic had been brisk from the eleven o'clock opening of the World Showcase where the international food samples were available for purchase, and even more so when the visitors had sampled the bestseller: the ladoo trio that had up to this minute, outsold all of the other offerings. As the first of the two staff reached the rear entrance of the booth, they were met anxiously by the team leader.

"Please tell me that we have a double order of the ladoos," Tanya begged. "We are keeping up with the other tasters, but the demand for them is mindboggling."

"Your wish is my command, Tanya," the young man answered. "However, in order to get them to you quicker, they have come in bulk," he continued he began withdrawing the trays from the trolley he had come with. "But never fear," he quickly added, when a look of panic came to her face, at the additional work, that would surely slow down the service to the customers, "I've brought a volunteer not only to help with plating them, but who can also begin whipping up more on-site should the need arise."

"Namaste, Tanya," a voice called out.

"Mehek, of thank God you're here," the young woman exclaimed on realization who had handled the second trolley.

After a good solid hour of activity, there was finally a lull that allowed the group a breather and a chance to chat for a minute. Tanya called the only male working with the group over, and introduced him to their rescuer.

"Mehek this Navin. Navin: Mehek Sharma."

"Namaste Navin."

The young man was lost for words at first, but then finally found his voice. "I never watched your show, but my mom did faithfully. She is such a fan of yours. Can I get an autograph for her, please? Or better yet, could I get you to do a video on my phone saying hello to Ma? After work, of course. She would so love that." He finally breathed, and then immediately colored at his outburst that had left the chef bemused.

.

"Of course, Navin, I would be happy to," Mehek answered and then turned back to Tanya when the young man had to walk away after noticing that there were customers lining up again.

"I'll never get used to that," she mentioned to the supervisor she had met a few days ago.

"Well you better, Mehek. Especially after tomorrow. I heard that yours and Chef Malik's cooking demo is completely sold out. Mel is off tomorrow and was hoping to go to it, but not one admission ticket was available by the time she logged on to purchase."

The worker in question glanced over her shoulder. "Any chance I can claim friendship and get a buddy pass or something Di," she asked cheekily.

"I'll see what I can do, Mel, but if all fails, I will do one better and we can sort out something between us."

Tanya laughed, which drew Mehek's attention.

"Oh, that won't be half as fun for our Mel here," she teased. "It's not just you she wants to see. Her plan was to take the opportunity to ogle her crush at the same time."

"Hey it's politer than stalking the man on the off-chance that I get to catch a glimpse of those dimples. The man is a God."

"Oh Lord, here we go," Nivan voiced. "Mel, you are certifiably boy crazy; your parents must so proud."

"See that's we're you're wrong, Navin. If I was boy-crazy, you would definitely be on my list of candidates. But I'm looking to my future. I know very well what my parents' expectations are, and that eventually they will be selecting my life-partner. I am just amassing a list of criteria so I can help them along."

The group laughed, understanding the young woman's off-beat sense of humor.

"OMG like this one here: tall, dark and handsome. And he likes children. Oh God, please let him be an adoring uncle and not their dad."

Her co-workers just shook their heads at her, but all turned their attention to check out the latest object of her affection.

************

"Right there, Papa, can you see? They have ladoos right there."

"We need ladoos, Papa it's important, right Tanvi?"

"Nahi Betas, Mummy expects us to go straight to the line. Don't you want to meet..."

"But Papa, that's why we need to get ladoos first."

The trio were close enough, that when Mehek stepped out of the kiosk to satisfy her curiosity, not only was she able to hear the conversation, but she was also seen to have done so by one of the pretty twin girls. She gasped when the observant child, who had to be all of four years old made a run for it, away from her father and made a beeline for her. When the curly haired tot reached her, Mehek feared that she was about to stumble at her feet, when she seemed to uncontrollably lurch forward and she automatically reached for her, only to feel the light touch on her foot before the little girl steadied herself and rose and with her tiny hands folded.

Mehek's heart melted.

"Namaste Aunty, do you have ladoos today?'

Before Mehek could answer, the tall man reached her with the other little girl.

"Lalita."

The little girl startled at the sternness of her Papa's voice. Her bright green eyes, at once became dewy with tears.

Mehek immediately interceded.

"Beta, the park is very big, and you shouldn't leave your papa's side like that. You may get lost, and then everybody will be very sad."

"I'm sorry Papa," the little girl said, and then turned to her mirror image. "I'm sorry Tanvi. I don't want to get lost from you." The little girls hugged and Mehek smiled at their intense connection.

The man looked to Mehek, with a grateful expression. "Thank you, so much."

"Aunty, do you have ladoos," the second little girl, Tanvi, interrupted. "We need some cause it's suspicious."

"And our Daadi said that when it suspicious we should have ladoos. Right Papa," Lalita insisted.

Right away, Mehek got it. "Is today an auspicious day, betas? Is that why you need ladoos?"

"Haan Aunty, it's a very suspicious..."

"Auspicious, beta," her father corrected.

"Auspicious day," Lalita repeated. "We're going to meet Jasmine and Aladdin."

"See we're wearing our Jasmine t-shirts." Her sister exclaimed.

Mehek, stared at their father, who looked resigned now.

"Well I think that makes it a very auspicious occasion, and yes we do have ladoos." She described the flavors to their dad just in case there were any allergy concerns before refusing him, when he reached for his wallet.

"Please let it be my treat, considering how important an occasion it is."

She hurried back to the kiosk and paid for one of the plated, returning to the trio soon after. She waited for the little girls to partake of the confections before she turned back to their father to confirm her suspicions over his identity. Unfortunately, she didn't even have time for that when the whirlwind, who was obviously his wife, reached.

"Rajeev, what are you doing? I thought you would be in line already. Do you have any idea how long the lines for the character greets are? We're going to be here all day, and Rion will need to be fed..."

Mehek watched incredulously, as the tall man popped a ladoo into his wife's mouth with the clear intent of shutting her up.. "Settle down, Sweetheart."

The petite woman exclaimed, but then began chewing in silence. She finally swallowed. "Oh, my goodness, that was so good," she related to her husband, even as he held and turned her in the direction where she finally got a view of who was standing with her family.

"Mehek Sharma, it's really you!"

The baby in the front carrier stirred in response at his mother exclamation. She settled him, and then reached for the tiny walkie-talkie she had clipped to her.

"Ra, how close are you?"

Mehek smiled as a familiar voice answered back.

"Heading your way now, your adrenaline junkie god-daughter is addicted to Test Track, and convinced her dad and brother to go a second time."

"That's my girl," Naomi replied with approval. "But hurry up, so you can see who I've run into."

*********

On the spur of the moment, when the two families had met in New York before their collective return to Banaras, the Tripathis and the Agarwals had decided on a fun diversion and headed down to Orlando for a three day add on to their holiday. Their original intention was to seek Mehek out tomorrow, after the two best friends attended the cooking demo, which Naomi had wisely secured tickets for, as soon as they had made their impromptu decision to come to Florida. Meeting them now had worked out even better, as Mehek had the evening free and they would have more time to visit. They had even secured accommodations at the Bay Lake towers which made things a little easier for all of them. Rachna had insisted that they treat Mehek to dinner, which they had in the larger suite the two families had secured. Of course, it was lovely to meet Kabir again, and also, to officially meet Rajeev, Naomi and their three children, but it seemed natural when the three women had found themselves in the lift, headed down to Mehek's suite, once the children had been settled. Both women, Mehek thought, were very fortunate in their choices of husbands who had no issue with the impromptu girl time they had insisted on.

"It's sounds, then, that thing have been going marvelously," Rachna stated, as they descended.

"More than that, Rachna. I can really say that I could see this being a career option."

"So, no homesickness, Mehek," Naomi asked, this being something she could completely relate to, considering she had left her own family on this side of the world when she had married. She had in fact had just returned from introducing their third child, their little Rion, to his grandparents.

A little, but technology is a wonderful thing. I have been able to reach everyone whenever I needed to. Plus, everyone here is so welcoming. I am making some great friends here as well."

"Aacha, but what about that special online friend of yours? No adverse feelings in relation to that particular separation," Rachan taunted. Her concern rose, when Mehek's smile dropped. "Mehek..."

"Well that's a story on to itself, Rachna." She looked at the two women, one she considered a good friend, and another who she felt could be, by virtue of her association with Rachna. "It seems that destiny has premeditated the both of you coming right now. You wouldn't believe what's happened, even I can't...and it would be awesome to get your advice on the situation: both of you actually."

The two friends stared at each other.

***********

Rachna and Naomi watched as Mehek removed a black dress from her closet, placing it on her bed, before reaching further to the back to retrieve the garment bag hanging there. While Rachna's attention remained on Mehek, the green-eyed woman approached the bed for a closer inspection of the outfit that had been casually discarded.

"I still cannot believe what you are saying, Mehek. KK and Shaurya Khanna are one and the same? The man who bothered you so much that you wanted nothing to do with him, and yet now you are considering flying back to appear on his show. How exactly have you gotten to this point again? No offence, Mehek, that seems incredible to us, and that's even despite the fact that Naomi and I have had our own fair share of misadventures, right Naomi?"

"Hmm, right Ra,", the green-eyed woman answered, non-committedly, still focused on the bed.

"That's exactly the issue, Rachna, I need to figure out if I am making the biggest misstep of my life. I thought I knew exactly what I was doing, but as time went by and I have got to know more about the man, things have just changed. I tried desperately to end it the last time when we talked, but..."

Rachna smiled in understanding. "Caring is difficult sometimes," the designer conceded, "And you can't discount that a perfect opportunity has arisen for you to see if the man has really changed." She tied the back of the choli, that Mehek had changed into, so that they could show-off the lehenga properly to Naomi. Moving around her, Rachna reconfirmed the fit. "Perfect, if not a mite looser, if I'm not mistaken," she indicated. "What do you think, Naomi?"

Naomi finally paid attention. She smiled. "It's amazing, but then again Nathanial is one of the best," she said of the designer she had worked with in the past. She approached them. "The color is stunning, and its perfect for the location. You have a Hindi/ Belle from Beauty and the Beast fusion thing going on with this color, Mehek. It's perfect. But..."

Rachna and Mehek watched as the Naomi returned to the bed. She grabbed the hanger, and held the dress that had caught her attention straight away. "If you had this in your closet, what was the necessity of the lehenga in the first place?" Her attention to detail, immediately caught Mehek's move, as she averted her glance unconfortably.

"That dress wasn't an option at the time. He gave it to me and I brought with me for other reasons," she mumbled.

"He who," Rachna answered, although she was certain she knew the answer.

Briefly Mehek recounted the incident by which she had come by the dress: her uncles' unjust incarceration at his say-so and the insane bargain she had made with Shaurya Khanna. One dance in exchange for the release of her family. Nothing had come from it, but her humiliation and this dress, and she had kept it to remind herself that she would never again place herself at anyone's mercy, as she had been that night. Even as she spoke the words, she realized the commonality in what she had done with Shaurya keeping Shruti's photos.

This was such a mess.

She looked up suddenly when an absurd question was thrown at her.

"Mehek, did you have an affair with Shaurya Khanna?"

"Naomi!"

The animated woman, defended herself. "I'm sorry, but this here is Roland Mourat design. Being conservative, this dress retails for $2500.00US. Rich people do not stay rich, by throwing away their money so frivolously. The man was seriously feeling something when he made this purchase. And the fact that your reaction tells me it wasn't a love connection on your end, then that worries me."

She saw the younger woman pale, and hurried on. "I'm not saying that he's dangerous or anything, just that there were some intense emotions involved. As you've indicated he is a very complicated man."

Mehek nodded, although she hadn't relayed the fine details he had disclosed, she felt now she could almost understand Shaurya's reasoning behind this dress purchase. However, she still appreciated Naomi's outburst. If she decided to make this trip back for ISC, she wanted to do so with as many facts available as possible.

"Thik hai, I think before you think any more on if you should return to meet the man, you need to handle the dress first," Rachna said. Across the room, Naomi nodded. "You have three options: trash it; sell it or keep it. The first option is easy enough, and the second will have the same result, but you can make some profit for your pain and suffering. Naomi, I'm sure can have this on eBay and sold before we leave."

"Exactly, but the third option may be the hardest, but the most fulfilling," Naomi said, joining the pair, and holding the dress up against Mehek. "Keep the dress, but exchange the memory associated with it. One day, meet the man in it, and make him rue the day he dared to mess with you. Not necessarily for revenge, but absolutely in a way guaranteed to get a man's attention."

"Or," Rachna instructed, "If Shaurya Khanna doesn't make the cut, you save this dress, and all the extras for a man that does."

The two women high fived each other, and Mehek couldn't believe that Rachna, who she would have thought the voice of reason of the pair was in total agreement with her outrageous friend.

"A pair of killer heels, with a matching clutch; some attention-grabbing accessories, and a set of sexy lingerie should do the trick...what do you think, Ra?"

"Lingerie," Mehek weakly muttered.

"Oh, not for him," Rachna moved to reassure her. "Definitely not. For you Mehek. You have to experience for yourself how empowering the right pieces can make you feel."

Mehek stood motionless for a minute, and then finally voiced her opinion. "The dress didn't fit as well as it should have when I wore it that time. I'm guessing he got the size wrong."

Rachna and Naomi smiled for what Mehek supposed was her making the right decision.

"Well it's a good thing I know a thing or two about alterations, isn't it," Rachna answered cheekily.

***********

After the crowd had dissipated, Mehek made sure to introduce Rachna and Naomi to Chef Malik. Charming to a fault the man soon had the two women under his spell, and they determined that they would visit Saana before they left, if they could get a reservation. The genial chef then left the women to get on with their excursion, making certain to bid Mehek farewell particularly.

"Someone has choices," Rachna mumbled to her friend as they observed the pair's final goodbye.

Naomi raised her camera, taking a few candid shots. "Indeed, and such a good looking one," she retorted for her friend's ears only. They both smiled when Mehek joined them.

"Congratulations, Mehek. Nobody would ever believe watching that cooking demo, that this was your first rodeo," Rachna said.

"For sure, I have some great video footage here. You should think about TV as an option, Mehek. You have the aptitude for it. Once I edit this, I am going to send it to you. You can send it to your family. They will be even prouder of you," Naomi added.

"Thank you. In truth, it didn't seem as hard as I thought it would be. Of course, it helped that I had an appreciative audience. So are we all set to go shopping?"

The two women laughed, at her subject change; happy that Mehek had become enthusiastic for their mission.

"Kabir arranged a town-car for us, and Naomi has worked out a plan, so we can be as efficient as possible, and get back to the children as soon as possible. We don't want to abuse our husbands' goodwill too much."

***********

Two days later, after an emotional goodbye in the hotel lobby, Mehek waved her friends off for their long trek back home. Armed with the three new pieces of art from Naomi's twins and Aryia, Rachna's daughter that they had worked hard on for their Ladoo Aunty' she took the lift back up to her floor. Once back in her room, she hung the three pieces of paper on her fridge with the Disney magnets that they had provided her as well. It had been a great time, and she promised that once she determined when she would be able to get home, she would certainly contact them.

With that thought in mind, she went to her computer, to email Rajiv Sir back with her final answer. Logistically she would have to square things away here to see when, and how much time she could get off, but she would come. Message sent, she settled to resume the last chat she had left off 4 days prior.

... Hi Shaurya, I'm back.

...Friends gone now? Hope you had a good visit.

...I did. Was great to see my fellow country-folk

...I'm sure it was.

...But I will confess I missed you. Did you miss me?

Chapter12