Chapter 8 - Final Dinner
GK put his spoon down and slightly held his stomach, grinning at Anupamaa he expressed his satisfaction, “Wah Anupamaa! Yeh khanaa to bilkul lajawab tha! Itna khaaliya, ruka hi nahi gaya. Thank you beta!”
“Haan! Thank you Anupamaa! This food is totally amazing!” Mukku chirped, her usual enthusiasm tinged with slight confusion at the current status of things. Glaring at Anuj, who’d stayed uncharacteristically quiet in his praise for his favourite subject, she said through gritted teeth, “It’s AMAZING, isn’t it bhai?” Say something you idiot!
Smiling softly, Anuj nodded as he continued to eat, slowly finishing his food. Flickering his eyes momentarily to burn into Anu’s
Anupamaa smiled in thanks, warmly looking at the whole family, careful not to let her eyes rest too long on a certain someone, as she said, “Thank you Kaka. Waise maine kuch meeta bhi banaya hai. Main laati hu” with that she quickly got up and headed to the kitchen.
“BHAI! What’s wrong with you!? Aap aaj kuch bol kyu nahi rahe ho?”
Anuj, looking at his fuming sister, just smiled and calmly said, “Kya bolu Mukku? Mujhe bhook lagrahi thi. I was enjoying the food”. In truth, he was still daydreaming about the day before, the conversation with Anu that has changed his life. Yes, it was true that Anu was leaving his house today, but nothing was the same anymore. She may be returning to her home, but it was Anuj who had found a new home - in her heart. He knew that if he spoke too much over dinner, his happiness would shine through and give away the game. Instead, he had spent dinner plotting, plotting over how to tease Anu, and how he might get a few moments alone with her tonight once GK and Mukku had gone to bed. A few stolen moments of bliss…. And enjoying the effect his subtle gestures had on his love.
Haan but aap kuch bolo na! Ask her to stay!!” Mukku was not giving up on these two bozos.
“Haan Beta, tum sachi main aaj bauhot shaant ho. Are you really ok mun?” GK was admittedly quite worried.
Shaking himself slightly to ensure he didn’t totally make a fool of himself, and somehow contain the situation, he tried to calm them down, “Mukku, GK… we discussed this. Main theek hoon! I don’t want to make this a big deal, please! She will feel weird!”
“Bhai YOU are weird!” Mukku stuck her tongue out at him.
At the same time, Anupamaa came out of the kitchen holding a tray of Malpua and Doodhpaak (Kheer). Promptly changing the focus of the conversation. Everyone’s eyes lit up. Serving everyone as they let out squeals of excitement, Anupamaa sat down with hers, Breathing deeply. Just the touch of Anuj’s fingers, lingering just long enough to make themselves know, as he took the bowl from her, had her unsettled. Still, she forced herself back to reality to savor the beautiful shared experience of eating with the family. Something so rare in her previous life had become a precious routine.
“OMG Anupamaaaaa!!! My favourite! Thank youuuuuu!” Mukku completely forgot about her disaster plan momentarily as she scrambled to taste her dessert.
“Oh Beta, Thank you! Yeh tumhe itna saara kuch banaya humare liye!” GK also dug in.
Beaming with happiness, Anupamaa finally took a second to look at Anuj properly. While eating the dessert, he slyly caught her eye and stared at her directly while licking the spoon with a dangerous smirk.
Oh no…
Quickly averting her eyes, she spoke up, “V…vho” GET A GRIP ANU! There is a reason you were purposefully avoiding looking at him.
Since she had sat down for diner, his subtle looks, momentary glances, and touches had been infuriating. She knew he had been doing it on purpose. And he was very good at it! It had kept the tension between them simmering continuously throughout what was meant to be a very wholesome dinner.
Ridiculous man! Why did you choose this instant to look at him Anupamaa? She was dangerously close to a complete derailment of her attempt to keep calm!
Breath woman!
Clearing her throat, and taking a steadying breath… Luckily the other two Kapadias were too engrossed with the delicious food to notice the heightened tension between the two. Taking a breath, she tried again, “Maine ye sab isliye banayaa because I wanted to say Thank you. Mujhe yahan pe raike jo pyaar mila, jo sumaan mile, jo saath mila, uskeliye, thank you.”
As the Desserts were forgotten momentarily, a wave of emotion covered the table, GK gently placed his hand over Anupamaa’s from across the table, said with heavy emotion in his voice, “ No beta, Thank YOU! Tumne jo sub kia, meri madat ke liye, Mukku ke liye, aur iss Ghaddhe ke liye” he nodded his head towards Anuj, “uus sub ke liye, Thank YOU”. There were bittersweet tears in his eyes. “We will miss you Beta. Tumne is makaan ko Ghar banadiya”
“Main bhi Kaka, mai aap subkop bhi bohut bohut bohut miss karungi!” Anu’s eyes reflected the love she felt for this little Kapadia clan as a whole.
“HAAN TOH MAT JAO NAH!” Mukku called out, frustrated. “GK miss karenge, Main bhi miss karogi, tum bhi miss karogi, our bhai to BOHOT miss karenge. Toh ruk jao!” Mukku pouted as she tried to convince Anu with her puppy eyes.
“Mukkuuuu…” Anuj tried to shush his sis. Nudging her like the child he was.
In ki cheek pull kerne ka man karaha hai. Ufff Anu CONTROL!
Waving him off “Oh shutup bhai! Suno Anupama, Bhai toh useless hai, woh to kuch bolta nahi hai, toh mai bol rahi hoon, MERI BHABHI BAN KE RUK JAO”
Anupamaa, ripped from the secretive lovely dovey eyes she was making at her man, stared at Mukku, cheeks aflame as she digested her words, forced to look down to gather her thoughts…
“Huh… that still hasn’t stopped making her blush… Interesting”, Anuj thought with an evil glint in his eye.
Turning to his sister, with an eye on Anu to gage her reaction, ‘haan ye sahi rahe ga. Anu ko tumhari bhabhi banake yahi pe rakh lete hai” he said. Tone dead serious. Suddenly everyone’s eyes landed on him dumfounded! The Kapadias shocked at his sudden U-Turn.
Startled, Anupamaa’s head shot up to stare at Anuj, gobsmacked. WHAT WAS HE DOING!
“Haan aise karte hain, abhi mandir chalte hai. Waise bhi raath hai, punditji will be free, we can get married right now…”
Anupamaa had decided. She was going to kill him.
After a hilariously tense beat of utter confusion from the table, Anuj Burst out into laughter. “Really Mukku, what did you expect, see it’s not funny when someone does it! It’s Anupamaa’s time to go back to her place. Please let’s not trouble her”.
Oh yes she was going to murder him.
“Bhaiiiii! Like really?!” Mukku shot him daggers for his tricks.
“Haan! Now can we eat this delicious dessert in peace!?” With that, Anuj went back to his dessert.
Anupamaa stared at her bowl, stabbing it with her spoon as she tried to calm her racing heart. What was he thinking!? She would get him back for this.
Anuj returned at his dessert with a smirk on his face, happy with is two-for-one prank. Relishing the taste, of the dessert, and the sweeter moments he’d spent with Anu when last saying those words just yesterday.
Mukku sat hunched over her food, observing her latest challenge from under her lashes, eyes flitting between the two, wondering what the hell was going on. Why were both of them so calm? This was not how things were going to be, she had to do something. If nothing else, she had to make the most of this night. Instigate them further, somehow push these two to say something, do SOMETHING so Anu didn’t have to leave. For both of their sakes. She knew both of them must actually be so sad. The evening could not end yet… Coming back to the conversation, GK was asking Anu something about her family, she formulated a plan.
****
Hope you enjoyed this installment. Next one coming in two days! Looking forward to feedback! Please also share any requests and prompts you may have! ❤️
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