Here it is. Will wait for your comments.😊
Ahem frowned at the number of cars parked in their driveway, it looked like they had company for dinner. He knew he should have delayed his homecoming for one more day. He was not in the mood to spend time mingling with more business associates with marriage age daughters. He had to leave Denver for this same reason, and now have to put up with more. His plans had been to move to his luxury apartment in Philadelphia permanently, but things changed and now he was home for good.
He walked in the door to see the whole family gathered in the main living room. One face caught his attention first, Gopi. He couldn't take his eyes off of her for few seconds; he couldn't believe he had called her plain; she was far from it. No one had noticed him enter, as everyone was busy discussing the wedding plans, only she had looked up from pretending to be interested in the topic being discussed at the moment.
He continued to study her while everyone's attention was still on the wedding plans. She was dressed in a lightweight sweater set in pink with dark grey slim slacks. Her hair was parted to the side and hung down her back to her waist. She had on minimum make up. She wasn't beautiful but her face was very striking, most especially her eyes.
Ahem decided to announce his presence before his preoccupation with the certain guest is noticed. Everyone looked up just as he walked all the way into the living room. "Ahem, when did you come? And why didn't you inform us?" his father was first to ask.
Ahem sat beside his sister. "I came on an earlier flight and took the shuttle to our office. Had to drop off some work for the Denver site. The project is complete so I am home now." He rolled up his shirt sleeves and waited for everyone to start asking him questions. When none came he realized his family was rendered speechless.
He looked around to see the varying reactions, some were pleasantly surprised, some shocked and his mom, for some reason, upset. Go figure, she is upset if he decides to leave and now she is upset because he decided to come home. There is no pleasing her lately. "So you have made your decision?" She asked him.
He raised an eyebrow. "Regarding what?" He could see the anger flare in her eyes. He knew he was baiting her, but couldn't help himself. "Don't be obtuse Ahem, you know exactly what I am asking you." His mom said her voice rising a little.
He just shrugged his shoulders defiantly. "You already know the answer mom, why do you insist on pushing me." Before his mom could blow up his dad put his hand on her arm to calm her. Ahem felt his sister's hand squeeze his arm, he looked at her, to see her signal to their guests and Ahem instantly understood what she was trying to communicate. He glanced up to see the surprise and distress on Gopi's face. He frowned, he could understand the surprise, but why did she look distressed? He glanced at Rashi to see her watching him with curiosity. He decided to go to his room before something else took place.
Ahem stood up to leave just as Jigar, Amit and his best friend, Kinjal's fiance, Dr. Raj Joshi arrived. "Bhai you are home." Jigar greeted him first. Ahem shook hands with Amit and looked at his friend who was giving him a knowing look.
He walked towards the stairs signaling Raj to follow him. Once they were in Ahem's room, Raj immediately flopped down on Ahem's bed. Raj leaned back on his hands and watched his best friend walk up and stand by the window with his arms across his chest. "Want to talk about it?"
Ahem turned towards Raj and shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing to talk about. What would be the point? I messed up." Raj was surprised Ahem opened up enough to say this. "So you are going to continue to punish yourself?" Ahem shook his head in denial. "No I am not. I am trying to come up with a best way to fix what I screwed up."
"Hmm..and what happens to Seema of Denver, Colorado?" Raj asked teasingly.
Ahem approached his bed and sat beside his friend. "Raj tell me something, why are our parents hell bent on arranged marriages even in this day and age?"
Raj looked at his friend with understanding. "Only your Kaka and Mom are hell bent on getting you a suitable wife. You are their heir apparent and they want to make sure your life partner is your equal."
Ahem laughed bitterly. "Yeah a suitable life partner, look what happened last time they found someone suitable. We live in a country where everyone has a freedom of choice but we still base everything on our success and how much better we can be compared to the other people in our community."
Ahem looked over at his friend when Raj didn't reply. His friend was watching him with a tinge of sadness in his eyes. "Ahem, why don't you tell your mom the truth? She will understand I am sure."
Ahem felt twig of pain in his heart at the thought the distance between him and his mom. Until three years ago they had been very close. He had always prided on the fact that his mom would never deny him anything, would always support him in any decision he made for himself. He didn't know that his mom would go along with his kaka and deny him the one thing he wanted most. His needs took back seat to their ambition. "Raj I told mom three years ago but she didn't support me then and now I need to do this on my own. I am not going to give up." He stood up. "I am going to freshen up so we can go down for dinner."
Raj watched his friend with concern. He needed to do something to bring the smile back on Ahem's face. He got up and went out the door to find his fiance.
Gopi relaxed as soon as Ahem left with his friend. The world is getting smaller and smaller. Who would have thought Dr. Joshi is also connected to Modi family? She had been shocked to see him earlier and he had been equally surprised by her presence at Modi's.
She had begged, cajoled and requested her brother to not make her do this but he hadn't budged an inch. All he knew was that his in laws wanted to meet her and she had to attend the dinner. She had given in after Ria and Rashi, who had also been invited, requested her to attend. It seems now the family also knows about Jigar and Rashi.
She came out of her musings when she saw Kokila stand up to go to the kitchen followed by Hetal; Ria's mom joined them. Rashi and Gopi exchanged looks after watching Koki stride out angrily.
There had been underlying tension between mother and son that was thick enough to cut with a knife. Gopi gestured to Rashi to follow them to see if they could help with dinner. Gopi felt ill at ease among the Modi family. When she had greeted Hetal aunty she was met with a very curious look as if Hetal aunty knew her or something, and even Koki aunty had raised an eyebrow at Hetal auntie's curious look. Gopi just shook her head at her thoughts and followed Rashi towards the kitchen. She hoped they didn't get lost in the huge house.
The Modi house is big and elegant, a person could easily get lost in it. Both Gopi and Rashi had gaped at the size of the house when they arrived earlier in the afternoon. Ria had explained the floor plan to them.
Originally the Modi's had bought the two plots to build two houses side by side but their wives and kids had vetoed the idea of leaving separately. Now that they were well established they wanted to go back to living together like they did when they were in India. The brothers had decided to combine the lots and customs build the house.
They hired an architect to design the house. They decided to build the kitchen and main living room in the middle and a wing on each side for each family. Everyone was happy with the solution and agreed. They moved into the house three years ago.
After taking two wrong turns Gopi and Rashi found themselves outside of the kitchen. They both stooped when they realized the ladies were having a personal conversation.
Kokila aunty sounded very dejected as she talked to her two sisters-in-law. "Motabhabhi you saw with your own eyes how Ahem is behaving. He will never understand how it is for a mother to see her son in pain."
"Kokila, Ahem needs time to come to terms with everything. He was hurt with what happened three years ago and then the whole engagement fiasco made him withdraw from all of us. He had to give up something precious for us and in the end his sacrifice was futile. He is not hurting for himself but for the person he loved and hurt because of us." They heard Hetal aunty soothe and reassure Kokila aunty.
Gopi did not want to get caught listening to their private conversation so she moved back few steps pulling Rashi along with her. They waited few seconds before moving forward and made sure the ladies heard them coming. Once they were at the kitchen door all three ladies looked up and smiled.
Gopi felt Hetal aunty studying her again, she felt unsure for a moment but then moved forward. "Auntiji, is there anything we can help you do?" The three women exchanged looks and smiled at them. Kokila aunty moved to stand in front of them. "Thanks dikra, we have everything in hand here, but you and Rashi can set the table for us. I have set everything out in the dining room." Gopi and Rashi went in the direction of the dining room.
They both stopped just inside the door and took in the sight of the huge dining room. Rashi gasped at the shear size of the room. "Oh my god Gopi! How am I supposed to fit into this family? There is no way I can. I am a simple girl and this looks like I should have gone to finishing school to learn proper etiquette."
Gopi could understand her friends panic, she couldn't imagine the things required of the girl married into a wealthy family like the Modi's. She shook herself out of her thoughts and put her arm around Rashi. "You will be fine Rashi. They are not the type of family who would require you to have a finishing school etiquette degree. Look around you; this is not a formal room. It is a comfortable room where the family likes to gather for dinner and catch up with one another daily. It looks like any other dining room just bigger in size." Rashi looked again and thought Gopi is right the room being looked lived in and comfortable not formal.
Gopi and Rashi worked together and set the table for fifteen per instructions and stood back to survey their work. They were about to go back to the kitchen when the whole family arrived for dinner. Gopi felt as though the room shrunk in size instantly. She didn't dare glance to her right when she felt the sharp gaze of a pair of dark brown eyes on her. She could feel her heart pick up speed at his presence and willed it to relax into a normal rhythm.
"Kinjal, Ria where were you both while Gopi and Rashi were setting the table? We taught you better than this." Kokila aunty scolded both girls.
"Sorry Mamiji I took Kinjalben over to our house to show her the adjustments to my wedding dress that Gopi helped me make."
Kinjal looked at her mom with excitement. "Mom the dress looks so much prettier with the adjustments Gopi made." The older women gave Gopi a considering look. It was obvious they were impressed but this made Gopi uncomfortable.
Ria notice Raj smirk. "Jiju why do you find this funny?" He winked at her and glanced at Gopi. "Residency 101 Saliji, always know who the talented nurses you will be working with during your residency years, especially if you want to get some rest during those years." Ahem raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Really? Since when did you need more than your smile to get what you want?"
Raj gave him a mock glare. "Watch it Ahem, if you get me in trouble with your sister, I know few things about you that could get you in trouble in a near future." Ahem narrowed his eyes at his friend but didn't say anything.
Gopi relaxed as the conversation moved to different things during dinner. She felt Ahem's gaze on her several time from across the table but refused to give in and look back at him.
An hour later Gopi and Rashi walked around the Modi's garden. "Gopi are you okay?" Rashi asked her friend. She knew this was not easy for Gopi, but she had put all her apprehensions aside for Rashi and Amit.
Rashi wished she hadn't made her friend do this as the pain and sadness became more visible in her eyes during dinner. She had seen the longing in her friend's eyes for things that she thought she could never have.
Rashi owed her friend her life and wished she could make things easy for Gopi but some things are not as easy as they look.
Gopi looked at her friend thoughtfully. She knew Rashi worried for her and she was never able to hide anything from her but she couldn't share her worries with her friend, not this time. "I am fine Rashi. How do you feel now that you know Modi's are down to earth as they come?" Rashi shrugged her shoulders but before she could answer they heard Jigar call out to Rashi. They both turned to see him walk towards them.
"Rashi come with me for few minutes I want to show you around the house." He flickered a look at Gopi but turned back to Rashi and wait for her to join him.
Rashi hesitated but Gopi nudged her towards Jigar with a smile. After they left Gopi turned back towards the rose bushes in the corner of the yard. There were so many in different colors at different stages of bloom.
Jigar took Rashi to his room and closed the door. Rashi stood in the middle the room and took in the sight in front of her. The room was huge with a king size bed against one wall, near the window. All the windows in the room were covered with transparent drapes and the heavier, thicker drapes in pale yellow were pulled to the side. She saw a door leading to what must be a bathroom next to another door that was obviously a walk-in closet. Everything was tastefully decorated, masculine but with little touches here and there that would make any female feel comfortable also.
Jigar put his arms around Rashi and pulled her to his chest. "What do you think, you like it?" Rashi pulled away from him and turn to give him a considering look. Jigar realized she might be upset with him still. "Rashi are you still mad at me. I apologized for saying what I did."
Rashi didn't know what to say. "Jigar you insulted me and my friend. I didn't know anything about your relation to Ria, how could I have told you about Gopi and Amit Bhai's relationship? We have only started seeing each other few weeks back and we only discussed our personal likes and dislikes."
Jigar knew he had messed up by voicing his opinion of Gopi but he couldn't help himself. He didn't trust her, there was something she was hiding and he didn't like that at all. He had also run into Rashi's mom recently who told him Rashi no longer listened to her and did only what Gopi tells her. Urmila aunty was afraid Gopi is taking advantage of Rashi.
Jigar also didn't like the interest his Bhai was showing in the girl. This had surprised him because his brother hadn't shown any interest in a girl in the past three years. Jigar has tried to get his Bhai to notice his college friend, Seema, for the past six months, since the Denver project started. He had even encouraged Seema's parents to talk to his parents and Kakiji. And now it seems his Bhai has decided to come back home, obviously rejecting Seema's rishta.
"Rashi look I am sorry, I was just really upset about the whole situation and spoke without thinking. Let's forget about it, come on it's been a whole week since we have really talked to each other; come, tell me what you think of my family." Rashi hesitated because she knew nothing's been resolved but she really liked Jigar and want their relationship to work. She decided to not bring up his dislike of Gopi, she is sure once he gets to know her he will like Gopi also. She moved next to him to talk to him about his family.
Gopi walked around the garden admiring all the rose bushes. There were so many different kinds and in different colors. She wondered which of the Modi's loved roses and thought may be Hetal aunty, she seemed like the type to love the beauty of roses.
"Pretty aren't they?" Gopi turned to see Ahem standing behind her with his arms across his muscular chest. When he came down for dinner earlier he had changed in to well fitting, faded jeans and a green polo t-shirt that fitted him like a second skin, emphasizing his developed biceps, muscled chest and flat stomach. Gopi shook her head mentally and turned away before she was caught ogling him.
Gopi turned back to the flowers and asked, "Why so many?" Ahem moved closer to her, he had noticed the admiration in her eyes, and smiled inwardly at her shy look. "They were my idea, there is someone I know who loves roses and I wanted as many as I can have in this part of the garden. I have a perfect view of them from my bedroom window." He noticed her moving her hand towards a rose bud not yet bloomed; her hand was trembling. "Be careful, they have thorns." She pricked her finger before he finished warning her.
He took her hand and looked at the drop of blood on her finger. "Told you to be careful, now you just pricked your finger." Gopi pulled her hand back and stepped away from him. "Life is full of thorns, some small, some big, some hurt more than others. I am used to them causing pain, don't worry I can take care of myself."
Ahem felt a sharp pain in his heart at her words, but before he could say anything he heard his sister call out to him. "We are here Kinjal." He said to his sister to let her know they were in the garden. Kinjal made her way to them and stopped in front of them. "There you are, I have been looking for you in the house. Everyone wants to watch a movie and I was asked to find you two to decide which movie we are going to watch."
Gopi glanced down at her watch and thought of an excuse to leave but knew it was too early and Rashi would want to spend more time with Jigar so she followed Kinjal towards the house. "So what are our choices Kinjal?" She shrugged her shoulders, "too many to count, but I believe I know what your choice will be."
Gopi gave Kinjal a questioning look. Kinjal smiled at her brother mischievously. "Bhai's favorite movie is It's a wonderful life." Gopi turned to look at him and asked, "Why? What is so special about the movie?" Ahem looked at her in shock. "Have you seen the movie?" When she shook her head no, he asked her another question. "Do you believe in Destiny?" Gopi answered with a sharp no. He frowned, "Okay how about we watch the movie and then tell me what you think. You might start believing in destiny once you watch the movie." Gopi looked doubtful but followed them to the basement of the Modi house where the home theater was located.
Just when Gopi thought the house looked like any other ordinary family home, just bigger, she discovers the Modi's home theater, nothing normal or ordinary. The word extravagance came to mind when looking at the big room. This might be the only room that emanated Modi wealth. The home theater had all the things a big movie theater would have; it just looked more comfortable and inviting. She stood back as others argued over which movie to watch.
Ahem glanced back to see Gopi stand back and observe from afar, she looked overwhelmed by everything and everyone. He expects if something is not done quickly she will find a way to run home. He whistled loudly to get everyone's attention. When the room was silent he held up the DVD. We already decided what we want to watch. "It's a Wonderful Life." There were several groans at his suggestion but Kinjal signaled them to be quiet.
She went to Gopi and made her sit in one of the comfortable reclining chairs. "It seems Gopi hasn't seen the movie and Ahembhai wants to prove a point, you know how he loves to debate over his favorite movie." Everyone looked at Gopi and Ahem and wondered what that was all about.
Kinjal took a seat next to Raj, Amit and Ria were already sitting together as were Jigar and Rashi. Ahem took the seat next to Gopi and started the movie. For two hours Ahem watched the fleeting expressions on Gopi's face more than the movie. He knew the movie by heart; he wanted to see her reaction to each time George Bailey made sacrifices for his family and for his town. He watched her sadness increase with each of George's sacrifices. He saw the tears of sorrow as George decided to make that one last sacrifice, his life, for his family and then a smile bloom on her face at the end when the whole town came to George Bailey's rescue. For few moments it was quiet as the credits rolled to signaled the end of the movie.
Gopi turned to Ahem. "So you think George's destiny played a large role in what happened to him all his life?" Amit and Rashi both looked at Gopi in surprise. Ahem smiled down at her. "Yes I do, don't you agree?"
Gopi shook her head. "I told you I don't believe in destiny, fate, karma and it is meat to be lines. Those things are only good for fictions, and Hallmark cards. George made choices according to his sense of right and wrong that lead him to sacrifice his own dreams, but I wouldn't say he was destined to end up where he did."
Ahem frowned at her. "You don't think fate played a part in George's life? I believe he was destined to save the town and so every time he tried to leave fate stepped in to stop him from leaving." Gopi shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said he made choices based on what took place each time he tried to leave. He chose to save his brother, he chose to send him to college and then when his brother was offered a better job after graduation he chose to stay quiet for the betterment of his brother's future. He could have let his brother refuse the better job."
Before Ahem could reply Jigar's question to Gopi stopped him. "So you think the choices we make in our lives brings us to where we are at present?"
Gopi was taken by surprise. Up to this point Jigar had ignored her. "Yes absolutely, I believe what we choose to do will determine where life will take us."
Jigar looked straight at her. "So wouldn't you say that had you chose to share what your grandmother left you, you would not be estranged from your parents now? You deciding to keep whatever your grandmother left you put bigger wedge in your relationship with your mother. Wouldn't you say you choosing to do the wrong thing is what's causing all the problems now and may cause problems in the future for everyone around you?"
Amit's head snapped up and he glared at Jigar, Rashi also gave him a scolding look, but both stayed quiet when Gopi shook her head at them. Gopi returned Jigar's gaze without flinching. "Sometimes the choice is taken out of our hands and we are left to do what we can to move forward without feeling any pain over the loss." Gopi spoke evenly so she wouldn't give in to the pain his words caused her. She realized that there was some kind of a hidden message in Jigar's last question and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he had managed to rattle her.
There was a tensed silence in the room. Ahem was too shocked to say anything. He knew it took Jigar a while to warm up to people but the open hostility in his eyes and words for Gopi surprised him. He wondered what was causing his brother to act out in these manners. Before could scold his brother and make him apologize Gopi glanced at her watch and stood up. "Rashi we should leave now, it's late."
All of a sudden the room erupted into activity to cover the awkwardness of the moment. In no time the room was put back together the way it was and everyone moved to go up to say goodbye to the elders.
Ahem bid his time and waited; as soon as the opportunity presented itself he grabbed Gopi's arm and stopped her from following others. "You may not believe in destiny, but I believe some things are meant to be and no matter how much we deny it or try to stop it things or people who are destined to be together will end up together. Things that are destined to take place will happen no matter how much we fight it. Think about it." He released her arm and watched her hurry to catch up with others.
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Shiv Shakti
