chapter 9
"You know what, krishna? You are right." I said, he looked suprised at me
"I will never be able to forgive you u killed my parents"
Ok, we fetch them together and we pretend to be friends, but dare you to come too near..." I snapped at him while we waited in the hall.
"umm... pratigya... dont you think they will see that something is wrong?" he asked careful.
I turned so fast to him that he jumped.
"Lets just get this, ok?" I said mad.
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!" I heard Poo scream, she came from the luggage hall and ran directly into my arms.
"Poo!!!!! My sweet Poo. I cant believe you are here." I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.
We hugged tight.
"Well, let me look at you. Wow, you are even more beautiful than before and so adult." I said with a shaky voice.
"Didi, may I introduce? This is Rishi... Rishi, this is my didi... pratigya." I looked at this tall, young, goodlooking guy. He was so much like krishna. The same eyes, the same smile, it almost hurt to watch him.
"Nice to meet you, Rishi." I smiled warm at him.
"The same here. Ive heard so much about you." he winked with a cheeky grin.
"Poo..." I called laughing.
"I told him nothing bad about you. I swear." We burst into laughter.
"Oh my god, krishna! Its so good to see you." Poo flew into his arms and hugged him tight. krishna looked suprised at me, not really knowing how to react.
"Ok, everybody. Lets go. Rajev Uncle is waiting for us!" I called and so we drove to the restaurant.
"Ok, here we are." I said and got out of the car.
"Wow, its so good to be back home." said Rishi looking at the house. I watched him from the side and saw that he was really honest.
"Poo, this is my home. Here, Rajev Uncle, krishna and me lived." He explained.
I could see that he really loved Poo. The way he looked at her, the way he cared for her... he was so much like krishna has acted with me. I jumped at my thought and shook my head.
"Its beautiful, really." answered Poo.
"Ah! There are the NRIs!" called Rajev Uncle laughing and hugged Rishi tight.
"Its good to have you back my son." I felt a sharp pain in my chest when I heard him calling Rishi like that.
"Thank you Rajev Uncle. Its so good to be back home... Oh, may I introduce? This is Pooja." He introduced proud.
Poo bent down to touch Rajev Uncles feet.
When she came back up, he took her face in his hands and watched her lovingly.
"Welcome my daughter." He kissed her forehead and walked them in. The pain in my chest was still there, it was like somebody had stabed a knife into it. krishna still stood at the car, watching me concerned.
"Are you ok?" he asked in a soft voice, but I just ignored him and walked inside.
"Let the luggage, we can fetch it later." I only said.
Poo and Rishi were the happiest couple I had ever seen before, except my parents. They were still so madly in love, although they were together for 2 years now. We had decided to celebrate the engagement in two weeks and the wedding was supposed to be 3 days later. They were also already searching for a flat.
"Didi, may I ask you something?" asked Poo a few days later.
"Sure, whats up?" I answered making the laundry.
"What do you really think about Rishi?" I looked suprised at her.
"What do you mean? I really like Rishi, hes a wonderful man and I can see that he really loves you." I answered honest. A smile spread over her face.
"That is so wonderful, Didi!!!" She hugged me tight.
"But now about you? What about you and krishna?" I jumped.
"What do you mean?" I asked pretending to know nothing.
"You know what I mean. You like each other, more than as friends. So... are you together?" again, I felt this sharp pain in my chest, but this time I had diffuculties to breath.
"Didi?! Are you ok?" Poo helped me to sit on the couch.
"Yes, yes. Im fine, Poo. I just need to rest for a while." I calmed her down.
"Perhaps I should call krishna, he always knows how to make you rest." she winked at me and grabbed the phone.
"NO!" I called in panic. She looked suprised and a bit shocked at me.
"Why not?"
"Umm... well... he... has a lot to do, today. He has no time and I dont want to bother him." I lied and got back to my laundry.
Poo watched me suspicious, but I ignored her.
In the time till the engagement I worked a bit less to have more time for Poo and also to not have to see Rishi and krishna too often. Poo and me spent a lot of time together, laughing, having fun and enjoying to be together again.
"Miss pratigya... We need to talk about the engagement party and the wedding." Rajev Uncle burst into the office. I looked suprised at him.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked a bit unsure.
"Well, what do we want to eat, what kind of decoration, what kind of music..." he seemed to be very nervous.
"Please relax Rajev Uncle. Everything is already ordered." I calmed him down. First he looked a bit stupid at me, but then he burst into laughter.
"I love my manager." I smiled at him.
"And I love my job and my boss." I joked.
"... and his nephew." I heard Rishis voice from the door. I my smile froze.
"Oh no, not me!" he held up his hands.
"Sorry, not that you are a beautiful woman, but I love your sister too much." he chuckled.
"But you like krishna more than you admit, right?" I didnt know how to answer. I had decided to not tell Poo or Rishi about it. They should enjoy their love and their luck.
I looked helpless at Rajev Uncle and prayed he would help me.
"What are you doing here, Rishi? Werent you supposed to meet your brother about 15 minutes ago?" called Rajev Uncle now, which made Rishi jump.
"Oh shit. Ok, see you later. Bye!" He rushed away. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment.
"Thank you, Rajev Uncle. I owe you something." I said still a bit shocked.
"Well, I will come back on that on time." he smiled misteriously and left.
"Oh my god, Im so nervous!" Poo ran around like a chicken, not able to act normal.
"Poo... calm down, please." I put my hands on her shoulders and made her sit down.
"pratigya.... please tell me that I do the right thing." I stroke her hair and nodded smiling.
"Yes, you are doing the right thing. You love Rishi more than your life and he would do everything for you. I dont know a better couple than the 2 of you." I answered honest.
"pratigya... what about our parents? Were they also a lucky couple?" she suddenly asked. It was the first time she asked anything about our parents. Poo had been very young when our parents died, so she didnt remember too much.
"Yes, they were very lucky. They were still madly in love after all these years and they also loved us like mad. You are so much like Mum. It sometimes hurts to look at you, so similar are you." Poo looked at me with big eyes, suddenly she got up and ran into her room.
She came back with our mothers chain.
"You gave me this 2 years ago because it should protect me and bring me luck. It protected me very well and it brought me the love of my life. Now I ask the chain to protect you and to bring you luck." She put the chain aroung my neck and hugged me tight.
"I love you, Didi." The tears ran down my cheeks.
"I love you too, Poo."
The engagement was very simple, but beautiful. There werent too many people as both our families werent very big. The only guests from Poos and my side were Tanita with her boyfriend and one or two customers from the restaurant I had made friends with.
Three days later was the wedding.
"Miss pratigya... are you ready to let your sister go?" asked Rajev Uncle me in the morning. The whole days before I had been fully busy in organising and decorating everything for the ceremony.
I looked suprised at him and nodded.
"Yes, I think so. She gets the best man in the world." I answered honest. Rajev Uncle walked over to me and stroke my cheek.
"You are such a strong woman. You sacrifice everything for your sisters happiness." I pushed his hand softly away and shook my head.
"I sacrifice nothing, Rajev Uncle. I only want Poo to be lucky." I answered with misty eyes.
"And I want you to be lucky, my daughter." again I felt that sharp pain in my chest.
"Miss pratigya... are you ok?" asked Rajev Uncle concerned and helped me to sit down.
"its ok, Rajev Uncle. Really!" I breathed a few times deep and waited for the pain to go away. About 5 minutes later I was able to get up again.
"We need to get ready, Rajev Uncle. We have a wedding to celebrate." I said pretending to be ok, but my heart still raced and the pain was still there....
