Here is chapter 9. There are some parts where I had to use more hindi than I planned because I couldn't imagine the character speaking english. So forgive that inconsistency. But let me know what you think good, bad, or ugly. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 9
"Mihika, can you get me some cucumber water, its in the fridge."
Sighing quietly she walked into the kitchen, wondering when she became a personal assistant to an overmade poodle. Looking around Mihika admired the modern space. They were at Shagun's house testing out a hairdresser that she had suggested. While delegating work in the recent weddings that Azores Events had taken on, Ishita had been giving the bridal responsibilities to her younger sister so she could get more experience in managing what is typically the more complex half of the couple. And Mihika had been thankful for the opportunities, she needed the practice. It was part of Ishu Akka's plan to scale the business and that plan needed Mihika to be able to manage her own client list eventually.
Although she had grown up in Chennai, Mihika had always looked up to her Delhi based cousins. While Vandu Akka earned far too many degrees and then went on to run a university, Ishu Akka had opted for the difficult path of starting her own business. From what she heard, the early years were tough trying to get the name out there and getting people to take a chance on a new player. But with the help of friends and family Ishu Akka had managed to build up her brand amazingly well. It wasn't until a few years in that Mihika joined. Her parents had initially created a lot of drama at the prospect of their only daughter moving all the way to Delhi but her Periamma had assured them she would be looked after like their own daughter. And this had been borne out too, much to Mihika's annoyance, as Periappa and Periamma were ten times more protective of her than their own daughters. But eventually they began to trust her and Mihika got some of the freedom and independence she had hoped for. Not that she had any scandalous plans for that freedom, she just wanted the experience of being on her own, experiencing the world away from her parents.
As she got the water out, she heard the door open and Mihir entered, returning from work. When he noticed her, his face split into a wide smile and he walked over to the kitchen.
"Hi Mihika, good to see you again!"
"Oh hi, how are you?"
She had crossed paths with him once or twice since they met, when he was dropping Shagun off somewhere or Mihika was picking her up for an appointment. They had made small talk and she decided she liked him. He seemed like a level-headed and sorted person. Only thing was that he was a bit eager.
"Great, now that I've bumped into you!" Mihika smiled awkwardly in response. "How's working with my sister?"
"Oh it's been fun", she lied.
He flashed a silly grin and whispered, "It's okay you don't have to fake it on my account. She can't hear us in here." Pausing he added, "I should probably let you know that I'm about 95% sure I was adopted."
Mihika giggled, easing up for the first time since she entered the house. "Your house is really nice by the way. Guessing it wasn't aunty's taste?"
"Bilkul nai, she was very unhappy with my choice. Even Shagun tried to dissuade me but you see I believe a man's house should be a haven, so I had to force my taste on everybody."
"Very good, usually guys are such slaves to their mothers...". Mihika bit her tongue and looked over at him, "Sorry, I shouldn't blabber."
But he looked amused, "No please, karo karo...I like your blabbering." And he rested his chin on his palm expectantly.
"Ishu Akka will be disappointed, she's always reminding me to maintain my professionalism no matter what." Pausing briefly she then launched full speed ahead, "But you know what, some people just don't deserve that kind of treatment! You have no idea the types of rudeness we have to deal with, Mihir. Na jaane kaise kaise log hote hain, and no ways am I going to be quiet if I encounter one. They should be glad it's not a thappad I'm giving back."
He chuckled.
"But I don't want to disappoint Ishu Akka, so have keep myself in control." She sighed as though that was the hardest thing in the world.
"You really think a lot of her, don't you?"
"Ishu Akka? She's amazing, I love her to bits. The best person even you'll ever meet."
"Oh, well that position is already taken by my Raman Bhai."
"That akdoo...?" And she bit her tongue, but it was too late. Mihir flinched and had seemingly taken offense.
"You don't even know him! Has your sister been telling you something?"
"No no no no sorry, its just the perception he gives off. Please don't think she said anything and please please don't say anything to Mr. Bhalla!"
Mihir smiled at her panic. "Don't worry, I realize he might come off that way on the surface, but if you get to know him he's the real deal. Kind-hearted, smart as a whip and loads of fun."
"I'm sure he is." Mihika was burning up in embarrassment, praying that he wouldn't say anything to the akdoo himself. Had she really let that one out. Ishu akka would kill her if she knew.
But Mihir was busy clearing his throat and didn't notice her redness. "So...while our amazing better halves are out there together, maybe us mere mortals should...um... try hanging out sometime too, what do you say?"
"Ohh good you reminded me of that, it's getting to be time. I'm supposed to go with Shagun to meet Akka and Mr. Bhalla for invitation selection. Thanks.." and she began to rush out of the kitchen.
"But suno what about...um...what I just asked?" He mumbled sweetly.
Mihika looked back and gave him a cryptic smile.
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Across town, Ishita was on her way to the printing hub of the city. It had been a brutally hot day but as the evening neared, dark clouds threatened from the horizon. Her lime green chiffon chudidaar was probably not the best choice in clothing for this weather. After parking in a small alley, she made her way through the crowded street looking for the intersection she had asked everyone to meet at. Normally there was a shortlist of vendors she relied on, varying it slightly to fit their clientele by budget and thankfully the three establishments she'd set apart for this couple were all nestled together.
As she walked, loud arguing voices could be heard nearby where a small crowd had gathered around the edge of the road. Peeping in from the back of the circle, Ishita realized there was an accident. An expensive looking car appeared to have smashed into an auto, damaging its front wheel badly. The auto driver was exchanging words with three other men, one of whom appeared to be the owner of the car while the other two bulkier men were likely his security. The moneyed man couldn't have been older than 25 but wore an air of haughtiness like he owned the street. The auto driver, a tall but lean man who must have been around 60 was asking to be reimbursed for the damage while the others pushed back verbally and physically. It was the owner of the car who was speaking.
"Saale, teri auto beech road lagake tu humpe ilsaam laga raha hai"
[Idiot, you leave your auto in the middle of the road and then try to put the blame on us]
"Arre saab, beech road kya, bazu mein hi tha. Aapne hi gaadi ko sudden mein right dala. Saab, yeh auto ke bina meri roz ki roti bhi nahi chalta. Mere paas repair ke paise nahi hai"
[Sir, it was on the side only, not on the road. Your car only took the right turn suddenly. Please sir, without this auto I won't be able to get by. And I don't have the money for the repairs]
"Ja jaa, mujhe koi dukh bhari kahaani nai sunni."
[I don't want to hear your sob story, get lost]
"Oh hello asshole...we all saw what happened. You better stop bullying this man." It was a familiar voice and Ishita shifted to get a better look. She was surprised to see Raman walking up to the group in visible anger, his suit jacket flapping behind him in a sudden stream of wind.
"You stay out of it, whoever the hell you are! I'm not paying a thing for his stupidity." The expensive asshole was mouthing off from in between his security.
"Do you see this crowd around you? You think they'll let you leave safely from here, you're better off paying for the damage you caused and running back to your mother's arms." Raman was standing in front of the auto driver now, his lean body stiff with tension. Seeing him facing off alone against the three men, a small worry bubbled up in Ishita and she prayed to Murugan to not let this become a fight.
The other man looked around but didn't flinch. Then he glanced at the larger of his men who stepped in front and showed off the gun hiding behind his jacket. Murmurs spread through the crowd as some people backed away. But Ishita who had gasped loudly, tried to move through them to get inside the circle. This Ravan Kumar was going to get himself killed!
"Don't you know who I am? Who my father is?? I could have all of these people in jail in minutes. I could have YOU disappeared in less than a minute" he sneered.
Raman looked at the man momentarily, as though evaluating. "Tu sahi kehta hai, I don't know who you are. But actually, I have this friend Priyanka, she works at a local TV station. I'm sure she would know who you are. Phone karke puchley? In fact, let me take a picture of you here, so I can message it over. She would be most interested; it has been a slow news week. You know how the media loves the privileged rich vs common man angle these days. She may even want to call some of her other friends and maybe interview this auto driver. Aap TV pe aana chahenga bhaiyya?" Raman had turned to the old man.
As one of the bodyguards advanced on Raman rightly understanding it as a threat, Ishita who was now finally inside the tight circle of the crowd, stopped spellbound. Before anything else could happen, the boss called him off. Watching Raman closely, he indicated something to the other security guy who went back to the car and returned quickly.
"Le jaa, apni auto ko repair kara de," and the bodyguard pressed some bills into the old man's hands.
When the auto driver was about to speak up again, Raman put a hand on his arm indicating him to let it go. After giving them a final haughty look, the trio piled back into their car and drove off as the crowd also began to disperse slowly. Ishita then saw Raman turn to the auto driver and give him more cash from his own wallet and what looked like a business card.
"Aise logon ke palle padne se koi faida nahi bhaiyya. Yeh leejiye. Agar yeh repairs ke liye kaafi nahi hua toh mujhe is number par phone kar lena, teek hai?"
[No point butting heads with people like that. Here take this. If its not enough for the repairs, call me at this number ok?]
The old man thanked Raman profusely, even holding his hands together but Raman wouldn't have any of it and sent him on his way. While all this was transpiring, Ishita hadn't moved and was now alone in the previously crowded area in the middle of the street. So when Raman turned around he spotted her immediately, in surprise, and began to walk over. His jacket continued to flap as he approached against the wind which had picked up even more. As he came to a stop in front of her she saw the remnants of the adrenaline from the encounter. His face was flushed and his bright eyes held an intensity that kept her rooted to the spot.
"Hi, when did you get here? Sorry if I kept you waiting. I was just about to head over to the intersection but got held up." Ishita was still staring at him silently. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked in genuine concern at her expression, but he was taken aback by the unexpected fierceness in the response.
"Woh kya tha?! Do you even realize you could have been killed!" There was something new in her voice that they both noticed; a mix of concern and fear.
When Raman realized what the new inflections were, his expression softened. Ishita too felt it in her own voice and tried to get out if it awkwardly as her heartbeat slowed back down, "I mean, that was such a dangerous situation, I thought someone might get hurt."
"So you were here for all that?" He sighed and tried to use his calmest voice, "It must have looked much worse than it was. Guys like that just like to show their strength, they never actually do anything. See it turned out okay right? I'm fine, everyone is fine."
Ishita simply nodded, unsure how to react to his comforting tone. Though he wasn't able to decipher the expression on her face, he felt her shake off the moment and let the professional Ishita reemerge. "Um we should probably head over to the meeting spot. Mihika must already be there." Raman nodded and followed her, wondering what just happened.
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As they headed over, Ishita sneaked short glances at Raman. Walking in front, he was wading through the crowd on the narrow street. The adrenaline inside him seemed to have ebbed away and only the intensity remained. Thinking back to those few moments, Ishita realized how thoroughly freaked out she'd been. There were so many incidents of random violence in the news lately that removing yourself from any situation that could lead to it felt like the only safeguard. Instead this man had put himself right in the middle of it. But it was done for a good cause. And something had swelled inside her, seeing him come to the rescue of the auto driver and then expertly diffusing a dangerously tense situation. Even from when they first met, she'd gotten the feeling there was much more to Raman Kumar Bhalla behind the curtain of arrogance and anger. This felt at once like a vindication of that feeling but at the same time demanded a reexamination of her initial judgement of his character.
Ishita couldn't however account for the enormous relief that swept over her when it seemed like he was out of danger. No, she was thinking about it too much. He was a client, of course she was worried. In fact she'd have been worried for any stranger on the street. And whats more in this case, she knew his parents and they would have been heartbroken if anything happened to him. Yes, that was it. Lost in such thought, she walked right into him when he stopped suddenly.
"Sorry!"
Raman looked around at her. "Its okay. This is the spot right?"
"Haan yahi hai, I don't see Mihika though. She's only been here once before so hopefully she didn't get lost."
As she messaged Mihika, he moved them over to a narrow but sheltered gap between buildings since the wind had really picked up now. Looking up from the phone, she found him standing very close, his eyes trained on her. But they were removed quickly.
"They're a couple of minutes away." He nodded and they waited silently, avoiding each other's eyes until she spoke up again. "What you did back there..."
"AKKA!"
Mihika waved to them from across the street, while getting out of the car. They'd had a tough time finding parking but Shagun had complained about walking in the heat so she ended up circling quite a bit till a spot opened up right there. At least for today she'd be done with this insufferable woman. The fiancee could deal with her now. As they waited for a few vehicles to cross, Mihika looked back at her cousin and Raman Bhalla. They were now at the edge of the street but had been standing in a weird little nook earlier when she spotted them while parking. There was something in their stance that had struck Mihika as odd in that millisecond before she'd called to them. It happened so quickly that she hadn't been able to observe properly. It was something Ishu Akka was doing, something unusual about it. Mihika shrugged and greeted the pair as they met up.
The next few hours were spent visiting the three vendors that Ishu Akka had selected for the invitation options. All three were reputed printers with a large selection of popular and out of the box designs. Mihika just watched as her sister lead the discussions as she had only gone through this process once before. She was mainly here to observe. Plus she was exhausted from spending a few hours with Shagun already. The manicured madam definitely had more respect for Ishu akka though. Shagun spoke quite sweetly to her but mostly ignored her practical suggestions. After lots of nakhre, the bride finally settled on a hideous, overly gold contraption that was to cost an arm and a leg per invitation. Raman Bhalla seemed curiously disconnected from the whole thing, spending pretty much the entire time on his phone. When they started, he provided a few of the details his mother had asked him to make sure are included in the text and left it to Ishita to bring up to each subsequent vendor. When asked his opinion by his fiancee, which was rare, he simply nodded while keeping his eyes glued to his phone. The only times he looked up was when Ishita spoke to him and at the end when he spoke with the shopkeepers to thank them.
With the test print set to be delivered in two weeks, they finalized the deal and stepped out into darkness. The overcast skies were threatening rain any second. Mihika bid everyone goodbye as Raman would be dropping off Shagun and Ishu Akka had driven her own car.
"I'll see you at home Mihku. It's going to rain, zara safely drive karna. Pay attention."
"What do you mean Akka, I'm such a safe driver! "
But Ishita rolled her eyes as she watched her cousin get in and drive off. She turned around to a waiting Raman and Shagun.
"Okay so I'll be off too, thanks for coming out here. Glad we got it tied up quickly."
"Thanks Ishita, I'm so happy with what I selected" said Shagun before turning to Raman expectedly but he was still looking at Ishita.
"We'll walk you to your car."
"Oh that's alright, I'll be totally fine. You guys go ahead."
"Don't be silly, it's late", he frowned down at her.
"Raman, she's saying she'll be fine na? I anyway can't walk another step, these heels are killing me."
Raman looked back at Shagun with a blank stare. "My car is just around the corner, why don't we go there first and you can sit inside while I walk Ishita over. You'll be fine, It's right in front of the McDonalds and it's busy there."
Shagun made a face but agreed and Ishita figured it was useless arguing as well. Within a few minutes the two women has said their goodbyes again at Raman's car and Ishita led the way to hers a few streets away.
Thunder rumbled loudly in the distance. The streets were starting to become more deserted and Ishita was thankful for the escort. After a few minutes feeling uncomfortable with the silence, Raman tried to think of something to start the conversation. "So Mihika lives with your family?"
"Actually I live with her, I recently moved into her flat. I was living with my parents till then. After years of restrictions and rules, it was time for a change. They're old enough for some freedom and independence." And she chuckled charmingly.
Raman looked over, glad to hear that sound again. It had started to drizzle and spots of wetness were appearing on her clothes. When she looked back, the smile was still on her face. But after a moment she turned serious again, and took a second to think before continuing.
"Raman, I was trying to say earlier about what you did back there, for the auto driver I mean. That was really something. A little crazy but it was...a good thing you did."
They had just arrived at her red car and she turned around to face him as he stood a little bit away, watching her intently. Rain water had already damped down his gel supported hair.
"A little crazy?"
"You're right, I should say, a lot crazy. Almost suicidal actually. No sane person would have done what you did."
"Are you calling me insane?"
"No, just...not sane."
"Oh hello didn't this start out as a compliment?"
Ishita laughed and her honeyed voice rang out. "It was! It is supposed to be a compliment!"
"Then you're failing terribly at it. I'm mostly insulted."
She frowned adorably, "Ok ok let me try again. Very few people would have done what you did. And that is admirable."
Raman laughed. "Mazaak kar raha tha. Thank you for saying that but a lot of people would try to help, I was just in a position to do it successfully, so I did."
Ishita smiled again, "Well a lot of people are glad you did then, including me."
An attractive smile spread across his face, dimples appearing out of nowhere and Ishita's heart unknowingly skipped a beat.
"Thank you"
Recovering, she rustled in her bag for the car keys and opened the door. "Thanks for walking me to my car. Your public service quota for the month is filled I think!" and she flashed a twinkling smile at him before getting into the car.
Raman waved to her as she drove off and stood staring for a few moments. As he walked back, he realized he had a whole conversation with her where she laughed, smiled and was otherwise finally completely herself with him, like she was with everyone else. This small achievement had just made him a little too happy.
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