IshRa FF : Bas Ek Sanam Chahiye (Updated Chapter 13 & 14 page 60) - Page 9

Chapter 5

Taken aback by this random encounter, Raman walked back over to main part of the complex looking again for the management office. As he approached the office door, he heard his mother apologizing for his and Shagun's lateness.

"No problem aunty. Actually my team is here so they are handling most of the setup. I'm here to oversee so I thought it would be a good opportunity to show you how the day itself would work. We'll wait for them. Can I get you a cup of coffee or chai or anything?"

It was the same sweet voice from the phone call. But also...could it be? Raman walked in at that moment, not entirely surprised to see his mother sitting on a small settee across from the woman from a few minutes ago. She looked up at him and frowned.

"Oh puttar you're here. Ishita this is my son Raman, who you spoke with."

Ishita Iyer, he didn't know this woman but in that instant he could read every expression that passed over her face: irritation, confusion, embarrassment, awkwardness and a little bit of pride; because these were all the emotions going through him as well.

"Oh, um nice to meet you Mr. Bhalla. Congratulations on your engagement."

"Hi, thank you" was all he could manage in his embarrassment. He wanted to apologize but his pride and awkwardness made him swallow any conciliatory words. She watched for a second, expecting him to say more but not hearing anything further, decided to ignore it, indicating him to sit. But her tone changed as she addressed him again.

"Is your fiance here?"

"Um yeah she should be here any minute." As he gave her an apologetic look, Shagun swept in with Mihir behind her. After introductions the group settled down around a coffee table in the center that was spread with photos and sketches. Ishita went through some ideas on her tablet using the photographs as examples of other similar budgeted weddings. Like his mother described, all the designs were elegant. She used light in unique ways to bring freshness to the typical mandap that made it look modern and graceful. But there was also some added elements that were flashier but not intrusively so. Intricate center pieces for instance that he thought could have been skipped in favor of flowers, but that Shagun loved. Raman could tell that Ishita had tried hard to meld their two styles.

"The chairs look a little too plain, can we add something to them that matches the center pieces?"
"Shagun that will be too much. The center piece is already so grand." He replied irritated.
"Raman, the guests will think we skimped. Outside the mandap there is nothing very grand right now, you don't know how Delhi weddings are these days. It needs to look like we have money to waste."

Raman glanced at Ishita in embarrassment. Her bright eyes gave nothing away as she listened to this exchange. "What we can do is add a small piece as a kind of button holding the ribbon on the chairs. We'll use the same design. Chalega? It will add the element without overwhelming."

Shagun appeared satisfied with the solution. They proceeded to make the remaining decisions with Raman's preferences taking an expected back seat. In the end, the look would be more grand than the initial designs Ishita had put together but his mother and Shagun both seemed happy with it.

"Ms. Iyer, as you can see Bhai is falling asleep, you ladies should take the opportunity to add anything else expensive you would like." Mihir chimed in for the first time.

"He's in luck because now comes the part when most grooms pay attention...the food!" She chuckled, twinkling her eyes at Mihir who smiled back at her. Raman did find himself sitting to attention. Not at the thought of food but rather at her endearing expressions. Then she turned to him, all serious again and took on the tone he now realized must be reserved for people she didn't like and addressed him. He sighed internally, slouching back down.

"We have a few different vendors we work regularly with. They do mughalai, western, vegetarian, Italian, chinese and lots of other cuisines. We can also work with any vendor you specifically have in mind. Do you have any preferences Mr. Bhalla?"

The conversation veered into these details and despite her assertion, he cared very little about the food leaving the decisions up to Shagun and his mother again. Nearly an hour and a half later, they concluded and Ishita offered them a walk around the hall to call out a few things. Raman and Mihir followed behind the ladies. Her chudidaar flapping in the wind, Ishita led them through as her nonstop chatter trailed behind surrounding Raman's thoughts.

"Bhai, look at that little waterfall...amazing right?"

"Bhai, Bhai? Where did you get lost?"

"Sorry, just thinking."

"Must be about work, I heard from Vinod about the books. Don't worry, we'll find a solution. I don't know why you get so worked up. Vinod is a good guy, you shouldn't have let off on him aga... "

Mihir's voice had trailed off as he stared ahead blankly. Raman turned his attention to where he was looking. Ishita was introducing a tall skinny girl. "This is Mihika, my second in command. You may see emails from her as we get closer to the event. She will be managing the agendas on the day of the events and will be the person working most closely with Shagun while I'll be with the dulha's party." She glanced up at him, her eyes looking apprehensive.

"Are you related, I see similar features." His mother piped in with a typical mother's dialogue.

"Oh yes, Ishita is my cousin Aunty."

"Both of you are very beautiful, nazar na lage." Shagun rolled her eyes at the attention falling on someone other than herself. "Thanks Ishita everything looks great. Raman will sign all the papers. I have to get going for my next shoot now so nice meeting you. Mihir!"

"Mihir can you drop Mummiji off also? I have a lunch meeting to go to after I sign the contracts here."

As the trio started making their way out. Mihika ran behind them."Ms. Arora! Here is my card by the way. I will be in touch soon but if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns in the meantime, give me a ring."

"I'll take thaaat. She is very forgetful and will lose this in a day." Mihir had grabbed onto the card gratefully. "I'm Mihir by the way. The dulha's best friend. Oh and I'm also Shagun's brother." He smiled widely as Mihika nodded politely, confused.

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After they left, Mihika had a quick word with her cousin and walked off to take care of some work. Finally Ishita turned to his direction, somewhat reluctantly and indicated the direction of the office while smiling forcefully. They walked side by side for a few moments.

"Ms. Iyer, I want to apologize for earlier. I should have apologized earlier. I mean later earlier, when we met. Met later in the office. And before earlier shouldn't have happened" Raman felt totally tongue tied. He took a deep breath. "I should have apologized, and I shouldn't have gone off on you I'm sorry."

She laughed and his heart lifted at the sound but when she spoke his face fell to hear the same tone, the one that seemed reserved for him. Serious and businesslike. "It's okay Mr. Bhalla. It seemed like you were having a bad morning. No problem of course. I'm sorry if I said anything to offend you as well."

"Please call me Raman." Once they got back to the office, Ishita laid out the terms and they came to a quick agreement and signed the necessary paperwork. Throughout she maintained her professional front, gone was her cheerful chatter that he witnessed her use with everyone else. He wondered if he should crack a joke like Mihir to see her smile but he felt it wouldn't work. She had made up her mind about him and for some reason, he was bothered by that.

"Thank you Mr. Bhalla, looking forward to working with you and your family. I'll be in touch with your Mom to get started next week." She had stretched out her hand and he took it.

"Thank you Ms. Iyer, I'm relieved to have found you." Their eyes locked for a brief moment at his words and he held her hand longer than necessary. There was something in her eyes that he couldn't decipher. They seemed probing, questioning him on something. Coming back to himself, he withdrew, coughed awkwardly and turned to walk away. When he glanced back as he crossed the door, he noticed her looking down at her hands, lost in thought.