Prithvi... [Vol 1] (Ongoing) (Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2019)

Chapter 20

Nandini peeped into the vessel cooking on the gas, and inhaled the delicious fragrance happily. It was a paneer dish, which her mother was an expert at and which Nishi and Vrinda were absolutely crazy about. Breakfast had gotten over only a short while ago and usually Sarojini would start preparing lunch only by 11:30. But since her friends were coming over, her mother had begun cooking early so as to make some delicacies for them.

The house was very calm. Prakash was in his room, apparently doing his homework, but she knew it was more likely that he was reading some comics, while grandpa was in the temple.

Prithvi was fast asleep. The doctor had left half an hour ago after his check up. He had been quite concerned about Prithvi’s exhaustion and had sternly warned his unconcerned patient that if he did not take adequate rest, the cast on his leg would take weeks to come off.

Sarojini, who was already troubled by the tiredness on Prithvi’s face, was even more concerned after hearing what the doctor had to say. She had insisted that he go back to bed immediately after breakfast. And to Nandini’s surprise, Prithvi had listened to her mother quietly and had obediently done as she asked.

On her part, Nandini had managed to appear quite serene and normal in front of everyone. But truth be told, she was feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable to be around him. Despite her best efforts to forget what had happened yesterday, the memory refused to leave her alone…and she was finding it a little difficult to face him properly. She sincerely hoped the awkwardness wouldn’t last long...

The sounds of her friends’ voices broke into her thoughts, and smiling, Nandini eagerly rushed out the kitchen to find Nishi and Vrinda talking to her mother.

“Didn’t Rishabh come with you both? It has been very long since we saw him,” Sarojini smiled.

“We…errr…actually Rishabh had something important to do, so he couldn’t come with us,” Nishi said.

“Oh wow, aunty! That bouquet looks so beautiful,” Vrinda exclaimed, looking at Suvek’s gift.

 “Yes it does!" Nandini said brightly, hurrying over to them before further damage could be caused. "It was so nice of our classmates to send it.”

Vrinda looked at her in complete bewilderment. “Nice of our…”

Nandini cast both her friends a pleading look, and thankfully, Nishi caught on.

"We are so happy you liked it, Nandini" she beamed. Looking more confused than ever, Vrinda opened her mouth again and both her friends caught hold of her arms and began dragging her towards the stairs.

"We have so much to talk," Nandini said quickly as they made their way up the steps. "Let's go to my room."

"Ooooohhh! I sense a delicious secret," Vrinda whispered in delight.

Unexpectedly, Nishi turned around and ran down the steps. She walked over to the bouquet, picked it up with care and came running up again.