Pride vs Prejudice

Chapter 6

"Rahul was there with you" Jaya told her firmly "Besides, your father" she said sharply, looking pointedly at Sharad, "convinced me against my wishes!"

Ria smiled at her Mom "If Papa convinced you about it, how could it be against your wishes?"

"Because she didn't want to be convinced" her father explained. "Jaya, who do you think our kids get their stubbornness from?" he quipped with a teasing smile

Jaya humphred before turning to Lav "Where is this land?"

"In Pedhe village. It is near Chiplun town. It is about 6-7 hours away from here. There is a former Taj hotel, where I usually stay and then return the next day itself, when I travel to that area" Lav explained to him mom. He was still looking at Ria skeptically. Now because of his worry over her going there along, and not just for business reasons.

"Mom! Please don't do this. I will be fine. I will stay at that same hotel, just like Bhai. I will have the car with me. I will come back first thing next day" Ria pleased pulling her hand

"Papa! Please convince her" Ria told her father making puppy eyes

"Let her do this Jaya" Sharad said visibly pouting

Jaya rolled her eyes "May be I should go with her" she mused

"Mom!" Ria exclaimed, straightening up a bit "I am not going to school for you to drop me off there."

"Maa" Shikha said softly "Aren't you helping Mrs Ghosh with Sujoy's wedding preparations?" This was the first time she had spoken in the matter. Though she was usually active in discussions in the house, she usually tried to refrain when it came to matters concerning Ria. While they had started their relationship anew when she married Lav, there were still some distances to be bridged.

"That is very important" Ria quickly added "You have made Sharmilee aunty a promise. You cannot back out of it now"

Sharad chuckled. Jaya looked at him pointedly "So what do you expect? That we let our grown beautiful daughter go out there all alone!" she chided him

"Mom! I will call you regularly to update. If I can handle the mugs in NY, I can handle people here. I know self-defense" Ria pleaded

"What mugs in NY?" Jaya exclaimed wide-eyed "Sharad, did you know about this?"

"Mom! I was just giving an example. Nothing happened to me. I always carry pepper spray with me" Ria tried to reason with her.

Jaya frowned.

"I will send Gopal with her. You know he won't let anything happen. He is trustworthy. He has been with us since her childhood" Sharad suggested "And you have to call your Mom and I, every hour, to update us" Sharad told her

"Every two hours" Ria said trying to negotiate

"Fine! Every two hours" Sharad agreed. He looked at Jaya "Jaya?" he asked softly

"When the two of you have decided, why are you bothering asking me!" Jaya said making a face

"Mom! Please don't me mad. I want your blessings. I need your support. This is the first land deal that I am looking at" Ria told her softly

Jaya looked at her for a few minutes before her stance softened "I worry about you"

"I know Mom" Ria told her understanding "I will be very careful. I promise"

And that was how, a day later, Ria found herself travelling to the small village called Pedhe,  after many many sessions of warnings on how she had to keep all of them posted.

She looked out of the car. They had crossed Pune just some time back. She knew Lav would be there in the city that day, helping with inspection. She had travelled this route a lot, as a child, when they spent time at their holiday bungalow in Lonavala. She hadn't been there in years. She hoped to visit it again, together as family, once she settled down a bit more in her work.

She took in the sights along the road. The tiled houses, small bungalows, buildings as they passed by, before they entered expanses of greenery. Monsoon season hadn't begun full-fledged yet but the different shades of green always made her feel happy and peaceful.

She had been lost, enjoying the views around, when the car swirled sharply and banged into something. The entire car shook, despite having a solid chassis. She braced herself quickly against the front seat even as airbags popped up. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds. She felt dazed! Lost! Shaken! She sat there glued to her seat, clenching the front seat headrest and she tried to make sense of things.

As she looked around, she realized that Gopal had managed to get his bearings and had stepped out. There was a bit of commotion outside, but she stayed put, inside the car, for a minute. She took a few deep breaths, before she opened the door.

She stepped out, still firmly holding the door. Her legs were shaking a bit from the scare.

As she calmed down a bit more, she realized that their car had banged against a tree. There was another small car inches away from theirs. Luckily it had avoided all impact. Some distance ahead, there was another Audi, similar to theirs only black in color, which had hit another tree on the opposite side of the road.

She saw that the owner of the small car was fighting with Gopal and the driver of the other Audi. There was a man, clad in a leather jacket and jeans, standing against the door of that Audi. His back was facing her. He seemed to be trying to get bearings of the area.

She looked around herself. The road seemed much narrower than the national highway they were supposed to travel on. She realized they must have moved away from the national highway. She vaguely remembered being detoured along this narrower road a while back.

When she looked the other way, she realized there was a decent bit of crowd gathering behind them for some reason, in addition to the traffic.

As she turned around, her eyes fell on the man who had till then been standing against the other Audi. He had turned around and walked over to where the drivers were hot in discussion. Her eyes widened looking at him. His eyes met hers almost at the same instance.

"You!" they both screamed at the same time

"Only you could have caused this!" they screamed again

"Arghh!" he yelled

"Shut up!" she shot back

"Why don't you follow your own advice?" he spat at her

"Why did I see your face? Now my whole day is going to be ruined!" Ria remarked angrily

"My day isn't going all that pleasant after seeing you" Shiv retorted

"Are you sure you didn't see your own face in the mirror?" Ria asked him, annoyed

"It's better than being you, who cannot even see your face in the mirror. Being vampire and all!" he snapped right back

"Don't tempt me to bite you and turn you into undead" Ria warned him

"There is ample wood around here. Don't tempt me to stab you" he warned

"What is going on here?" someone yelled from behind them

"Stay out of this!" they both yelled out at the same time, turning to warn the person, only to realize it was a police constable.

"Getting into accident. Causing traffic jam. Yelling at the police. Asking police to stay away. Hmmm!" the constable commented, lifting his eyebrow, as he ticked through his list while looking at them sternly.

Thanks for reading this story and big thanks to all those you have liked and voted for the chapters.