First Love

Chapter 17

Five days later, a very impatient Aditya walked in the doors of Mehta House with determination in each step, only to be stopped short by all the flower decoration around the temple. He noticed the rangoli in front of the mandir and frowned. What did he forget? Then he mentally slapped his forehead, it was Janmasthami (Lord Krishna's birth night) night, and he had forgotten all about it. He had no choice but to return to office two days after the accident, and he and Anjali barley had a moment of peace. The first day he had gone back, there had been one crisis after another, so he had returned home late. His arm had been aching, she had made him take the pain medication, that and tension of work had knocked him flat on his back as soon as he lay in bed. He had gone to the doctor the day after that to get his stiches removed, after that he had been even busier.

She was also getting ready for Janmasthami and gone to visit her kakima and brother for a day, to sort out her father's situation. He hadn't had a chance to ask her what they decided yet. She had been very happy when she returned from the Mistry's house that evening two days ago. She has been very mysterious about something that she has yet to share with him.

Aditya had been gone since the day before, to handle another crisis, and was now just returning. "Aditya?" He turned at the sound of his mom's voice. "Yeah mom,"

Ramila walked towards him quickly. "Why are you standing by the door like this?" His mom was giving him a concerned look.

He shook his head in denial. "Nothing mom, I just realized today is Janmasthami, I had forgotten all about it. Sorry mom." She patted him on the arm. "It's ok Aditya, you have been very busy the past few days. How is your arm now?" She was frowning in concern again.

"It's fine mom, it doesn't even hurt anymore." Aditya loosened his tie and walked all the way in the house. "Why don't you go up and rest for a while, we won't be leaving for temple until later." He nodded to his mom and walked up the stairs to his room.

Anjali watched as her sister-in-law paced from bed to dresser and back. Kajal was twisting her hand and muttering nonsense under her breath. She had been trying to calm her for almost an hour, but Kajal was a nervous wreck.

She crossed her legs, put her hand under her chin and watched Kajal, quietly, letting her get rid of her nervous energy. Anjali sighed inwardly. She missed Aditya. The past five days have been very busy for both of them, she had thought that they would have time the night before, but he had called her in the middle of the day to tell her to have a overnight bag ready for him since he had to go out of town at one of the sites, some emergency situation had come up and he needed to be there. He hadn't even come home, sent the driver to pick up the bag and left straight from the office. They had talked on the phone for few minutes the night before, but sensing his distraction she hadn't kept him on the phone for long.

He didn't even know about Kajal's alliance, and the fact that they were meeting the family tonight. Not that Anjali was worried about his reaction, she was sure he would like the man that his sister was going to be married to and he would also love the family.

"Bhabhi!" Anjali was startled out of her thoughts by sister-in-law's voice. She looked up to see Kajal standing in front of her, hands on her hips, tapping her foot and glaring at her.

She sighed, it seemed she hadn't been paying attention to Kajal. "Why are you so nervous? They only want to meet you and get to know you. Its all just a formality anyways, you know they are not going to say no." Anjali gave her a reassuring smile.

Kajal relaxed a little. "Were you this nervous when you met the family?" Anjali was taken back by the question. She remembered being tense, but not nervous. Before she could answer, Kajal had a teasing smile on her face. "I bet soon as you saw bhai, you forgot all about being nervous. Do you know that you get this dreamy look on your face every time I've mentioned bhai in the past few days? What's going on?" She smiled at Kajal but didn't answer her.