Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Can You Believe It?

The sun set in the sky and the moon arose in the evening. With that, the girls in the Vyas Haveli started getting ready. Shambhavi took out a simple suit. But she had to abandon her plans of wearing that as her Mami gave her a good scolding, stating that they were going to the palace and something as simple as the suit would not be acceptable. Hence, her Mami looked for sarees and handed one to each of the two cadets.

Anisha was wearing a black silk saree with floral patterns. In terms of makeup, she had put on some red lipstick along with black winged eyeliner and a coating of rose-gold eyeshadow, a pair of studs adorned her ears, and she was good to go.

Shambhavi was wearing an off-white, net saree with silk embroidery and pearls work on it. She had paired it with a simple full sleeve, off-white blouse and kept her makeup to a minimum with a light red lipstick and winged eyeliner and only a set of white pearl jhumkas in her ears.

When Shambhavi and Anisha walked out Nitya clapped her hands in admiration. They were told that two cars had been sent from the palace for them to use. The ride to the palace was filled with stories of Aniket's mother when she was learning classical singing from her Nana. The car stopped at the palace gates and when they entered, they were awed by the sheer beauty of it.

Everyone got out of the cars and Nana asked Shambhavi to bring along the gifts they had gotten for them, so she stayed behind to get the gifts out of the cars. Meanwhile, Aniket welcomed everyone inside and Anisha was surprised to see the Rathores were already present there.

Sanyukta Ma'am was delighted to see Anisha while Advith was shocked. For a few moments, he had forgotten everything around him, and his sole focus was fixed on Anisha. Nitya nudged Anisha and mouthed 'The other hot Captain'. Anisha laughed and said yes.

Aniket looked around and saw everyone mingling well, but his eyes could not catch the one person he wanted to see so desperately.

Anisha came up to her and said, "She is outside, Sir, getting the gifts,"

"You should go and help her, Aniket," Advith said from his side and Anisha tried to look serious and shook her head in affirmation.

Aniket smiled and did just that. He was walking outside but he stopped in his tracks, for he could see Shambhavi walking towards him with a stack of gifts, her entire attention focused on the things in her hands. She was carrying as many packages as she could while the rest of them were in the hands of the servants. She was busing in counting the gifts and could not notice that Aniket was standing like a statue with his eyes wide, and mouth slightly agape

If she looked good in a suit with no makeup on, it was nothing in comparison to what she was looking at the moment. She looked like a goddess in a saree, he deduced. Aniket was sure he was in heaven because only angels or goddesses look so exquisite. She looked enticing, one of a kind, deserving to be a queen.

She looked up and saw Aniket. She also stopped while gaping at him as he looked like a King in the Rajwadi kurta pajama, suiting his personality and his title all too well.

If there was any inkling of doubt in his mind before, it had been cleared at the moment. Aniket Rai Chauhan was certain that he was completely bewitched by Shambhavi Sakshi Vyas, and he was also certain that he was madly and irrevocably in love with her.

They both started walking towards each other, completely forgetting all concepts of time and space. It was just them in a corridor lit with candles and diyas, a world made just for them. It was their own universe with each other. Nothing else mattered.

They reached each other and came to a standstill, Aniket smiled and asked, "Have you ever heard the song Afreen?"

Shambhavi smiled at his silly question and nodded her head, so Aniket continued, "The song had a line, 'Usne Jana ke tareef Mumkin Nahin, Afreen, Afreen.'"

Shambhavi smiled and looked down at the ground unable to meet his scorching gaze and said, "Don't look at me like that."

Aniket's smile widened, tilling his head a little to catch her eyes, he asked, "Like what, Shambhavi?"

Shambhavi lifted her gaze and met his brown eyes, "Like you are not looking at me but gazing into my soul," she said softly.

"What can I say? It is a beautiful soul," Aniket said a tone matching her.

Shambhavi closed her eyes and tried not to show the effect his words were having on her. She was positive that her face seemed flushed by now and she bit her lower lip to stop the smile from appearing. She looked at him and said, "You really must have too much free time in your hands to come up with such lines."

"On the contrary, lines like that only come to my mind in your presence," Aniket said, "Otherwise, I am not a very Shayrana type of a person," he continued thinking of the right words to say.

Shambhavi gave a singular laugh, "Shayrana, I would not call that Shayrana Aniket. If you want though, Nana would tell you some great shers. He used to write verses for Nani. "

Aniket gave a full-blown smile at her slip up and said, "Say that again."

Shambhavi looked at him questioningly, "Say what again?" she had not noticed that she had called him by his name.

"You said my name, not Sir, not Captain, just my name. Say that again," Aniket said with a teasing smile now.

Shambhavi's eyes widened when she realized that she had indeed said his name. She moved aside and said, "We should go inside," and she rushed at a fast pace.

She could hear Aniket's booming laughter from behind her. She entered the main hall where everyone was sitting on the very lavish looking sofa sets. She looked around and saw just how well the house had been decorated. She was even more surprised to see Sanyukta ma'am and the Rathore men all present. She went towards them and Sanyukta ma'am lit up seeing her.

The younger Vyas had already been introduced to the Rathore family. Aniket also came back with some of the gifts and soon the conversation was flowing about the impending wedding. It was decided that Aniket and the Rathore men along with Sanyukta ma'am would be visiting next day onwards to help with all the preparations.

The conversation was soon moved to the dining table, which was grand, but then again it was a palace everything was supposed to be grand.

Later that night everyone was talking before the Vyas family had to leave and Shambhavi looked around. She found it strange that she went from just having two sisters to having an elaborate and extended family. Her eyes connected with Aniket's across the room and he questioned her silently, raising his eyebrows. She smiled and shook her head. He also smiled and winked back.

After a long time, both Aniket and Shambhavi experienced a happy and whole family. After a long time, they both felt complete.

Later that night Aniket had called his mentor, someone he respected a lot, "You won't believe it, Sir, I finally found her. I am in love," he told someone on the other end.

The conversation from the other side could not be heard, "Can you believe it? I used to laugh at your love stories and today I am a part of one of those stories, I can't for you to meet her," he said to the person, elated at being able to share this news with him.