Author's note: Here is the second part of the second chapter. Hope you all like it. I know the updates and my replies have been a little erratic. However, I am going to be more consistent in the updates. I promise! Not a lot of romance in this chapter, but next chapter lots of it. I promise again!😀
A huge thank you to @KVKSOUMYA for these amazing edits. I absolutely love them!❤
The chapter is not edited
“Akash,” she groaned when they banged into each other once again.“You're supposed to go left and then right!”
“I did go left and then right. Just like you asked,” Akash said, rolling his eyes. “I think you're just a terrible teacher.”
Dhara placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Oh! I am a terrible teacher? You are a terrible student who can't even comprehend such simple moves. My seven-year-old students can learn faster and better than you.”
“Whatever!” he huffed. Dragging his feet, he made his way to the other side of the room and plopped himself on the floor in front of the couches. “Remind me again to never play your fake boyfriend ever again.”
Dhara who was untying her hair stopped and glared at him. “What do you mean?” she asked, trying not to sound as offended as she felt.
“I just agreed to accompany you to a wedding for the food and to be a good friend and now suddenly dancing at your friend's sangeet. On a stage in front of hundreds of people where I'll probably make a fool of myself because I am learning the moves the night before because you didn't bother telling me,” he complained while shaking his head and trying to catch his breath.
He did have a point. She was taking advantage of his kindness by forcing him to participate in the dance routine with her. Stuffing her hands in the pocket of her hoodie, she asked, “Do you really not want to participate in Preetika's sangeet?”
Akash sighed as he pulled his right knee closer to his chest. “I wouldn't have minded if you had given me some notice.”
“That's because I wasn't going to participate at first, but now Rishi is participating so I have to participate. And since we are a couple, you need to be a part of my performance.” She walked to Akash and sat on the couch behind him.
“You know at that moment I thought it was a good idea and all, but-”
She shook her head and interrupted him by saying, “You can't back out now!”
“Relax! I am not backing out,” he laughed. “All I am saying that you should have given me a heads up. And why do you need me to be a part of your big performance? Can't you do a solo kathak performance or something?”
She stiffened at the mention of kathak. She quickly shook off the pang of heartache. However, it wasn't quick enough because she could tell by Akash's body language that he knew she was upset.
His scowl grew deeper. “Are you angry?” he asked.
“Not all! I just feel terrible for coercing you into this dance,” she lied with a forced smile. “You don't have to participate in the sangeet. Just come with me. That's all.”
“Dhara, come on! What's really going on?” He wasn't an idiot and he knew something was bothering her.
“Nothing!” she said with an exaggerated huff and began standing up. “Good night.”
Akash held her hand before she could leave. “Are you sure you don't want to share?” he asked in a gentle tone.
She took a deep breath as she looked at him trying to decide if she should tell him or not. It wasn't a very difficult decision. He let go of her hand and she sat back down on the couch. “I don't do kathak anymore,” she mumbled, wringing her hands on her lap.
“Why not?” he asked, curiosity etched on his face.
“Kathak was one of my mom's passions in life. She was our first teacher. She taught us everything we know about the dance form.” Biting her lip, she tried not to cry. “Dancing by itself is hard, but doing kathak without her... I can't do it.”
“I am sorry,” he whispered as he came to sit on the arm of the couch.
Wiping the lone tear that escaped her eye, she smiled at him. She hated showing her weakness to any of her other friends or acquaintances, but with Akash it was organic. Maybe because she wasn't trying to maintain an image in front of him. She was just being herself. “Why? It's not like you knew.”
“I know, but...” he trailed off with a small shrug.
She laughed and hit him on his arm lightly. “Stop sulking and go get some sleep!”
“Not yet,” he said holding out his arm to stop her from leaving. “Let's practice for another hour. It won't be my best attempt, but at least I won't lose face while dancing beside you.”
“You don't have to.” She reassured and stood up. “I'll figure something out.”
“I know!” he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I am doing it to impress one of your friends.”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” She rolled her eyes at him but quickly ran to the sound system before he changed his mind.
She played the song from the beginning and returned to take her position beside him.
Akash began doing the move she taught him, but she didn't join him. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.
He stopped and looked at her appearing nervous. “What?”
“Which one of my friends were you thinking about impressing?”
Akash exhaled and visibly relaxed. Laughing, he replied, “I was just kidding not that your friends aren't amazing.”
“Really?” she asked with a tight-lipped smile. “Which one in particular?”
He looked taken aback at her question before reverting to his nature of turning all serious situations into a joke. “Well...” He snapped his finger as if he was trying to recall. “That friend who came up to us while we were at the bar. The one in the purple dress. She works in the Ministry of External Affairs...What was her name?”
“Oh! Malvika. She isn't single.”
“Really? Too bad I guess.” He laughed as he went over to replay their song on the music system.
If Dhara wasn't occupied by why she had lied to Akash about Malvika's relationship status then she would have definitely been shocked by how instantaneously and convincingly she had managed to lie.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded and they both practicing for the dance.
Agra. 175KM. The faded road sign read. Soumya sighed and rested her head against the window of her seat. Why did Shah Jahan decide to build the Taj Mahal in Agra? Couldn't he just have picked Delhi?
Akash had suggested they leave Delhi at 6 in the morning so they could beat the traffic, so she wasn't surprised that Akash, Shipra, Apurva and Dhara fell asleep in the car as soon as they hit the highway.
She nudged Dhara with her elbow when Dhara began snoring lightly, but that did nothing to her sister's sleep. Instead, Dhara just shifted her head from the seat to her shoulder and wrapped her hand around Soumya's arm.
Soumya tried to close her eyes and fall asleep as well, but her headache just made it impossible. Even the light sounds of Rudra typing on his laptop all the way in the passenger seat of their 9 seater car felt like sounds of someone drilling right above her head. She gave up trying and sat up slightly after pushing Dhara to the other side.
Messaging her forehead she scolded herself for not accepting Shipra's offer of tea in the morning. She didn't like the tea that the Rawats' chef prepared, but it would have been better than nothing. Why did she have to be so shy?
When the dull pain became unbearable, she decided to take Rudra's help. She cleared her throat a few times in an attempt to get his attention. However, Rudra just continued typing as his life depended on it. Then she tried telepathically calling out his name as they did in the movies, but even that didn't work. As a final resort, she pulled out her phone.
Is there a tea stall close by?
Rudra made her wait almost 10 minutes before he finally decided to look at his phone. Immediately, he turned around to look at her.
“Why?” he mouthed to her with a small frown on his face.
She didn't know what she was thinking. This clearly went against the idea of limiting her interactions with Rudra. However, her need for tea won over any of her other issues. She pressed her forehead. “My head hurts,” she mouthed back.
Rudra's worried expression for some reason made her smile. “I need tea,” she signed and mouthed to him.
The worry lines disappeared and he smiled shaking his head. Then he leaned over and whispered something in the driver's ears.
Despite her headache, she smiled even wider as she relaxed in her seat. Her impatience and headache grew as she looked outside the window and saw no signs of any food stall.
“How much longer?” she mouthed with a pleading look when Rudra around to check on her.
“Five more minutes,” he signed with a reassuring smile.
Instead of smiling back she crossed her arms and pouted. Five more minutes? Her head would split in two by then. She knew she was being irrational by being angry at him when it wasn't his fault, but she would apologize later. Right now, she just needed tea. A big cup of it.
She wasn't sure if it was five minutes later that the car stopped at a mid-range tea stall. Instantly, she removed her seat belt and got ready to jump out of the car when Shipra too rose from her sleep.
“What's going on? Why did we stop here?” she asked loud enough to wake Apurva up as well.
Something in her expression may have given up her hesitation, which is why Rudra lied for her, “I need some coffee.”
“Why? Did you not drink coffee at home?” Shipra scolded.
“Does anyone else want anything?” he asked, ignoring his mother's scolding.
“No one wants anything because we all drank and ate what wanted from home,” Shipra spoke for Soumya, herself, her husband and Akash and Dhara who still hadn't stirred from their deep sleep.
“There is also a washroom if anyone wants to use it,” Rudra said looking right at her making her feel even more guilty.
“I need to use the washroom,” Soumya quickly blurted out before Shipra decided to answer for her once again.
She walked through the narrow path between the seats and Apurva helped open the door for her to get out.
“1 strong chai with less milk and two scoops of jaggery,” she ordered as soon as it was her turn. It wasn't till she heard Rudra chuckling beside her that she remembered him. Ignoring the laughter in his voice, she asked, “Do you want something?”
“One black coffee and one regular coffee,” he said to the man behind the counter who then disappeared into the back after taking their order.
“You know our chef can make tea just the way you like,” he teased as they waited for their beverages.
Soumya laughed nervously. “I know. He makes really good tea.”
“Hmmm.” Rudra hummed. His voice was laced with laughter. “Is that why you haven't been drinking tea at home for the past few days? I just thought you are trying to cut down on the intake of your tea, but now I realize the real reason.”
She thought she concealed the fact well considering even Dhara hadn't noticed. But, he had. How and why? “I just don't feel like telling the poor man that his tea is too weak. He always looks so happy when he's serving breakfast.”
Rudra laughed. “You are one of a kind you know.”
Before she could ask him if it was a compliment, the man appeared from the kitchen with three paper cups. She grabbed the cup immediately after the man placed it on the counter.
Three sips into her tea and she could feel her headache disappearing.
“Better?” Rudra asked when he returned after giving the driver his cup of coffee.
“So much better,” she replied with a small giggle. “Sorry, you had to lie to Aunty for me.”
Rudra scoffed and shook his head. “It's not the first time and it won't be the last. Don't sweat it,” he said, shrugging. “Although, you should finish your tea so we can get going otherwise my mother will come looking for us and I promise you she won't be very happy with the reason why you haven't been drinking tea at home.”
She laughed but she knew he was serious about Shipra's nature, so she quickly drank the tea and soon they were on the road once again.
Taj Mahal, one of the world's seven wonders, stood tall and proud, to welcome thousands and thousands of visitors including them.
“Wow! This is so beautiful,” Dhara stated as soon they entered the vicinity.
“This is nothing,” Shipra waved her hand in the air. “It is even more beautiful when we get closer.”
“Family picture, Sir?” a man appeared out of nowhere. “Instant 4K quality photo with the Taj in the background. Only 500Rs.”
“No. No. It's fine. We don't want it.” Apurva shook his head and tried to guide all of them away from the man, but the man remained persistent.
“We have other packages too. Once in a lifetime opportunity to get such a beautiful picture of your entire family. I have taken pictures of people from all over the world. Just look at these photographs.” the man pressed as he followed them.
“We told you we are not interested,” Akash said.
“Sir, just look at these pictures. You won't be disappointed.”
Akash clicked his tongue and shook his head. “But, we-”
“It's fine, Akash. Let's all take a picture. It'll be a good keepsake.” Shipra patted on Akash's arm.
“Mom,” Akash tried to argue with her, but Dhara and Shipra were already following the man to a particular spot where the Taj would be directly behind them.
The rest of them rolled their eyes but had no choice.
“Nice picture, no?” Shipra asked Soumya while they were walking to explore Taj a little more. “I'll get it framed and find a nice place for this.”
Soumya smiled and nodded. She didn't understand why the man thought they were a family. However, the picture was really beautiful if you didn't read too much into it.
“Dad, I think we should get a guided tour,” Rudra suggested as Apurva was leading them somewhere.
“No need for a guide. You have a guide right here,” Apurva said, patting his chest.
“Dad, I don't-”
“Your Dad is right, Rudra. He knows all about the Taj Mahal. Just give him a chance.”
Just as Shipra and Apurva claimed, he did know all about the monument and shared several anecdotes that surprised all of them. His stories even continued into a late lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Mughlai restaurant.
“Wow, Uncle. You know so much about the city and the monuments. How?” Soumya asked, intrigued by his knowledge.
“Your Aunty and I would come here every weekend when we were in college and the first few years of our marriage,” Apurva said with a fond smile.
“There weren't any other places to visit in Delhi that you had to travel more than 200 kilometres every weekend?” Rudra asked.
“Be a little romantic, Chintu bhaiya,” Dhara said, shaking her head at him.
Soumya gave Rudra a small smile when he looked at her annoyed by Dhara's usage of his nickname.
“By the way, Aunty how did you and Uncle know you wanted to get married? Who proposed?” Dhara asked, scooting closer so she didn't miss any details of the story.
“Your Aunty.”
“Your Uncle.”
“Stop lying in front of the kids, Apurva. Come on!”
“How am I lying? You are the one who wrote me so many letters about how much you love me and wanted to marry me.”
Offended by Apurva's statement, Shipra gasped. “That's only because you would call me at least 100 times every day to recite poems and shayaris to me.”
“Wow! I didn't know you guys had such an interesting love story,” Akash laughed. “I just thought you both were batch mates.”
“You must tell us more, Aunty,” Dhara requested, tugging at Shipra's arm.
Shipra laughed and shook her head. “Okay okay. But not today. Let's eat lunch and leave otherwise you won't make it to your friend's sangeet on time.”
Dhara acquiesced and the table fell into a comfortable silence as they finished eating their lunch.