ACCIDENTALLY RIGHT
Prachi paced around in her room, placing the hoards of dresses, that she was compelled to choose yesterday, in her closet. She didn't want to buy more than three, but everyone had persuaded her to buy so many that she had lost the count after the eighth one. She was usually the responsible one, but the exhaust had made her dump the bags in a corner that she was now putting away.
Placing the last one in the desired place, she turned to her locker, to get out the jewelry she was to wear tomorrow.
For her Mehandi.
She rummaged through the small cabinet, straightening when she got her desired box. She was arranging the boxes back when her hand brushed a solid chest.
A wooden one.
She took in a deep breath. Trying to get some fresh air to fill her lungs and hopefully taking some of the pent-up remorse out. But it didn't help, for it only managed to bring a familiar prickling in her eyes.
"Shahana!" She called out loud, tilting her face towards the door.
"ShaHANA!" She called a little louder, doing all she could to stop her voice from wavering.
"Comming." Came the reply from the girl from somewhere in the house.
She came out of the closet, sitting on her bed, the wooden box still clutched in her hands along with the album she got on her birthday but didn't she dare open any of it.
~*~
Shahana, Aryan, Piyush, and Aarav were huddled up in the brothers' room in the early hours of the morning, planning on what, when, and how to do everything that they had planned.
"I have already sent you all the dates and the places that were needed, the rest is you guys' job." Shahana ordered around.
"Okay, we will do that," Piyush asked, keeping an arm around her shoulder, "but what will you do?"
"What do you mean by that?" Shahana asked, placing her fists on her waist, daring him with eyes to continue. Looking very much like a gingerbread person in the brown nightsuit of hers.
Piyush took the hint and gulped down the retreat that was already ready in his mind.
But Aryan, being the only candidate who willingly participated in the list of people that Shahana looks forward to quarrel with, and also being the top name on that list, couldn't keep his thoughts to himself.
That was the only reason. Yup, the only one.
No! Jealousy was not, Never-ever, Not in a million years, Nopity-Noputy-Nope, not the reason behind this irrational behavior of his.
And so he said, "What he means," mockingly, scrunching his face, "is that you are only providing us with the information, that too in clues, and then if everything sorts out, your attention-seeking nature will butt in and you will ask for, no wait- " He narrowed his eyes to tiny slits," -claim for, equal credit. So we should beforehand give you some responsibility."
Shahana gritted her teeth, swatted away Piyush's arm, causing the curly-haired boy to lose his balance a bit, and the 'I-am-not-jealous' person to mentally smirk.
Shahana stepped forward, coming face to face with her offender, and hissed, "First of all, it's 'when' not 'if' everything sorts out." Suddenly her angry expressions changed to amused and then into a smirk that closely matched the one he wore.
"Aaaannnd," she drawled, "I won't be needing to 'claim' for the credit because-"
She paused, craning her neck towards the closed door, eyebrows furrowed.
Aryan waited for a moment, before poking a finger in her shoulder to gain back her attention.
"Huh?" She asked, confused, looking back at him.
"Because?" Aryan nodded at her to continue. But the topic they were fighting over was well out of her mind. And the soft, brown, messy bed hair that covered the opponents' forehead, falling into his eyes, was not helping at all.
Why hadn't she noticed it when she dragged him half sleepy from his room?
Focus Shahana.
"Because, um, because-" she looked around, and then it clicked. "Yes, because." She paused. "I'll tell you when the time comes."
"What kind of answer is-" Aryan wanted to ask but Shahana placed her palm on his mouth, shutting him up, as she heard Prachi calling her.
"COMING!!" She shouted back. She looked around to see Piyush and Aarav looking at her indifferently, her hand tickled and she pulled it back, a red hue tinting her cheeks.
"I'll be right back, till then be a little productive." she ordered before almost sprinting out of the room.
And so the boys started working, on everything they might need for the final show. Well, Piyush and Aarav started working while Aryan was still waiting for his butterflies to settle.
~*~
Prachi did her best to not open the box, and even harder to keep the tears from leaving her eyes. But she couldn't help running her hand over and over it. Again and again. Reminiscing a thousand memories all at once.
She looked up when the other girl barged into her room, closing the door behind her and putting her hand over her heart as she heaved deep breaths.
Shahana racked her eyes around the room, stopping when they landed on the sad girl. The previous excitement was taken over by concern and Shahana quickly walked over and kneeled in front of Prachi.
"Prachi, Prachi what happened?" Shahana asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Nothing," Prachi replied, her tone blank.
"Then what is this?" The younger girl asked, running her fingertips across her cheeks.
"What?" Prachi asked as she touched her cheek and cursed the traitor tears that had finally managed to escape without her knowledge.
"Why are you crying?" Shahana asked and Prachi just shook her head, wiping the remaining of the tears off.
"Can you do something for me?" Prachi asked looking straight into the other girl's eyes.
"Anything." came the reply.
"Can you take these away?" Prachi forwarded the box and the album and Shahana's eyes widened.
She had many a time seen Prachi with that stuff and was fully aware of who it was from and what it contained.
"Prachi what are you-" Shahana tried but she was cut short.
"I know what I am doing Shahana," Prachi interjected.
"What Are You Doing Prachi?" Shahana asked a bit more forcefully.
Here they were doing all they could to get her to Ranbir and on the other hand, this selfless fool was going around weeping.
Prachi sensed her mood and took the box and Album back.
"It's okay if you don't want to, I'll do it myself, it's just that I don't want to stay connected to anything that may remind me of him. I... I'll just.. just."
Shahana snatched the Wooden chest along with the book and stood up.
"You'll regret it Prachi, you'll regret not fighting for what was yours." With this Shahana left the room. Leaving the other girl behind, alone with herself to think over the chances she might have to have him back.
~*~
Shahana barged back more furiously and quickly than she had left. All three of the boys jumped in surprise at her entrance and shared a confused look. Shahana dropped the objects she was holding on the bed and marched over to the side table. She picked a glass of water and chucked it down in one go.
"What happened?" Aarav mustered up the courage and asked.
"That girl has lost it." Shahana said, "Here we are, doing borderline illegal things to reunite them, but she won't do anything. No! She will go ahead and do all she can to be the nightingale.
Couldn't she even take an example out of Massi's life that now she is so fixed on turning Pragya 2.0?
This, this is what she has given me." She pointed at the momentos.
" She had given me all the things she had of or from Ranbir because she wants to 'Forget it all'. Move on my foot! Here we are, finding loopholes out of her promises to make sure that her life didn't get ruined when she herself is digging her own grave. Lossing even the hope of a better life."
And so she rambled on and on, taking out her frustration to the last drop of it, as the boys looked on, but it didn't cause her to calm down fully.
"You know what we are going to do?" She asked with fire in her eyes and then answered the question herself.
"We are not going to execute our final plan." The boys opened their mouths to protest but she forwarded her palm to them, shutting them up before any voice escaped any of their lips.
"We are going to add a little but VERY important pre-plan," she added evilly.
"We are going to make Prachi accept her love for Ranbir. We are going to take her to an edge where she will claim Ranbir for herself." She said, making the boys gulp.
In the twenty-one years of her life, no one had ever seen her act like this. She was acting like Ursula from The Little Mermaid. The same evil glint was present in her eyes, but for the greater good.
"And you," She pointed at Aryan, "You are going to help me in it." She started taking steps towards him, a finger threateningly pointed at him. "You are going to convince, manipulate, or do whatever you want to do Ranbir into talking to Prachi."
By the time she finished, Aryan had stumbled back and was sitting on the bed, looking fearfully up at her as she leaned over him, the finger right in his face.
"You'll do it?" She asked him, more like dared him to refuse to her, and only backed off after getting a nod from him.
She looked over to the clock and her angry posture changed to tired and slightly disappointed in a split second.
"I'm hungry." She whined and left the room, taking back the things she brought with her.
"I was always meaning to ask it," Aryan voiced from his place on the bed, turning his face slowly towards the other boys, "Did someone drop her on her head when she was young or something?"
~*~
"I know, and I want to."
"Then what is holding you back? Just go and do it."
"Do you think I haven't tried? I have, but every time she escapes."
"Then confront her somewhere she couldn't," Aryan recommended.
For the past half an hour he was planning on how to get Ranbir to talk to Prachi. His plans didn't even have a chance to come to full execution as Ranbir already wanted to talk to Prachi, but couldn't. For she was avoiding him like a plague.
"But where?" Ranbir asked, frustrated, "Whenever I try to talk to her, she slips through like sand, and she is barely alone, when she is out of her room that is. And she always keeps her room locked."
"Okay listen carefully," said Aryan seriously. "I am going to help you, and you will have to grab the opportunity. Ranbir, this could be the last chance you have to get her, we'll have to make the best of it."
Ranbir thought of the consequences, and the mere idea of it gave him an uneasy feeling. Shuddering, he kept that feeling away and hoped for the best.
~*~
The Mehandi Day.
It was the starting of the day when Prachi was fiddling with her dress, it fit her perfectly, and she couldn't help but admire it amidst all the chaos.
For about the time she was called downstairs, Prachi had decided to act like she was five. Innocent, naive, far away from all the sorrows life had thrust upon her. The tiny five-year-old Prachi, who used to drape her mother's long saree around herself, to the point where it was next to impossible for her to walk, and wear Beeji's glasses and pretended to teach Shahana and other friends of her.
She sighed as she punched in the last pin into her dupatta. Running her hand over the silk skirt of her dress.
She looked up when her sister entered, wearing a light olive color dress.
"You look so pretty Shahana." Prachi complimented, smiling at her. Trying to act as normal as she can.
"Not more than you though," Shahana returned, "I liked how you kept your look natural."
"Yeah, I might need to sit still for hours, so I didn't want to be uncomfortable," Prachi answered.
"-And the color of your dress is so beautiful-"
"-Yeah, it captured my heart right away-"
"-He is going to love it-"
"-Yeah, it's Ranbir's favorite colour-"
"-You ain't over Ranbir yet right?"
"Huh?" Prachi asked, clueless. It took a few seconds for her to register what just happened.
"It's nothing like that-" Prachi tried to defend herself but the stern look on Shahana froze her words midway.
"You still love him Prachi." Shahana commented, and after so many months, Prachi felt tired to deny it. To Sahahana and to herself as well.
But instead of answering or challenging the fact, Prachi stated another.
"I'm marrying Aarav."
And at that moment, for the first time in her life, Shahana genuinely wanted to swat Prachi across her head, and scream in her face that 'No you are not!"
But she restrained herself, instead, she just threw an emotional line at her, which was true.
"You'll never be able to love anyone, not even Aarav, Prachi, and don't you think that it will be unfair to him?"
Before Prachi could respond, Pragya came, asking them both to come downstairs, and the girls followed obediently. Prachi kept her head low while walking, intently looking at the floor while her mind wandered off to what Shahana was saying.
She knew that she would never be able to love anyone, and it was wrong for her to marry anyone else, but she couldn't do anything now, could she?
Only when they reached the garden, did Prachi's chain of thoughts break, the garden was decorated magnificently, but still, it was dull to her.
She looked up to see every family member smiling at her, her eyes skipping across every face, stopping momentarily at the man she was going to get in relation with. It sent a profound layer of guilt in her heart to be hoaxing her friend.
With much difficulty, she pried her eyes away only to regret it instantly. As soon she met those chocolate orbs, she wanted to just light a fire and step into it then and there.
She could bet all that she have, that burning physically would feel like a cool spring breeze in comparison to what her heart felt right now. She could bet that walking on a thousand spindles would be like savoring the soft feel of sand washed by waves in front of what she was emotionally feeling right now.
Her trace broke when Rhea made her way out, being escorted by Pragya and Aliya.
(I have absolutely no interest in describing her dress, so on with the visual.)
Rhea came out, a proud aura surrounding her. It was more like she won something rather than surrendering to her love.
"Bring the grooms, the Mehandi should be applied to them first and then to the brides." The panditji said and both the boys were called.
Ranbir dragged his feet forward and took place on one of the two identical decorated swings that were placed there, while Aarav took the other one.
Pallavi and Pragya made a dot on the boys' palms and placed the bowls of Mehandi separately side by side to the respective swings. Then the girls were called to sit next to their said would be-s.
It all happened so fast that those who wasted time even in blinking had missed most of it. Just as Prachi was crossing Rhea and Ranbir to get to the other swing, Pallavi, who had been walking to the side, lost her balance and accidentally pushed Prachi, causing her to stumble backward.
Ranbir, whose attention already never leave Prachi, just got nick of the time to pick his hands up to hold Prachi's waist as she dropped back, while he was still seated. Prachi's arm flew forward as she was falling back, just as she was sure to fall because of the lack of support, she felt two hands digging in the flesh of her waist as she felt a dull pain in between her shoulder blades. A hiss left her lips at the pain and the warm breath that washed past her earlobe, grazing her neck caused tiny goosebumps to rise all about her body.
Needless to say, Ranbir did hold her but his actions were a little sluggish in front of the sudden actions that caused Prachi's back to come in contact with his shoulder quite painfully.
Pallavi turned back sharply to see a suspiciously innocent-looking Vikram sporting a fake worried look.
Despite the dull ache in her back, and the fingers that were still clasped around her waist tight to the extent of bruising, all that Prachi's mind was focused on was the cold sensation that was coming from her savior's palm. Along with the slight shiver that passed through her spine.
Everyone rushed towards them, Aryan and Shahana supported Prachi and helped her to stand up.
"Are you okay?" Everyone asked her. Fussing over to make sure there was no injury.
"Can't you see where you are walking?" Rhea snapped.
"Yes?" Vikram asked, though to a different person, "Pallavi? Can't you be a little more careful? you or Prachi could have gotten hurt. Thanks to my puttar that she saved the poor girl."
"But she didn't get hurt, Vikram." Pallavi said, controlling her voice to sound calm.
And so, the function continued. Though the girls remained seated, the boys soon retreated to the sidelines. While Piyush and Aarav stood together, Ranbir was very much alone because even though Aryan was right next to him, he was continuously texting someone.
The cones were filled with the Mehandi's from the bowls and Pallavi made sure that there was no chance in a blue moon for the cones or bowls to mix. It took about two full hours for both girls to complete their Bridal designs. Meanwhile, almost all the other women had already gotten their Mehandi done.
Shahana had to get her Mehandi completed in two shifts as she didn't want to have both her hands occupied. The odd reason she had given was that-
"I am the sister cum best friend of the Bride, and hence I must be ready to help her with anything she might need anytime while her own hands are busy."
As much as the reason was odd, no one got any suspicion because it was quite normal to be coming from her. But she was no help to the bride as she was very much busy with her mobile.
Suspicions are, in texting someone.
Not at all caring what the designer was drawing, or when she quietly wrote someone's name on her hand.
It took about two more hours for the Mehandi's to dry when the brides went to their respective rooms to clean their hands.
~*~
"Hello?"
"Hello, boss, it's me."
"Yes, what is it?"
"I am at the Mehra's, boss, and the information was correct, Abhishek Prem Mehra's daughters are getting married."
"Daughters ?"
"Yes boss, both of them."
"Both?!? But wasn't it only the younger one's marriage?"
"That was the old information, but here both of them are getting married."
"What the hell?!?"
"Now what am I supposed to do boss? What is the next plan?"
"Same as it was, only execute it earlier."
"As you say, boss."
. . .
A/N:- Hey Berries. How are you all? Hope you all to be in the best of your spirits, and if not, to be in it soon, here is the next chapter.
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# Who do you think was the anonymous caller?
Lots of Love,
Simran