Maya, who never had to shop for Indian clothes, browses through the clothes in the store with no idea what dress she is supposed to buy. Ranav watches her tensely moving clothes around with amusement and wishes he had popcorn to sit and enjoy the show. The salesman brings another set of clothes for her to choose from and Maya grows tired just looking at the bundle. She haphazardly throws the dress in her hands down into the pile and signs. Ranav finally takes pity on her poor soul and steps forward to help her.
"Just looking through them won't do." He says as he starts picking up a few clothes in various colours. Maya gives him the side eye.
"Don't tell me you're going to choose my clothes, Mister." She says looking at his U-neck T-shirt with full sleeves and his faded pair of dark blue jeans. Ignoring the fact that the guy actually looks good in it, that outfit is not considered fashion.
"Don't judge me, Madam. Contrary to what I usually wear, I do have a decent sense of fashion. My mother has a great style and watching her pick out clothes for hours, I picked up some skills too. Let me help or else we won't be leaving today." Maya nods reluctantly because she knows that she does not know a thing about Indian clothing apart from what she saw in Indian movies. Ranav immediately gets to work by pulling out one dress from every colour. He extended his arm in front of Maya, urging her to join him. She stares at his outstretched hand, not knowing how to react. They barely met two times prior to this shopping spree and he is behaving like they have known each other all their life. Before she could say anything, he took her hand in his, bending down, as she remained dumbfounded with their proximity.
"Now, let us find out what colour and model of dress suits you the best." Ranav smiles cheerfully. She could swear at that moment that she had never seen a man smile so warmly at her except her father and probably her brother, Amish. Aditya is a playful guy so she could never expect something so warm from him and Akshay's expressions are something else. They put her on edge with feelings she could not voice. She can imagine being good friends with Ranav because she is more comfortable with him than most of the other people in her life that she has known for a while.
"Which one?" Maya asks, pulling up a smile of her own. She may not have noticed it but Ranav relaxed inwardly as he finally saw her smile. Why her expressions mattered to him so much, is a question left to fate. As he put each dress in front of her in the mirror, Maya couldn't help but ease up at his sweet gesture.
"That one!" Maya says with an impossible eagerness in her voice.
"I knew it!" He says with excitement right back.
***
After getting everything needed, the packages were loaded into Kuhu's car and since there was no more space left it was decided that Maya and Aditya would ride in Ranav's car. Maya sat in the front as she was feeling a little dizzy while Aditya started ranting from the back. If it wasn't for Ranav sitting beside her, she would have disciplined Aditya well with a knock to his head. Fifteen minutes into the journey, Maya gets a call from Akshay asking whether they'd be up for a trip to Kothariya and Maya reluctantly agrees as Aditya barely contains his excitement.
"What happened to the one who's so tired that he can barely manage to breathe?" Maya says as soon as she hangs up.
"Which is why I need to recharge and what better place to recharge than an out-of-the-world experience in an Indian temple?"
"Talk for yourself. I have more work to deal with once I get home so I'd rather go home early."
"Work always. I mean I know you've always been like this but I really expected you to loosen up a bit after coming here but turned out once a workaholic, always a workaholic."
"She has always been like this?" Ranav joins in with a smile, ready to tease Maya.
"Yeah. Grumpy and no fun whatsoever." Aditya emphasises, letting a chuckle slip.
"I thought she was like this just with me." Ranav looks at Maya and she looks back with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean, Mister? When have I ever been grumpy with you?" To this Ranav's eyes bulge. She should at least be aware of the fact that she had been weirdly hostile towards him since they met.
"Except for the first time, every other time?"
"I do not remember, Mister." Maya feigns ignorance.
"And you call me 'Mister'. Like I am a complete stranger."
"Me calling you Mister is a nickname." As soon as the words come out of her mouth, Maya regrets saying them. She immediately closes up and doesn't speak for the rest of the journey even though Aditya tries to pick at her again. Ranav on the other hand could not help the smile on his face as he drove.
Once they reached the Swaminarayan Temple in Kothariya, they got out of the car and went into the temple. As they took each step, Maya couldn't help but feel deja vu but she hadn't been here before. Ranav and Akshay feel a similar deja vu but little do they know that this was a place where once, one of them returned with a broken heart while the other two with a new relationship that bound them together for eternity. As they reached the top of the steps they entered the temple with an ethereal feel. They get blessings from the priest as Maya looks around at the ambience of the temple. The entire temple was made of limestone and marble. The temple looks immaculate with its white marble walls and beautiful sculptures on the limestone. With many pillars supporting the four domes on the temple it looked like something out of a movie. Akshay also explored the temple alongside the Maya and wondered how it was so beautiful against time and pollution, but then again, he knows there are temples much older than this one that are just as well kept and beautiful.
"So beautiful." Maya placed her hand gently on the pillars covered in carving of idols. Maya and Akshay walk side by side their hands close to touching but not quite. Akshay nods in a brown study.
"It feels like I have been here." Akshay feels drawn by the walls of the temple and there was no reasonable explanation for it.
"You too? I felt the same way since we entered." Their fingers brush past each other as they feel goosebumps rise in their body. They turn to each other with a meaningful glance, as the threads of their fate interlink, in the same place where they once took vows in the presence of the god of fire to never let each other go. The place where they manifested their relationship once before is where they feel that fire rekindles, but does their destiny end on the same path?
Maya pulls away from the touch feeling a bit dizzy from the thoughts that clouded her mind. She turns around, wondering if what she is feeling is shyness or simply her introverted self refusing to stay put. Maya walks away to the front with Akshay on her heels and as the pair emerges from the corridor, the others observe in silence. Everyone can feel the tension between the two but no one dares to point it out. Not even Aditya.
Kuhu takes the lead to usher them out of the temple reasoning that they need to get home by evening. Though they had snacks in between shopping, everyone decided that it wouldn't do and stopped at a restaurant to have a proper meal before heading to the Rajvansh's house. As soon as Maya reaches home, she rushes inside almost like she is walking on hot land. Ranav looks between Maya and Akshay with complicated feelings. He reasoned with himself that they grew up together, so it's natural that they are close to each other.
Ramu, the house help, started putting the boxes from the car inside with the help of Ranav and Aditya while Akshay followed Maya inside the house and up to her room. Before Akshay can say anything about what happened at the temple, Maya starts rearranging her things and then goes out of the room in a hurry. Akshay silently follows, curious as to what put Maya on the edge.
They descend the stairs to find Meenakshi Rajvansh eyeing the thing that Maya bought. There in front of everyone was a portrait of a painting of her mother, Mishti Rajvansh, who looked young and content with a beautiful smile on her face. The painting was supposedly made at the time she was pregnant with Aditya. It was the last painting her father made while her mother was still alive. Of course, it's not the original painting but just a copy of it because Maya thought the house didn't deserve such a pure entity in it. She made sure to make a big enough copy of the painting so that it would grandly fit into the headwall of their double staircase. The area is the perfect place to keep the painting with the yellowish light of the chandelier above shining on the painting giving it a royal tenor.
"What is this, Kuhu? When have you made this?" Meenakshi asks with a serious tone.
"Ma, why would I make a frame of Mishti? I don't know how it got into this. I didn't know this still exists." Kuhu defends herself as Ranav looks at the intimidating older woman and looks at her daughter-in-law in speculation. Ranav just stands there with the knowledge of who exactly bought the frame but he keeps silent as he can sense that clearly the photo's exist in the house is not appreciated. He had been with Maya when she ordered to get the photo sized and framed according to her interest but he didn't put much thought into who the woman in the photo is, but now after watching how just her picture could draw such tension in the family, he wondered who she was.
"Then who would get this photo out and framed? You were the one who went shopping and came back with this." Meenakshi, at the back of her mind, knows that it wasn't Kuhu who did it but she can't point her finger at the person she suspects for the reason that does not want to come off as a bad person. "You know how sensitive the children are with Mishti's passing. This photo will just hurt them deeper. How could you not be considerate of the children you gave birth to?"
Not knowing Meenakshi's manipulation technique, Kuhu's eyes widened as tears stung the back of her eyes while Maya held her ground against the facade and slowly descended the stairs.
"I really-" A sniffle leaves Kuhu as she tries to make out her words, "didn't bring the picture. I would never do that knowing how much it has affected everyone."
"I did." Maya simply states as everyone else looks at her in shock, including Ranav, who thought Maya would not speak up for fear of the intimidating woman because clearly, everyone else is too afraid to speak in front of the woman. Yet, there is not an ounce of hesitancy in Maya's eyes as she makes her way to stand in front of the older woman with a stern and confident face. "I brought my mother's picture so that I could hang it over at the headwall of the staircase."
"What?" Meenakshi Rajvansh already suspected that it was Maya, which is why she emotionally weakened Kuhu to stop Maya from acting on her idea, but she could not hide the surprise when Maya came forward claiming her actions, leaving Meenakshi with no choice but to be upfront about her disapproval of her idea. This also meant that she could no longer act mighty and say that it would affect the children's emotions because clearly the most affected by Mishti's death is Maya herself and if she was okay with it, then Amish and Aditya would follow suit.
"Why would you do that, Maya?" Meenakshi asks calmly, trying to find a new way to stop what's about to happen.
"Because she is my mother and there is not a single photo of her in the house. I miss her and so do Aditya and Amish Bayya. We at least had Dad to keep us occupied from her thoughts in the UK but here all we are reminded of is her. How can we console ourselves in a place filled with her presence while having no refugee." Maya knows better than to argue mindlessly with Meenakshi on such a sensitive topic which is why she found it best to approach this emotionally. Since Meenaskhi is the one who planted the idea of it affecting the emotional balance of the people involved, Maya would use this for her own advantage. Now that implicated that this photo would serve as a reminder of her mother, Meenakshi had no way of saying otherwise.
"I understand, Beta, but such a big picture, where would you put it? On the staircase? but putting it there won't help with your yearning for her. You don't stay here all the week and Amish barely comes home each day and spends all his time in his office. You guys wouldn't even notice the picture there." Maya could not have imagined Meenakshi would stoop so low with such a ridiculous excuse but what's worse is that everyone seems to be buying it. Except for Aditya and Akshay. Thankfully, her brother is clever enough to not fall for Meenakshi's manipulative ways. Meenakshi is really good at making the most ridiculous things sound reasonable which is why Maya came prepared. She had not expected to use this but now that the time calls for it, she has to do something.
"Which is why I bought more photos and paintings that Dad did of Mom. Each one is to be placed in each of our rooms. Again you might wonder then why do we need to place it in the living room?" Maya asked herself before Meenakshi could point. Nidhi nods with her eyes wide expressing she has the same question to which Maya answers her own question. "Because we already have a reputation outside for all that has happened. Everyone thinks in this family about what happened to my mother and now if we are going to celebrate this weekend we have to show that my mother is a part of this family and will always be. It will serve as a reminder not just for me but for everyone else of who Mishti Rajvansh was." Maya did not lie in her last statement. She did bring the picture to be a reminder for the perpetrators of what they had done. "We do want mom to be among us, right?" She asks with a sweet voice coaxing everyone with her doe-eyes and as expected most of them fall for it. Ranav is so confused out of his mind about the drama happening in front of him that he has no role to play but to be an audience. He should've silently left long ago but leaving Maya alone in the situation somehow didn't feel right. But, now he can clearly see she doesn't need him to stay as Maya proved to be even more intimidating than her grandmother. That intimidating woman for whom he had picked clothes for this morning and teased her every chance he got.
As Maya blocked all possible ways Meenakshi could reject the idea, Meenakshi stayed in silence still trying to search for a hole that she would not find. Meenakshi could not believe that she failed to achieve something as simple as rejecting the idea of hanging a photo over a damn wall while the one who won against her stood in front of her as a wall of anger and hatred. What's even worse is that the one who gave birth to her rightful opponent was none other than Mishti Agarwal, the woman from whom Meenakshi snatched everything and in return, Meenakshi got snatched of the one thing she truly wanted. Her true successor.