I woke up from a lot of shouting and chaos and that means that the haldi ceremony wasn't canceled and Vedika still hasn't refused to marry me. So, I have to go with my plan B. It'll definitely hurt my mother but small sacrifices for the greater good. I ring up Rohan who is an accomplice of mine and ask him about the plan that I'm going to execute. He informs me about some of the delays that'll happen but by the time all the guests arrive at the haldi ceremony my perfectly executed plan will take place without any hassle. I change into my golden brown sherwani and head downstairs to find all my friends and family gathered together for the ceremony. In a few hours Vedika and her family will arrive as well. That means I'll have to leave right now and get her and come back. After taking blessings from all the elders I get out the house by the back door. I let Veer and Ranbir know that I'll be outside so that they can cover for me.
In about thirty minutes I reached her dorm room and knocked on it. Instead of Neha I'm greeted by her friend Rhea. Is that alcohol I smell on her. Who even drinks in the day time? She looks as confused to see me as I look to see her.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" She asks in a groggy voice.
"Actually you can. I'm looking your friend Neha. Is she in here?" At my question she changes her stance and glares at me protectively. Hmm interesting. Little miss stubborn girl has a loyal friend. But I don't have time for all this bullshit. So I offer her my sweetest smile and chuckle and say "Relax beautiful. I don't bite. I'm Neha's friend."
"Bullshit. She doesn't have any other friend other than me and Nidhi."
"Looks like you don't know your friend that well as you claim to be. You see your friend was out with me the entire day yesterday. You can call her up and ask her." And she does exactly that. After a few questions she nods and disconnects the call. She then tells me that Neha is at a nearby cafe. I don't wait for what she wants to say and straight way leave to get Neha.
I arrive at the cafe and observe her from the window outside. She's reading a book and is having her regular cappuccino. Her soft, pink dusted cheeks, her rosy lips, her big, brown eyes, she looks beautiful even without the pretentious makeup. I chuckle at her choice of book. She's reading "The Antichrist". She's a Nietzsche fan through and through. She doesn't notice me until I take a seat opposite her. She then lifts her head and her eyes widen upon seeing me. She clears her throat and puts her book down so that her entire attention falls on me.
"What are you doing here? Rhea said that you wanted to meet me?" She asks in that sweet voice of hers.
"I want you to come to my house for a party. As my date."
"What kind of a party?"
"The kind you don't need to know about."
"How am I suppose to go if you don't tell where we're going?"
"It's very rare someone gets an invitation from Ahaan Malhotra. You shouldn't miss the opportunity. Don't worry, I don't bite."
"Don't bite my ass. I have the marks to prove you wrong."
"I'm sorry let me rephrase my statement. I don't bite outside of sex."
"Fine I'll go but only if you promise not to be an grumpy asshole. And are your parents going to be there?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just answer the damn question!" She lets out a frustrated sigh.
"Well I don't know about my father since he's been gone for twenty years. But my mom's going to be here. Don't worry if you're not ready then I'll not introduce you to her. But we need to go right now."
"What do I get in return?"
"That you'll get to know after you attend the party."
After a few nagging from her side she unwillingly leaves with me for the ceremony. We arrive at the house by half an hour and get down. I tug her along with me and get inside the house by the backside. She does question why I'm going into my own house from the back, and why is it an Indian themed party with everyone wearing yellow or orange but I ignore her.
I get mixed in with the crowd and tell Neha to stand by the table and motion at Ranbir to keep Neha some company and he does so without any questions. I spot Vedika and her family immediately and greet them. Once all the guests stop arriving and it's time for my haldi. I leave for the washroom and meet Rohan there. He hands me the footage and I take it with me outside. I motion at one of the staff member to bring down the big screen projector. Then I plant the footage right in front of the projector. Then I tell Rohan to play the clip when I motion at him to. I go back and stand beside Neha. When I hear everyone calling my name I motion at Rohan to play the clip.
And that's when I get to see the shock on everyone's faces. Even Veer appears shocked seeing the clip. The clip shows me and Neha kissing last night. I do feel bad a little but I don't feel guilty. Vedika sheds her crocodile tears and her parents both become disheartened. My mom appears bemused as hell. You see that's the problem with human minds. They always think about the obvious. The human mind doesn't work on the basis of surprises. The murmurs spread all around me and everyone keeps looking at me and the girl beside me. When I turn to look at her I see the shock on her face as well. But unlike others she's flat out trembling. Her eyes are teary and she runs out of the venue. I don't even think about it as I follow after her.
She runs at a speed I didn't expect her to. I grab her shoulder and pull her towards me. She then punches me hard across my face and shouts at me.
"Don't touch me! How dare you do that?! Do you have any idea what you've done? That was your haldi ceremony wasn't it? You didn't want to marry her so you chose to cheat on her with me! You made me a cheater with you! You fucking asshole! Just when I thought you were being sweet and nice you did this. You know what just forget everything. Forget about the kiss. Forget about the Halloween party and forget about everything that happened between us. Don't you ever show your face to me again!"
"Are you done? I'm not here to hear your rubbish Neha. And what are you so upset about? It's not like you have anything to lose."
She laughs and then shouts at me again and pushes at my chest. "You idiot! This is all a game to you isn't it. You don't care about others if it's for your benefit."
"Yes you're right. I don't care about others if it's for my benefit. And life is a chessboard for me. And everyone in my life is a pawn except for my mother and my friends."
"Don't ever speak to me again!"
She walks out of the house, books a cab and goes back to her uni. Well damn. I did imagine her being angry but I didn't think she'd be this mad. But right now I've got to go back inside and handle the situation in there. As I imagined Vedika's parents are rebuking me and my mother. Well I can't have that. Nobody has the right to rebuke my mother.
"I'm sorry sir but all of this is my fault not my mother's. I'm the one who had an affair with her not her. She doesn't know about any of this. The girl in the clip is Neha Goenka. We've had an affair before I was engaged to Vedika." A small lie that no one will ever know of.
"We're not going to be humiliated like this. You're going to pay for this I guarantee it! Let's go! Everyone go home the ceremony's over!" Vedika's father shouts and gets out of the house followed by all the other guests. Now it's only me, my mother, my friends and my brother who's half drunk. Well this drama will go on for longer than I thought.
******************************
It's evening and mom still hasn't moved from the couch. She hasn't shed a single tear. That means she's not hurt but she's angry. I need to talk to her right now or her condition will deteriorate. I sit beside her and try to take her hand but she removes it from my clutch. She faces away from me.
"Mom I'm sorry. I -."
"I don't need you to be sorry son. I need an explanation from you. Do you like her? What's her name, where does she live, what's her status, where's her family?
"Whoa mom, way too many questions."
"Just answer my question Ahaan. I know you don't hangout with a person until and unless you know everything about them. And everything else might have been fake tonight but not that kiss. So, the mystery girl's name's Neha I suppose."
I frown. She wasn't suppose to know her name. "Yes. How do you know that?"
"I met her at a park. She's very sweet. And judging by her reaction tonight she didn't expect you to out her like that in front of everyone. And she didn't know you were engaged. She didn't know this was a haldi ceremony."
She figured everything out to a T. Well of course she did after all she's my mother. So, I answered all her questions and in return asked for a simple favour to which she agreed.
Be prepared stubborn girl you're about to get your reward.