I am standing here with Jiya and Pranali, in front of our hostel waiting for Neel to arrive with his car so we can start our journey to Udaipur
Our exams ended yesterday, and Pranali too came from Indore yesterday. Yes , Indore is the place where I grew up.
"Come on yaaar , why is he taking this long, I wanna sleep" whined Jiya
Well it's not her fault , it's 5 a.m. , we decided to depart early as it takes almost 17 hours to reach Udaipur and none of us wanted to drive at night so the only option was to depart as early as we could.
"Here Jiya, you can munch these cookies till he comes" Pranali offered her some cookies.
Suddenly we heard a car , and there he was , but why the hell he groomed this much!
"Shiva , pran , see him , here we were waiting for almost half an hour and he was busy getting ready for God knows what!" Said Jiya
"Shut up chudail (witch), you won't understand " he replied
I decided to irritate him a bit more
I started in a very serious voice
"Neel , my brother, we understand that God hasn't granted you the best looks , well not decent either , but believe me bro you have heart of gold, and we all know that women love gold , so no need to worry dear , you will too get someone but please don't try to look Sahrukh when you clearly have facial features of a monkey , it's useless" as soon as I completed my speech Jiya burst out laughing and I joined her
Neel looked pissed
"I hate you both"
We both gave him a mocking bow
" Guys don't! Maybe someone special is waiting for him there" it was Pranali and I can clearly smell jealousy in her voice when she said someone special
"NO! I mean I ... I don't have anyone special Pranali , it's just that my family is traditional and we wear traditional clothes mostly ,therefore this kurta" jiya and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes
We both were aware of their secret crush on each other , but they both are idiots and afraid that it might affect their friendship. Well we will just let the time do its work.. I hope they confess sooner, I can't wait to attend their wedding, then baby shower, then... Uff Shivi snap out of itt
"Guys let's go we are already late" I decided to break their cute little moment, I am not a bitch but we have to reach Udaipur before midnight.
"Yeah let's go" Neel said rubbing his neck nervously, it's quite entertaining seeing him all nervous around her
We let Pranali take the passenger seat and got ourselves comfortable in the back seat
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Finally after 16 hours and Jiya and Neel's 40th argument of the day , we entered Udaipur.
Neel was again on the driving seat now, we decided to take turns driving , so no one gets exhausted
"How much more time is left Neel ?"
Asked Jiya
"It will take an hour Jiya ! We just entered Udaipur! My home is near the Chauhan residence, it will take an hour of journey and almost 15 minutes of checking, I hope you all have your identification documents ready"
Neel replied
"Waitt! What do you mean by " near Chauhan residence"? Aren't they , like the Royal Family here?" I asked
Neel just gave an awkward smile and said
"You see Shiva , my family is very close to the Chauhans , they help them in business and other kinds of work and also my older brother is best friend of the current Crown Prince, Kunwar Abhay Singh Chauhan, therefore they are like one whole family and live closer to each other " Just great
"Of course we do not live together " he added , like it is going to make it better
I just sighed and rested my head on Jiya 's shoulder, Pranali was still sleeping
"And you three try to wear traditional clothes as much as possible, Rajmata and Rani Sa are very conservative in that matter , they will surely attack you with words if they saw you in western wear" he said out of no where
I just nodded my head and Jiya had a frown on her face, of course we both wore a loose T shirt and jeans , and Pranali being Pranali was looking angelic in her white kurti , it's not like we hated traditional wear, instead I love to wear Kurtis and sarees , we were just more comfortable in loose T shirts and pyjamas.
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After an hour , our car stopped outside huge gates , it looked like an entrance to a whole new city...
A guard approached us and bowed to Neel , he too smiled and greeted the guard
The guard checked our identification cards , luggage and did our entry in his register
As soon as our car entered the gates , we were shocked, of course except Neel , he looked smug.
"Woww! it reminds me of those historical dramas with these green lawns and rich architecture" Pranali said , awestruck with the beauty
The road divided into two and we took the right one
"What is on the left road? It looked heavily guarded" jiya asked
"It's the Chauhan residence, my home along with some other close relatives of Chauhan's live on the right side , you can't go to the left side of this area unless you are a Chauhan or are invited by one" Neel explained
"It all sounds so... you know , like a dream , I mean I feel like I am in the 19th century" Pranali said dreamily
All this while I was silently taking in my surroundings, unlike Jiya and Pranali , I do not feel like I am in a dream nor am I curious about these surroundings, I just feel at peace , it feels like home..
Soon we parked in front of a very warm looking house, and Neel got out of the car with a big grin on his face . He stood in front of the gate and bowed dramatically
" Girls , welcome to the one and only residence of the Rajawat" and open the doors , inviting us in .
When we got in, Jyoti aunty was already there with an aarti ki thaal
Neel shouted "Maa sa" and embraced her, being careful of the thaal
"Aree aree Neel , pehle aarti utarwa le , 5 saal baad Ghar aaya hai Mera bacha " ( wait wait Neel , first let me welcome you, my son is home after 5 years )
After she did our welcome , Neel just hugged her and said " sorry mamma " to which Jyoti aunty replied "it's okay Mera bacha" ( my child).
"Jiya , Pranali , Shivagya , it's nice to finally meet you all, come in , leave the luggage here , Kishore kaka will send it to your rooms , now come " saying this she embraced all of us and led us to the living room
The two man sitting in the living room looked towards us as we entered
Neel greeted them , he bended and touched their feet
Then he looked towards us and said
"Girls he is my Baba sa , Jaiveer Singh Rajawat and my bhaisa Reyansh Singh Rajawat , and baba sa they are my friends" Neel introduced us , Jiya and I smiled awkwardly at uncle as he was quite intimidating and he was looking at me curiously for some reason I don't know.
Pranali moved forward touched his feet and said "Pranali Aggarwal " jiya too followed her lead and introduced herself as "Jiya Sharma " and now it was my turn I too touched his feet and introduced myself" Shivagya Vyas" he looked at me for few moments and I swear , I saw a look of recognition passing through his eyes, but I just shrugged it off
We just sat there in the living room and talked about random topics , I soon realised that uncle wasn't the only one acting strange, his copy , I mean his eldest son Reyansh was too looking at me curiously as if trying to analyse me
"So Shivagya tell us something about you, you barely speak anything" Reyansh said with a smile but I am not Dora the explorer, and can clearly see his intentions, he wants some information about me ...
Still I just smiled said " Well there is nothing much to know about me, I was born and raised in Indore and pursued my MBBS from Nagpur. I have very loving parents, an older brother, a caring sister in law and a cute nephew "
He just nodded and wanted to ask more , but luckily Jyoti aunty came to inform us about dinner , I just ate some salad and rice as it was already past eleven and before uncle or Reyansh can have another interrogating session with me , I bolted into my room.
I just laid on the bed and drifted into sleep..
I wonder why I am having this nagging feeling about this trip....
Somewhere
Unknown person POV-
I sat in my office thinking about the new project when suddenly the phone rang
"Yes "
"Hukum I think I found her"( Hukum - a word to show respect)
I sat straight, all tieredness flying away
"I think you know what you are saying.right?"
" Ji Hukum , I am aware " (yes)
"Fine , meet me in my office tomorrow "
It's time for revealing some secrets...
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I hope you loved this chapter
Please vote and let me know in the comment section, what do you think about the characters and this story
Also we have our first ship of this story
Neel X Pranali
Here are some pics to help you imagine the story better
Pranali 's look
Shivagya's look
Jiya 's look
Neel's look
Rajawat 's home