"Papa, bulaya aapne?" Shehnaaz walked into the living area to find guests over there.
"Yeh meri beti, Shehnaaz." Jagjit introduced her to the two people in formals.
"Satsriakal ji." She greeted them, taking the seat next to her father.
"Satsriakal." The men greeted her for a moment and got back to the papers they were busy arranging.
"Ah lo sir ji. Ethe sign karna haiga. Maine tick laga di hai, aap read kar lien ji." A guy said, handing them a bunch of papers.
Shehnaaz tilted her head a little to look at the papers in her father's hand, they looked like stamped legal documents. The more she read, she got to know that they were his property's documents that he was about to give her.
"Papa yeh-" she was not expecting this now, especially when they were about to leave for his treatment in Delhi in a few days.
"Ha?" He turned to her. Calm and composed as if he had been planning this.
"Uncle, hum aate hain." She excused herself and her father from the guests and pulled Jagjit inside.
"Papa, what is this? Aap kyu ye will bana rahe ho and property wagera transfer kar rahe ho?" She asked him. It looked like he wanted to handover his belongings to them before anything could happen to him.
"Tumlogo ke future ke liye putt. Aaj ni toh kal ye karna tha mujhe." He shrugged.
"Toh abhi kyu?" She asked again.
"Arey tere signature chahiye hote in sab me, tu abhi aayi toh maine humare lawyer Saab ko bulaya. Chal ab. He replied, keeping a hand on her shoulder and patting it.
"Mai nahi karungi sign. Papa, meri job bahar hai, maine toh vaise bhi yaha nahi rehna." She told him.
"Aur unsab me kahi bhi Mummy ka naam kyu nahi hai?" She asked curiously.
"Yeh sahi sawal hai. Dekh, tu samajhdaar hai aur janti hai humare rishtedari me kaise kaise log hain. Mai nahi chahta wo Madhu ko kisi bhi tarike se pareshan karein hisse ke liye baad me." He answered.
"Toh aap ho na sab handle karne ke liye? Aap kaha ja rahe ho?" She asked him yet again.
"Kab tak rahunga, ye kahi likha nahi hai na?" He replied and she glared at him.
"Please yaar aise emotional baatein na karo Papa mere se! Mai idhar aapki doctor appointment ke liye logon ko call pe call kar rahi hu." She argued. She wasn't going to get emotional about her father's health now, there was no time to worry about him. They needed to get him treated properly in a better hospital quickly.
"Acha sorry. Sign karde na putt." He requested her.
"Kisi ne aapko kuch bola hai kya property wagera ke liye? Tau ji ya kisi ka call toh nahi aaya tha? Mummy ki family se?" She asked suspiciously.
"Nahi aaya kisi ka call meri Amma! Chal ab. Let's just get done with it." He replied, sounding quite fed with her inquiring.
"I don't know why I even agree with you on everything!" She rolled her eyes at him, signing the papers eventually.
Her father, in the first place asked her to book train tickets for them because it had been a while since he travelled in trains. Secondly, he asked if they could visit the golden temple because she didn't come over for her last birthday and their path was still pending.
"That is because you love me." He told her, patting her head and smiling like a baby.
"Yeah whatever." She commented, kissing his cheek nevertheless.
"Jaldi khana kha lete hain, shaam ko nikalna hai. Yeh papers andar rakho locker me, ache se." She told him, getting back to packing with her mother. He nodded, doing as asked.
"Yeh property wali baat aapko pata thi?" She asked her mother in her bedroom.
"Hmm. Pata nahi kyu aise kar rahe hain? Mera toh mann ghabra raha hai aaj kal." Madhu replied.
"Tch! Mummy, please. Chota sa check up hai yaar." Shehnaaz chided, not liking how her parents were behaving lately.
In Mumbai on the other hand, things had been fine. Work, family dinners and Sidharth's car had him occupied.
"Aye Sid, bhoolna nahi. Wine tasting at our place this weekend." Vardhan told his friend over their lunch hour in the office.
"Exactly konse din?" Sidharth asked back.
"Saturday. Bataya tha maine." Vardhan replied.
"Car servicing ke liye bhejni hai bhai, I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it." Sidharth replied.
"Chup be, tu ayega. Meera ko acha nahi lagega yaar." Vardhan insisted.
"Tu usse darta hai kya be?" Sidharth chuckled, asking him.
"Nahi Bhai." Vardhan sighed.
"Uski itni friends ayenge, mostly Sobo! I can't stand them re. They're just like, oh my Gaawd is that your new Chanel. I gifted a similar one to my mum last year." He said in a South Bombay girl accent in a high pitch to make it sound sweet and endearing. It made his friend laugh out loud. The ladies in Meera's friend circle were a little too much for an hour or so.
"Aur behenchod, unko mere naam bolne me dikkat hoti hai. Vardaan? Does that mean, God ka diya hua Vardaan?" He continued in his pretty accented voice.
"Tu hass raha hai, mai udhar akele marta hu jab bhi mujhe Meera ki friend ki birthday party me jana padta hai." He scoffed, finished his meal and gulped down the entire glass of water.
"Car servicing me jayegi, warna mai aa jata." Sidharth shrugged, having his meal.
"Itni si baat. Mai tujhe pick up karne aa jaunga, meri jaan. Tu bas ready rehna." Vardhan suggested and his friend nodded, busy eating.
"I'll see if I can set you up with any of them." He offered and had his friend give him a look.
"Not up for dating anymore. And especially those accented chicks, I'm out." Sidharth shook his head.
"Not up for dating anymore? Aunty ne nayi dhund li tere liye?" Vardhan asked and Sidharth shook his head again.
"Toh?" He asked again.
"Kya toh?" Sidharth asked back.
"Bhai kiske liye apna V-card bacha raha hai. Get a life, sala ajeeb dikhne laga hai tu aajkal. Aata hai, kaam karta hai aur ghar chala jata hai." Vardhan threw his question.
"Behenchod din me 8-9 ghante kaam karta hu, uske baad sirf neend aati hai mujhe. I like it this way." Sidharth defended himself. His day would begin with a little workout before work. The only things he had been busy with were his work and workout. He was cautious about his meals as well, not really a fan of oily and spicy items and asked his cook to get him a balanced platter for every meal. No wonder all that body.
"Isme like karne ke liye kuch hai bhi?" Vardhan dramatically asked.
"Meri life dekh, wife hai. Adha din office me sar kharab karta hu, ghar me biwi alag dimag khati hai. But it's fine because sex is great." He elaborated.
Sidharth simply clapped once his friend ended with his explanation.
"Fine! At least koi hai mera dimag khane ke liye. You know someone who's there and.. and.. just someone is there behenchod. Aur explain kaise karu tujhe?" Vardhan justified himself.
"Thik hai. Thik hai." Sidharth dismissively nodded, packing his lunch box and looking at his watch.
"Ek ghante me meeting hai, I'll get a check with the presentation." He said before leaving.
'Elite' the interior designing company his friend started back in 2010 began with two guys in a room that had two desks to work with. Their first office in Versova was costly in itself, Vardhan sold his bike to arrange the place and the desks. Sidharth left his corporate job to be able to focus and brainstorm ideas for their dream company. Over the years, these guys had not only worked hard and made their own brand with it, they had seen a lot of ups and down together as well when other interior designing companies tried to buy them and cornered them to not let them grow in the market. In the beginning, Preeti and Ajay offered them some of their savings to help them get better at marketing and set up. So basically, Vardhan and Sidharth weren't just friends who were working together, they were each other's family.
"Yash, call everybody in the conference hall. Now." Sidharth entered his cabin, opened his laptop and pressed the intercom to call his assistant for a team briefing.
"Sir, they're waiting for you. Yash told him and they went ahead with their plans for the day.
The senior designer's team of technical designer and creative heads along with their juniors, reported directly to Sidharth, the creative director. He was just a boss for the namesake, he'd spent his entire day with them while they went through rounds of discussions and planned the new interior set up for their client.
"Aa gaya?" Sidharth answered his friend's call. It was Friday night, it was wine tasting by Meera.
"Ha neeche aa. Mai aagya." Vardhan replied, hanging up.
Upon walking out of his building, Sidharth didn't really find his friend's car around. He walked a little further towards the gates and saw a black Mercedes on the other side of the street.
"Kiski shaadi me jane ke liye tayyar hua hai be?" Sidharth joked, getting into the car.
"Abe humare yaha party hai! Tere jaise nahi, sala jeans tshirt me har jagah." Vardhan scoffed. Living in a posh area with a classy life partner like Meera had transformed a- just another guy Varshan to a personality people began to notice.
"Apna toh aisi-ch hai." Sidharth replied and the two chuckled.
"Bas yeh tere biceps hai, isliye tujhe aise looks milte hai." Vardhan commented.
"Hain nahi, maine banaye hai. Tu walk bhi karta hai saaley?" Sidharth asked him, his friend was a little chubby.
"Gana laga tu." Vardhan said, turning on the bluetooth in his car while they drove to Juhu.
Sidharth wasn't getting bored there, there were a couple of Vardhan's friends from the building and so they did enjoy sitting and talking about the latest model of sports bike launched since one of those guys was planning to buy it.
"Sid! Did I introduce you to one of my closest friends, Ishani? She works for E-Times." Meera walked over to him with a beautiful girl next to her.
"Isha, yeh Sidharth hai. He's one of the coolest guys my husband is friends with. Also they work together." She added.
Sidharth stole a quick glance of Vardhan, checking if it was his plan but it turned out that Vardhan was busy making drinks for people.
Ishani smiled at him and he smiled back at her, she was beautiful, not the tight dress beautiful but yeah the pretty big eyes and wheatish complexion were a great combination.
"I've seen your work, look at this place! The interior is amazing. Once Meera took me to a restaurant as well, it was 'The Clubs' I guess. Impressive, ha?!" Ishani initiated a conversation once Meera slid out of the scene.
"Yeah, thanks a lot." He nodded.
"I haven't really seen you around, you weren't there for Meera's birthday, right?" He asked her. She was a fresh face to him.
"Yeah, my parents live abroad. I was visiting them." She replied.
"Yeah, shall we?" He asked, gesturing towards the bar. She nodded and they went over to taste a few samples of exotic wines Meera had arranged.
A waiter offered them glasses and poured some wine into their glasses, it was transparently whitish in colour. Sidharth swirled the wine in his glass a little before he smelled it and then finally took a small sip.
"Hm?" He found Ishani looking at him.
"I was waiting for your reaction before trying. I'm totally new to this." She sheepishly told him.
"It's fine, try it." He gave her a nod. She nodded back and gave in.
"So?" He waited for her reaction next.
"It's not that good. But I survived. What is this?" She replied, asking the waiter.
"Mam, it's Sancerre, a French white wine. Would you like some more." The boy replied and Ishani politely kept her glass back. Sidharth chuckled seeing that, the wine tasting was fine, a good change from no plans to say the least.
Back home, he came across a message from Sheena. It was a Google drive link to the pictures and videos from her wedding. He couldn't help but tap on it to find himself sharing the screen with Shehnaaz in every other picture. They weren't standing next to each other in any rather they were the farthest, except for the one in which there were lots of girls applying haldi to his cheeks and Shehnaaz was standing behind him, laughing at the scene in front of her.
Talking of Shehnaaz's situation with him, he was long over it. He had to be. They had decided that and they were supposed to stick to it. Because there was no use of recalling the time they kissed, it was just a one time thing.
He shrugged his thoughts away and looked at the family pictures, his mother and sisters along with Anju and Rajiv. It was indeed an amazing reunion with them.
'Kya haal hai Mote?' Sheena texted him when she found out that he was online.
'Bas badhiya.. tu bata Mickey mouse?' He texted back.
'Maja ma! Did u see my posts? We're in the Maldives!' she excitedly replied.
'Ha dekha na.. Paise wala hai tera pati!' he couldn't help but smile while commenting.
'Hehehe.. Sana was saying the same! Lol.' she replied and that took his smile away.
'Anyways.. aunty ko bolna she was looking gorgeous in that kanjivaram!' She added.
'👍' he replied with a plain thumbs up.
Ok bye mote.. sabko link forward karri hu..' she texted next.
'Yeah bye!' he replied, calling it a night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello hello hello all!! Ye raha agla episode- kahani sidnaaz ki!!!
Well, there are a few things.. firstly I cannot jump any of them to Mumbai or Delhi to bring them into each other's life together.. reality me aisa nahi hota..
People don't forget each other easily but that doesn't mean that they will spend the rest of their lives not getting over a simple makeout they did in the heat of the moment.
They forget it when they get busy, they try not to think about it and look for people that they can practically make it work with in real life.
But but but. Since this is a sidnaaz story and you know who two are going to end up together so don't worry. It'll happen. But it'll take some time.