Chapter 86: Mehndi – Part 4
Once she reached the
end of the length of the hall, she looked back at him, only to find him
watching her. It startled her so much
that she lost her footing when she rounded the corner and bumped into someone
else. God, what was wrong with her today!
"Neela deedi!" she heard a chirpy voice and looked up to see
Nirosha.
"You're here!" Neela's lips widened in a smile before she paused. "You're late!"
"Oh, come on
di! I am the only one representing the entire
Khuranas here! The twins are too little
for Tara di to go anywhere. And good
luck separating Nayana or Geet from Tara di or the babies. And of course, Dadi won't move an inch from
the nursery. So, I have been chosen as
the unofficial representative on the entire khandan." Nirosha's wide smile was testament to her
happiness that such an important position had been – even by default – assigned
to her.
"You mean, you're
not here because my brother is coming tonight?" Neela teased.
"What? No… of course not… Is he coming? I didn't
know he was coming." Nirosha colored red
as she said in a rush.
"I am just teasing
you..." Neela smiled widely, but without warning she nudged Nirosha's hands so
that she could see her palm.
It took Nirosha a
moment to realize that Neela wasn't just looking her mehndi design. But by the time she pulled her hands back,
it was too late anyways because Neela laughed and said, "And there's the A".
"That's not an
A." Nirosha said now as she tried to
hide her hands behind her skirt, although she couldn't manage it properly for
fear that she would ruin both the henna and
her skirt.
"What happened to
your edges of your mehndi?" she asked
instead, trying to distract Neela.
"Oh nothing." Neela said quickly, brushing the whole thing
aside. "Just an accident."
"An accident? It looks like you ran smack into a wall."
"Or…" they both heard behind them and turned around
to find Shiv and Dhruv there.
"She ran straight
into someone's shirt." Shiv called Neela
out shamelessly, grinning widely, while Dhruv elbowed him in the ribs.
"So, which wall was it,
di?" Nirosha laughed as Neela looked up
with a blush climbing up her neck.
"It really was an
accident." She mumbled before she nudged
Nirosha along to turn back and rush into The
Blue.
Once Neela was
inside, Nirosha paused by the blue panels to look back and whisper loudly.
"I would change that
shirt if I were you Dhruv bhaiyya. It
wouldn't take people too long to put two and two together and figure out which
wall Neela di ran into!"
"Oh, shut up you
scamp! Wait till Aarya gets here. And
then we'll see about payback!"
Nirosha's smile
disappeared and her eyes widened as she gasped in mock horror.
"Oh please! I am
shivering in my chappals!"
"Oh, you wait, you
crafty little pixie. You just wait. Make sure you don't wear any blush
tonight. You won't need it with how red
in the face you will be when I am done with you!"
Nirosha rushed back
to him then and rubbed her index finger on his shirt. Shiv laughed out loud and Dhruv pulled back in
surprise. "Nirosha, I swear to God!"
"I had too much
henna on that finger. Now it's
perfect. Thanks Dhruv bhaiyya. You're always so accommodating."
She danced out of
his reach as he lunged at her and before he could do anything more, she had
shot like a bullet back inside The Blue.
"I swear, that
little thing should be put in shackles!"
Dhruv said absently as he tried to rub off the henna that she had just brushed
on him.
"Now, why are you
just rubbing that off, while the entire line of Neela's handiwork is still so
well-preserved on your shirt?"
"What the hell are
you talking about?"
Shiv gave a pretend
gasp. "Oh, and the man plays dumb as he
tries to save his unrequited love's henna fingerprints. Because he's too much of a wimp to pursue her
openly."
"Oh, come on you
shit-head. If you hadn't messed up in
the first place, I wouldn't have to be so careful."
Shiv's grin
disappeared and Dhruv stopped rubbing his shirt. "I am kidding yaar. Lord, don't take it so seriously."
"You think she's still
not over me?" Shiv asked in all the seriousness
that Dhruv had just warned against.
"Honestly? I have no idea." Dhruv answered truthfully.
"Don't you think you
should find out? You have been in this "staring-soulfully"
mode for six months!"
"You know Shiv, not
everyone is as feisty as your wife. Not
every woman can handle things like Guari can.
Some of them are actually more on the fragile side. Especially when her heart was already broken when
I got there."
This time Shiv
didn't offer any comments in return, his face taking on a somber expression.
"Shiv, come on
yaar. What is with you? What happened to all your sarcastic
comebacks?"
"Oh come on
Dhruv. You like her. You really
like her. Why would I ever say anything
to insult something like that? Besides,
she is one of the few regrets that I do have.
I didn't realize that she was so…"
he stopped, unable to complete his sentence.
"Breakable?" Dhruv offered.
"Sweet…" Shiv said finally, looking back at
Dhruv. "That's the word that I was looking
for…"
"Gauri's done quite
a number on you, man! If that girl only
knew!"
Shiv expression
became shuttered after that as he said, "When you fall in love, Dhruv, make
sure she loves you back."
"Does it make a
difference?"
"Not really… but it makes it less painful."
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Edited by sridevi27 - 13 years ago
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