Do Pyaar Karne Waale [RAGHVI]

08: two's a pair, three's a crowd

Raghav watched Pallavi as she laughed with one of the customers at their joint pop-up exhibition which showcased the "Bharatiya Naari", whose saree and jewelry contributed to their identity. Pallavi even reached forward and placed a hand on the man's shoulder to steady herself as she laughed heartily. Till this day, he never acted so unprofessional with a customer. So, how dare this Saree ka Dukaan act this way. He was going to lose customers because of her loud behavior!

Disgruntled, Raghav made a move to walk towards the two adults across the showroom but was stopped by two familiar shoppers; Juhi and Juhi's mother-in-law.

"Raaaaghav! Jaan! It's been so long—ow!" Juhi exclaimed, her American accent being blatantly fake. "Urgh! Mummyji, mujhe kyun pinch kiya?"

Juhi's mother-in-law, Vasanta, withdrew her fingers that briefly held onto a small amount of skin on Juhi's arm. "Raghav beta, tumhaara shop bohot bada ho gaya hai! Bas do mahine pehle tum sirf jewelry bhejte the. Ab saadiyon bhi bhej raha hai. Waah!" 

Hearing the woman talk about the sarees that belonged to the Saree ka Dukaan made him angry. "Woh mere sadiyon nahin hai. Mere business partner ki saadiyon hai. Woh ek shop chala thi hai—Deshmukh Saree Emporium."

"Kya? Deshmukh Saree Emporium? Chee!" Juhi said and turned towards her mother-in-law. "Mummyji, you know, woh shop ekdam cheap hai. Low-class logon kiliye hai. Hum bas Raghav Jaanu ke jewelry kharidenge kyunki DSE ki sarees humare standard ki barabar nahin hain. Okay?"

"Hut!" Vasanta said as she waved away her bahu's slandering of the shop. "Unke paas ache designs hai. Agar woh sasta hai toh kya farak padta hai? Humaare fayda hui, na? Ache saadiyon kiliye itna paisa nahin dene padega."

"Lekin, Mummyji! I'm telling you, even the owner of the store is cheap!" Juhi protested.

Sanki Buddha? Cheap ek under exaggeration hai unke liye, Raghav thought.

"Maine suna hai ki woh dusre businessmen ke saath raat bitati hai aur phir paisa leti hai unki business kiliye," Juhi whispered but Raghav heard the nonsense she was telling her saas who didn't seem to believe one word coming out of Juhi's mouth.

"Hē Bhagwan, maine kya paap kiya ki aapne mujhe aise bahu diya jis mein koi dimaag hi nahin hai?" the older woman cried out as she faced upwards and pressed her palms together. When she looked back at her daughter-in-law, who was frowning, she glared at her before walking in Pallavi's direction.

"Jaanu—" Juhi started to say but stopped when she saw Raghav's heated glare and scowl. After a pregnant pause, she continued talking in a small voice, "I know what I said was rude but—"

"Tumko kya lagta hai? Me tumko second chance dene waala hoon? Mein Raghav Rao hoon. Kon?" he asked the young woman, his voice being deathly calm.

"Raghav, Jaanu—"

He took a sharp breath through his nose and repeated, "Raghav kon?"

"Raghav Rao," she whispered.