U̶N̶C̶O̶N̶D̶I̶T̶I̶O̶N̶A̶̶L

｡｡|WAR OF RINGS|｡｡

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Weeks passed in a jiffy after Bani expressed her willingness for marriage when asked, making Mr & Mrs Sharma beam with happiness as she didn't have the heart to turn them down.
It was one fine day when a whole lot of the Singhania clan decided to pay a surprise visit to their place.... a surprise for Bani at least as she was too engrossed in the backyard working on her planters, in mud clad clothes. It was only when a house help informed her about their arrival and forwarded the instructions of Mrs Sharma to show up wearing something presentable ASAP. Serving them for years, Ela knew each one of them inside out & shared quite a bond with Bani. Advising her to take the backdoor to sneak in, she got to clear up things. Giving a subtle nod, Bani passed a smile to conceal her anxiousness. Creeping into her room to take a quick shower and dress up.

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As she descended the stairs wearing a coral pink embroidered Kurti paired with straight pants- the literal best of her efforts. Placing each step with caution, she greeted them all. While Mr Sharma passed a beaming smile at her, Mrs Sharma gave a displeased look.
'𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘵' she thought but then decided to brush the thoughts aside, getting seated. She but back a sigh of discomfort filled with uneasiness from the amount of attention and stares that paved her way.As the families started introducing themselves Bani eyes frequently landed on that one person, she had her fair share of doubts on. This figuring game continued until they were finally introduced and all her doubts cleared right away. So the person who was introduced as Divya Singhania(wife of Tapish) happens to be her very own 'Dee', a great friend of Meera Di who had lost touch when she moved out for further studies post-schooling. Divya, who was until then trying to pacify her toddler 'Shrey' looked at her passing a hearty smile wiggling her brows. Now everything made sense, this fits in Meera Di's long lost one theory Bani mused.

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While everyone from the Singhania's was present, the man himself bunked it saying he had important work to finish making it the series of frequent stares & whispers featuring Bani Sharma. It was no less than an interview session for her with ethnics being the dress code.Not that she didn't like dressing up but the fact she has to do it for others, really bothered her. A list of questions about her profession and interests followed the wedding planning discussion. All this while Bani just sat there pretending not to notice Daksh & Ponky who she was told to be cousin's of Veeranshu, staring at her as if she had grown horns.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵.

The only one that sparked an interest in Bani was a lady supposedly his mother who just sat there observing, not even
an attempt to fake a smile and that made Bani ponder if she could attain that level of calmness someday.
Majorly, trying to absorb the fact how Mrs Sharma was a lot more chirpy around them and how all of a sudden
she turned out to be her darling child.

Both the parties agreed to keep the wedding a low-key affair as the kids wanted it to be, only if they knew the kids never wanted a wedding in the first place. While the Singhania's insisted on the engagement procession to be held in their outhouse, the Sharma's emphasized organizing the rest of the wedding rites at their place. With that discussed they left bidding goodbyes.
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With their departure, Mrs Sharma announced that from now on till the wedding, all of the attires of Bani will be chosen by her as apparently Bani lacks taste and she didn't want to compromise with family's reputation and Bani couldn't be happier. It was for the very first time Mrs Sharma came forward for her instead of backing off to her grounds like she always does.
Meera Di, on the other hand, was over the moon when she got to know about Bani's decision but was still sceptical about attending it. Being an intern who had just joined the firm, taking leave wasn't even an option.