• Second Chances •

29. Say Paneer

"Do you take Mr. Brinda as your lawfully wedded husband?" Ram cheekily asked Aditya as he stood near the altar holding Brinda's hands.

"RAM!!" Brinda let Adi go for a brief second, hit Ram's shoulder. "I will slap you."

Ram laughed; his laughter came in waves. Whatever sound he was making, it strangely sounded like music to Priya. She sat on the front pew and silently watched the three friends act out a marriage with an indulgent smile. Ram surely made for a very inexperienced and lousy officiator but he was mad fun. 

"I now pronounce you husband and husband!" grinned Ram only to get beaten by Brinda again. Priya had to chuckle this time around. 

"Silence!" a lady stood at the entrance and shushed them.

Bitting her tongue, Priya apologized to her. "Sorry. We are leaving."  

Without paying much heed to Aditya and Brinda's amused grins, she grabbed Ram's hand and headed out to the car parking. As they were halfway through their sudden sprint, Priya realized the silence behind her. Ram usually had a lot to say but he was surprisingly quiet now. And Priya knew that it was because of her pulling. 

She awkwardly stood in front of their van and slyly let go of his hand.

"I am dying out of hunger..." Ram mumbled. 

Priya gathered some courage and looked up to see Ram kneading the back of his neck and making faces at Brinda. She knew Ram was doing it to deflect her stiffness.   

Brinda patted his shoulder like he was a child. "We have our picnic basket ready. We will eat at Pukaki. Now take this SPF."

Ram nodded like a child too and forwarded his hand. "Thanks, Mom!"  

Ignoring Ram's generously slathering of the SPF on his face, Brinda rolled her eyes and extended the tube in Priya's direction.

Something naughty sparkled in Priya's belly and she woofed, "Thanks...Mom."

Ram and Aditya broke out into a schoolgirl giggle. Priya particularly enjoyed how Ram looked at her. She could live with that expression all her life. 

Brinda feigned anger and knitted her brows. "Et Tu, Brute?"

"Sorry!" chuckled Priya as she rubbed the SPF on her hands and face. 

"Okay now really guys," Brinda clapped her hands. "Let's leave for Pukaki." 

"Before Brinda kills everyone with fire, let's go, guys!" Ram lightly pushed Priya into the car. "We should be scared for our lives and you are taking this very casually, Adi!" 

Priya tuned out the giggles, the curses and the general mayhem as the car made its way through the gorgeous winding roads. Everything looked beautiful to her. The shrubs, the wildflowers, the pristine peaks, even the gravel by the side of the road. And then there was Ram's tuneless humming that somehow didn't sound that bad. Priya felt something that she had not felt for a long time. 

She realized that she had no thoughts for the first time in so many months. There was a complete absence of everything; the good and the bad and the messy. 

The tunes of Bryan Adams and Kishore Kumar kept Priya company as they reached the lake and laid out of their little picnic cloth. They laughed, Adi regaled them with stories and ate.

Priya felt at peace until she saw a phone call ashen Ram's colour.     

"Who is it?" asked Adi with narrow eyes.

Ram just put his phone away and waved his hand. "Oh, it's nothing. Rubbish." 

Aditya quietened in a bit like he understood something that Priya couldn't. Nudging Brinda, he got up and said, "Okay. We are going to go on a walk. You two enjoy."