See You Later

Chapter 6

The present: The venue

It was time. She would finally get to meet the bride.

Maahi quickly made her way to the bridal cabin where Naina had asked her to come as soon as she was done settling in. The bride would soon start getting ready for the first event of the wedding – the mehendi.

Naina opened the door when Maahi knocked. She broke into the widest smile upon spotting her and gestured for her to come in.

She then turned around and called for her sister.

"Kajal! Kajal, listen to me. I have a surprise for you!"

Maahi then spotted a head peer out of the adjacent room. The first thing she noticed were the eyes. While they were set in a frown, they were the prettiest pair of eyes she had seen. Then the whole body appeared at the doorframe, the frown clearing as she laid eyes on Maahi. She then broke into a small smile and looked at Naina with a small raise of her eyebrows, quietly asking her who Maahi was.

Naina held Maahi's hand and pulled her closer to where Kajal was standing.

"Maahi, I would like you to meet my sister and the bride, Kajal Parekh. Kajal, this is Maahi Mehra, the photographer I wanted to get in the first place."

Recognition dawned in Kajal's eyes as her smile grew wider. She extended a hand for Maahi to grasp and said, "Oh!" She then looked at Naina and asked, "Wha...How did you manage this?" She then shook her head and mumbled, "I'm sorry. Hi! It's so nice to have you here. My sister showed me your work a few months ago. There's not a lot I wanted to decide for this giant wedding but when I saw your pictures, I knew I wanted you here. There is this sense of quietness...I love how you make every celebration look intimate regardless of how chaotic it seems to be on the outside. I was sad when we couldn't book you."

Maahi wanted to know what this family mixed in their water to be this blatantly charming. She shook her head, smiling and reached out for Kajal's extended hand. While Naina's charm was more obvious, Kajal's was quiet but bright. Like a lone candle lighting up an entire room. You couldn't help but be drawn to the source of light.

"Wow, thank you! To be fair, I didn't really have much to say once your sister crossed the threshold of my office."

Kajal laughed and looked at Naina to say, "She does have that effect. Come, come. Would you like to have anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

They soon got busy in the process of getting ready. Maahi started taking pictures as people came in and out of the room. Hair and make-up artists, cousins, their mom, their friends. She weaved through the hustle and bustle like usual, being as inconspicuous as she could.

One thing oddly stood out to her though. She could have been wrong because she didn't really know the bride all that well. But once in a while, she could spot Kajal look around the room filled with people and take a deep breath. She would then quickly reach out for a bottle of water and take a swig. She would bite her lip, get scolded by the makeup artist and she would quickly apologize and smile. Maahi would honestly miss the fleeting expressions of anxiety colouring the bride's face had she not been zooming in on her face constantly. She wondered if everything was alright.

Kajal raised her eyes and looked into the camera. She then quietly waved and smiled at Maahi through the lens and walked behind a divider to change her clothes.

She then came out in a beautiful neon pink choli and white and gold lehenga. Maahi immediately picked up the camera and started clicking.

She was resplendent. Her quiet charm seemed to mirror in her outfit as well which was minimal. So was the makeup. But the entire look was both bright and elegant at the same time. Kajal raised her skirt a little and walked in front of the mirror when Maahi's eyes went to the design of the lehenga. It seemed to be covered with gold...doodles. She blinked and zoomed in her lens to take a closer look. The doodles were made up of several little elements. There was a ball with a smile emoji bouncing off a surface, a bunch of cupcakes, little coffee cups, a guitar, a few Milky bars, a tiny version of what looked like planet Earth and an even tinier planet next to it. The prominent theme of the design though seemed to be sticky notes. They were interspersed with all the other elements. There seemed to be indecipherable writing across them.

Maahi paused for a minute and lowered her camera. The doodles looked oddly familiar. It felt like she had just turned a lane in her memories but she was unable to tell which one she had ended up in. But she didn't have time to think too closely so she shook her head as though to bring her back to the present and resumed clicking pictures.

Author's Note: I thought of a chapter of a few days ago and it's funny how a pantser brain works. When I originally planned the chapter in my head, this chapter didn't even exist. In order to even come to the chapter I want to write, I had to write this one. And the pantser brain made the connection so much better. :)