"Yaar, main tumhara kab se wait kar raha hoon. Tum te Kahan?" Kairav probed Haider from his position on the bed as the latter entered the Goenka's guest room.
"Main..." Haider answered leisurely while taking off his suit jacket. "Main un ladko ko aaj distraction bane ke liya payment de raha tha".
"Seriously Haider, itna stupid plan kaise ho sakta hai tumhara?" Kairav shook his head in disbelief.
"Stupid or not, it worked. Since Abhimanyu was..." Haider rummaged his head for the right word, "occupied," he decided. "Harsh Uncle could only announce the wing donated by the Goenka's, not the engagement. Aur koi tamasha bhi nahi hua."
"Tamasha nahi hua? Then what would you call the scene back at the alley?"
After Akshara ran from the venue, Abhimanyu followed suit and left without a word to anyone. The night had left everyone so drained that the families discussed not much. Instead, everyone went to their own homes and chattered amongst themselves.
Kairav and Vanish convinced Akhilesh and Manish to leave Akshara alone while Mimi and Swarna tried to placate Aarohi. But like her sister, Aarohi opted to spend the night in solitude.
Harshvardan left no stone unturned at the Birla villa to vilify Akshara before his bhaisaab and bhabhiji. But Mahima couldn't care less as the night went better than she anticipated.
'Pyaar mein badi taqaat hai. Saame ke saath roop badal jaye par pyaar kam nahi hota' she pondered as she remembered how Abhimanyu defied his father for Akshara's honour tonight and how Akshara's eyes blazed with love for him.
"Aarohi's reality if she gets married to Abhimanyu." Haider and Kairav's conversation was more of a ping-pong match, really, with the two going back and forth rapidly. Haider met Kairav's skepticism and annoyance with quick-witted comebacks.
"Par-"
"Look, hold whatever you have to say kyunki hum yahan nahi baat kar sakte. Goenka's sirf naam ki rich hai, aap logon ne ye dewaaron mein koi paisa ni invest kiya, koi bhi sun sakta hai." Haider cut off.
"Fine," Kairav complied.
Aarohi didn't know what to make of her feelings. Akshara would never go against Aarohi and Aarohi knew that. That's what made this worse. She knew it wasn't Akshara's fault. For the first time, she wasn't mad at or jealous of Akshara. How could she be when aaj uske bezaati Akshara ne nahi, Birla's ne ki thi. She was Aarohi Goenka, a state-topper, and the Birla's should be indebted to her for choosing their hospital. Instead, they wanted to parade her as a trophy wife. Jab Mahima aunty ne Akshara ko job offer ki, she gave Akshara so much respect, power, and autonomy.
Kairav and Haider's gaze alternated from each other and Aarohi with Kairav's eyes growing in shock at the sight of his baby sister while Haider seemed unfazed. Aarohi wasn't one to sit quietly and think. She was one to react; to set the world ablaze with her rage.
What do we do now? Kairav gestured.
Like a cat, Haider met Kairav's questioning eyes with a reassuring slow blink before letting his voice break the silence and jerk Aarohi out of her thoughts.
Even after realizing who the intruders were, it took a moment for Aarohi to stabilize her pacing heart. "Huh? Kya kaha tumne?"
"I said I'm sorry Aaru"
"Kis liya?"
"I'm sorry that your engagement didn't go as planned," Haider said as the two took a seat on either side of her.
"Don't worry about it. Engagement hi thi. Shaadi mein sab kuch sahi hoga." Aarohi bounced back from her doleful demeanour and pretended to be unaffected by tonight's events.
Haider realized that the walls were up again and that pitying her wouldn't cause a dent in it. Phir bhi, koshish to karni paregi.
"I'm also sorry you're marrying him," said Haider unapolegtically.
"Matlab?"
"Matlab tum uske liya All India Institute of Medical Sciences ki internship ko chor rahi ho jo uske layak hi nahi hai"
Kairav, like the ghost he was, hadn't made a sound. Instead, he observed his sister tense up at the mention of the clinical internship.
"Tumhe kaisa pata?" She asked. Maine to kisko nahi bataya tha.
"Pooja ke din Kairav ne tumhare phone pe exam ki notifcation dekhi aur maine tumhare desk pe acceptance letter"
"Tumne mujhe bataya kyun nahi Aaru?" Her brother asked.
"Woh bhaiya-"
"Does it even matter, Kairav?" Kairav asked rhetorically. "She can't say yes even if she wanted to."
"Kyun?" Kairav and Aarohi asked in unison, although the latter's voice reeked of confusion.
"The internship starts before the wedding, and after the wedding, the Birla's won't let her work with their rivals. It'll give them a terrible rep."
Haider's words sent Aarohi's thoughts racing, and with a wink from his partner, Kairav understood where Haider was going with this.
"Seriously?" Kairav feigned innocence.
"Haan," Haider said. "That's why I feel sorry for you. Woh Abhimanyu se shaadi kar ke tum apne career ko jeopardy mein daal rahi ho. And he's not even worth it," Haider added with a scoff.
"Just stop it, Haider" Aarohi wailed. "Tum Abhimanyu ki insult nahi kar re hote agar woh Akshara se shaadi kar raha hota. Tum hamesha Akshara ko favour karoge" Aarohi talked manically as she paced on the roof. The plan worked, and the first crack was here: Aarohi's defensiveness and outburst. Ab toh aag mein ghee dalna baki hai.
Haider grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Haan nahi kehta kyunki woh apne sapne ek ladke ke liya line pe nahi dalti"
With a calming hand on her shoulder, Kairav said "Aaru har ladki apne papa jaisa life partner chahti hai aur tum ki Abhimanyu ko chun rahi ho? When Sirat Maa wanted to quit boxing for family, Papa stopped her. It was with Papa and our family's support, that she won the Asian championship, and you want to marry in a house where you're nothing more than someone's wife? Where your husband will never cheer for you?"
"Woh internship sab kuch nahi hai bhaiya aur rahe baat pyaar ki, toh jald hi Abhimanyu mujhse pyaar karega, Akshara se nahi" Aarohi asserted. Kairav was taken aback by the venom Aarohi spoke Akshara's name.
"Tab tak tum uske insults aur disrespect ko ignore karogi? Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki tum Sirat Aunty ki beti ho hi nahi. Aunty toh babbar sherni thi, jiske khilaf jaana namumkin tha. Aur tum Abhimanyu ke samne bheegi billi ban jaati ho."
"I do no such thing!" Aarohi's blood was boiling.
"Yes, you do. When I arrived, you couldn't face me cause he embarrassed you by reprimanding you for using his nickname. Aur uss din bike pe. Tumhari self-respect kahan gayi hai."
"Meri self-respect ki chinta tumhe karne ki koi zaroorat nahi hai. Main Abhimanyu ko jeet ke best banugi. Tum dekhna"
Aarohi could hear Haider's thundering voice behind her as she stormed off. "Finish line sab paar karte hain par matter wohi karta hai jo first cross karta hai. Agar tumne Abhimanyu ka dil jeet bhi liya, tum ye sach nahi badal paogi ki sabse pehle Akshara ne uske mohabat payi aur tum uske second choice ho."
Honestly, I'm not as excited about Abhira as I was when I began this story and I hope this update doesn't reflect it that much.
