The next day, during breakfast, Keerthi asked Pallavi, "So, Di, what are you wearing to this party? Seeing as it's in your honor? I think you should definitely get a cocktail dress to wear."
Pallavi laughed, "Me, in a cocktail dress, no no, I'm fine in a sari."
Raghav who had just walked into the room, "Saree ka Dukaan? Cocktail dress pehenegi? Why are you encouraging her when you know she won't be able to pull off a dress, Keerthi?" He smirked at Pallavi, and walked out with a piece of toast.
"So, your brother thinks I can't pull off a dress? Keerthi, we're going shopping."
Later that evening, before the party, Pallavi was trying on the dress in front of the mirror in Keerthi's room.
"Yaar, it's too short, I shouldn't have listened to you. I look so weird. I can't go to this party. I'm staying home. She went to pick up her phone to call Vikram." Pallavi was wearing a short black dress, with a sweetheart neckline, that flowed out in layers after it cinched in the waist. The back of the dress was sheer, and there were embroidered golden flowers throughout.
"No you are not staying home. Pallavi di, you look hot. I promise, this will shut Bhai up once and for all about your clothes. Now are you going to put on this red lipstick or am I going to have to apply it for you?"
Pallavi took the lipstick and sighed, at least she'd be able to talk to Vikram at the party tonight. She missed having him as a friend to talk to this past week, their conversations felt stilted, and she hoped she hadn't done something to offend him.
Then she got a call from Raghav, "Saree ka Dukaan, I have some work to finish up, so you head to the club yourself, don't go in an auto, take the driver and the car. And don't worry, I'm sure no one will laugh in your face when they see your behenji sari." He hung up the phone.
Pallavi was furious, now she couldn't wait for Raghav to see her in this dress, even if she thought it was too short and she felt she needed a dupatta because the neckline was too deep, she wanted to shut his mouth right in front of her.
At Jayathi Jewels, Farhad had overheard the conversation, "Anna, why are you bothering Pallavi, you know she's beautiful, especially in a saree."
"Farhad, if you think she's so pretty, you go to the party. Besides, it's fun to mess with her, I wonder what saree she'll be wearing tonight..." Raghav cursed the work in front of him, he had wanted to walk into the club with Pallavi on his arm, to shut Vikram's mouth once and for all. He wasn't exactly sure if it was jealousy he was feeling, but he had finally figured out that the peace he felt this week observing the shorter and more businesslike conversations between Pallavi and Vikram on the phone was something he wanted to keep with him. He had even sent Harish to watch Pallavi when she went out for meetings with Vikram, and he had told Raghav that they didn't leave the boutique, and their conversations seemed completely boring and normal. He yelled at his accountants and other employees to work faster, "I have a party to get to."
When Pallavi walked into the club, she had half expected it to be so full of people and the music to be so loud, that she could disappear into the background, and not show anyone the mistake she made in wearing this dress. But there were not that many people there, perhaps only around a hundred or so people, scattered across a very large dance floor, multiple tables with food stacked on them, and a large bar, behind which there seemed to be bottles of every brand of liquor imaginable.
Vikram noticed her immediately, she looked beautiful, and even if he could tell she felt out of place, the way she carried the dress she was wearing, took his breath away. Her legs were long and slender, and he longed to see her dance with him in the heels that she had chosen to wear.
"Pallavi, you're here, it's so good to see you, and wow. What a dress!" Vikram approached her and was glad to see Pallavi's nervous look change into a smile.
"Thank you, I don't usually...well ever...wear clothes like this. But I thought—" Pallavi looked down at herself, and nervously pulled smoothed out the dress.
"You look amazing, but I must say, I expected to see you in a glamorous saree, why the dress? Did someone force your hand?" Vikram would curse Raghav up and down if he found out that Pallavi was in this dress because of him.
"No no, I just thought it might be nice to try something new." Pallavi said smiling.
Right at that moment a woman approached the two of them, "Pallavi Rao? I work with Vikram here, I have just spent the past week placing all your designs in our new catalogue. I have to say, your work is unbelievable. Sorry, Vikram, let me steal her away for a bit. Pallavi I have to introduce you to the team members you haven't met."
Pallavi was enjoying herself, she had forgotten all about Raghav not coming with her, making fun of her clothes, in fact, she had forgotten how out of place she had felt in the dress she had chosen to wear. All these people were congratulating her on her work, asking her questions about her inspirations, expecting more out of her.
"Pallavi, here, a drink for you." The woman who had taken her away from Vikram, who was named Radha, offered her a glass of whiskey.
"Arre no, I don't drink." Pallavi refused the glass.
"It's such a great night, have one drink. I ordered whiskey because I assumed the wife of The Raghav Rao only drank the best." She smiled.
At the mention of Raghav's name, Pallavi decided to take the glass. If her husband could drink the stuff, why couldn't she? Also, nothing would change with one drink. She sipped the brown liquid and after the burning sensation in her throat which she coughed through, she felt a warmness in her chest that she wanted to experience again. Before she knew it she had finished the drink and was willingly joining Radha and her friends on the dance floor. She was dancing like she never had before.
When Raghav entered the club he started looking for Pallavi immediately. He expected that on such an occasion she'd be wearing a bright and glamorous sareee. But he couldn't see any woman in a saree before him. Then he noticed her. A woman, dancing with a few others in the middle of the dance floor. Her hair was flowing down her back, the dress she was wearing was beautiful. It was short but classy, the gold embroidery was visible even in the darkly lit club. Then the woman turned so Raghav could see her face, and his jaw dropped. It was Pallavi.
On the other side of the club, Vikram had been admiring Pallavi's dancing for a while, and he was just about to go up to her and ask her for a dance, when he saw her start to leave the dance floor. When he followed Pallavi's gaze to the other side of the floor, he realized Raghav had entered the club, in a black suit, staring dumbstruck at his wife.
Pallavi had noticed Raghav as soon as she turned around. She knew she was tipsy, but she gathered herself and started to walk towards him.
"So, Raghav Rao," Pallavi said, trying to control her drunkenness, "Kaisi lagi teri behenji wife? I think the dress is a bit long, no?"
Raghav said nothing. The playfulness in Pallavi's eyes, and how they glittered, even in the dark club, made it impossible to speak. As she twirled around, giving him a 360 degree view of her body, he noticed for the first time how delicate and small her waist was, how her legs seemed to go on for miles. He had never paid much attention when she was in a saree. But tonight, he couldn't take his eyes off her. This was the first time Raghav was admitting it to himself, but his wife, was hot. He noticed that as she twirled around almost every man's eyes were on her, that Vikram Singh Rathore's included. The dragon in his chest started roaring louder.
"So, have I met 'The Raghav Rao' standard? If not, I think there are many people here who will disagree with you." Pallavi said to him, walking closer so he could hear her every word.
When she walked closer he immediately smelled not only the jasmine in her perfume, but the scotch on her breath, "Have you been drinking? Are you stupid?"
"Don't be such a spoil sport, kya sir Raghav Rao ek sharaabi ho saktha hai. Mere koi haq nahin bantha? Main bhi Pallavi Raghav Rao hun, na?" Her grin widened. "So, you said you were coming here to celebrate your wife's achievement, right? Are you going to dance with me or was that natak just for Vikram?"
Pallavi took his arm and pulled him to the dance floor, and much to Raghav's surprise, he didn't stop her.
