Piya Tohse

Chapter 4 - The Nautanki

Abhimanyu finished his meeting with the investors, gathered his files, shook their hands and started to walk out of the restaurant. As he exited the restaurant, he saw Neil sitting at the patio with a girl whose back was towards Abhimanyu so he couldn't see her face. Yeh dono yahan bhi ponch gaye. Abhimanyu really wasn't in the mood to deal with that chatterbox right now. He looked towards them one more and realized the girl's hair was too short for her to be Akshara. He noticed Neil was holding her hand. 

Abhimanyu felt anger bubbling inside him. His personal feelings for Akshara aside, she was still an innocent girl who did not deserve to be cheated on. He believed in honesty and loyalty while in a relationship and he has always been very honest about all expectations when he dated anyone. Whenever he felt like he could no longer commit them, then he always ended those relationships.  Respecting your partner was very important for him. He couldn't believe his own brother was like this. He didn't want to make a scene at the restaurant so he would have to talk to him later.

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Anand, Mahima, Harsh and Manjiri Birla sat with Manish, Swarna and Suhasini Goenka chatting away.  The Goenkas and the Birlas usually met up at least once a month and this time it was the Goenkas that were hosting the lunch. 

"Baki sab kahan? Akshu aur Aaru bhi nazar nahi aa rahi?" Manjiri asked Swarna.

"Akhil aur Sureka toh Mansi ko milne Bangalore gaye hain.  Baki sab Keerti ke ghar pe hain. Woh Krish ke rishte ki baat chal rahi toh sab uss mein busy hai."

"Arrey yeh toh bhi bohat achi baat hai. Sab bache kitne bade hogaye.  Krish, Vansh, Kairav, Parth aur Abhi pehle kitna saath saath mein khela karte the." Manjiri recalled.

"Aap ne kuch socha Abhimanyu ki shaadi ke liye?" Mimi asked Manjiri.

"Bilkul hum soch rahe hain. Abhi bhi maan gaya hai."

"Yeh toh bohat achi baat hai. Koi ladki hai aapki nazar mein? Abhimanyu jaise ladke toh bohat kam hote hain.  Meri nazar mein toh ek bohat achi ladki hai....woh bhi Doctor hai."

"Jee Maa-ji. Hume toh ek ladki bohat pasand hai." Harsh said. "Actually we were hoping to talk to you about it."

"Hum jahnte hain usse?"

"Bohat achi tara." Mahima laughed.

"Acha? Kaun hai woh?" Manish asked.

"Akshara." Manjiri answered.

The three Goenkas looked at each other in shock.

"Hamari Akshu?" Swarna asked.

"Jee.  Hum sab ki Akshu." Manjiri laughed.

Swarna, Manish and Mimi exchanged a look.

"Dekhiye Harsh ji, Anand ji. Aap se kuch chupa nahi hai. Aap hamari bachiyon ko bachpan se jante ho. Aapka beta ek bada Doctor hai aur hamari Akshu ko toh yeh bhi nahi pata woh kal kya karegi. Woh...."

"Hum sab jahnte hain." Mahima cut him off. "Aur hume yeh bhi pata hai ke Akshu se ziyada achi ladki Abhi ko mil nahi sakti."

"Jee bhai-saab. Humare Abhi ko aisi ladki ki zarorat hai jo usse jeena sikhaye, khush hona sikhaye."

Manish nodded. "Maybe our Akshu also needs someone who can give her some stability and teach her to be more focused."

"Toh bas. Hum kya yeh rishta pakka samajhe?" Anand got up smiling.

"Hamari taraf se toh haan but let us talk to Akshu once." Manish said.

"I think it will be better to wait and talk after Krish's engagement. Maybe until then, Abhimanyu and Akshu can know each other better." Swarna suggested.  Everyone else agreed.