Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 30

I'm having a day-off, after ages; even though, I'm the owner of the business, there's barely chances for me to take a break from the rush and chaos. Sometimes, it becomes too overwhelming.

But today is the day for organising my belongings, changing sheets and binge-watching Netflix. I have a list of TV shows piled up, and I honestly do not know where to start from.

I settle down on the couch with my cereal bowl and swipe through a long list of TV show suggestions when my phone rings. I take a glance at it and grunt, right away. It's an incoming call from Sasha - an event planner. She's one of the main reason why my small business flourished amongst the Indian community. She brings over eight percent of the orders to the table. I'm eternally grateful to her, but sometimes, she's a tad bit annoying.

"Hey, Sash?", I answer the call and turn the loudspeaker on. "Hey, Navi! What's up?", she questions. "Just chilling. I took a break from work today", I say. "No wonder! I visited your restaurant and it was shut", she informs.

"And I might have to steal away your day-off because I have an extremely important order for you!", she stresses. "What is it?", I interrogate. "It's a wedding order", Sash replies and I sigh.

"You know I don't take wedding orders anymore!", I frown in disdain. "I know you don't, babe. But this is different. I need you to do this for me. I'm desperately begging you! And it's not a big fat Indian wedding; it's an intimate ceremony. And it's happening in four days, and I do not have anyone to run to last moment. You're my last hope", she pleads.

"Sash, I'd do anything for you. But it has been a while since I accepted wedding orders. I don't even know if I can cook on large scale for weddings anymore; it's not the same as parties", I explain. "I trust your cooking skills! I know you can do it. Navya, if you don't do this favour for me, I would lose the biggest wedding of my life. Please. You're the only one who can save me from this!", she throws me into a situation where I honestly cannot say no; I simply remain silent.

"Navya, you there? Please. One last favour", she does this all the time - tells me about the food in the last minute, and promises that it would be the last time. But I honestly cannot complain, because she brings business into the room. I'm still not convinced enough, though. I don't even know what to cook for weddings anymore.

"They promised me that they are willing to pay two - or even three - times the amount. Trust me, put any amount on the table and they'll pay you", she makes an attempt to convince me.

"You'll also have to find someone to make the wedding cake. Can you fetch a pen and write down the details about the cake?", Sash cues and I keep my cereal bowl to the side. What a beautiful day to relax!

"One minute", I breathe, reluctantly, and fish a pen out of my bag, along with sticky notes. "Tell me", I utter.

"A three tiered cake. Chocolate flavoured. And on some pretty board, you'll have to write - Kruti Patel weds Daksh Raval", whilst scribbling the words on the sticky note, all of a sudden, I take a pause. Daksh Raval? Isn't that Darshan's older brother's name?

"Daksh Raval?", I echo. "Yes, Daksh Raval", she repeats and an irresistible urge to take a dig at the groom emerges from within. But there could be a thousand other Daksh Ravals in the world. Perhaps, it's a coincidence that my client happened to be one, but I still want to ask her about it. For my own, satisfaction.

"Do they---uhm--live in the USA?", hesitantly, I raise the point. "The bride lives in the USA. I don't know much about the groom, but even he lives in some foreign country", she sounds clueless. It cannot be Darshan's brother; such coincidences never happen.

"Arrey, I forgot to tell you!", she creates a moment of silence. "He's this actor or singer's brother, I don't really remember...Uhm, what is it?", she gives it a thought and my heartbeat escalates. No way. The world cannot be that small for us to cross paths, again. No goddamn way.