The shark and the saint

7. Planning

A few days had gone by, and Anurag was still upset about losing Prerna. To the point that he had started drinking at night. Anupam was aware of this, and was getting tired of seeing his brother in law like this. But there was only one way to snap him out of his crying.

"Anurag! Dekh, Prerna ayi hai!" Anupam told him.

Anurag sat off the bed, excited. "Prerna ayi hai?!"

"Haan, main aagayi hoon, Anurag." She pitied him and sat across him in the bed. "Tumne kya haal bana liya hai apna?" She fixed his hair. "Mera yaqeen karo maine jo kuch bhi kiya, hamare future ke liye kiya. Tum ne bhi toh mujhe bachane ke liye Komolika se shaadi ki thi na?"

Anurag nodded as he held her hand on his face.

"Waise hi maine bhi tumhe bachaane ke liye Mr. Bajaj se shaadi ki. Dekho, rone dhone se kuch kaam nahi hone waala. Tum Anurag Basu ho. Kuch bhi kar sakte ho. Iss rone ne rukaawat daal di. Chalo, abh thik ho jao. Jaldi!"

Prerna playfully ordered and Anurag quickly wiped his face clear.

"Yeah. You're right. Main Anurag Basu hoon. Aur main jeet ke rahun ga."

"Tum kya keh rahe the? Mr. Bajaj ke paas papers hain koi?"

"Haan! Unke paas files hain mere aur meri family ke baare mein."

"Aur agar woh tumhe mil gayi toh shayad hamein pata chal sake ki Mr. Bajaj ko real mein kya chahiye."

"Exactly. Lekin woh papers haath kaise ayenge? Abh to mein unke ghar nahi ghuss sakoon ga."

"Hmm. Eik idea hai. Kuch din mein Kukki ki birthday hai. Uss din bohot bari party hogi."

"Yeh... Kukki kon hai?" Anurag asked, confused.

Prerna laughed, as if realizing Anurag didn't know. "Yaad hai, woh bacchi? Jisne mujhe track karne mein help ki thi? Woh Kukki hai, Mr. Bajaj ki beti."

"Accha."

"Haan. Aur uski birthday pe Mr. Bajaj bohot logon ko bulayein ge. Uss mein tumh bhi aajana. Chance milte hi, tum unke room mein ja kar file dhoond lena."

"Good idea. Let's do this," Anurag returned to his old self and was enthusiastic about finding something to fight against Bajaj and get his Prerna back.

After a while, Prerna left and picked Kukki up from school before taking her home.

"Accha ji! Toh kisi ki birthday hone waali hai!"

Kukki smiled brightly and nodded, holding up seven fingers.

"Seventh birthday?! Wow. Koi idea hai konsi party karni hai?"

Kukki frowned and shook her head.

"Hmm. Toh phir think karte hain. Kukki ki party kaise karein. Minnie Mouse?"

Kukki shook her head.

"Nahi? Ho gayi already?"

Kukki nodded.

"How about... pink? Pink birthday?"

That got shot down as well.

"What? Yeh bhi nahi? Papa ne saari birthdays kara din?"

Kukki smiled as if laughing and nodded.

"Mujhe lagta hai ki Kukki ke papa world's best papa hain. Haina?"

Kukki agreed.

"Lekin phir hamara kaam hard hai na phir."

They got bored thinking and Kukki asked to watch cartoons. Prerna put on cartoons for the girl and sat beside her on the couch. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep. Some while later, she felt someone shaking her and she began to feel sick. Prerna immediately woke up and threw up on the floor.

Kukki ran to get her nanny. The older woman came and helped clean up as Kukki gave Prerna water and comforted her.

Prerna drank the water and smiled tiredly. "Sorry, maine dara diya aapko?"

Kukki shook her head and motioned to herself.

Prerna tried to understand what she was saying. "Aap bhi throw up karti ho?"

Kukki nodded.

"Kabh?" Prerna asked, and Kukki made a flying motion with her hand.

"Plane mein?! Haan, that's possible too. Idea! Plane wali birthday karein?"

Kukki was confused and Prerna explained.

"Hum ghar pe world tour karte hain. Hamare servants flight attendants jaise ready honge, aur ham world ke different jage ghar mein banate hain. Yeah?"

Kukki liked it.

"Good! Abh aap batao hum kahaan jayein?"

Together they made a list of different places that included London, Paris, Switzerland, and the rainforest. When Rishabh came home, they shared the idea with him, and he told them he would get them an event planner in the morning.

The next whole week was busy arranging things for Kukki's birthday. They got an event planner who helped them find props and how to arrange the house. They got food to complement each of the locations on the tour. They even set a dress code for the party, which was either travel wear, or whatever you could wear to the places on the tour.