The next day dawned and Raghav was in his best mood so far. He woke up and greeted everyone in the mansion. To say they were shocked would be an understatement. Seeing their Rude, Khadus, Akhdu, Ghamandi boss be so polite was a treat in itself. He texted Pallavi.
"Heyy.
I would be busy today, so can't meet but, will make up for it tomorrow. Also, I will pick you up tomorrow morning and we will spend the whole day together. Is that okay?" He texted her hoping for a positive response.
Pallavi was in the kitchen working when her phone pinged with his message. She checked the message and was kind of unhappy that they won't meet today but, was extremely happy after reading the later part. She immediately responded with a 'Yes' and continued doing her work.
Raghav worked the whole day thinking of ways to make her feel special. He came up with an idea but was not satisfied with it. He suddenly came up with another idea and messaged something to Farhad. Farhad was delighted to see that and immediately did what Raghav asked him to do.
"Wear something casual tomorrow. Track pants and top types. If you don't have, get it from somewhere." Raghav messaged Pallavi.
"Okay Ghamandi Rao. Btw, where will I change? If I leave the house in those clothes, Aai Baba will ask me where am I going." Pallavi replied.
"Tell them that you are going out with Keerti and the dress code is casual." Raghav answered.
"Fine. Whatever you are doing better be good because I am lying to my Aai Baba for you, so don't do something idiotic." She messaged him.
"Stop underestimating me Saree Ka Dukaan."
--------------------------------------------------------------
As decided Pallavi came to meet Raghav at the decided spot in her casual wear. She was wearing a sky blue color tank top with a black jacket and black track pants while he was wearing a red t-shirt and black track pants.
"You look good, Saree Ka Dukaan. You should wear this often." He said while driving the car.
"I do wear it while at home." She replied.
"Don't they allow you to wear outside or you prefer a saree? What is it about?" Raghav asked.
"Actually, they are quite open minded people. They are okay with whatever I wear. Mansi used to wear formals, Amruta wears everything so, they don't have an issue. It's just that the society expects us widows to behave a certain way which, I don't follow. They are already taunted a lot because of that and I don't want them to listen to more things because of me wearing certain type of clothes. Aai always tells me to atleast wear salwar kurta or jeans. Today also they were happy to see this change." Pallavi explained.
"Ohh... That's great. But, I feel you should stop thinking about the society. If you keep on thinking about what they say, when are you going to think about yourself?" Raghav asked.
"Aai Baba always ask me to do this but still, it is difficult to ignore what people say."
"By listening to them, you are killing your own happiness." Raghav put forth his point.
"Where am I killing my happiness? The society still thinks that a girl and boy can never be friends and shouldn't hangout together, but see, I am here with you." She countered.
"That's the only good decision you took." Raghav teased.
Soon, they reached RR Mansion. He opened the door and they walked into the mansion.
"Come, let's have breakfast." Raghav said.
"No, it's okay. I am fine. You eat." Pallavi said as she thought that he will give her some tasteless diet food.
"Don't worry. It's nothing like you think. It is something that you love. I am not giving you diet food." Raghav assured her chuckling.
"How do you know that, I was thinking about diet food?"
"One look at your face and I understood that you are thinking about diet food. You made an 'eww' face and I understood it."
She just giggled in response.
"Wow Raghav!!!!!Misal Paav!!!" She screamed in excitement when Rama came with Misal to the dining table.
"Uhmmmm.....It tastes just like Kolhapur. From where did you order this? Or did you ask some Maharashtrian to make it?" She asked him.
"This is made by my staff." Raghav replied.
"It is surely not made by your staff. If they would have made it then it would have a Hyderabadi taste. But, this tastes just like Kolhapur." She said.
"This is because he called the chef from your favorite Misal House in Kolhapur to prepare this Misal for you." Farhad said coming from behind.
"Whatt????? Are you nuts??? You called a chef from Kolhapur to make this just for me? Have you lost your mind?" She screamed.
"Did you like it?" Raghav asked calmly even though he felt like punching Farhad for revealing this to Pallavi.
"I loved it, Raghav but there was no need to call a chef from Kolhapur just for preparing Misal for me." She said sitting down on her place.
"Pallavi, what he meant was I video called the chef and my staff prepared it exactly as per his instructions." Raghav said covering up.
"Okay. I am sorry. I just overreacted." She apologized being embarrassed for shouting at him.
"It's okay, Saree Ka Dukaan. Can we now please continue eating this? This is so good that I cannot resist myself anymore." He said.
She just nodded and they finished their breakfast.
"Come let's go." He said and guided her towards the car.
"Where are we going?" She asked curiously.
"You will know soon, babe." He replied and opened the door for her to sit.
The word babe from his mouth sent jitters down her stomach.
They were going to Keesaragutta for trekking. Both of them had bonded on their love for trekking and adventure sports. They reached Keesaragutta by 10. They were introduced to the other members.
"We are here for trekking? I am so happy Raghav. It's been a while since I went for trekking." She said happily.
"That's why I bought you here." He replied.
They soon started their short trek to reach the 'RC Rock'. They then, did Rock climbing. It was a fun activity but quite exhausting. Pallavi and Raghav not being experienced trekkers found it to be a little difficult but at the end they enjoyed it a lot as it was a new experience for them. They took a short break and went to the next activity which was Rappelling. It is a controlled descent off a vertical drop by a fixed rope.
