The best arrangement: Between us...

Chapter 36 - Busted?

The rays of the morning sun had started to illuminate the room, when Siddharth stirred. With a yawn, he tried to stretch his limbs, only to notice that he and Abhishek was snuggling up to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace. Abhishek's sleeping face looked so serious, yet adorable... Siddharth caressed his face, and said " Abhi... If you sleep on like the baby you are, we'll miss breakfast! "

Abhishek groaned, and and woke up without much ado. After some more rolling-in-the-sheets, both of them left the bed. When Abhishek finally exited the bathroom, ready for breakfast, he found Siddharth doing some stretches on the floor..

"...Abhi! No need of staring, I am sore.." Siddharth mumbled, before he straightened himself, and stood up. Abhishek, blame his fresh mind of the morning, did not understand the implication. When he did, he looked away with a flushed face. Siddharth found that funny..

" Baby.... You feeling shy now? After all that pounding you did yesterday night? My waist is sore, and you'll have to compensate with a massage once we get back to the apartment!" Siddharth spoke with a smirk, before walking away, with a slight limp..

Just then, there was a commotion outside the door. Siddharth gestured him to be quiet, and moved closer to the door to listen.

" Hey, I think we should talk it out..." Abhishek's mother? What must have happened?

" No, Mekhla ben, this is outrageous! Where is Siddharth?" Ma? Why is she here in the morning? (ben - sister )

Suddenly, someone banged on the door " Siddharth, open the door! He has to explain, Mekhla ben... Let him explain, about this relationship, or whatever it is...!"

Siddharth broke into a cold sweat, and turned to look at Abhishek. Without a word, Abhishek came over, and hugged him. He whispered " Sid, what did they say?"

" A...Abhi.. ma is here.. She seems to know about us !" Siddharth said, wrapping his arms around Abhishek, and hugging him back. Abhishek patted his (Sid) back, and said " Hmm.... we'll face them together. I'm here for you.."

" Abhi... how is it that you are not afraid of your father's wrath this time?" Siddharth could not help, but ask. Abhishek pecked his forehead, and said " Sid, should I say something cheesy, like 'I am scared of nothing when you're with me'? "

Siddharth released him and opened the door. As expected, Khyati was standing there. Siddharth braced himself for a hurl of accusations, and said " Ma, I can explain..."

" Yes, you should.... Tell me, why did you let your friend pursue Siddhi" She asked, as a matter-of-fact.

" Because I  love.... Huh? Siddhi?" Siddharth felt quite relieved. He had foreseen this coming, with how obviously in love Siddhi and Prateek were.... Nothing he couldn't handle. He slumped onto Abhishek's shoulder, and heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he said " Ma, this is not a national issue, for god's sake! Please go home, and wait in peace. I will come home shortly, and then we can discuss, Okay?"

.............................................. 

They were back inside the room, and the door was closed again. Siddharth buried his face in Abhishek's chest, and said " What a stroke of luck! I almost thought someone heard us last night!"

Abhishek stroked his back, and said " Hmm... That was a close call.. We should really plan  telling them about us.. Sooner or later, we'll have to face them.. And, Siddhi... She might have already called Prateek. You should go and clear things fast. Siddhi is headstrong, but Prateek may..."

" Ah, I know... Siddhi will be alright, but my mother's words may scar Prateek for life.." Siddharth replied to him, put on some more clothing, and dashed outside..

................................................

" Huh? You love her? That is not enough reason to let you....... Anyways, don't you have anything to say, Raghav? And Siddhi, I thought you were practical enough for all this 'divine love' nonsense!" 

Khyati was raging, when Siddharth entered the courtyard. Siddhi and Prateek were standing in front of her, while Raghav Kothari ( Siddharth's father) was seated on the sofa behind her. His father Jagdish Kothari was also seated beside him. Both men were watching her silently.

" Ma, I don't see any problem with this.... We love each other. He may not be as rich or sophisticated as you would want your son in law to be, but he is perfect for me! He is a good man. If nothing else, I can at least be sure that he will never clash with me over money, or social standing... because he is not petty! He does not care about matters like who earns more, who controls whom, who obeys whom, all that..." Siddhi trailed off, still managing to sound calm.

Seeing her like that, Prateek fell for her again. He had been dreading meeting Siddhi's parents, because he knew that, he was from a middleclass family, and he was no businessman. Chances were high that they would reject him downright..

" Umm, Mrs Kothari, Raghav uncle, I... I cannot say I fully understand your concerns, but I can relate... I have a younger sister as well.. In the future, if someone asks for her hand, even my parents, and I myself will scrutinize that person.. It is only natural that both of you are worried that I might not be a good match for Siddhi, due to the vast difference in our upbringing, or worse, you have every right to suspect me to be a gold digger.. Both I and Siddhi are employed, I may never earn as much as Siddhi and I cannot assure that Siddhi will always be happy with me... But, I can promise that I'll strive to never hurt her... And that whenever problems - they're inevitable- arise, we'll solve them together...

My family is neither rich, nor influential. But we are still respectable people, my papa, Ramesh Tiwari, is a retired headmaster, and my ma, Kruthika Gupta was a police constable... I, and my siblings, were brought up in strict discipline. And, we were all taught to respect people - men, women, rich, poor, all alike.. We were taught not to judge people. Of course, you can inquire, people still hold my parents, and our khandaan in high esteem..." Prateek spoke, with a confident and placid air. When he finished, Khyati's face was still marred by a frown, while Raghav and Jagdish were smiling.. ( Khaandaan - whole extended family)

Siddharth butted in, and said " And ma, if Siddhi, who is a specialist in reading people, and very cautious around them, fell for him, he should be a gem, right? And, I approve of them as well... Not because he's my friend, but because he's a  well mannered gentleman. In fact, he is more disciplined and good natured than Siddhi and me combined.. It would be foolish, to let him go, just because of our misgivings.. And, what is with this 'rich' 'poor' all that? Does money guarantee happiness? We all have seen how that's not the case... There are many billionaires who can't even sleep peacefully, while there are farmers and street vendors who go to sleep with a smile..

After hearing all this, Raghav spoke up " Okay, since all of you are so insistent, we'll consider this matter.. You are free to be, for now, but remember your limits.. Siddhi beta,  we can trust you in this, right? When the time comes, we'll see.. Prateek Tiwari, I would like to meet your parents. I guess that's all... What do you say, Bapuji?"

At that, Jagdish smiled, and added " That will suffice for now.... The rest can be decided easily, after a couple of meet-and-greets and a decent background check... And boy, you do have a silver tongue!"

Prateek smiled, with a flushed face... Siddhi linked their arms, and shot him a reassuring look. Siddharth winked at them, getting an apologetic look in return. Thankfully, Prateek's 'silver tongue' and Raghav had saved the day..

*****************************************************************************

Aah guys, I am sorry for the long hiatus... The thing is, my hand was killing me, and as part of treatment, I had to abstain from straining my palm... Hopefully, I will be able to update more on time in the future... Next chapter will see a time skip, and our boys will face a full on storm.. Keep reading, and don't forget to vote and comment!