Once Upon a Time in London

Chapter 29

As I pass another one of ma and Pammi aunty's gifts to Tina, she grins at me. A wolfish grin as she pulls at the ribbon almost immediately.

"Oh it's perfect" Tina coos as she slips the kangans on her wrist, they match her lehenga perfectly.

"Of course they are, ma asked me to confirm your sangeet lehenga's colour 6 times until she was sure I couldn't have possibly misheard you" I shake my head, "Oh and-" I pull out a little chiffon wrapped box that had been sitting at the bottom of my gifts bag, "She also sent something for Jack, where is he anyway, I haven't seen him in ages" I turn to look at her quizzically.

"Jack went back to New York" Tina says casually.

I look at her surprised.

"His girlfriend is having a baby soon" Tina smiles, "He only flew here to see you, he's taking a year off for the baby."

I stand there stunned, surprised at how quickly time goes by.

Tina smiles, and then as if something dawns on her, she stands there hesitating, an anger washing over her face.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I ask concerned, as I place the box back in the bag.

She sighs as she slumps down on my bed, picking at her lehenga, she finally looks up at me, "Zara and Jai are attending the wedding."

A strange pain lulls in my heart.

— — — — — — — —

I am standing in front of my mirror in my white sharara contemplating if pissing Rahul off would be worth it.

Who am I kidding, it would be wondrous.

I ditch the red dupatta that came with the sharara and instead opt for the blue one Dev got me. I'd been waiting for an occasion to wear it and the sangeet seemed like a good time.

I put on some matching silver jewellery as I slip on the silver bangles Dev got me on my wrists, although we didn't spend as much time as we used to together, Dev and I were still very close, something I was truly thankful for.

I let my hair down loose but add a tikka to my head, a little eyeliner and mascara, with a tinge of lip tint on my lips. Time had done little to improve my makeup skills.

I sprint down the stairs trying to get backstage in time before the performance is set to begin. Curse me and my poor time management skills.

Dev is still stressing over the music as he knocks on the old stereo, "Curses, if this old thing doesn't work, you and Anjali might have to sing" he calls out to Rahul and although I'm sure he meant it as a joke, I don't think he'd put it past us if the music system actually crashed.

"Well that's delightful although I must warn you my singing voice may be the last thing you'd want to hear" I chuckle as both Rahul and Dev turn to look at me.

Dev is wearing a loose gold and red kurta with his dark hair slicked back, a simple silver chain around his neck, "Oh wow, you look pretty" Dev grins before he continues, "Also noted, let me make sure that this thing does not fail us on stage" he grits as he goes back to fixing the old stereo.

I shoot him a sympathetic smile that only greets his turned back, Rahul walks over to me the next moment, he picks one hem of the dupatta and stares at me, his eyes blazing, I thought we decided on red" it's not a question really but rather a statement, I almost falter under the intensity of his stare, a muscle in his jaw twitches as a look of recognition passes in his eyes as he looks closely at the dupatta.

I try to ignore the pittering of my heart and how his red trimmed black kurta clings to his toned muscles that shift ever so slightly as his grip on the dupatta tightens.