Destiny's Play!!

Chapter - 38

Avni was busy preparing a project for the kids as instructed by Mrs. Singh after breakfast when she heard a knock on her door. Before she could get up it opened and Uday poked his head inside. She smiled and asked him to come in.

"Busy," he asked as he sauntered in.

"Not really," Avni answered, "just working on something," she replied as she put the papers away.

"What are your plans for the day?" Uday asked again as he stood at the base of her bed.

"Nothing in particular why?" she asked.

"Well, I was thinking," Uday said in his usual casual manner, "your tour of Manali has been grossly ignored by all of us. So if you are doing nothing I will take you to a great place for lunch today and I have arranged for all of us to do something fun tomorrow," he said and gave her his most charming smile.

Avni wondered about what he said. Would it be wise to go with him for lunch all alone? Maybe she should ask aunty before she said yes. She didn't want to cause any disruption while she stayed here. She had forced herself to accept her situation for now and stay away from traitorous feelings and getting more involved than she already was. For how long she would be able to do that she had no idea. But she could try.

"Don't you have work to do today?" she asked cautiously.

"Actually no," he said and smiled, "I am off today. I worked too hard this past week on behalf of my two missing employees and now that they are back I decided to take an off," he told her.

"Okay," she said, "I don't mind but I will have to ask aunty before we go," she suggested.

"No need," Uday said knowingly, "she was the one who suggested it. Manya would have joined us but she has to go for her doctor's appointment, so she cannot make it. However tomorrow she will come along," he said. Uday knew though she had relaxed a bit in their company she wasn't as open yet. Though whether it was part of her nature or something else he didn't know and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So when his mother had asked him and Manya to take care of her and make sure she knew the place and not remain cooped up in her room all the time he had suggested lunch. Only Manya had backed out. And since his mother hadn't objected he had taken it as a yes.

"Doctor's appointment?" Avni asked alarmed.

Manya had seemed fine at the breakfast table a little while ago. What happened?

"Hey, relax," Uday said hurriedly as he watched her face go all concerned, "she is fine. She just has her annual physical exam today. Dad insists we all have one so we know we are fit," he said and rolled his eyes, "another rule actually if you ask me," he said.

"I see," Avni said.

It did make sense. At least they would be aware if they weren't keeping well. A good practice she supposed. Not many people took their health seriously and then things pile up and suddenly they find they cannot live life the normal way anymore. It was better to keep tabs on how you were doing physically so precautions could be taken on time.

"We are going for lunch tomorrow too?" Avni asked innocently.

Uday laughed. A full throated laugh. And Avni wondered what had she said that was so funny?

"You are a funny one, you know," Uday said trying to control his laughter, "tomorrow we are going to have fun. I will show you what I do for a living. And it would be more engaging because bhai has decided to join us too," he said smiling.

Avni felt her breath hitch. Karan would be coming too. She will have to control this strange reaction she had every time either his name came up or she thought about him or when he was around. This strange fluttering of her heart. It had been there since the first day. He had scared her but she was fast coming to the conclusion that it had happened because even before her mind had comprehended it her heart had known the danger of it being around him. She needed to keep a lid on how she felt. If she was so transparent that others read her without any problems then she will have to be careful or let everyone know what was going on with her. And it was a situation best avoided.

"Okay," she said not thinking much about it. She didn't even realize that Uday organized adventure sports for a living and she had no clue what they were about.

"Cool," Uday said as he straightened, "then we will leave around eleven thirty have lunch then get you some clothes you will be needing for tomorrow," he said and at the surprised look Avni gave him he winked at her, "Manya told me your wardrobe is pretty limited especially for what we have in mind. Don't worry she will be done by then and will meet us in the market. I am only going to play chauffer after that," he said and smiling saluted her then whistling left.

Avni shook her head. She couldn't stop her smile. What was she going to do with him? He was such a nice guy full of mirth. It was a pity Riddhima couldn't appreciate the quality. She looked at the bedside clock. She still had an hour to get ready. She got up reluctantly and took out a fresh set of clothes she had reserved for going out. As she washed her face she wondered about what they were going to do the next day which required shopping. And what was she going to do about Karan being around. Guess till the time she was here seeing him often was an unavoidable situation. She should just stay quiet and out of the way of Dogra siblings. It would be a better plan. How she proposed to do that was another story?

What she didn't know that by befriending the Dogra siblings she had already gotten involved with their lives. And no matter what she did it wasn't going to be any easy for her to get out unscathed. Lunch was only going to be a beginning.

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

Thank you for taking out the time to read ...

Votes and Comments Appreciated !!!