Do Anjaane

Chapter 6

"Heck, if I had the chance to know Bhabhi a little bit better before your wedding, I would have run away with her myself."

That was absolutely not true. Yagnik loved his Bhabhi as a sister, and he could never ever imagine anything like that, but he was trying his best to get a reaction out of his brother. "Shut up, Yagnik! She's my wife and your Bhabhi!" "Oh really? So, you do remember that you have a wife?" Yagnik sighed as Raghuveer just continued to glare at him. "Just remember this, Bhai. We often don't understand the value of what we have until we lose it. Don't bring the situation to that point. We love you and Bhabhi both, and we only want your happiness." With that he walked out of the room, letting his brother ruminate on his thoughts. His work was done for today.

Raghuveer stared out the window of his study. Yagnik wasn't wrong; he had only echoed what Raghuveer himself had been feeling but had tried his best to ignore and deny. When he first saw Vaidehi at their engagement, he was pleasantly surprised to see the calm and collected young woman. Perfect, she looked like the type of woman who wouldn't try to interfere in his life and understand his boundaries. But when he placed the ring on her finger, why did he feel as if there was truly some invisible bond connecting his heart to hers? When she looked up at him, their eyes met for just a moment before she turned away her gaze. No, he couldn't feel attracted to her, could he?

Veer had accepted the fact that he would take the responsibility of this woman, along with the rest of his family, for the rest of their lives. He had a certain set of values and morals he followed, and this fell into that category. Anything beyond responsibility was out of his range, however. In the weeks after their marriage, she had slowly, yet seamlessly, integrated herself into his life. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore a presence constantly in his room and around the house.

He spent longer hours at work, until every few days, he snapped, working from home and spending time with his family just to be around her. No matter how much he tried to run from the uncomfortable fear building in him, a feeling entirely unfamiliar to him, he couldn't ignore it. The very thing that he feared, being lured in by his wife, was beginning to look like his solace. As they said, if you can't beat them, join them. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel and let the lure overcome him.

He had always avoided the idea of marriage because he felt that it came with so many emotions and expectations, in other words, additional distractions to his already busy life. But he was Raghuveer Malhotra, a revered businessman and a man of extreme discipline and control. He always told his siblings to face challenges head-on, yet here he was, running away. Obviously, if he faced this challenge head-on and accepted his marriage, the temptation would decrease, and he could easily control any unwelcome emotions. He married Vaidehi because he had to get married at some point, his family insisted that he had to, so it was better that he married someone they approved of and liked because she would be spending most of her time with them anyway.

There was no possibility of divorce, because he would likely have to end up marrying another woman who may turn out to be far worse. Rather than gamble with the unexpected, it made sense to accept what he had. If they were to spend the rest of their lives together, they might as well learn to maintain civility.

Meanwhile, in Yagnik's room. "Phase 1, complete! I riled up Bhai and spoke to him pretty harshly. He's never going to pay attention to subtle hints until we speak to him straightforwardly first. So, I put the idea of actually building a relationship with Bhabhi in his head, now we can move on to the subtle nudges." "Haan, aur waise bhi humne Bhai ko sixth monthiversary party ke baare mein kuch bataya nahi. Because of course, if he knew that we were planning a date and party for him, he would come up with some kaam ka bahaana to avoid it." (Yeah, and anyway we didn't tell Bhai anything about the sixth monthiversary party. Because of course, if he knew that we were planning a date and party for him, he would come up with some work excuse to avoid it.)

Akanksha looked at Yagnik, Yuv and Yug. "Waise aap theenon ne Bhai ka kaam handle ki hain kya? Matlab bataya na ki Bhai uss din off lenge?" (By the way, did you three handle Bhai's work for that day? I mean, did you let everyone know that he'll be taking a leave that day?) "Haan Akshu, sab dekh liye humne. And you, Priya, and the parentals, you guys have all the party and date preparations under control, right?" (Yes, Akshu, we've handled everything.) "Yup, everything is planned perfectly. I'm just so excited to surprise Bhai!" Akanksha snorted at Priya's statement. "I don't know about surprising Bhai, but I'm eagerly waiting to see his face when he realizes that we've got him trapped and he can't avoid the date or the party." "Did you guys tell Bhabhs about our plans?" Yug asked. "Of course not, duffer, why would we tell her about Mission Milan," Yuv answered his twin. "Oy! You're the duffer here. I wasn't talking about Mission Milan, but about the date and party."

Yuv chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. Akanksha answered his question. "Well, Bhabhi knows about the party, and I think Maa mentioned the date, but we didn't confirm anything with her, so that might be a bit of a surprise." "All right, then we're all ready for the day after tomorrow." Priya and Akanksha smiled at each other. "Not quite. We ladies are going shopping tomorrow!" The guys collectively groaned, earning smacks from their sisters. "You have nothing to complain about! You only came shopping with us twice, ever, and that was shaadi wala shopping, too. So, it was super long. Just wait until you all get married, then your wives will show you what shopping really looks like. Besides, we don't want you guys to come. It's gonna be our ladies' day out. Just make sure to help Papa and Chachu in the kitchen and have some good food ready to eat by the time we return." (shaadi wala- wedding) The boys shrugged. That wasn't such a bad deal. And they could always order out and pretend they cooked it.