Ishqana Dil

Part 59

"So... uhh... what?"

Uma smacked him on the head. "Sunaayi nahin diya kya? Shaadi honewaali hai tumhaari!"

He looked at her blankly, then at Amaya. "Hmm..."

"Mantu, if you will react like that when Mom talks to you about it, I don't think she will give her permission. You don't look very happy about it. Tum shaadi ke liye ready nahin ho?" Jazz teased him.

"Nahin... voh..."

"Because," she chirped on, "if you are not ready, it's okay. But soch lo, Amu will have to go back to Mumbai. There's no way Mom will let her stay here alone!"

He looked at Amaya with a desperate expression and she turned to her little sister. "Jazz! Mantu ko pareshaan mat karo! I will go to Mumbai if I have to, na? Ussmein kaunsi badi baat hai?"

"No!" he shouted, then grimaced. "Humaara matlab hai ki... hum... voh... uhh..."

Jasmine and Uma snickered but Amaya looked at him with a gentle smile. She gestured the girls to leave them alone and as soon as they did, she made him sit down. "Kya tum mujhe bata sakte ho ke hua kya hai?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

He shook his head. "It's a lot to take in... Yeh sab itni jaldi... I don't know..."

"You don't want to marry me?" She was not teasing him or making him feel guilty. She just wanted to understand him.

He laughed and shook his head. "Karni hai, baba! Bas... ajeeb hai?"

She grinned. "Bohot ajeeb hai!"

***

A few days later, she bounded down the stairs to look for her mother. Rachi Di had already returned to Mumbai to handle the company. "Mom! Mom!"

"Kya hua, Amu? Sab theek toh hai?"

Amaya swallowed and waited to catch her breath again. "I needed to ask you something. It just came to my mind and... I don't know why we didn't think of this before... Mom, what happened to Dad's side of the family?"

***

"So... you have not told your family about us yet?"

"Have you talked to your dad about me?"

He chuckled. "No. I don't know how to... I hate that it might be completely fine with him now, since your won your case and everything... He's such a hypocrite."

Rachita bit her lip. "Amu is getting married soon, you could come to Banaras with me and we could tell my family at least?"

"Excuse me? Amaya is getting married?"

His expression made her laugh. "Yes, she is, actually."

"What?" he stopped walking, completely baffled. "No wait, tell me about this! How did this happen? Who is it? Where did she find him? God, her standards were so high!"

"Mantu is better than her standards!"

Rohan snorted. "Mantu?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you laugh at him, I will kick your ass, Rohan Grewal! That's just his nickname. His real name is Abhimanyu Shrivastav and he is a very nice boy!"

"Better than me?"

"Better than you?"

He smirked and resumed walking, his arm interlaced with hers. "Abhimanyu Shrivastav, you said? From Banaras?"