Pride vs Prejudice

Chapter 1

"I am going to sleep the entire afternoon and all through the evening, till Bhai returns" Ria declared, as they drove back home

"You don't want to spend time with your Papa?" her father asked, pretending to be upset.

"Of course I do!" Ria said, wrapping her hands, tightly, around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder, as they sat in the rear seat of the car, with her mother "But I am feeling so sleepy. I didn't sleep on the entire flight" she said

"Why did you do that? You must be so exhausted" her mom said feeling concerned, as she ran her hand over Ria's head

"I was so excited to be back home that I couldn't sleep at all!" Ria explained

"You didn't sleep because you were so excited to meet us. But when you are back now, all you want to do is sleep?" her father commented laughing

"Papa!" Ria exclaimed making puppy eyes at him. They shared a really warm relationship. They were father-daughter, best friends, pranksters, all rolled into one. There was nothing that Sharad Khanna wouldn't do for his daughter.

"Here they go again" her mom commented, meeting Shikha's glance with a smile, knowing fully well that Sharad would melt "If you want, you can sleep for a while now, but in the evening we have to attend the Aggarwal's party. It is their 30th wedding anniversary" she told Ria.

"Why do I have to go for it?" Ria asked making a face

"Yes why do Ria and I have to go for it?" Sharad said matching Ria's expressions

"Both of you haven't gotten together 15 minutes and your drama has begun!" her mom said giving them a stern look "You have to go because they have been our close friends since college days" Jaya Khanna told her husband, before turning to her daughter "And you have to go because Riva and Mahesh already know you are back home today. If you don't go, they will feel bad. You know how much they care about Lav and you. You are no different from their son Rishabh for them"

"Mom! Rishabh is a spoilt brat! He is horrible" Ria said "He always harasses me and you don't even allow me to give him one tight slap"

"Ria!" Jaya exclaimed "You are not some ruffian! He is not a spoilt brat anymore and you fought with him as much as he fought with you."

"I am with Ria" her father said "Give him one tight slap if he bothers you again. I will give him one after that"

"Sharad!" Jaya chided him, before looking pointedly at Ria "There will be no slaps! And he will not bother you. He has matured a lot with age. He is really well-behaved now. But I don't know what has gotten into you. My beautiful well-behaved daughter is turning into a rogue!" She turned to look back at her husband "You are responsible for this. You are bad influence on her!"

"Mom! Don't say anything about Papa. He is the best" Ria said hugging him, even as Sharad nodded in agreement.

"What am I going to do with the two of you? You are worse than each other!" Jaya said shaking her head "Thank god I have you, Shikha. Otherwise I will go insane between this father-daughter team and your husband!"

"Mom! You know you cannot remain mad us for long" Ria said confidently, even as Sharad nodded.

Jaya sighed. There was no winning with them. She loved them a lot and she knew that despite all this mischief, her daughter did have a good head on her shoulder. "All of this won't be okay when you get married"

"Mom! Why are you talking so much about marriage? I don't want to get married right now!" Ria said feeling a bit annoyed

"Jaya, let her be. Why are you forcing her?" Sharad finally cut in calmly