For Better or For Worse

CHAPTER 3 - Recipe of a Conspiracy

“Have I ever told you that you have a dangerous mind that you should not put to use before consulting me?” Nandini asked. She was speechless with what Adi just told her. She was completely speechless for over ten minutes before she could speak again, enough time for both Adi and Yosuf to pour a drink each for themselves.

“Need a drink?” Yosuf asked her softly, and all Nandini could do was nod her head.

“Vodka on the rocks?”was Yosuf’s  next question. Nandini looked up from her reverie and said “Orange juice”

“You mean vodka with orange juice” said Yosuf.

“No, I mean orange juice SANS vodka” Nadini retorted back.

Yosuf gave her a wide grin before saying “Our Nandu has turned into a sadhu baba, Saint Nandini” and then he gave a hearty laughter.

“You are laughing? We are in a mess and this guy is planning for a bigger mess and all you can do is laugh” Nandini said pointing at Adi. She was lost by now, and she did not know what to do. Adi has crossed all barriers of madness this time, but the worst part was it was the best and the probably the most efficient plan to stop the wedding. She turned back at Yosuf and gave him one squinty eyed look before she said, “By the way, you knew all about this for the past three months and you did not tell me, did not even drop a single hint.”

“Well, you know the golden rules; we do not divulge secrets of one another without their permission.” Said Yosuf grinning at Nandini.

“Hang your golden rules,” she was about to say more when Yosuf  interrupted saying , “Hey, don’t say that. We were eight when we made these rules, remember?”

“My point exactly. We are no more kids, this is an important decision and it’s a real life situation and we need to handle it like adults.” Nandini shouted back at him. Yosuf’s attitude was really taking a toll on her.

Cutting their bickering short Adi asked Nandini “So, what do you think?”

“About what? You and I play everyone till the last moment, then you elope with your girlfriend and I pretend to be the victim and act all heartbroken?” She still could not believe it she almost summed up the entire event in three lines and it was precisely three weeks to go before their wedding. It was as if they are going to enact a real life three act play, that is if they really do decide to go ahead with Adi’s hair brained plan.

But there was something that was bothering her more than Adi’s idea and that was the fact that Adi had a girlfriend. If Adi did have a girlfriend then why did not he say so to his father in the first place when the parents were hatching the idea of getting them hitched? How come she never knew about this girlfriend? After all Adi told her everything, and if this is the girl Adi wants to marry then surely this relationship is more than just three months old. The three months that Adi never bothered getting in touch with her. Adi at times might be crazy, but she knew better than that that he was not a complete lunatic to have formulated a part time girl friend just for the purpose of showing off and proving his point. So who was she and did she know about his wired plan?

“What do you think?” Adi probed, “Let me remind you however that you do not have much of a choice” he added.

To this Nandini looked incredulous at first and then she laughed so loud and so hard that had it not been for her cheeks that started aching she would probably have not stopped any time soon. Adi and Yosuf watched Nandini with such surprise and amazement that they were dumbstruck; probably wondering whether their own little Nandu has just lost her brain.

Finally Nandini’s laughter ceased and she asked “Was that a threat?” she further added “Cause let me remind you that if it was, it definitely did not work on me. I hoped much better from you two at least, I sincerely thought you guys knew me better than just threaten me. Weren’t we friends ever since we were kids, don’t we know each other better than that? ” and with that she took a long breath and continued “You guys should have known that I can go and say all this to Bhavani uncle, and he would believe me, and it would prevent us from getting hitched too. For being such a jackass he will not be on talking terms with you for at the most two years and then he would give in and you can marry the lady of your dreams ...yada yada yada. But do you know in this process no one will lose anything but you – precious two years of your life? So DO NOT THREATEN ME. Do I make myself clear?” Nandini almost whispered that last question.

Adi knew better than to try her patience. He knew she meant every single word she just uttered. “Crystal”

“Whew! All that done now may we know whether or not you are interested in carrying out this plan?” piped in Yosuf again.

“I have a couple of questions that needs to be truthfully answered to before I agree or disagree”

“What questions?” Adi and Yosuf both asked in unision

“If you already have a girl friend then why didn’t you tell your dad about it when they were just beginning to think about getting us hitched? How long have you had this so called girl friend of yours and why was I kept unaware of the romantic front of your life? Who is she? Is there anyone at all in the first place, or are you just playing me too?”

“Too many questions in one breath” said Adi.

“You hardly have a choice, now answer” insisted Nandini.

“Well it is not like I never told you about my girlfriend. I did tell you. Remember the last time I told you that I am dating this girl from my unit and how I thought she was something more than any other girls I have dated so far?”

“You mean Sampoorna?” Nandini asked deadpan.

“Precisely, it just turned out that she was not just something more, but she was the ONE. However, I did not realise how much I was in love with her till our parents fixed everything between you and me. It was then that I realised  how unfair it would be not just for me but for you too if we were to be hitched at all, but the problem was I could never gather the courage to propose Sampoorna till it was too late and my back was against a solid wall. I did propose to her and she had the same feelings for me too, but the tough time began when I had to break to her the ultimate news of our so called betrothal and convince her that we would find a way out.”

“Where is she now?”

“She is still in her unit, but she is coming down to Kolkata tomorrow. She wants to meet you. I would not be surprised if she said she wanted to meet you to be surer of my plan and what I wanted.”

“I do not blame her, you screwed up big time dude”

“Well that is exactly where friends chip in - to unscrew” said Yosuf.

Nndini gave a slight smile and asked “How about her parents? What would they say if she were to elope and marry?”

“Well, she does not have much of a choice. Her parents would never approve of me - she a South Indian Brahmin, me a Rajput - they are pretty strict when it comes to cast and all that, at least her family. She would have to take a drastic step anyways if she wants to stick around with me for the rest of our lives.”

Nandini gave a long sigh and then said “Interesting!”

“You did not answer yet you know”

“Do I have a choice?”

To that all three of them gave a hearty grin before Yosuf brought in three flutes of red wine and said “Shall we toast to that?”