Arranged In Love!

Locked Up

They say that the journey from engagement to marriage is a blissful one. It proved to be true in DevAkshi's case as well.

Each day got Dev and Sonakshi a step closer to one another. Their trust and respect for each other grew with every passing day. Their courtship period was proving to be indeed a blissful one. Their bond grew stronger and so did their relationship with each other's families.

Before the Malhotra kids would fly off to their respective places, a family outing was planned to the Bose's farmhouse in Lonavala. They had planned to bring in the New Year together at the farmhouse. The youngsters could not be more excited than they already were. All three families were to leave together on Christmas Eve; the elders in one SUV and the younger generation in another. They all left at 06:00 am on Christmas Eve from the Malhotra Mansion, where everyone had gathered.

It was decided that the young men would drive in breaks whereas the elders had hired a chauffeur. First, it was Vihaan who drove the car with Nia seated in the passenger seat and later it was Harsh in the driver's seat and Shriya in the passenger seat. Lastly, Dev drove the car with Sona seated beside him. Poor little Soumya had been seated all this while in the back seat. During the entire distance that Dev drove, he and Sonakshi chatted happily whilst stealing frequent glances at each other. Soon they reached Lonavala as the distance was a short one and they did not get stuck in the traffic since they had left early.

"This is such a beautiful place. I so love it already!", squealed an excited Soumya, when they entered into the farmhouse premises. Everyone expressed their affirmation of Soumya's statement.
The farmhouse was a spacious single-storied building, with a living room, kitchen, dining room, and three rooms on the ground floor. On the floor above there were five rooms in total along with a huge terrace that overlooked the swimming pool and the pristine background of Lonavala. It was indeed a serene place, with the chilly weather and fog making it even more majestic.

They all settled themselves on the couches and the sofa chairs when an elderly couple came with a tray of water in their hands. Introducing those two to the Dixits, Asha said, "Ye Shyaam Kaka aur Pushpa Tai hain. Ye dono yaha is farmhouse ke caretakers hain."; and then introduced the Dixits to the duo. Sona then showed around their rooms to everyone. She then took Dev and Soumya; along with Vihaan, Nia, Shriya, and Harsh, who had been there before; on a small tour of the place whereas Asha and Bejoy showed the Dixits (along with Raj and Anjali who had been there before as well), around. After an elaborate roaming-around session, they all retired to the respective rooms allotted to them to freshen up and thereafter assemble in the dining room for some snacks.

Before going to her room, Sonakshi stopped by Dadi's room to check on her. Before entering, Sona knocked lightly on the door. Daadi permitted her to say, "Come in, Baccha. Just like Dev, Soumya, or the rest of our family members, even you need not knock on my door or ask for my permission, okay?" Sona was happy when Dadi said 'Our Family'; a major sign that she had happily and wholeheartedly accepted Sona into the family. She smilingly nodded her head at Dadi's statement and then asked her, "Daadi, aap comfortable haina? Aapko agar kuch chahiye ho to mujhe bulalo!" "Zaroor bataungi. Ab jao jaldi se fresh ho jao...", she replied, lovingly patting Sona's hair.

In the meanwhile, after freshening up, Soumya had asked Vihaan, Nia, Shriya, and Harsh to gather in her room after their chores were done with. "Why have you called us here, like this? Where are Dev and Sonakshi?", enquired a confused Harsh, while the others looked at Soumya expectantly. She hushed him saying, "It is about Bhai and Bhaabi, hence they haven't been invited." (*Note the sarcasm!*) "What about them?", Shriya asked her, being even more confused than before. "I have something evil in my mind. I mean not bad...but good evil.", Soumya said and paused to look at her cousins and their better halves who had their eyebrows scrunched in super confusion and a 'Are you drunk?' look on their faces. Not wanting to confuse or irritate them further, she said, "I'd get straight to the point." "Better!", Nia said, which Soumya ignored and continued, "I want to ask you all if you would help me lock Bhai and Bhabhi, in a room together." "What?", came the reply in chorus. "Have you gone crazy?", Nia asked Soumya. "Ok, let me put it this way...since all our families are here, those two won't get any lone time, which they seriously need. Moreover, both of them are so 'Family People', that none of them would broach the subject of spending some 'US' time. So I thought why not lock them together for the night? That way they could hopefully spend some romantic time together.", Soumya said and let out an audible breath and continued, "Aur usme humari bhi thodi entertainment ho jayegi! ", and mischievously wriggled her eyebrows at them whilst having a sly smile on her face. The others had similar looks on their faces. "Done deal.", they replied to her in chorus and hi-fied each other. "Do you have a plan on how to get them locked? And after getting locked, woh dono karenge kya?", Vihaan asked. ", That's where I need your help - I have no clue how to lock them up! But...we can make arrangements for a special midnight date...in the storeroom, where we shall get them locked. Now first help me with the first part!", Soumya said exasperatedly. This got them all thinking. Nia a while later said, "Why not use them the typical lame excuse, that the other one has called? Since the storeroom where we have to lock them up is typical, let's just stick to the lame. What say?" Soumya merrily embraced her saying, "You are the best...Bhabhi. Let's just hold on to what you said.", and got everyone's nod. "Agar hum unhe storeroom mein bulayenge toh unhe doubt ho jayega aur woh nahi aayenge. Koi aur jagah socho unhe lock karne ke liye.", Harsh said. This got everyone whacking their brains. After a few minutes, Soumya exclaimed, "Terrace! Let's lock them up, up on the terrace!" "That's an even better idea. And plus the terrace is a lot more romantic than the storeroom!", Nia remarked, making everyone chuckle. They decided to put the plan into action after dinner when the elders would have slept and had also decided to put up some simple decorations (as per DevAkshi's preferences) in the evening so that no one could think of going there after dusk.