Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Party Pooper

"I don't want to go," whined Khushi petulantly, laying back on Payal's bed as the latter selected jewelry to match with her sari.

Ignoring her, Payal pulled out a pair of dangling earrings adorned with red gems. "What do you think of these?"

"Your sari is green."

"For you."

"But I don't want to goooooo," said Khushi, purposely elongating the last word to annoy a response out of Payal.

"I think they'll go very nicely," Payal said, setting the earrings aside.

Khushi pouted. "I don't want to look nice. I want to look ugly."

Payal smiled fondly at her friend. "I don't think you could look ugly if you tried, Khushi. Besides, your looks aren't the reason you've been invited to this party."

"I wish I said no," grumbled Khushi.

"As if you could. You already turned down Mr. Mehta's job offer; you're lucky he didn't take offense. He definitely would have been offended if you turned down the party."

Khushi nodded. Recent success aside, Khushi was still a relatively young and inexperienced lawyer and getting on the bad side of one of the most well-known barristers in all of Delhi was definitely not an option.

"At least you're going with me," she said to Payal. "I'm going to need the moral support, especially if he asks me to join the firm again."

Payal nodded. "Trust me, I'd rather do that than go with Buaji to visit Arjun Bhai." Arjun Bhai was Buaji's son. He lived with his wife and children in Mumbai and Buaji had gone to visit them for the week. Khushi had never met them but Payal seemed to dislike them, which was odd because Payal usually liked everyone.

***

Arnav wished he wasn't going to this stupid party. Parties in general weren't his thing. The small talk, the stuffy outfits, the hypocritical sycophants that gathered around his family like flies--all of it made him extremely uncomfortable. And this party would be worse than others because he knew that some idiot would bring up Shyam and ruin Di's night.

He glanced at his sister, who sat next to him on the passenger seat. She looked radiant tonight, in the diamond set that he had gifted her and the black sari from Akash. She seemed happy but the smile on her face would be replaced by a lost, wistful look when she thought no one was watching.

Unable to bear that look any longer, he turned his attention back to the road.

*****

"Wow," murmured Payal as she took in the grandeur of Mr. Mehta's house. Khushi could only nod speechlessly in agreement. The only time she'd been in an abode this large was when she'd been to the Raizada Mansion but that had been so long ago and she'd been too distracted to actually observe their home.

"Ms. Gupta," greeted the party's host jovially. "There you are."

Khushi took a fortifying breath before turning to the man. "Namaste, Mr. Mehta. Thank you so much for inviting me. This is my friend, Payal Pansare."

More greetings were exchanged as Mr. Mehta introduced his wife. "Come," he instructed Khushi. "Let me introduce you to some of my clients."

In the next half an hour, Khushi and Payal met the cream of Delhi's crop. Khushi's head spun as she took in all the new faces and names and it didn't help that Mr. Mehta introduced her as a prospective lawyer for his firm. She'd already rejected his offer; why couldn't he understand that?

And things only got worse when suddenly Khushi found herself in front of the last people she wanted to see--the Raizadas. Ugh, why hadn't she realized they would be here? She'd known that Mehta & Mehta represented them, but she hadn't even considered the possibility that they could be guests as well.