Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Buaji puts her foot down

Vikrant laughed. "You're so funny, Khushi. Shall we dance?"

It was Arnav who answered. "Sorry, Vikrant. She's already promised to dance with me. Shall we, Ms. Gupta?"

Everyone stared as the duo walked off to the dance floor. "Are they together?" Aastha asked.

"No, never," Madhumati and Manorama answered in sync again.

"She's an acquaintance of our family," Manohar clarified, noticing how the woman's eyes had lit at the promise of gossip.

Vikrant kissed his teeth. "You'd do well to warn her not to bite off more than she can chew." He strode away, his girlfriend nearly tripping as she hurried after him.

NK released an inaudible breath, relieved that Vikrant was leaving. Spotting a pretty girl, he excused himself to go ask her to dance. Aastha excused herself also and thus, the group dwindled down to just Manohar, Manorama and Madhumati.

With her goal for tonight in mind, Manorama opened her mouth to insult Madhumati's outfit.

But before she could get a word out, her mother-in-law appeared at her elbow. "Manohar, what are you doing? It's your anniversary and you're not even dancing! Go on, take Manorama to the dance floor. Madhumati Ji, how are you? Have you eaten anything? You must try the samosas."

Before Manorama could quite process what was happening, she was on the dance floor with her husband and Devyani and Madhumati were no longer in sight. Well played, Saas-o-maa, she thought with grudging respect.

***

"Thank you so much, Ms. Raizada, Mr. Chawdry," the events planner said.

"Don't worry about it," Anjali replied cheerfully. To plan an event like this in four days was no small feat and she wasn't surprised that things had gone wrong. Some of the decorations had gone missing, the caterers had issues, the hotel manager had gotten sick and the list went on and on.

Thankfully, Anjali had the foresight to recruit Aman into the planning and working together, the three of them managed to pull the event off.

As the planner went to the back to check on the caterers, Anjali turned to Aman. "I knew we'd need you. Thank you so much for pulling through for us, Aman Ji."

"I'm happy to help however I can, Ma'am."

Her gaze swept the room and she smiled when she spotted Payal and Akash dancing together. "Look how cute they're together, Aman Ji."

He nodded in agreement then narrowed his eyes as he spotted another couple. "Is that...Is Mr. Raizada dancing with Ms. Gupta?"

"What? No way...It is."

Her mouth dropped open as Arnav smoothly dipped Khushi.

"Mr. Raizada is quite unpredictable, isn't he?"

Still flabbergasted, she could only nod.

***

They didn't need words, not when their souls hummed. They swayed to the music of their heartbeats, oblivious to the world around them. If there was room for thought, for wishes, then each would have desired that this moment would last for all of eternity.

But they were too immersed in the beauty of the here and now to bother with such wishful thinking. Until...

"Akash bitwa!"

Manorama's shrill voice startled Akash and Payal back into reality. With a fabricated smile, she said, "The party's over. It's time to go."

It was only now they realized that most of the guests had left and the hotel staff were starting the clean up process.