Popcorn

9. Team R

 "Dadi, don't bring Ayu back home until its past seven." Aditi whispered in Malini's ears who was about to enter the car to visit a temple along with her husband, friends and her youngest granddaughter.

Aditi waved her hand happily at her younger sister in the car who was whining over the idea of going to a temple with the oldies. As the car zoomed out of sight, Aditi jogged into the house to meet the rest four.

"Thanks guys for joining us."Aditi thanked the two brothers.

"Don't be silly. What's the idea?"Harshan motioned his hand in the air warding off her thanks.

"We have five hours from now. We have to bake the cake, look after decorations and barbeque hence we need to separate into teams."

"Bhai makes the best chocolate truffle cakes." Rakshan exclaimed happily looking at his brother with an expectant smile.

"Yes, I do but I need an assistant and I can't take Rakshan as he is good in decorations. He can help you guys with that." Harshan spoke shattering the hopes of his younger brother. Rakshan expected his brother would take his assistance like old times were they used to bake chocolate cake for their mother's birthday. Rakshan offered his help to the girls with a poker face.

"Fine, Aditi and Nirmal can help you with cake and barbeques as I am bad at cooking. I can assist Rakshan with the decorations." Rachna suggested.

"Great, now we will meet exactly two and half an hour later." Aditi spoke in an authoritative tone.

"Yes Madam." Harshan gave a mock salute to her and all dispersed to start their assigned task.

******

"Rakshan, we need to first decide where we are going to hold the celebrations." Rachna said as they stood on the terrace examining locations.

"You have a beautiful lawn which would be easy for the barbeque setup and it would be more comfortable for our grandparents if they want to shift later into the rooms after the celebration." Rakshan suggested looking at the lawn down.

"Impressive!"

"What do you suggest for seating arrangements?"Rakshan asked.

"We can use the long floor table in the storeroom and mattress for dining arrangements. For light, I think some glowing bulbs are available in the garage." Rachna said striking the items in the list.

"Perfect and we can add a banner to the list. Let's get down with the things." Rakshan proposed and both made their way to the store room.

******

"Harsh I think you should leave your company and become a chef. You will give a run to all the master chefs in our country." Aditi let out a moan licking the chocolate batter.

"I will think about that but for now make the Alabama white sauce."Harshan ordered.

"I would Harsh as soon as the recipe video resumes." Aditi sighed looking at the video that got stuck again.

"I wonder how you don't know the recipe?"

"Unfortunately, I'm more into Indian." Aditi shrugged her shoulders.

"Apparently I thought as you were in Copenhagen, you would have adopted to the taste."

Aditi chuckled and continued, "I don't blame you. Its me who couldn't accept the new taste."

"Or you loved your regional taste more."Harshan said raising an eyebrow at her and passed her the fresh batter to keep in the oven.

"I totally agree with you Harsh. You surely know to look at the bright side." Hearing these words, Harshan's smile faltered for a fraction of second.

"Hey, taking about bright side, the video has resumed." Aditi jumped from the kitchen counter closing the oven door.

"That's called Harsh's magic."Harshan proudly flaunted his collar at which Aditi and Nirmal giggled.

"At least the magic works on you if your Rachu Di was here she would have banged my head on the wall and would have said don't give yourself too much credit Mr Harshan." Harshan mimicked the last part in Rachna's voice making Aditi crack up more.

"I agree my sister is a bit sharp but she is the sweetest." Aditi defended her sister pouring the vinegar along with the flavor building ingredients to the mayonnaise.

"A bit sharp woman?"Harshan said rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry I will let my sister into the kitchen then I can see how much sharp she is." Aditi raised her eyebrows in a challenging way momentarily moving her focus from the sauce to him.

"No man! She would burn the kitchen down. Have some pity on this poor soul." Harshan said dramatically placing his hand on his chest and both split into laughter.

The talkative Ayushi had gelled up with Harshan but the seven years age difference and different perspective to things set them more better as good siblings. Harshan may not have been able to break the nutshell built by the silent and matured Aditi but definitely he began weaving his hand of friendship with her.

******

Ayushi stood rooted to her spot gaping at the lawn in amazement. On a particular section of the well-maintained lawn, laid a white clothed floor table along with mattress and soft pillows arranged on the sides. Glowing bulbs and medium sized glittering stars hanging on a wire connected to four bamboo poles stood around the table. A colourful card board banner with the words 'Happy Birthday Ayushi' written in a beautiful calligraphy was placed diagonally between the barbeque stand and the table.

"Wow guys! This looks amazing. Thank you so much..." Ayushi shouted happily and rushed to hug her sisters.

"The credit goes to Team R for this beautiful set up." Harshan said moving forward to hug the birthday girl.

"Team R?" Suchitra asked in surprise.

"Yes Dadiji, team R stands for Rachu di and Rakshan." Aditi answered the confusion placing the hot barbeques on the table.

"I can't believe it Rachu di...you did this for me." Ayushi cried out in astonishment and moved forward to give another big hug to her sister.

"Actually, the credit goes to my extraordinary team mate Rakshan." Rachna confessed coming out of the hug.

"That's not true. It was a team work and with an amazing team partner it was bound to happen ."Rakshan said shrugging his shoulders.

Working with Rakshan, Rachna realized she had misjudged him. Though he remained silent most of the time, she found him to be collected and supportive. She was impressed by the ideas he put forth for the decorations. The elders appreciated them both for their efforts.

"Ayu, you should say a big thank you to our both sets of grandparents. Overall ,they were the one who handled your tantrums for the past five hours." Aditi poked fun at her little sister.

"Dadu, tell this butterfingers that I'm a good girl' Ayushi moved towards Amitosh for help.

"I can't tell lies Ayu. Now allow us to eat my highness!"Amitosh said eying the barbeques.

"Dadu!"Ayushi yelled.

All of them sat across the table and had their dinner complimenting Harshan, Aditi and Nirmal for the wonderful dinner. The dinner passed with some laughing and teasing each other while some were enjoying the moment.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

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