7: Disappointed romantics
Manav hopes to see the girl on the bus again. Dhriti and Aditya go on a second date. Yash and Ahana's problems seem to increase.

"The cake is actually not bad, Karan" Tara commented. The cake was not just 'not bad' it was delicious! It had a soft and spongy texture and tasted perfect. But, of course, she won't accept it in front of Karan Desai.

"Thank you," he said with a soft smile as the two sat on Tara's sofa, side by side.

The two sat in silence, eating the piece of cake they had served themselves in their bowl.

"Karan, wait," Tara said suddenly.

"What happened?"

"Chocolate sauce! Let's put chocolate sauce on this"

"Oh yes!" Karan said with excitement and the two rushed to the kitchen. Tara got the bottle out of her refrigerator and kept it on the platform.

Karan and Tara's bowls were ready for the chocolatey attack, but just then Karan stopped her.

"No stop stop stop stop"

"What happened?" Tara tilted the bottle straight up to prevent the sauce from falling out of the bottle.

"Why don't we...put it on the main cake?" He asked and Tara looked at him.

"...Yes, we should. The entire cake with chocolate, lots of chocolate and cake" Tara said.

"I thought you hated chocolate sauce with sponge cake?" Karan asked, raising his brow, referring to another time.

"Not anymore!" She grinned as the two sat back on the sofa, enjoying the cake from the dabba the entire cake was in.

The two chatted away, forgetting the annoyance they felt towards each other. Rohan catches her up on his party planning while she tells him about the violent patient in the psych ward.

Karan felt guilt sweep in, feeling bad that he decided to annoy her on the day she was exhausted.

"See, this is Vani's sister ke court marriage ke photos"

"Oh, show show" Karan said, squinting his eyes and looking at the picture.

"How cute," he said with a soft smile.

"She and Vani look so similar na, I don't know why but I am continually trying to visualise Vani as a bride, she would look so pretty"

"She would but Vani getting married is so crazy," he said and Tara raised a brow.

"Why?"

"I mean, it's Vani..her getting married before me would be so weird right?"

"Vani's parents want to get her married soon, so would you go and get married just before her?"

"Why are they rushing so much? She's a literal kid" he said, resting his back against the couch.

"She's not a child" she laughed, "she's 26, and soon will be 27"

"Crazy" he muttered and Tara leaned back.

Tara was certainly intrigued. Was he a little overprotective towards Vani or was he a disappointed romantic?

"I, personally am super excited for her wedding. I mean, being the best friend of the bride and everything, it's going to be so much fun!" She added, trying to figure out the guy she had known for so many years.

Karan stayed silent, staring intently at the wall-mounted television. He looked like he was looking at the future.

"Karan?" She asked softly.

"You see, it's just...I had some different ideas about my...uh my...overall li..life. I guess, I just, I don't know."

"I think I do" Tara started, "Are you not talking about love, Karan? Did you also believe that it would come knocking on your door as soon as you become an adult?" She asked but was shocked as she ended her question. How am I being so open about my feelings?

A chuckle left his lips and Tara looked at him. "I guess, I mean not as soon as I turned twenty-one, but I did think I would have somebody by now, I mean at least before Vani's marriage!" He tried to joke towards the end, but Tara understood what he was thinking. There was just this point in life when you think that you would never find love, that you would stay with yourself for your entire life; especially if you grow up in a society which expects you to have 'settled down' by thirty.

Karan started coughing as he stuffed a huge bite of the cake.

"Varti bagh, varti bagh" (Look up, look up) Tara said as she got up to get him water to drink. By the time she came back from the kitchen, he had stopped coughing, but he took the steel glass of water to drink, nonetheless.

"EEEEE" he shouted as he had a sip of the water and Tara burst out laughing.

"You put salt in the water?" He asked in disbelief.

"And you rang my doorbell a hundred times" she gave him a sweet smile.

"God, it's...you, God. I hate you" he said, annoyed as he got up to leave. Tara was laughing her heart off. Karan looked back at her before he left and saw her giggling. The slightest smile appeared on his face. She has a very beautiful laugh- God, what am I thinking?

He shut the door and opened his door, and muttered to himself, "Fuck, I am so screwed"

-

An eventful day had started as Vani's sister was getting married, in the Vedic way of getting married. Ahana's in-laws were going to live with her for some time, Dhriti was going to go on a second date with Aditya and everybody else had something or the else going on in their lives.

Manav, on the other hand, was still in his uninspired era. He had been in a whiny mood since the day started as he had seen that pretty girl on the bus in his dream. There wasn't much to decode about the dream, he had seen her and she had smiled at him but before he could say anything, scratch that, before he could smile back at her, he had woken up. Also, was she with Karan in the dream?

OH MY GOD, IS SHE GOING TO BE KARAN'S GIRLFRIEND OR SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE? OR IS SHE ALREADY...? No, but I would know if he has a girlfriend, we are pretty close.

The thought of one of his good friend dating the girl he had been thinking about for almost a week now, was simply...not nice. Manav thought that there had to be something special about her because he was thinking about her all these days, even if they didn't talk. They didn't even look at each other (at the same time). Perhaps, it was a sign from the universe, or perhaps he was being stupid because of his good memory. He didn't know.

Perhaps, I might see her on the bus again.

Hope is a funny thing. One moment, you might be all crushed, all disappointed- but one thought, one glimmer of positivity and the next moment you could get the strength to do something all over again. That's what just happened with Manav as he received a ray of hope to go and live the day.

He got ready and rushed to the bus stop. Manav was in awe of the miracle due to which the bus was on time. This is a sign from the universe!

He got on the bus, got a ticket and fortunately got the same seat from the other day. He sat down and played the same playlist he was listening to that day. Recreate that day, please!

But to his sheer dismay, the girl did not ascend on the bus, and nor did he see her on the stop the two had left the bus that day. Perhaps it was a one-time thing.

Disappointed, he waited at the bus stop, waiting to take the second bus to his workplace.

-

Dhriti was dressed in a light blue chikankari kurta with a white phulkari palazzo. She wore her favourite jhumkas, let her hair down and sat down on the sofa, waiting for her date because he insisted that he would pick her up. She switched on her television, and put an episode of 'Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai' to watch till Aditya arrived.

'Monisha beta...'

Just then, she panicked and got up. DID I PUT EYELINER? Dhriti rushed back to her room and put on the eyeliner while standing extremely close to the mirror. Putting an eyeliner was a challenging quest, but she had mastered it to perfection. The doorbell rang and she flung the eyeliner onto her bed, panicking again, and rushing back to the living room for she didn't want him to think that she was ready late. She went and opened the door, while an episode of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai season one played on the television.

"Hey," he said with a swoon-worthy smile, and Dhriti felt giddy at the mere sight of him. She had never felt like that.

"Hey, come on in," she said with a warm smile.

"Thank you, my lady!" He said in a poor British accent, enough to make her laugh.

"You're welcome, you handsome gentleman!" She said back, in a worse accent and he smiled at her like a normal human being, but he was internally melting because she called him handsome. Dhriti gave him a glass of water, in a glass made of glass, which surprised him.

"Thanks," he muttered before drinking it. He kept the glass on the teapoy as he finished drinking it and then gave her the bouquet of the crocheted flowers he had been holding for so long.

"For you," he said with a soft smile which she returned.

"Thank you, Aditya!" She said, gleaming at him. "Though people generally give real flowers," she commented, even if she LOVED the flowers, just to tease him a little.

Contradictory to what Dhriti thought, Aditya just smiled at her.

"I like to give things which will stay for a long, long time" he said.

"Can't disagree on that" she replied, smiles not leaving the two of them.

The two then proceeded to the restaurant they had decided to go to. Dhriti ordered a Mysore masala dosa and he ordered a cheese chilli dosa. After giving the order, the two looked at each other, not knowing how to start a conversation.

"So, uh...why did you leave the firm?" He asked and her prayers went in vain, for she prayed continuously that he would not ask her that. She was not ready to talk about it, not yet.

"Uh...I am sorry Aditya but I don't want to talk about it right now. There was nothing wrong at work, it's just...personal" she said, and a weird expression flashed on his face for just a moment. "I mean, it's personal, as in...the reason I quit is like, I mean- it was not the firm, it was me. I am not really ready to talk about it yet" she explained and breathed out as she finished her explanation.

"Got it, I am sorry— I...I didn't mean to intrude" he said nervously, not wanting to say anything wrong again.

"No! No, I...I mean...don't be sorry, we're we're on a date, and you have been a friend for a long time, so..so it's not your fault asking about this" she said, the mood had suddenly changed and the two had become very awkward.

Gone was the giddiness, the excitement, the anticipation of romance. Now lingered, the 'having a good conversation' scare.

-

Ahana and Yash arrived at the dining area, all ready for the day ahead of them. Their cook had already made breakfast so the two of them cleaned the plates and set the table to serve food to everyone. Soon enough, Yash's parents and uncle-aunty came there for breakfast, drowns adoring their faces.

"Tum log solar nahi lagva sakte kya?" (Can't you put solar panels?) his father grumbled, taking a seat at the table. ,

"Kyun papa?" (Why?) Ahana asked, "Aapko garam paani nahi mila?" (Did you not get hot water?)

"Haa, bilkul nahi mila!" (Yes, i did not get hot water!) his mother commented.

"Strange" she said, "How is that possible?"

"Papa, you used the knob at the left side, right?" Yash chimed in and his father- Harshwardhan's face showed that he had indeed, not used the knob on the right.

"You could have just called me" Yash said, rolling his eyes as he sat on a chair.

"Whatever" he mumbled to himself.

"Agar tum logonki charcha khatam hui hai toh mujhe khaana milega kya yaha?" (If you all are done discussing this, can I get some food here?) Yash's aunt Sulekha said mockingly.

Ahana started serving Sulekha the aloo parathas and Yash got up hastily, serving his parents.

As the three couples started to eat, Yash's mom asked Ahana,

"Tum itna tayar hoke kyun baithi ho?" (Why are you all ready to go out?)

"I have to go to work" She replied, as politely as possible, seeing the expression on her mother-in-law's face.

"Hum aaye hai aur tum kam pe jaarahi ho?" (We're here and you're going to work?)

"Mummy Ji, aap yaha bohot din haina, mein roj chhuti nahi le sakti- Abhi shaadi said honeymoon ki vajah se already bohot din chhuti le li hai" (Mom, you're here for many days, I can't take a holiday for that long- especially after I took a break because of the wedding and honeymoon)

"Oh, so my son is now interrupting your work?" She asked bitterly, and Ahana instantly gave up, utterly disappointed and not having the energy to deal with her in-laws.

-

Tara was ready to go to work and start another day. She was busy making breakfast when the doorbell rang.

God, is it that idiot again?

She opened the door, and Karan stood in front of her, looking sleepy.

"Hey, I wanted my cake tin" he said in a deep, and groggy voice.

"Oh, yeah. Come on in" Tara said. He walked in, his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Give me a second" she murmured and he simply nodded.

Tara went to the dry balcony- the area used to clean dishes to bring the cake tin. She handed the tin to Karan who walked away like a zombie.

"Are you not going to office today?" She asked as he opened the door to leave.

"Work from home" he said and she hummed. Tara heard the door shut loudly, when her attention went to the terrace. The living room of her house had a terrace attached to it, which was one of Tara's favourite thing about her house.

"Is that?" Tara gasped loudly, running away. SNAKE, THERE IS A SNAKE IN MY HOUSE?

She quickly opened the door and rang Karan's doorbell.

"KARAN, KARAN THERE IS A SNAKE IN MY HOUSE" Tara shouted, completely spiralling. He opened the door hastily, looking at her with shock.

"What? Tara, I swear to God- if this is a prank, I will kill you!" He said.

"No, no this is not a prank!" She shook her head aggressively and Karan agreed, looking at her fear struck face.

"Let's go and see it, and call the animal welfare people to take it away" he said and she nodded. The two looked at the door.

"It's closed, and you don't have a key, do you?" He sighed. "Why do you always panic so much? I'll go get the key to your house" he said, turning away but she quickly clutched on his arm. Karan froze at the sudden skin contact, but somehow tried to show himself unaffected.

"I'll come with you" she said, terrified.

"Whatever" he muttered, his heart rate rising. The two walked to the television unit and Karan got the spare keys to her house from a drawer. The door of Tara's house opened, and they walked in, with Tara still clinging onto him.

"Stay here, I'll go ahead and see it" he said, after Tara showed his the black, small reptile. "I think it's a small, non-venomous, non-harmful baby snake" he added.

"NO!" She said.

"Nothing will happen!"

"It's a snake!"

Karan freed himself from her strong grip, and felt his heart rate come back to a normal rhythm. He walked slowly, but as he approached the snake, he walked quickly and held it in his arms.

"KARAN NO, OH MY GOD" Tara shouted. Wait, what?

Karan burst out laughing as Tara looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh, there's a note on this" Karan said as Tara looked at boy angrily.

"Hi Tara! That's what the note says" he said cheekily and Tara marched to him and stood close to Karan.

There you go, my heart's running again! Dumbass heart.

"Do you think this is funny?" She glared at him and he smiled.

"Honey, I taught you how to prank others. Did you really think that you could prank me and get away with it?" He asked, tucking  a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"This isn't over" she said, or rather promised and he stepped back (for the sake of his poor heart).

"Bring it on, baby!" He grinned back at her.

-

It was evening time, and Ahana and Yash had spent the entire day catering to their parents and uncle-aunty's needs. When the four went out to visit the nearby temple, the two found some peace and quiet. Yash sat beside Ahana, feeling extremely guilty.

"Hey, I am so sorry" he murmured and she turned to look at him.

"I really didn't know they were coming here, I would have told you, for sure. And I am so sorry that you couldn't go to work today, and I am sorry for what Mom said, I am so sorry. I will have a talk with them tomorrow, and they won't trouble you, again I am so"

"Shh" Ahana said, placing a finger on his lips. "Kiti vela sorry mhanshil?" (How many times are you going to aplogise?) she asked.

"It's okay, I understand," she said softly and Yash looked at her, love pouring from his eyes.

The two kissed each other, setting aside all the bitterness. At moments like these, the two just needed each other and their love. It was enough.