Knocking once on the door ,she quickly checked her messages to read the complete message, she had rushed seeing the words ' urgent : come to my place '.Before she could find it , the door clicked open.

"You messaged....'' Avni began but was cut abruptly by Neil, who much to her shock slowly encased her by putting his arm around her ; all too carefully.

'' Avni, come meet my '' he couldn't complete his lines either. A show of hands from the woman Avni had just collided with ,in the corridor ,stopped him .

'' Hello ji.Myself Mrs Shweta Khanna , the one and only mother of Tillu .'' Shweta introduced herself.

'' Who? Tillu? '' Avni narrowed her eyes at Shweta.

'' Offo ! Tillu means Neil.Its his nickname.Tillu tune isse abhi tak.bataya nai? ( You haven't told her yet? )" She turned her towards her only son.

'' No Mom.That wasn't necessary." He looked embarrassed ."Anyways this is Avni, my girlfriend"

'' Your mo..om.'' she stared at him in disbelief. '' Sorry aunty, I.. I didn't mean to bump into you earlier.''

'' That's okay.But wait......didn't you say, you were the new tenant? '' Shweta looked at Neil with suspicion.

'' Are you two trying to fool me? ''

'' Mom.Aap bhi na.Nothing like that .Lets go inside first.I'll tell u everything. ''
That would buy him some time to come up with some answers.He pulled Avni along with him.After everyone looked comfortably seated, shweta looked in Neil's direction ready for some answers.

'' Actually Avni's old landlord was giving her some trouble and it was far from her workplace too.My apartment was empty so I asked her to move in.''

'' Live in!!! '' Shweta stood up dramatically with her palms over her lips.

'' Mom!!!!!! Move in, not live-in. I told her to move into my spare apartment. '' the words flew out of his mouth in jet speed, thus preventing his loud mother from interjecting and passing remarks

'' Oh! So why is she introducing herself as the tenant? '' Shweta followed up with another trick question.

'' Self-esteem. You know she has this self esteem issue.She doesn't like taking any favours even from me, so she is even paying the rent ."

'' Arey wah beta, yeh toh badi achi baat hai. '' Shweta seemed impressed ,also relieved that she wasn't a gold digger.

'' I just didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression. '' Avni managed to speak finally.

'' She doesn't even accepts gifts from me Mom.Never allows me to buy her anything nice. '' he budged in." Tell her it's okay to accept gifts from her boyfriend " he complained to Shweta ,making a face at Avni.He needed to sell their lie to his mother and that needed a little bit of pretentious couple talks.

'' Really? Is that true Avni?'' Shweta looked at Avni.

''Wo..."Avni forced an uneasy smile on her face. '' Mana ke main expensive gifts nai leti ( I agree that I don't accept expensive gifts), but he never thinks of thoughtful gifts aunty '' she fake complained like a real girlfriend.

''Thoughtful gifts? '' He genuinely didn't know what she meant by that.

'' Yeah.Like flowers, cards, chocolates etc. Hai na aunty? '' she looked at Shweta for support.

'' Han han.What Tillu? You have learnt nothing from your Papa ''

Neil saw this as an opportunity to strike.He knew his next move would remove the doubts from his mother's head.Avni had already made it easy by complaining like a normal girlfriend.He got up from his seat and walked towards Avni .To her astonishment, he went down on his knees and held her hands.

'' Main toh pura ka pura tumhara hoon.Gifts can't express how I feel about you.''

She didn't move, neither did her eyelids.He was looking right into her eyes.She probably forgot to breathe for a moment there, until he winked at her.

''Ahem..ahem.'' Shweta who had been sitting on the opposite side, could neither see Avni's expression completely nor Neil's winking even partially, yet the scene felt too intense with her in the room.

'' Avni come seat next to me. '' she patted the seat next to her on the couch.Avni obliged with a smile.

" So.. tell me " Shweta looked at Avni ,her eyes glimmering with either excitement or mischief ; Avni couldn't figure out which.

" Tell....What? " She was as clueless as she looked.Her eyes shifted from Shweta to Neil ,then back to Shweta again.

" Arey ! How did you two meet ? Tell me the whole story "Shweta moved closer to Avni and held her hands as she spoke, her eyes were glued to Avni's face with expectations oozing out from them.Avni couldn't move , whether it was the tight grip of her fake boyfriend's mother's hands or her suspecting eyes she couldn't quite make out.She was put on the spot with nowhere to escape.

" We...we met.... met... si... six..6 months back " she fumbled more than she spoke, she was in deep trouble and she could sense it ; she could feel Mrs Khanna's glare .

'' Itna darr kyun rahi ho beta (why are you scared child ?) " Shweta offered her a glass of water which she politely refused.

" She isn't scared mom.I think she is just nervous because she is meeting you for the first time." Neil came and propped himself up on the armrest of the couch next to Avni, gently placing both his hands on her shoulders; toning down her nervousness a bit and in the process giving his mother the couple vibes that would give his mother's investigation a little rest.

" There's no need to be nervous dear.I'm just curious to know the romantic side of my son " Shweta was not ready to leave the topic.Her mind wouldn't rest peacefully till she found out everything she wanted to.

"Main batata hoon na( I'll tell you) .Waise bhi Avni ko kahan pta hai ( Avni doesn't know it anyway).She will also hear it for the first time " he blurted out , realising the slip of words seeing his Mom's raised eyebrows .

" What ??? !!" Shweta reacted immediately.

" I mean she can't describe the way I do because .... because I was the one who saw her first." he tried to cover it up.

'' Everytime I hear it , it feels like I'm hearing it for the first time...that's what he meant " she smiled sheepishly trying her best to help him out.

Neil moved away from Avni.Pulling up a chair infront of the couch ,he sat right in the middle ; facing both his mom and his fake girlfriend.

" It was raining heavily that night ,six months back.I was returning home after a meeting a client late in the evening , when my car broke down in the middle of the road.Finding my phone's battery dead , I ran out to the nearest shop to make a phonecall from the phonebooth near it.As I waited for the person on the other end to receive , I was about to witness the most beautiful scene of my life " Neil paused to elevate the excitement level of the two women sitting in front of him, who were completely lost in his narrative.

" Phir ... ( then ...) " Shweta prompted him to continue.
He shifted his complete focus on Avni as he resumed " A car which was coming in my direction stopped next to a bunch of children playing in the rain.The door of the car opened and out came someone dressed in a salwarsuit .She walked slowly towards the children , who stood still seeing her.And then......off came her shoes ....and ...she became one with the children ,dancing her heart out in the rain. One flash ....of lightening.....changed my life forever.One flash.....and I could see the beautiful innocence dancing , living life one moment at a time.Breathtakingly beautiful....she took my breath away with her laughter resonating in my heartbeats.There she was.....my love at first sight ." His eyes never left Avni's as he unfolded the story .The intensity of his gaze made Avni speechless ; she would have fell for the story only if it wasn't for the fact that the theme music of Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein kept playing in her head this whole time.Her mouth fell open and eyes stopped blinking at his confidence and calmness.

" Yeh toh kahin dekha hua lagta hai ( it feels as if I have seen this before) " Shweta finally spoke coming out of the mesmerising story .She scratched her head as she tried to figure it out.

" Yeah in RHTDM !! " Avni mumbled to herself.

" Did you say something ? " Shweta asked unable to decipher what she said.

" No.Nothing.I mean he describes it so vividly that you feel like you are witnessing it " she fake smiled.Neil breathed a sigh of relief putting his hand of his heart.

" Hayee ! My Tillu had love at first sight ! " Shweta screamed with excitement. " What next ? Did she give you lift or not ? "

" No, before I could even get to her she stepped back into her car and moved away."

" You didn't offer my poor son a lift? " She looked at Avni.

" I....I didn't see him . " Avni managed to say.

" Mom.You are spoiling my story.Concentrate here.Then I found out about her, pursued her ,and finally made her fall for my charm ." he flashed Avni a devilish smile.

" Ofcourse! Who can say no to my son? "

" Enough with our love story , let's go have dinner " Avni suggested trying to avoid further probing.

" You cooked ? " asked Shweta.

" Who ? Me ? I didn't know you were coming " Shweta had started intimidating her again.

The doorbell rang just in time to save her.

" I have ordered it from your favourite place mom " Neil smiled ."Avni help me set the plates please."

Avni hurried to the kitchen to get the plates, though she had absolutely no idea where they were she couldn't sit next to her fake future mother-in-law one more moment.Neil walked next to her with the package of food.Setting it aside on the table ,he fetched her glass of water.

" Take it. You need it ." he pushed the glass towards her.
The cold water definitely helped her calm down a bit and sweat on her forehead began to disappear.

" Seriously RHTDM ? Were you imagining the actress all this while? " she chuckled as she helped him with the plates.

" Well it was better than you stuttering.Why would I imagine anyone else when I was looking at you? "

" What! " She stopped halfway whatever she she was doing and froze .He wasn't smiling , was he serious ....she couldn't read those eyes of his.

"It's so easy to intimidate you " he let out that chuckle that he had been suppressing , relieving Avni ,who rolled her eyes at him.

"Very funny ! ''

Dinner was quiet affair for sometime.Neither Neil nor Avni dared to break the peaceful silence.....but that didn't last long.

" So what are your future plans ? "

Avni and Neil looked up simultaneously confused as to whom was the question directed to.Exchanging a quizzical quick glance ,they turned towards the quiz master ; Shweta.

"Plans ? " Neil sounded intentionally naive though he vaguely had an idea about what his mother was hinting at.

" Future plans Tillu .Marriage ,kids etc "Shweta's over enthusiastic words made Avni choke on the bite of food she had just put in her mouth.
To her , her own relentless coughing felt less distressing than the discussion was headed.She had never anticipated this when she signed in on the deal.A glass of water and a few gentle taps on her back by her fake boyfriend to be future husband ,calmed her down.

" We are not getting married mom '' he replied sternly.

" What!! Are you saying you never want to get married.I won't allow a live-in relationship. " Shweta put down her fork as if a sign of protest.

" I meant we don't want to get married so soon.Arent you getting a little ahead of yourself ."

"Oh! Say it like that na.Ok. I understand.''

Neil and Avni breathed a sigh of a relief ; just a little too soon.

" So then lets do a engagement. Now you can't say no to that. "

" Mom.."

"I'll talk to our family and Panditji( priest) and get a date fixed."

"Mom"

" Avni ,give me your parents number.I'll talk to them too.I'm so excited for this.So much to do .Let me get started." She picked up her handbag ready to leave and begin the planning.

Avni was too flabbergasted to even speak or move.Neil on the other hand had no idea how to stop the train of thoughts processing in his mother's brain.

"Avni no. " Shweta tapped Avni out of her shocked state.

" Wo...Aunty....I ....I....I ..yes ...I haven't told my mother yet about us , about Neil "

" Oh.Koi nai (no problem) .You take your time ,tell them first.But don't take too much time .If you want I can talk to them ."

" No .No, I'll do it .Soon ." What had she landed herself into.

" Mom.Its getting late.Let me drop you home ." Neil tried to get his mom out ,to spare themselves from this sticky situation.

" I came with our driver.I'll can go.You two finish your dinner." Shweta caressed Avni's face lovingly and hugged her son tightly before she made her way out .

The fake lovers fell back on their seats, not knowing what to say to each other ; both equally astounded by the turn of events. Their small ruse , wasn't small anymore ; they were getting entangled in their own web of lies.

              ****************

A/N :

Hey guys ,sorry for d late update.

Thank you all for showing your love for this story by voting and commenting.😄

Also thanx to everyone who had voted and liked my previous stories 😄

PS : The video above is the rain scene from the movie Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein , which Neil was describing in this chapter.For anyone who hasn't watched d movie...hope this helps in the picturisation.😄