Flashback...

Nitee was really confused about her feelings. She and Parth had met only 3 weeks back in the temple where he had cornered her, muttered some un-understandable complaints, gave those accusatory looks and scared the hell out of her. 3 days later they had again bumped into each other at the village fair and the moment she saw his tall stature and his intense eyes, she scurried away like a rat while Parth continued to look at her till she was out of his sight. The following week she was shocked to see him in her home. Apparently, he was a renowned Professor in UK who had come down to attend the Science-Vedic Seminar held by Lucknow University. Also, he was looking out for an investor to set up his R&D business in India which is why he was immersed in a deep conversation with her father, one of the most respectable businessman in the city. Impressed with his talks and personality, her dad, Sandeep Vashishth, offered him to stay as their guest till the time he was in India to which he cordially denied few times but ultimately agreed. When Parth came to stay with her family, she was surprised to see his completely different avatar. No taunts, no accusations, no complaints... instead they were replaced by mischievousness. And that sent shivers down her spine because that naughtiness reminded her of a person who now only lived in her memories. The following days the deja-vu feeling had increased starting from calling her with weird names to pulling her hair, knowing her favourite dish to the stuffs she was allergic to, the fact that she was not an early morning person to her habit of watching horror movies at night... he knew it all which was weird and scary yet it made her heart skip a beat! On one such night when she was unable to sleep, she decided to take a stroll in the lawn. Unfortunately, Parth was already standing there with hands in pocket leaning sideways on the pillar while his gaze was fixed on the stars twinkling in the sky. When she was about to place her hand on his shoulder, he turned in a swift motion and pinned her to the pillar.

Parth (in husky voice) - A Beautiful Stalker...

As soon as he said that, a current ran through her body making her wonder whether it was due to the chilly weather or his nearness. She slipped into a trance as he locked her eyes in a deep eyelock... And then he uttered those 2 magical words, which every girl dreams of...

Parth (whispered in her ears) - Marry Me... 😍

Not a question... A plain simple statement... Infact a command... Like he will marry her... By Hook or Crook...

Nitee (gave a hard push on his chest) - What do you think of yourself? What do you mean Marry. Me.? Do you even think before you speak? Marriage and that too with you it's never going to happen... Atleast not in this lifetime Mr. Rawat... So stay away from me...

"Tum khud chalkar aaogi mere paas, yeh Parth Singh Rawat ka waada hai tumse Nitee Vashishth" (You yourself will come to me that too willingly, this is Parth Singh Rawat's challenge to you Nitee Vashishth) Parth said smirking at her.

"Mungerilal ke haseen sapne dekhna bandh kijiye. Kyu ki jo aap soch rahe hai woh kabhi nahi hoga" (Stop building castles in the sky. Because what you are thinking will never happen) Nitee said turning her back to him while flicking her hair behind.

Present

She remembered their conversation of few days back which had changed the dynamics of their relationship. "Did they even share any sort of relationship?" she questioned herself. After their challenge to each other, she had noticed how he had kind of withdrawn himself from her. For instance, he had stopped cornering her or refrained from having any type of physical contact with her. Though she hated to admit it, but she loved those slight brushings of their hands, his hand on her waist when he saved her from falling due to her clumsiness, she getting drowned into those complaining eyes, he picking her up without her permission as if he owned her, hypnotising her with his deep baritone and husky voice.

Off lately, even her sisters have observed her getting lost in her own lala land or smiling idiotically to herself or staring at nothing particular. The other day, Mannat, her sister, had by mistakely put the used tea bag on the bed and the 2 sisters waited for Nitee to blast them for their untidiness but luckily no such thing happened. On the contrary, she smiled caressing the stain on the bedsheet and continuously stared at the tea bag. Seeing her, Shivani, her second sister, had gone to the extent of teasing her saying "Jiji, Rawat saahab ka pyaar sar chadhkar bol raha hai" (Mr. Rawat's love has got into your head, Di) making Nitee go all red with embarrassment. That night she pondered over Shivani's words and questioned herself  "Is is that obvious?Am I really falling for that Lambu Singh Rawat?"

Actually, his sudden proposal for marriage made her doubt his intentions. The only thing bugging her was whether he actually meant what he said. Marriage is not a child's play, it is a union of 2 souls, a relation that is to last forever. Though he made her heart flutter in many unknown ways when he was near still marriage is not something she would agree to atleast not before she is 100% sure of Parth's feelings towards her. So she thought of executing a plan, the age old game of JEALOUSY.

For the next few days Pratham, her best friend, was to visit Vashishth Haveli to take her help in arranging his sister's engagement ceremony which was a perfect opportunity for Nitee to execute her plan easily. She tried getting close to Pratham in front of Parth or sometimes giving that extra cheesy smile or sometimes flirting with him. She would try to notice Parth's reactions on his face atleast some flicker of emotion but it seems he had gone blank and he didn't care much. It pained her when she realised he didn't pay attention to her these days. Unknowingly, she was craving for his attention. But what she failed to observe was how his fists closed everytime that Pratham sat beside Nitee or the flaring of his nostrils each time his Nitee flirted with Pratham or his ever increasing blasting on poor servants these days for petty things.

After their conversation that night, Parth had decided to resort to reverse psychology. He knew it was time to get the real charmer out. Though he was dealing with a chit of girl, he admitted that she was a tough to nut crack. He tried his best to woo her but seems all his tricks failed in front of her. That is when his devil mind though of an idea.

"Every girl craves for a guy's attention knowingly or unknowingly and this emotion is stronger especially in case of a guy who seems to be so much into you. What if that person suddenly withdraws himself, not giving the girl the attention she wants. There starts the real game when the girl now actually starts to ponder over the reasons for the guy's ignorance. My dear, Nitee, you are no different, I promise my ignorance will definitely hurt you" and smirked to himself.

He was successful in his plan as he was smart enough to realise that his ignorance has definitely stirred Nitee in a wrong way. However, the tables turned when he saw Nitee getting close to that damn Pratham and he hated to admit that he was jealous of that man who was the subject of Nitee's attention these days. But then he was Parth who had never learnt to lose, he decided to continue with his plan because the player in him knows that Nitee will definitely come running to him.

In all these, it slipped out of his mind that he along with his colleagues from London were to attend 3 days workshop on Vedic Mathematics, Science & Literature to be held at Lucknow University. His colleagues were to fly down tomorrow, they were just 4 of them so he imvited them to stay at the Haveli after taking Sandeep's permission. The next day he sent the driver to pick them up. Meera, Alex, Sally, Arush and Parth all were college friends who dreamt of becoming lecturers at prestigious institution. Thus Parth was a Maths & Physics professor, Alex and Sally were in a relationship while Alex taught English literature Sally was an expert in French literature, Arush recently got hitched to his girlfriend and was a Biology lover. Meera was behind Parth since college days but for him she is nothing more than a friend, she is a Chemistry lecturer by profession.
Everyone was eagerly waiting for their arrival in the Haveli. The moment they got down out of the car they were awed at the grandeur of the haveli. Sally held Alex tightly fearing that she might just get lost in the palatial house. They entered and the three sisters stood shocked seeing the girls skimpily dressed in shorts and a crop top. Nitee could hear her sisters whispering about the length of the girls' dresses and she chided them saying "Have you forgotten never to judge a person especially a girl by her clothes. They have different upbringing than ours. Learn to accept new culture. They are our guests and we consider guests as Gods. Remember that."

Nitee smiled at them and came forward to do the aarti and applied tilak on their foreheads except Meera who refused to do so and Nitee nodded in understanding and let them in. Sally, Alex and Arush greeted Yamini and Sandeep with a Namaste and bent down to take their blessings. Meera cared less about them her eyes were only searching Parth who was not present among the people. Nitee could clearly see the desperation in Meera's eyes but ignored it. Meera squealed in delight as she spotted Parth and ran towards him and gave him a tight hug.

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Oh Teri! Nitee started the game already and how will it unfold... Stay tuned for the next part😉😁

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