| ANGAD |

It took me twenty years to realise Renee was the silliest mistake my parents had ever made. I mean, if you know, you know.

She would have caused widespread destruction in the Sharmas and Grovers if I hadn't stopped her.

"Okay. I think it's time to talk to Dad and Mom." Renee took her mobile from her pant pocket to reveal everything.

"Renee, please! We aren't done yet." I raised my voice as if to stop her from calling my parents.

"Yeah, Angad. You're right. I won't call them. Anyhow, they will be here in an hour. So, I would request you and your girlfriend to wait." Renee responded in a curt tone.

"Renee, please! I'll do anything you want. But don't tell this to Mom and Dad. We will tell it on our own. Trust us, Renee!" I begged.

"Anything? Literally?" Renee tilted her head to her left.

"Yes. Anything for my little sis," I whispered. I have to forgive myself for this bluff.

"O... Kay. Since my dear brother asked for it, I will get it for you. Ummm... What should I ask?" She thought and looked up.

"Renee, please! Tell me fast," I groaned out of exasperation.

"Well, I don't want it as a big thing. I want it in small instalments," Renee instructed.

"Small instalments, as in?" I raised my eyebrows

"As in... Zero curfews, extension in my baking time, and so on." Renee shrugged her shoulders. "Are you sure this time, brother?"

I took a deep breath, washing over my second thoughts and obliged, "I agree."

"Take an oath." Her hands swirled her ponytail like she usually does.

"Excuse me?" Naina and I asked in unison.

"I said, take an oath. Don't you know the spelling of oath? O. A. T. H. Repeat it with me." Her look became as intense as a hostel warden. "Let's start with Angad. I," she started swearing.

"I," I started swearing as well.

"Angad Sharma." Her tone intensified.

"Angad Sharma," I repeated.

"Will abide by the words of Her Highness Renee Sharma."

"Will abide by the words of Her Highness Renee Sharma." I couldn't help but feel exasperated at it.

"And make sure her wishes are being fulfilled."

"And make sure her wishes are being fulfilled."

"And ensure my romantic relationship will be exposed by her if I don't abide by the oath. I swear by the corn pizza I had and work according to the oath." She stopped swearing.

"And ensure my romantic relationship will be exposed by her if I don't abide by the oath. I swear by the corn pizza I had and work according to the oath." I ended my repetition. "Renee, I need you to take an oath on our behalf."

"Me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. You." I pointed my chin at her. "I, Renee Sharma, will ensure I won't reveal my brother's relationship unless he does on his will. I swear on the Thums Up I had," I swore as if to ask her to repeat it.

"I, Renee Sharma, will ensure I won't reveal my brother's relationship unless he does it on his will. I swear on the Thums Up I had."

"You sound sleepy, Ren. You swear it with much energy like how I did. Got it?" I instructed.

"Okay." She sighed out of annoyance. "I, Renee Sharma, will ensure I won't reveal my brother's relationship unless he does it on his will. I swear on the Thums Up I had." She swore it with much energy.

"That's good. Welcome to the team." I extended my hand for a handshake.

"Welcome to the team." She accepted the handshake.

"Now, please behave nicely with my girlfriend." I pointed at the girl who stood frozen at our banter.

She glanced at Naina once and said, "Don't worry, Miss..."

"Naina," she reminded Renee of her name.

"Make sure you get out of this shit as late as possible. Only then do I get more of my wishes fulfilled." Her focus shifted to me while she asked, "What? Are you planning to get her introduced to our parents?"

Then, the realisation hit me while I looked at Naina and requested, "Sorry, Naina. I think we will meet sometime later. See you soon!"

"Yeah, sure, Angad," Naina obliged.

Renee asked, "If you don't mind, shall I borrow Naina for some time?"

"Yeah, sure. She is all yours." I beamed while Naina walked out of the house. While Renee tried to follow her, I pulled her by my side and whispered, "Don't you dare back-bitch about me!"

"I'll try not to." Renee walked out and followed her. Since I couldn't control my excitement, I tip-toed outside and listened to their conversation.

"Naina, I think I have to be quite honest with you," Renee initiated the conversation. "I'm not interested in what you two are doing right now. I mean, you look like a nice person. Angad is a gentleman as well. You two can make a great pair. But cheating on another girl and having a romantic relationship doesn't sound like a good plan. So, disclose everything to Meeta as soon as possible. And you take the initiative. Don't give away this task to Angad. Then, it's an utter flop. Let me tell you that he's not brave enough to confess these kinds of stuff. Please consider it."

I couldn't help but scowl and cuss at my little angelic sister. That bitch! I told her not to ill-talk about me, didn't I?

"I could understand you, Renee. I didn't like this whole plan of cheating on my friend. But unfortunately, I fell for your brother. And I trust Angad. He will take things forward and confess everything to Meeta and her folks. But still, since you said it, I will watch him. Glad that you were concerned towards our illicit relationship." Naina affirmed and looked at the entrance where I was standing. She smiled at me, looked at Renee and said, "I have to go now. Bye!" She looked at me for a final time, waved her hand, and walked away.

Renee, who noticed it, turned back and glared at me as if to ask, "Did you hear it all?"

And I nodded a yes and grinned at her superficially.

***

"Your lunch is ready, Mom and Dad," Renee beamed while I placed the dishes on the dining table with her.

"Did you two cook?" Mom queried and raised her eyebrows. She opened the dishes and saw rice and chicken tikka masala made by us.

"Of course, Mom!" I affirmed and sat on a chair while Renee served the food for us.

"You sit first, Renee," Dad insisted when Renee served him the rice.

"I will, Dad. I'm not those old-school ladies to see you relish and wait for my turn," Renee scoffed and sat near me.

While Renee served food for herself, Mom asked, "Did you meet Meeta last night?"

Renee chuckled at me snarkily, which I suppressed with a deadly glare. I avoided looking at Mom and replied, "Yes. She brought her friend last night as well."

"How did it go?" Mom inquired while I hung my head low and had my lunch.

"Yeah. Naina was with us until her friend showed up. They were talking, and Naina left the place soon." Yeah, I wasn't supposed to do that. But I want to familiarise Naina with my family before meeting her.

"Naina? Who is she?" Mom raised her eyebrows when I looked up.

I looked down once again and responded, "Meeta's friend."

She sighed loudly and commented, "I didn't ask about some random friend of Meeta. I asked whether the night went well between Meeta and you."

"Well," I sighed. "Good."

"Only good?" She raised her voice, showing exasperation and disappointment.

"Okay. It went fabulous. Is that fine for you?" I glared at Mom and raised my voice out of annoyance as well. Come on! Who wants to talk about the same topic over and over again? Especially when you are having your favourite lunch.

"Why do you sound so annoyed, Angad? Did she ask something inappropriate?" Dad questioned after taking his time watching us talk.

It took me some time to reflect on what I said, how I said it, and how I sounded. And yes, I sound so annoyed that anyone would easily say I was being forced into something I didn't like. Perhaps I should have watched my tone. They were curious about how their son's night with his fiancee went and whether they were intimate.

"Sorry, Mom," I mumbled. "I'm just tired."

"Anyways, guys," Renee announced after making sounds of clearing her throat. "I just want to tell you what I'm feeling right now."

"Don't tell me it's a guy, Renee," Dad chuckled a little and continued his intake.

"Worse. It's a girl." I looked into Renee's eyes with mischief while she looked back at me as if to say I was too much.

"It's nothing. I would be the last happy single girl from my generation to die. It's today that I feel we are back to square one. That same old happy family I grew up watching. But this life we are living... It feels like we are united but not together. I missed that togetherness I saw since I was a kid. Angad in NYC, me in Kyiv, and ever since Mom and Dad started living in Lancaster to experience their oh-so-relaxing retirement years, it's all over." Her gaze shifted from me to Mom and Dad while she continued, "I didn't mean to blame you two. It's, after all, your time." She looked into my eyes and concluded her monologue. "I'm glad I'm with my happy family. Once again." She smiled with nostalgia in her dark blue eyes, identical to the four of us.

"Look how sweet our daughter is." Dad chuckled and pinched her nose. "No wonder why you're the apple of our eyes."

"Yeah, Dad," Renee sighed and leaned on the chair. "All that's remaining is our Barbie." She looked at me with a smile that vanished when I glared at her, unable to resist the rising temptations to introduce her skull to the hammer.

The hall went awkwardly silent, wondering who is Barbie while Renee and I were the ones to know it was Naina.

"Barbie? What do you mean, Renee?" Mom tilted her head to her right.

"Did she say Barbie? Did you say Barbie, Renee?" I looked at Renee once again.

"Ummm... I didn't say Barbie, Angad. I said bhabhi, Mom. Bhabhi." Renee nodded her head as rapidly as a Maglev while I let out a deep breath through my mouth.

"Good escape, my girl," I whispered and placed my hand on hers with a smile.

"I won't be doing this all the time," she whispered and gave a smile that made mine vanish.

***

"Where are Mom and Renee?" I asked Dad as I stepped out of my room after a sound nap of two hours.

"They have gone out for a walk," Dad replied, eyes glued to the movie Sholay playing on the TV.

"Are you watching Sholay, Dad? Seriously?" I raised my eyebrows and sat near him on the couch.

"Yeah. I watched it when I was around sixteen. FDFS. How cool were those days!" He started singing praises of his good old "how happy we were" times.

"Yeah, I know," I sighed and watched the movie with him.

"Angad, do you mind if I ask you something?" Dad turned towards me.

"What's it, Dad?"

"What do you think about Meeta?" He inquired while I was on the brink of cussing.

"What do you mean? Meeta is a nice person. She is sweet, humble, caring, and friendly. Overall, yeah, she is great." I couldn't bring much better things than this to tell about her.

"Are you okay in marrying her?" Here comes the trouble. I found it hard to swallow my saliva while processing the question.

Okay.

I need to take a deep breath.

"Angad, why are you quiet? Tell me. Are you okay with marrying her?" Dad questioned for the second time.

Fine. No matter what, I will tell the truth now. The sooner, the better.

I will tell him how disinterested I am in marrying Meeta, how much I love Naina, and she loves me, and how badly we desire to marry each other.

***

Here comes another cliffhanger from me, peeps! Before getting angry at me, let me tell you all this is just a sample of the upcoming drama. Buckle your seatbelts and be ready for the dramatic ride in the lives of our sweethearts.

Since I've got a cliffhanger, there is no poll for all of you. Perhaps it would appear in the next chapter. Stay tuned until then.

See you soon!

GLOSSARY:

1. Bhabhi: Sister-in-law

Song Courtesy: Memories by Maroon 5