With all the guests gone for lunch  and Mitali , nowhere to be seen, Shanu too headed for lunch. When suddenly, a little boy bumped into Shanu ,spilling curry on her dress. The boy immediately pulled back and apologized.

Boy: I'm sorry.....I......I......

Shanu: It's okay..... I'll just clean up......

Boy: No, I just ruined your dress. I'm so sorry!

Nandini , who was standing at a distance, watching the commotion, rushed to Shanu's aid.

Nandini: Arey Shayantani, are you okay? Yeh curry kaise giri?

Shanu: Uh..... aunty.....voh galti se inse gir gaya.

Boy:(to Nandini) Sorry Masi voh galti se ho gaya.

Nandini: Kya Abir? Dekhke chalna chahiye na. Dekho abhi didi ki dress kharab ho gayi na.

Shanu: Arey nahi nahi, it's okay. Yeh mai saf kar lungi.

Nandini: Acha thik hai. (Turning to the boy) Tum jao , Abir.

The boy nodded and left.

Nandini:(to Shanu) Ek kaam karte hai. Tum mere sath chalo. I'll help you clean up. Come on.

Shanu: Aunty, it's fine. I'll do it. Aapko jane ki zaroorat nahi hai.

Nandini: Nahi nahi, I insist. I'll help you. Issi bahane mai tumhe jaan bhi lungi.

Shanu: Ji?

Nandini: Arey ab mere bete se tumhari itni tarif suni hai. Kya mera hak nahi banta ki mai bhi tumhe jaan pau?

Shanu: (blushing) Uh.....

Nandini: Come on. Itna sochogi to dimag mein dard hone lage ga. Come on.

Shanu hesitatingly nodded and followed Nandini back to her room.

Once they were in the seclusion of her room, Nandini said,

Nandini: Shanu, ek kaam karo........oh....I hope you don't mind me calling you that?

Shanu: Nahi nahi. Bilkul nahi.

Nandini: Voh kya hai na, Sahil humesha tumhe vohi bulata hai to mere muh mein aa gaya.

Shanu just blushed in response.

Nandini: Uh....ek kaam karo......tum aapni saree change kar lo. I don't think the stain will go that easy. I'll give you one of my outfits. I think I have a spare.

Shanu: Aunty, it's fine. I'll just wash off the stain.

Nandini: Oh come on now. Meri dresses utni bhi old fashioned nahi hai.  I'm sure no one will doubt that the outfit belongs to a 50 year old granny.

Shanu: Aunty, mera voh matlab nahi tha....

Nandini:(chuckling) I know I know. I was just kidding. Wait I'll just check.

Saying that, she began to surf through her outfits to find a spare. Shanu sat uncomfortably at the edge of the bed, cursing her fate and partly that boy, Abir.

Well, it was not like she was stuck with her would be mother-in-law everyday!

She chewed the inside of her cheeks nervously, trying hard not to mess up her impression in front of Sahil's mother. After all, she was the only person whom she could impress. There was no way that Sahil's dad would ever like her.

Not that it mattered anyway.

As she debated whether to talk to Nandini or keep her mouth shut to avoid any sort of embarrassment, her eyes drifted to a photograph which was sneaking out of a black purse kept on the bed side table. Shanu took a look at Nandini, who was still busy searching and moved her gaze back at the photograph. It looked really old. She was about to go and examine it when,

Nandini: Arey Shanu, mai to puchna bhul hi gayi. Tumne lunch kiya ki nahi?

Shanu quickly replied,

Shanu: Ha voh mai bas jane hi vali thi, par phir yeh ho gaya.

Nandini sighed and looked at her and said,

Nandini: Hey bhagwan! Iss Abir ki vajah se tum bechari bhukhi reh gayi. Don't worry, once you are ready hum dono ek sath baithke kha lenge.

Shanu smiled and nodded.

Nandini: Vaise tumhare Dad kya karte hai?

Shanu: Voh architect hai.

Nandini: Aur mom?

Shanu: Housewife. Voh dono kolkata mein rehte hai.

Nandini: Oh I would have loved to meet them. Unhe kabhi humare ghar le aana. Jab voh kolkata se tumhe milne aaye of course.

Shanu: Sure aunty.

Nandini: If you don't mind me asking, tum aur Sahil mile kaise? I mean maine Sahil ki point of view suni hai. Par mujhe tumse janna hai.

Shanu blushingly replied,

Shanu: Uh....voh hum bachpan se hi ek hi class mein the. But we were not that close.

Nandini: To yeh dosti hui kaise?

Shanu fidgeted with her fingers, as her mind recalled the day when they had actually become friends. It wasn't actually a very good story. I mean, which mother would like to hear that her son had almost commited suicide?

Shanu: Um.....we actually become friends during the Inter College Championships. We were in the same cultural committee.

It wasn't exactly false. Their friendship had blossomed during the fest itself.

Nandini: Yeah my husband told me. You guys did put up a great show if it it wasn't for the fire at the auditorium.

Shanu: Yeah, that kinda ruined it. But the postponed show was quite good.

Nandini: Yeah, I am sorry I couldn't attend that. My sister's daughter was in labor and I had to go to Pune for that.

Shanu nodded slightly.

Nandini: Well there you go. I finally found the outfit that wouldn't make you look like an oldie. And it totally works with the blouse you are wearing.

Saying that, she handed Shanu a light yellow skirt with a beautiful silk scarf to go with it.

Shanu: Aunty, it's.......

Nandini: I know I know. Ab jaldi jao aur change karo.

Shanu grinned and nodded. She quickly went into the washroom to change.

Once she was done, she quietly opened the door and stepped out, expecting to see Nandini grinning in front of her. But instead, she found Nandini on a call that sounded very important. She was in the balcony , murmuring about some lightings that needed to be taken care of.

Shanu stood awkwardly, waiting for her to finish her call so that she could hurry back to the buffet. Her stomach growled in response.

Suddenly, that photo caught her eye again as she looked for her shoes. She took one look at Nandini and then quickly picked up the purse, to take out the picture.

She closely examined it. It was a picture of a younger Nandini, who was standing with a tall guy , grinning from ear to ear. He had his arm around her shoulder and she had her arm around his waist. They looked happy. Just like her and Sahil.

Just then, something clicked on her mind. A sudden realisation that made her stumble back.

The guy in photo was definitely not  Rudra Maheshwari. And if not him, who else could it be other than........

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tapasya stood by the poolside area, drinking her lemonade for the detoxification of the full course meal that she just had. There was no compromise when it came to her diet.

It takes a lot of sacrifices to be a Queen B and she was definitely the best of them all!

As she sipped her lemonade, she suddenly felt two hands on her waist. She quickly turned around and found Ruhaan, drenched in Haldi and sweat.

Taps: Ru, what are you doing? And why haven't you cleaned up yet?

Ruhaan: Tapasya, why else would I come to you drenched in Haldi?

Taps: Ru, you know I hate haldi. It doesn't suit my skin. And it smells real bad!

Ruhaan: Come on, babe. Think of it as Holi na.

Tapasya: No! I'm not letting you put haldi on me.

Before she even finished that sentence, Ruhaan smeared some haldi on the tip of her nose.

Ruhaan:(giggling) Oops, my bad!

Tapasya gaped in response and said,

Tapasya: God Ru! You've become so shameless! Tu ruk! Mai abhi batati hu tujhe!

Saying that, she started chasing Ruhaan , giggling and laughing all the way.

Ruhaan: Rehne de! Tujhse nahi hoga!

Tapasya: Tu bas ruk ja ek baar! Phir batati hu mai tujhe!

After a long while, both of them stopped by the edge of the pool, gasping for breath.

Ruhaan: Tapasya, you okay?

Tapasya continued to breath heavily without saying a word. Ruhaan hurried beside her and said,

Ruhaan: Oh God! Kahi tujhe asthma attack to nahi ho raha?

Tapasya looked at him and suddenly pushed him back. Ruhaan stumbled and fell into the pool. Recovering from the sudden attack, Ruhaan's head popped out of water and he looked at Tapasya questioningly, who was busy laughing at him.

Tapasya:(laughing uncontrollably) Ru , you're so stupid!

Ruhaan:(sarcastically) Ha ha very funny!

Tapasya continued laughing at him.

Ruhaan slowly and gradually came out of the pool, drenched in water. He rolled his eyes at Tapasya who was still busy laughing before sneezing.

Tapasya stopped and looked at him and said,

Tapasya: Ru, you okay?

Ruhaan sneezed in response.

Tapasya: Oh God! I think you are coming with a cold. Let's go and get you out of these clothes.

Ruhaan:(in between sneezes) Itni jaldi bhi kya hai?

Tapasya: Ew Ru! Since when have you become like Adi?!

Ruhaan: Since now.

Tapasya threw him a confusing look when suddenly, Ruhaan pushed her and she stumbled and fell into the pool.

It was Ruhaan's turn to laugh.

Tapasya gaped at him and said,

Tapasya: You're so bad! I hate you!

Ruhaan: I love you too , babe!

Saying that, he dived into the pool. Tapasya stumbled as the water splashed on her. Ruhaan giggled and pulled her close.

Tapasya: Ru, there's people around.

Ruhaan: Tapasya, tum mujhme itna kho chuki ho ki tumhe  apne aas paas ka koi pata hi nahi hai. Dekho chaaro taraf, yaha humein chorkar aur koi nahi hai.

Tapasya looked around her and indeed found that they were the only ones there.

Tapasya: Uh.....

Ruhaan: To?

Tapasya: To kya? Ab chalo yaha se varna shaadi se pehle thand lag jayegi. Aur uske baad mai apna desiner lehenga nahi pehen paungi.

Ruhaan: Baap re! kitna bolti ho yaar tum?

Tapasya:(angrily) Acha to ab meri baatein bhi tumhe buri lagne lagi hai! Thik hai! Mai jaa rahi hu yaha se.

Saying that, she turned around to leave when Ruhaan pulled her back again.

Taps: Yeh kya mazaak chala rakha hai?

Ruhaan: Tumhe haldi to maine lagai hi nahi.

Taps: Kaha ? Itni to laga di naak pe!

Ruhaan: Usse mera man nahi bhara.

Taps: Ru, don't even think of anything....... you know I hate it.

Ruhaan: (smirking) Oh I promise babe. You would stop hating haldi after this.

Tapasya inched away from his hand, as they traveled towards her face. She closed her eyes with no possibility of escape.

But instead of putting haldi on her face with his hands, he brought his face closer to hers and softly rubbed his right cheek against her left. Tapasya froze sensing how close his face was to hers. After putting haldi on her left cheek, he went on to softly brush his left cheek against her right. Tapasya's face had reddened by now and she couldn't resist the urge to kiss him.

And so she did.

A minute after the kiss lasted, they both smiled and looked at each other sheepishly.

When suddenly a loud booming voice made its way into their ears,

'TAPASYA!'

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, so here's an update! I know I know, I am so cheesy but I tried my best to make all the sidneet fans happy. I really hope you guys liked it!

Anyways, if you liked the chapter, make sure to hit that 'VOTE' button in the face and also comment your theories and ideas about what the next chapter is going to bring.

Do you think Daksh should stop Ananya or let her be with whoever she wants to be?

Is Adi going to realise his mistake and apologize before it's too late?

Will Shanu be able to protect her relationship with Sahil from the storm of his dysfunctional family?

And, is Tapasya's dad about to put an end to his daughter's happiness for the sole sake of revenge?

Target: 40 votes.

Love you loads
❤️Bosedisha ❤️