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"Bye Sonakshi di" Shefali waved Sona a good bye post her pack up. It was the end of another tiring day. Sona liked her job but she missed her drama days. Anyhow, she braved all the obstacles in her job. Walking through that same parking had made her aware of the sunset timings and she tried not to miss the sky changing colours.

"Hands up."

She heard a voice and recognised it immediately. A small smile crept on her lips. Smiling around him had become a habit of hers which had developed without her permission. She turned around, after controlling her smile.

"Dev" She turned around and said "Had an early pack up?"

"Yes. Wanna hang out?" He replied.

"Mere saath?" ("with me?")Sona still felt a bit uncomfortable around the stars.

"Kyu? What's the problem?" Dev was a little confused. The last time he checked the mirror he looked quite handsome to say the least.

"Na.." Sona had began to give an explanation but she felt a vibration in her bag. "Excuse me for a sec."

"Sure."

Dev stood there watching Sona swipe her phone and unlock it. He saw her tap and open an application and then he saw the colour of her face go away.

"Koi problem?" ("Is there a problem?") Dev asked.

"Pp.. Preeti is missing" Sona's voice was quivering.

"Preeti?" Dev felt like going for a question answer session but the worry on Sonakshi's face made him uncomfortable too.

"Do you need some help?" He saw her running her hands through her long locks. "Sonakshi ... kuch bolo tum mujhe tension de rahi ho." ("Say something ... You're making me anxious.")

She nodded her head in a no and kept doing something in her phone. After a long, heavy pause she looked up.

"Can you drop me?"

___________________

Four faces.
One row.
One expression.
One question.

"Tum? Aur Preeti? Kab? Kaise? Mujhe bataya nahi?" ("You? And Preeti? When? Where? Why didn't you tell me?")

And all those question were directed to one person - Pandit.

Preeti and Pandit had finally decided that they should hang out together. They'll get to know each other better by spending time with each other than by just smiling from their balconies.

Pandit had been waiting for her outside Cafe Coffee Day. He had decided that aandhi,toofan, his college librarian Rakesh and even his bad joke professor JBR could not stop him from being on time for his first date ever. He hadn't even shared his plans with Munna. He had got a text from Preeti as soon as he had reached outside CCD that she'll be there in 5 minutes. He had waited for 5 minutes, then 20 minutes which had turned into an hour.

No sign of her.
Did she bail on him?
No, She wouldn't.

He had called her but she didn't pick the phone. After waiting for another impatient half an hour Pandit had called Munna for help and there he was standing with the entire wedding band.

Munna had brought Sameer, Naina and Swati with him and after the initial shock of knowing that Preeti was missing, they were again into a trauma that Preeti was dating Pandit.

" Munna tu ye poori barat laya hai!"("Munna you've brought an entire baarat!") Pandit said

"Aree! Ponga Pandit! Preeti ko dhundhne jaayenge to paidal to nahi ghumenge na, toh Sameer ko bola gadi le aaye, isne bola Naina ki roomie hai Preeti to usko bata do aur ye frock wala pandat to mere pyaar me khicha chala aaya." ("We'll need a care to hunt Preeti. So I called Sameer. He said we should inform her roomies, so we called Naina and this frock wala pandat came here in my love.") Munna blushed by the end of the explanation.

"Hap!" Swati screamed and Munna jumped a little in fear.

"Saara morcha ikhata ho gaya ho to Preeti ko dhundhe please." ("If everyone has assembled can we look for Preeti please.") Pandit was getting restless.

"Actually... Ek aur hai" Naina said "Sona di ko bhi bula dia maine." ("I have called Sona di too.")

As soon as Naina ended her sentence, Sonakshi and Dev stormed into CCD.

"Dev bhai?" Sameer was a little surprised to find Dev there.

"Banda at her service man." Dev pointed at Sonakshi

"Kya hua hai? Where is Preeti?" Sonakshi asked.

Everyone waited for Pandit to start the story but he kept looking at the door.

"Kuch bolo bhi." ("Say something.") Naina was getting irritated by his silence.

"Modi ka wait kar raha hu. Wo Trump ko lekar aaye fir kuch kha pee kar chalenge." ("Let Modi come with Trump. We'll munch on some snacks and then leave.") Pandit gave a sarcastic smile.

"Bawla ho gaya hai Pandit!" ("Pandit has lost it!") Munna hit his head with his palm.

Everyone then began narrating the incident to DevAkshi and how they got involved in the case.

"To ab Parineeta ko kaha dhundhe?" ("So where should we look for Parineeta?") Dev asked the gathering.

"Preeti naam hai uska." ("It's Preeti.") Sameer reminded him.

"Ek hi baat hai" Dev dismissed him. "Kaha dhundhna start kare?" ("Where should we start looking for her.")

"Road back home?"

"Near by cafe?"

"Goregaon?"

"Jhumritalliya?"

"Haunted house?"

"Timbaktoo?"

"Narnia?"

"Chane ke khet me?"

Irritated by all the baseless suggestions Sonakshi screamed "SHUT UP!"

"Ghar? Did anyone check at our home?" Sonakshi asked and all the kids moved their heads in no.

"Jitne ki bewakoofi le kar aaye ho utne me akal bhi le aate." ("The money in which you bought this stupidity, could have been better spent if you guys bought some sense with it.") Dev gave a sly remark on the gang.

"Preeti ko dhundh le please." ("Can we look for Preeti please.") Pandit was really not liking this Dev guy.

Everyone rushed into Sameer and Dev's cars. Naina was about to open the front gate of Sameer's car but she changed her mind and rushed to join Sonakshi.

After a drive of 15 minutes the group of 7 was standing outside Sonakshi's house. Dev was looking at the middle class locality and her not so well maintained house with a different interest. Sonakshi noticed it but let her embarassment rest for a while. The door wasn't locked, it was just bolted and slight shoulder push from Munna and Sameer was enough to throw it wide open.

They walked into the house and climbed the stairs. Suddenly they heard a song.

Yeh duniya yeh mehfil
Mere kaam ki nahi

"Preeti" Naina called her but there was no response. Sonakshi slowly moved towards the bed and began bending to look beneath it.

"Churail hogi neeche." Munna expressed his concern but Sonakshi rolled her eyes off him.

She looked beneath the bed and under the bed, with a pile of cream biscuits, a radio and the sulking face of Preeti was hiding from the world.

Pandit joined Sonakshi and Preeti immediately shouted. "Cutty."

"Preeti please bahar aa jao." ("Please come out.")Pandit called her in the sweetest voice possible. He blinked his eyes and tilted his head towards the left. Preeti too blinked her eyes, tilted her head to the left, smiled and said "Get lost."

"Areee!"

"Preeti agar tu mere 10 ginne tak bahar aa gayi to mai Maa ko bolungi ki wo aaj tinde na banaye aur mai tum sab ko bahar dinner par le jaaungi. Ok? 1...." ("Preeti if you come out till I count till 10, I'll tell Maa to skip tinde for today and I'll take all of you out for dinner. Ok? 1...") Sonakshi started counting and Preeti was out of the bed in a second.

"Tinde ke liye aa gayi tum!" ("You came out for tindes!") Pandit was upset. What a romantic first date! He'll remember it for years.

"Preeti ka tinde se alag hi pyar hai hi. Preeti + Tinde = Prinde! End game!" Swati lauged at her own joke

"Aur Pandit + Samosa = Pamosa" Munna said

Sameer and Naina caught a little glance of each other but Naina immediately looked away.

"Par tu chup kyu rahi thi?" ("But why where you hiding?") Naina asked her.

"Ask him." Preeti crossed her arms and sat on the bed with a thud.

"Mai?" Pandit scratched his head.

"Mai gayi CCD is se milne aur ye mahashay bahar khade kisi aur ke saath flirt kar rahe the." ("I went to CCD to meey him but he was standing outside and flirting with some girl.") Preeti threw a pillow at Pandit and he caught it in mid air.

"Nahi to" Pandit pinched the skin of his neck to swear that he didn't.

"Cutty." Preeti screamed and looked away.

"Dd..dinner? Chale?" Sonakshi asked, not knowing how to handle the situation further. "Munna-Pandit, Sameer you are invited too... Dev will you join us?"

"Ummm.... Yes" He agreed.

_____________

Looking for the right restaurant had been the biggest problem for Sona. She had already caught Dev looking at her house with odd expressions and now she wanted to cast a good impression in front of him. She didn't have a lot of money left to spare. She was planning to put all the left over money in her savings account but she decided to increase her expenditure to keep her esteem intact in Dev's eyes. So she settled for a well reputed karoke theme restaurant.

All 8 of them had entered the place with excitement. Even though Dev and Sameer had been there before but the excitement of the remaining 6 was too evident on their faces that both the stars were feeling like it was their first time too.

"Thoda low key rehna. I don't want people to recognize us." Dev said

"Don't worry.Saare youngsters hai. Koi Tv nahi dekhta. Koi tum dono ko nahi pehchanega." ("All are youngsters here. No one watches ITV and no one will recognize you.") Naina told him and walked away with the rest of the gang as the waiter showed them their table.

"Ouch" Dev said while looking at Sameer.

"Uska ek screw khisak gaya hai. Don't worry mai tight kar dunga." ("She has a few screws loose. I'll fix it soon, don't worry.") Sameer patted Dev's back and they joined the rest of the group.

The evening was not the most happening one. Sonakshi was sitting with the girls on one side of the table while Dev was sitting with the boys on the other side. No one said a word. They kept eating in utter silence and listened to various people participating in the karoke on the stage.

"Wow! What an evening!" Dev mocked

"Preeti" Pandit ignored the hot headed star "I swear mai sirf wo Mitali ko raasta bata raha tha." ("I swear I was just giving directions to Mitali.")

"Oo Mitali! Naam bhi pata hai tumhe uska." ("So you know her name too, Mitali haa?") Preeti could literally break the glasses lined on the table on Pandit's head.

"Yaar... Thoda to bharosa kar lo meri baat par." Pandit was literally pleading her. "Ghutno par baith kar sorry bolu kya?" ("Can't you trust me for a while. Should I sit on my knees and plead?")

"Do you need something?" A waiter came over their table

"No thanks Mr. ..." Preeti read the waiter's name on his badge "... Pranit"

The waiter went away and Preeti turned to Pandit and said "Jali na?Jali hi hogi when I flirted with him!" ("You were jealous when I flirted with the waiter, weren't you?")

"That wasn't flirting!"

" Ha! So you know what flirting is?"

"Haa ... To... Yaar... Preeti... I ... Can you please trust me? I really like you and I want to give us a chance with all I have. I will not even think about cheating you. Please trust me. That's the least I can expect from you - plain, blind trust." Pandit made his final shot "And if you can't trust me there is no point in taking this further."

"Yup! There is no point in taking any relationship ahead without trust." Naina said with her eyes fixed on Sameer.

Preeti didn't say a word. She kept looking at her half filled plate for a while.

"Pranit Bhai!" Preeti called the waiter "Ye karoke me part kaise lete hai?" ("How do I join the karoke?")

"Next aap chale jao." ("You just go there next.") The waiter said and Preeti showed him a thumbs up. Pandit looked away defeated. He was a flirt. A certified A-lister but he was looking forward for his relation to work out with Preeti. He had changed and he wanted to be with her whatever the cost maybe but there had to be trust between them for all that to happen.

He looked up after a while and Preeti was already up on the stage, ready to perform.

Mere saamne wale kamre me
Ek bhade ka tattu rehta hai (*2)
Afsos hai uss tattu pe
Dil mera lattu rehta hai
Mere saamne wale kamre me
Ek bhade ka tattu rehta hai

Pandit knew she wasn't angry anymore, So he joined her:

Poocho na kaisi maine biwi paai (*2)
Mar gaya mai to bhooka pyasa (*2)
Aap wo khaye doodh malai
Poocha na kaisi maine biwi paai

Sonakshi couldn't resist herself any longer:

Jhoothi shikayat hai .
Are jhoothon ka kaam.
Saccha wo shauhar jo,hoke nilam
Kar dale tan,man, dhan, biwi ke naam
Biwi se maange jo paise udhar
Wo kya karega pyar? (*2)

Dev jumped in as well:

Than than than than paisa baaje (*2)
Nache iski dhun pe saare
Kya hai shaadi shuda aur kya kaware?
Rama!
Than than than paisa baaje (*2)

Swati thought of dedicating a song for Munna too:

Mere sapno ka raja kab jaayega tu?
Band hoga tera baaja kab jaayega tu?
Mai na kahungi tu na ja kab jaayega tu?
Chala ja tu chala ja
Chala ja tu chala ja

Munna joined in the parody too:

Ahaahaa..
Chala hiran ki chaal
Mai to chala hiran ki chaal
Phad ke kurta bana liya maine apna rumal
Mai to chala hiran ki chaal
Ahaahaa....

Preeti hugged Pandit from the back and sang:

O mere sona re sona re sona re
Khale ye pan khafa mat hona re
Mai fir na gaaungi filmi gana
Tu bhi yun taan laga ke na rona re (*2)
O mere sona re sona re sona
O raja soja re soja re soja

The evening that started on an anxious note ended with a big smile on everyone's face. Even Dev had enjoyed himself after the karoke. Sonakshi was satisfied because Dev was having a good time. She even paid the bill (against Dev's protests) and they came out of the restaurant humming the tunes of the song they sang.

"I'm sorry." Preeti held both her ears and apologized.

"The date didn't went the way we planned" Pandit rubbed the back of his neck.

Munna and Swati were already sitting in Sameer's car and Naina was with DevAkshi in Dev's car. Sameer adjusted his car's rear view mirror to look at Naina but nothing was visible inside Dev's car. Another day near Naina but he couldn't even do a single thing to win her back. He looked outside at PreeDit, who were still talking outside the car.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'll never ever in my life do that again. Breaking and making trust can break and make relationships too; lesson learned. Tinde ki kasam aaj se ye galti doobara nahi hogi." Preeti pinched her throat. Pandit could only smile in return. He took her hands in his and before they could continue their moment Sameer blew the car's horn and they sat inside as obedient kids.

Precap - Sameer and Sonakshi's pyar ka dard hai meetha meetha pyara pyara.

A/N - I'm sorry I didn't update on time and procastination is the only, only reason for that. I'll make up for the wait this week. Stay tuned.

Thanks for voting, commenting and not killing me.

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The chapter was inclined to PreeDit for a reason. So hang on!