Monday, 06/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

It was late in the evening by the time they had reached their hotel in Kochi. After checking into their respective rooms in the hotel, they freshened up before heading together to the restaurant in the ground floor of the hotel for dinner.

After placing their orders for food, they were seated at a table, waiting for the food to arrive when Udhay and Priya shared a smile. Ajay smiled, amused to see his friend smiling for no particular reason at her fiancé.

Priya turned to Ajay and Isha, who were seated across the table, asking, "What's your plan for tonight?"

"Tonight?" replied Ajay, puzzled.

"Yeah," said Priya, sounding bored.

"I don't think we have any plans, do we?" asked Ajay, glancing at Isha.

"No, I don't think so. Why, Priya?" inquired Isha.

"We're going shopping!" sang Priya, gesturing to herself and Udhay with a mischievous grin.

"Shopping? At this time? Since when have you become so fond of shopping, Killer?" gasped Ajay.

Priya pursed her lips before answering, "I'm going shopping with my fiancé, AJ! There's a difference."

Ajay raised his eyebrow but remained silent as the food had arrived at their table.

***

Tuesday, 07/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

Ajay was getting ready to meet the band he would be performing with in the music competition, which was in a week's time, when he realized his guitar was missing.

He searched all over his room in the hotel they were staying, before going out of his room to ask Priya. Priya and Udhay were standing in the corridor at the door to Udhay's room; Priya seemed to be showing Udhay an arcade game she had liked on her new iPhone.

"Hey, have you guys seen my guitar?" asked Ajay.

"I don't think so," replied Udhay while Priya didn't even seem to have heard Ajay's question.

Isha walked out of her room and smiled upon noticing them standing outside their rooms.

Ajay smiled before saying, "Hey, Isha, I can't seem to find my guitar! Have you seen it?"

"Are you sure it's not in your room?" inquired Isha.

"I've looked all over my room. It's definitely not in there," answered Ajay.

"Oh no, then where could it be?" wondered Isha, before stepping back into her room and scanning her eyes all over the room.

"It's not here too," stated Isha, walking out of her room.

Ajay turned to Priya, demanding, "Hey Killer, have you seen my guitar?"

"Nope, I don't think so." Priya's eyes were still pinned to the arcade game she was playing on her iPhone.

"I'm so tense here, but you're so calmly playing a game on your phone?" questioned Ajay, "You only would've hidden it, I'm sure!"

"Go away! I wanna win this game!" Priya's fingers were actively tapping on the screen of her iPhone.

Udhay chuckled a bit, before suggesting, "It can't be in mine or Priya's room. Why don't you check if you left it in the lobby or the restaurant downstairs yesterday?"

"Oh snap! I think I left it in the lobby! I'm sure I didn't take it to the restaurant. I'll just check at the lobby," said Ajay, before rushing towards the staircase.

When Ajay arrived at the lobby, the receptionist at the desk looked up at him and smiled, saying, "You left your guitar on the couch here, sir."

"Oh," voiced Ajay, as he frowned a bit and walked over to the couch, seeing something bulky in the shape of a guitar wrapped in a cream-coloured satin cloth on the couch.

Confused, Ajay glanced at the receptionist who smiled again, gesturing to the same couch which had the wrapped bulky object.

Ajay opened the cloth covering the object to see that it was a brand-new shiny sapphire blue guitar, with a card attached to it:

All the best!

Always with you, AJ... :)

Ajay gasped in disbelief; he had seen this guitar in the shops before and had been admiring it for months but he hadn't been able to save enough money to buy it as it was really expensive.

Ajay was snapped out of his daze as Priya and Udhay walked into the lobby.

"Hey, Killer! I can't believe this!" exclaimed Ajay, "It's a costly guitar! How could you buy this? Have you looted some bank?"

"She looted me, not any of the banks," laughed Udhay before Priya could answer. Priya narrowed her eyes at him.

Ajay chuckled as he took the guitar into his arms, and started strumming the strings at random.

"Did you find your guitar, Ajay?" asked Isha, as she entered the lobby, but none of them had heard her.

"We really wanted it to be a surprise for you! You have no idea how relieved I was when you didn't say you wanna come shopping with us yesterday!" Priya giggled, before turning to Udhay, "Didn't I tell you AJ would love this guitar?"

Ajay noticed Isha standing at the entrance to the lobby; she appeared puzzled.

"Look at this, Isha, my new guitar!" Ajay beamed.

Isha forced upon herself a fake smile. She had been saving up all her money just to buy that guitar and gift it to him ever since she had seen him drooling over it at a shop.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it? I can't believe it's mine." Ajay smiled as he glanced from Isha to the guitar in his hand.

Still maintaining the forged smile on her face, Isha nodded a bit in agreement.

***

Wednesday, 08/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

That morning, Isha was bored since Ajay had left again to practice with his band for the music competition.

Udhay was bored as well, staying in the hotel. Thus he confronted Priya, "Shall we go sightseeing for a while?"

"I'm sorry, Udhay, I'm not in the mood to go anywhere. I'm really nervous about the music competition. They have just 3 days left; I really hope Ajay's band will win," sighed Priya.

"Alright, maybe tomorrow then."

"No, Udhay, please let's just leave sightseeing for after Ajay's music competition. Then, the four of us can go together, right?"

"But after the competition, there's just around ten days left for our wedding. We'll have to go and start prepping for it."

"Then, we'll think about sightseeing after our wedding or another time, okay?"

Udhay walked back to his room without answering her and switched on his laptop.

***

Thursday, 09/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

Since they were up early that morning, Priya accompanied Udhay out of the hotel to wash his car.

Ajay and Isha too had woken up earlier that morning and were standing together in the balcony in Ajay's room, sipping on their morning coffee. From the balcony, Ajay noticed Priya starting to spray Udhay's car with water while Udhay prepared a bucket of soapy water using the car soap, at the car wash area outside the car park.

"Hey Isha, they're washing Udhay's car. Shall we go join them?" asked Ajay, gesturing towards Priya and Udhay.

"Sure," replied Isha before they headed downstairs to join Priya and Udhay outside.

Ajay snatched the cloth from Priya's hand and started wiping the car. Udhay received a phone call on his mobile and walked away to answer it.

"Hey! What're you doing here? There's just two more days for your competition and you're cleaning the car? Don't you wanna practice?" asked Priya in concern.

"Relax, Killer! I'll win this competition and take Isha all over the world!" chirped Ajay. Isha blushed.

"Then, what about me?" gasped Priya, pretending to be annoyed.

"I will take you till the Coimbatore airport for your flight to London! Mr. Udhay will accompany you and provide you with your ticket to London."

"I'll kill you!"

Priya and Ajay were grinning as Udhay walked back to them.

"Priya, you remember my colleague, Karthik, in London? He's come down to Trivandrum," Udhay informed Priya as he opened the bonnet of his car.

"Oh yeah, I remember him! He's a very friendly guy!" replied Priya.

"Why don't we go to Trivandrum and visit him while we're here?" suggested Udhay.

"I can't come, you go if you want," answered Priya.

"You come too, Priya, Karthik has come down to India this month because of our wedding. Else, he would have come down to India in May itself and returned within a month," explained Udhay.

"Go, Killer, it's just a matter of a day or two!" added Ajay.

"Yeah, go with Udhay, Priya. You'll be bored here anyway," supported Isha.

"Sorry, I'm not going. Ajay is practicing here. We have come all the way here to encourage him and make sure he does well. I'm not going anywhere till the competition is over, I already told you that, Udhay," replied Priya.

"Whatever I plan will never happen," muttered Udhay, slamming down the bonnet of his car furiously.

"Ouch!" cried out Ajay as two fingers of his right hand were accidentally squeezed under the bonnet of Udhay's car.

"Sorry," said Udhay as he realized what had happened and quickly raised the bonnet of his car again.

"Excuse me please, Isha," said Priya, walking past Isha quickly to Ajay's side before Isha could even react.

Priya quickly tended to Ajay's injury before turning to Udhay, saying, "Why did you have to get so angry for such a small issue? You know how important this competition is for him! Thank goodness it's just a minor injury. Else how would he perform for the competition? I told you already I don't wanna go anywhere till the competition. It would've been better if you hadn't come; I never forced you to come anyway."

Ajay frowned a bit but remained silent.

"I didn't do it intentionally, Priya," justified Udhay.

***

Udhay remained reserved the whole day as Priya too had not spoken to him much after the accident in the morning.

Late in the evening, Ajay noticed Udhay standing outside the hotel, alone by his car, deep in thought.

Ajay walked up to Udhay, saying, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Udhay, raising his eyebrow.

"Priya spoke to you angrily earlier as she was worried about me. She really just wants me to win this competition and please my Dad. Don't misunderstand her."

"This is too much! Why would I misunderstand her, Ajay? It's Priya who scolded me. She's gonna be my wife; she has all the right to scold me if I do something wrong. You don't have to explain for her. Relax and just prepare for your music competition, okay?"

"Yeah." Ajay smiled.

***

Sunday, 12/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

That afternoon, Ajay was nervously leaving for his last practice with the band before the competition that evening. Isha and Udhay wished him luck while Priya watched with a smile.

When it was Priya's turn to wish him luck, she stepped forward and spoke, "I'm not gonna ask you if you're nervous; I know you are."

Ajay first shook his head in disagreement, trying to act like he was not nervous. However, when Priya looked at him in the eye, he nodded in agreement; he couldn't deny to her how nervous he was.

"Trust me, you're gonna be the best out there. I trust you and your talent; you're gonna sweep those judges off their feet with your song," assured Priya before Ajay left.

***

That evening, Udhay, Priya and Isha walked into the auditorium hall and seated themselves among the audience waiting for the music competition to start.

Soon, the competition began. As different bands ascended the stage and played their compositions, Priya rubbed her palms together in apprehension while Isha bit her lip nervously.

Ajay's band was the last one to ascend the stage that evening. The audience already seemed tired by then. Nevertheless, they were roused in no time by the peppy, fun and soulful track performed by Ajay and his band.

As the judges announced the top three winners of the competition starting from the second runner-up, the audience remained in pin drop silence.

As the second runner-up was announced, a round of applause reverberated across the hall. Udhay, Priya and Isha clapped, hoping Ajay's band would be the winner or the first runner-up at least. The first runner-up was announced as well, leading to the next round of applause. At last, the winner was announced.

"Yes!" exclaimed Udhay and many voices from the audience, as Ajay and his band ascended the stage to receive their trophy. Isha was grinning in delight as there was a large round of applause. Priya was just speechless.

As the crowd of audience dispersed, Isha, Priya and Udhay headed to the backstage together, to meet Ajay. Ajay was surrounded by a few people who had been amazed by his performance in the competition. As Ajay was busy talking to them, Isha, Priya and Udhay waited by the side. One of Ajay's band members recognized Priya by her exceptional beauty and perfect features.

"Hey! You're Ajay's girlfriend, right?" he asked.

Priya frowned a bit, before gesturing to Isha and correcting, "No, she's his girlfriend. I'm just his friend."

The guy frowned but remained silent. Noticing this, Ajay walked over to them.

"She's my girlfriend, Isha," introduced Ajay, placing his arm across Isha's shoulders. Isha smiled.

Ajay's band members just watched him in surprise.

Udhay smiled and took Priya's arm in his, saying, "She's my fiancée."

***

That night, Ajay, Isha, Priya and Udhay were having a late dinner in a restaurant nearby the hotel they were staying.

"This is my treat here today, guys!" announced Udhay to the three of them.

"Thanks, Udhay! This is the best place to celebrate tonight! And the foods here are supposed to be the best!" replied Ajay.

"Well, tonight's a special night! So, enjoy it! Anyway, thanks for winning the competition, Ajay," responded Udhay.

Ajay frowned a bit, before asking, "Why thanks?"

"Priya's happy tonight since you won the competition," explained Udhay, "Else she would've been upset and my plan would've failed."

"What plan?" inquired Priya, eyeing Udhay sceptically.

"Since our work here in Kochi is over, Mr. Udhay would like to take his fiancée, soon-to-be Mrs. Udhay, for an outing tomorrow," answered Udhay in a matter-of-fact tone.

Priya giggled before saying, "Mrs. Udhay agrees to that."

Ajay and Isha shared a laugh, watching Priya's and Udhay's cute conversation.

"Shall we go somewhere as well?" requested Ajay, turning to face Isha. Isha grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Um, tomorrow we won't disturb you. I hope that'll be vice versa too," remarked Udhay.

"Agreed," confirmed Ajay.

***

Monday, 13/07/2009 ... in Coimbatore, India

Kishan returned home during his lunch break that day unlike usual, around noon. His wife, Sarita, was stunned to see him.

"Shall we go for a ride on the new bike?" asked Kishan to Sarita.

Sarita stared at him shocked upon hearing his question.

"When I went to work this morning as usual, everyone was congratulating me for Ajay's success in the music competition. I was feeling very guilty, that's why I came home now. I have been just an angry father to him; I don't deserve any of their praise. Priya was the real support he had. I too should've supported him like Priya," confessed Kishan, "Let's go for a ride on the bike he bought for me."

"Sure," replied Sarita, before they went out to retrieve the bike Ajay had bought for them from the garage.

***

Monday, 13/07/2009 ... in Kochi, India

"Wow! This place is so breathtakingly beautiful!" exclaimed Priya, looking all around her. She and Udhay were standing in the balcony of a houseboat, enjoying a day cruise on the backwaters of Kerala that afternoon.

Udhay smiled but remained silent.

"I never told you I love tranquil places like this, did I?" asked Priya, turning back to face Udhay.

Udhay smiled again before answering, "No, you didn't but I guessed you would love it. I know you too well, my dear fiancée."

"Aww, I really love this place!" commented Priya.

"I've been waiting to bring you here since we reached Kerala," laughed Udhay.

"Thank you so much, Udhay!" acknowledged Priya.

***

That evening, Ajay and Isha were standing near a waterfall, taking pictures together with the waterfall in the background when Ajay's mobile started to ring.

Ajay checked his mobile to see that it was Priya who was calling. Isha's face fell, upon seeing the call from Priya.

"Today's our day together," reminded Ajay, before turning his mobile to silent mode and slipping it into the pocket in his jeans.

Isha beamed as the two of them walked hand in hand, enjoying the beauty of the nature.

As they walked, Ajay grew apprehensive; he could feel his mobile vibrating continuously inside his pocket. After a whole minute, he couldn't hide his anxiety anymore. He drew his phone from his pocket to see two missed calls from Priya.

"Just a minute, Isha, let me check if Priya's having any problem," stated Ajay, before dialling Priya's number. Priya answered his call immediately.

"Hello, tell me, Killer! Any problem?" inquired Ajay.

"Come to the hotel quickly," commanded Priya.

"Why? What happened?"

"I can't tell you this on the phone. I want to tell you this directly. Come soon!"

Ajay and Isha immediately returned to the hotel. Priya and Udhay were waiting to receive them; Priya was expressionless while Udhay appeared worried.

"What happened?" demanded Ajay.

"Mom called me," informed Priya solemnly, "Uncle Kishan and Aunt Sarita aren't coming home."

"Huh?" voiced Ajay, puzzled.

"Uncle and Aunt are roaming around our neighbourhood in the new bike!" chirped Priya, as she burst out giggling.

"Really?" gasped Ajay. Isha frowned but remained silent.

"Yeah, really!" chanted Priya.

Ajay had no words to express his happiness. He was grinning wide, still processing what Priya had told him.

"I can't believe this! Just for this small matter, you had to come here to talk to him and spoil all our plans for today?" questioned Udhay.

"This isn't just a small matter, Udhay!" answered Priya, "You have no idea how important this is for AJ! Do you know how much he's been waiting for this day?"

"I'm so happy today! Happier than when I won the competition yesterday!" exclaimed Ajay, "It's all because of you only, Killer, I've become successful in my music, career, love and life!"

"My pleasure!" sang Priya, as the two friends shared a warm hug.

Udhay clenched his jaw, before grabbing Priya's wrist and dragging her away from Ajay, bellowing, "That's enough!"

The force with which Udhay had drawn Priya away from Ajay caused Priya to fall sideways to the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing?" demanded Ajay, stepping between Udhay and Priya, before turning to Priya in concern, asking, "Are you okay, Killer?"

Priya did not answer as she stared at Udhay in confusion. 

To be continued...