"Un haseen mulakaton mein hi shuru hoti hai ek nayi dosti"

~ Author ~

Mumbai, India

Meher wasn't sure why Kabir was so outraged by her knowing Sahil. She walked to and fro in her room, raking her brain trying to find what can be the reason. Remembering the awkward exchange that Sahil and Maan had exchanged at the restaurant only made her wonder what it was all about.

She wanted to ask Sahil about it but didn't want to tread into his personal space. Sahil had his own individuality and there might be a high chance that he may not find it comfortable to tell her.

Sahil had never shared anything substantial with her, anything related to him. Ever since Abhimanyu died, it was as if Sahil had walked into some sort of a shell, the exterior was so hard to get him out of it. She had no idea what Sahil did in his day to day life except for the fact that he worked for a rival news agency— The JC Media Corp.

And it is because of that fact that he could meet Meher only in secret, their friendship was unfortunately still hidden from the world.

Was Kabir angry because Sahil was from the rival media house?

She couldn't point out the reason.

Whereas on the other side, Kabir was sure that Meher didn't know anything. The surprise and disbelief on her face were so evident that he could bet his life on the fact that Sahil, the supposedly a very good friend of Meher hadn't shared the details of his work with her. At least he was relieved by the fact that Sahil hadn't broken the work decorum between them.

When Maan told him the other day that Sahil and Meher were friends from college, he was not ready to believe the statement. Even Maan didn't. Everyone knew that Meher Mathur had no friends in college, during her time in Bangalore, except for her roommate.

Even after being aware of the fact, Kabir sent out a Private Investigator to snoop around and let him know. But even the trained professional failed to get a whim of their friendship.

Maybe Arya and Aryan knew and kept it to themselves. Kabir was well aware of the fact that he couldn't and wouldn't get an answer out of them.

If only he wasn't tied in a complicated relationship with Sahil, he would have had the guts to ask him about him and Meher.

He wouldn't have worried about their friendship. But Kabir had always been wary of that woman and since this work was an important one, he was worried about the possible betrayal by his potential help.

If Meher Mathur had a whim of anything, things might just get destroyed.

*   *   *

2 Days Later

Meher, Arya and Aryan were at the club, spending a lazy Friday evening before they flew off to Jaipur the next day. The three were cooped up in their private corner in the VIP section, enjoying their time.

Even though they were on the first floor, the huge beats of music followed above. There were thousands of conversations in loud voices, upbeat music, dancing bodies and flickering disco lights that dominated the atmosphere.

Meher popped a piece of chicken kebab in her as she sipped on her whiskey to chug it down.

"You used to go to a lot of nightclubs in Boston, right?" Aryan asked as he lazily checked out a girl who was standing facing her back to the glass door, talking to a person, preferably her friend.

"Hmm," she casually answered, "but never got to enjoy properly after I graduated from Harvard. I mean William is so light-headed that I am mostly carrying his drunk ass home. That peasant didn't even give me a raise for the entire shit of work I did for him," she huffed, the drink slowly taking the control of her.

"Excuse me, ladies," Aryan basically ignored her answer and made his way out of their booth and went over to talk to the girl he was eyeing for a while. Meher and Arya dragged themselves and sat closer, closing the gap.

"Look at him, what a flirt!" Meher scowled mentally cringing, seeing her best friend trying to get in some random girl's pants.

"We shared a womb, bestie. Imagine my disgust," Arya visibly shuddered as she watched her twin mutter something in the woman's ears, making her red.

"Eww," the duo mumbled together.

"I need to wash my eyes," Meher muttered. Arya hummed, following her words.

"God, why am I so single!" Arya wailed a while later.

"You need to get laid, sis," Meher advised her, pitying her friend.

"You need to find a guy to get laid, which is the department I am terrible at. I don't know how Aryan finds girls," Arya audibly sighed while Meher chuckled at the fact.

Meher lazily looked around the club, noting the kind of people who came in and out of the place. It was a regular place, just people with loads of money and ego.

She yawned, the whiskey slowly taking over her head but not too much.

"Sometimes I see a spark between you and Bhai," Meher's head whipped towards Arya who was in return, blinking at her. Arya watched her best friend look at her as if she had lost her mind. She had never seen Meher so bewildered and almost angry over a statement.

Her fault though for making such remarks.

Arya shook her head and avoided her eyes as she didn't want to be prey to Meher's angry eyes.

Truth be told, it wasn't the first time she had felt that way. Arya had always seen something between them, something that was beyond anger and hatred.

Anyone but them knew that they had undeniable chemistry.

She had seen the way they look at each other. It wasn't love. It was a form of hate that came with something more powerful — she didn't know what.

Meher scowled at Arya's baseless statement.

Kabir and Meher?

No chance.

Meher downed a vodka, the one which was previously Aryan's, wanting to forget even the slightest possibility of them getting together.

Kabir was a tsunami and she had enough destruction in her life.

As she poured herself another glass, her eyes went over through the glass pane of their little compartment and saw him.

Speaking of the devil, he was right there beside his drunk brother. Meher could make out his figure from the back, his tensed shoulders, stiff posture and sleek hair. Beside him, she recognised another two figures, Maan and Sahil.

It looked like Kabir was having a chat with his little brother. Meher scoffed at the irony. Why did he even bother about schooling his brother when he was least concerned about his siblings?

And then he turned. Even though a glass pane separated them, they were still as they looked at each other.

It was painful to look at Kabir, Meher had always thought. Not because he was an absolute pain in the ass but because the sight of him always reminded her of what she didn't have, what he had and now doesn't.

It was awful to even think that she shared the same pain as him but she had nothing to offer to him, even condolences which, for some reason, Kabir wanted from her.

She can't offer something which she didn't mean.

Kabir had undue hatred within himself whenever he looked at her. Reason? Plenty. His eyes slowly flickered and darted away from hers as he noticed the man beside him. Sahil looked at Meher as if he had seen a ghost and the latter looked like she was ready to pounce upon someone.

He shouldn't have stopped after seeing Aryan. Before he could even leave, Meher stormed out of the little cabin, held Sahil's wrist and dragged him downstairs and headed straight out of the club.

Sahil looked back up to see Kabir's watchful eyes, the latter slowly shaking his head discreetly to keep his mouth shut.

"What the fuck are you doing with him?" Meher bombarded as soon as they were out of the club. Instinctively, Sahil rubbed his wrist where she had dug her fingers, her grip was too tight.

"Mehru it was work," he tried to make her understand but she did not budge. Meher was livid.

"Club mein konsa kaam hota hai? Main tujhe gadhi dikhti hu kya?" Meher screamed, making the people around stare at the duo.

Sahil let out a breath and calmed himself down before he held Meher by her shoulders. "I swear to you that it is a work, a confidential one at that. I can't tell you anything as I am bound by a contract."

Meher understood the gravity of the situation. Sahil did not tell her, but at least he didn't try to hide. She should think rationally. Sahil can work with Kabir. He was already working with him before she came back from the US.

Kabir's work isn't influenced by you, her inner mind chided her as she went through self realization.

"I understand," she said a while later as she calmed down.

She hugged Sahil and apologized thoroughly. It wasn't her place but then again, every time there was Kabir in the scene, she could feel in her bones that something wasn't right. And she felt that today.

But for the sake of her friend, she decided to keep this at the back of her mind only hoping that her fears were just baseless.

*   *   *

Meher had no idea that Kabir was accompanying them on the flight.

What a bummer.

The entire flight was awkward since the tension was so high that no sharp object could have cut it. It would choke them.

The twins constantly kept looking at each other while trying their best to keep their spirits up but nothing helped. Meher was also not in the mood to enjoy with them as she still kept on reeling about the events from last night.

Speaking of last night, Kabir was glad that things didn't escalate otherwise Meher would have made things difficult for him not that she did not do it anyway.

It was just an hour and a half flight but it felt like a day had already passed.

Even the flight from Boston to Mumbai wasn't nerve-wracking but this flight had put her entire self to shame.

Soon they landed in Jaipur.

As if the heavens had heard Meher's prayers, Kabir separated from the gang followed by his unhappy secretary as they had a work meeting at some place.

The trio were escorted by the concierge assigned to them, the latter had a hotel staff with him who was supposed to take their luggage and put it in their respective rooms. The concierge directed them to their assigned car and escorted them to the hotel.

On their way, he explained to them various tourist sights that they can visit during their stay and all the tiny deets that usually a tour guide does. Meher enjoyed the scenery, admiring the culture in Jaipur. There wasn't much of nature in that place. It was the buildings and the forts that made the place so aesthetically appealing.

Meher noticed roadside stalls that sold jewellery and mentally noted to drop by while they were there. As they hit the city's outskirts, the Marigold soon came into their vision.

As magnificent as the name was, it was equally beautiful, especially the Jaipur one. It was a beauty on its own. A palace spread over acres of land, on the outskirts of the city, a perfect place to stay.

And it was owned by the Agarwals, the finest Hotelier family in the country whose youngest was her classmate, Akanksha the name was.

Meher suddenly recalled her old classmate, the vibrant and the no-give-two-fucks girl, whose only world revolved around her friends.

No one knew where Akanksha was. People had very little detail about her like she had decided not to do business and involved herself in the forensics. Her Instagram too contained nothing but photos of nature, forensics and even a book or two, nothing that would point towards her personal life. It was very weird to think that a girl with such strong roots in business would do something diametrically opposite to this.

Meher stepped out of the car and separated herself from the group as she wanted to tour the place. If her memories were still healthy and intact, she remembered Akanksha blabbering about the Jaipur branch of the hotel, the best of the Agarwals.

Well, it was the only thing she humbly bragged about.

Walking through the corridors, she admired the richness of the palace, the old school yet the modernity of the place, everything was so aesthetic— just the way it was described.

She followed the staff, who were carrying a lot of stuff, entering a place which she assumed to be a hall.

And she was right. It was a hall indeed, a big one. She saw a fancy banner getting pulled up and caught on the fact that this was where the event would be taking place. She took a peek around by observing the arrangements that were made by the staff.

"Yes, set the stage right there," a familiar hoarse voice resonated in the hall, which made her turn to look in the direction from where the voice came from.

It was Pranav Sharma. The partial replica of Kabir Raizada. Partially because Pranav changed for the better and for Kabir, well that didn't seem the case.

A woman walked up to him and a smile broke on his face. He bowed, what seemed to look like a playful exchange between the duo. Meher for a moment couldn't figure out who the lady was. She was wearing the standard tee and jeans, her hands laced with a watch and a bracelet. She had sleek long brown hair and was taller than any average Indian girl.

But she recognised her.

Because of the little she knew about Pranav Sharma, she knew that the guy smiled only at two women, well now one, who was not his mother.

Akanksha Agarwal.

Meher had to blink twice before recognising the woman in front of her. It was so weird to see her after so many years.

They weren't close as friends back in school. Acquaintance perhaps? A little more than that maybe. Maybe they were friends. They were always on good terms with each other, not too formal to show off and neither too comfortable.

But whatever they shared, it was genuine and pure— in their world, their relationship was trustworthy and in their time of need, they would be a very reliable source.

She saw another guy coming up and immediately recognised him. Chirag Bansal— the budding businessman. He had a reputation for being an absolute workaholic in their field, but he was different when it came to his friends, nothing new. The trio were laughing at something when she started to walk towards them.

"Akanksha Agarwal," She called as she neared them, three heads turning simultaneously in my direction.

"Yes?" she answered and as she finally took a look at her, her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

She was married.

"Meher Mathur, isn't it?" her eyes teared away from her and looked at Chirag, smiling at him. "The very same,"

Akanksha's face morphed into recognition and upon realisation, smiled at her.

For a moment Meher's eyes went to Pranav, who chose not to look in her direction and the former's lips thinned in displeasure.

He was still holding her accountable for something she wasn't even at fault for. And he knew that. But still, he did that.

"You're married," Meher stated, diverting the awkward silence to some random chat.
"Yes, I am," Akanksha gave her another one of her beautiful smiles and she slowly started to get eased into her presence.

"Shall we take a walk around?" She suggested, noticing the considerable awkwardness that was caused by Pranav. Meher quickly grabbed on to the opportunity and went out of the hall with Akanksha.

As they hit the corridors, Meher's curiosity finally made her ask, "What's with you and the hotel? Last I heard you were studying forensic science. Did that not work?"

From a journalist's point of view, Akanksha making a comeback in the business was like breaking news. So it was obvious of Meher to ask that question first.

Akanksha chuckled, "That is working out pretty well," Meher's lips drew a smile as she heard the present tense. "I have been working in CBI as a forensic expert but along with that, I have started taking part in the business. Gotta keep up the family name," she said, patting her shoulder.

They stopped by multiple times on their way as Akanksha was busy greeting people, stopping by for a few seconds to exchange greetings.

By then, Akanksha had realised that Meher was a curious personality, who wanted to be updated with every little event that existed. She was kind of surprised to see a talkative version of her since Meher had been a reserved child in school. They found a secluded corner in the corridor and sat finally.

"And what about this?" Meher pointed her fingers towards Akanksha's nuptials.

Akanksha gave a small smile, her fingers running over her mangalsutra, "Yes, I am married."

"How long has it been?"

"Seven years, going to be eight in June," Meher could barely control herself to gasp over the news. The timeline only meant that she was just eighteen, she must have gotten married after their board exams. It was also the year when Ruhi Parekh, Akanksha's best friend died.

Somewhere for her, it was very hard to believe that she had gotten married for this long but now when she looked at her and her nuptials, they had aged like fine wine— which in other words, had gotten comfortable with her.

"Enough about me," she said, "tell me about you. What have you been up to these days?"

And Meher told her everything. From journalism in Bangalore to the MBA in Boston, skipping a few details obviously.

"So you came as a media representative or as a part of your main company?"

"This time I came as a part of the business because, you know, just to be introduced to the other people since now I have just joined our business," Meher fiddled with her ring, her right foot lightly tapping on the floor. She didn't know why she felt nervous talking about it, maybe it was just her being herself.

After talking about here and there, they had run out of topics and sat there in a comfortable silence. Meher enjoyed the silence more than their conversation, not that she didn't enjoy talking to her. Somewhere there was soft music playing in the background and the rhythm resonated with the two women.

Meher turned to look at Akanksha, who was intently watching a fish tank.

"Pranav did not seem pleased when he saw me," Mehe finally broached the topic. She had a hint to the answer, yet she wanted to hear it from someone, word by word.

"Some old memories," Akanksha shrugged off the question but Meher knew better.

"You mean Ruhi," there, she said it. She could hear Akanksha take a shaky breath, she realised that their group had never been over her death. They could never be.

"Well, you do remind him of seeing her for the first time because she came along with you and that you always sat together and were partners in everything," If Ruhi Parekh was a Maverick, the name of their group, then she was also a close friend of Meher Mathur.

Ruhi Parekh was dreamy, vivacious and whereas Meher Mathur was silent, timid and that's why they clicked. Even though the former was more friends with the Mavericks, she still maintained a healthy friendship with Meher.

Thanks to her, Meher could survive three years of school.

Even she was distraught when Ruhi died. For it was her first friend in the school well apart from the twins who were a grade below her.

But she made it to college only to lose more people.

"But it is illogical," she reasoned. It was illogical of Pranav to not like her or to be bitter just because she reminded him of his dead girlfriend.

"Of course, it is. But look at his point of view. Nothing is illogical in love, Meher. It makes you feel complete but when gone, it either makes you want to live in those memories or wants you to erase every essence of it," Akanksha said, making Meher wonder about it.

Did she want to live in Abhi's memories or erase every bit of them?

As she was thinking, the sound of the phone vibrating got her out of the trance. Akanksha hurriedly picked up the call and her tone and facial expressions suddenly turned soft and happy.

"I am sorry but I need to leave now. Home calls," Akanksha got up, her face glowing with happiness.

Meher got up too along with her. "So when can I meet him," she asked, indicating her husband.

Akanksha beamed at her, "You'll see him in the evening."

Meher watched Akanksha take her leave, a smile crept on her face as she finally knew the answer to her question.

A little bit of both, maybe.

Finally after a long time and just before we hit the new year I am done with the long awaited chapter.

Scold me as you want because I slacked off for real and also I was changing the storyline. Writing Akanksha as a side character was so weird for me when I have spent years with her as the main character. But it felt like going back to His Inconvenient Bride which has now crossed a whopping 80k reads which is a lot for me. Thank you everyone for making this happen.

College is stupid for hosting exams every month due to which I end up postponing my update schedule.

How are you guys doing these days?

By the way, I am in Pondicherry as I complete this chapter.

Please Vote and Comment if you loved the chapter. Drop a heart as well.

With Love,

Akii.