Dear Stress,

    Let's Break Up!

Important Author's Note at the end!

Chapter 40: Zucchini Vibes

   "Oh my gosh, that guy is a real hottie," Riccha said, Riya's new found friend.

   Sheila had introduced the two of them, and Riccha had an instant liking towards her. She was a very chatty type, and Riya patiently listened to her babble.

   Riya used to be a social butterfly. Meeting new people was her cup of tea. It was after she came here that she stopped socializing.

   Riya looked to where Riccha was pointing. She was pointing towards Armaan and Madhan. Madhan was wearing a red and beige Kurta Pyjama suit. Armaan was wearing dark blue and grey.

   "The blue one's taken," Riya said, casually, sipping her straw. They were waiting at the refreshment table.

   The hall was beautifully designed. The chairs were neatly arranged along the sides, and there was ample space in the middle to dance.

   During every Dandia Night, Riya remembered how people would form a large circle, and dance with Dandia sticks. They would turn to the person on their right, do a couple of pair moves with the sticks, and then they turn to the person on the left. All this they do while moving around in the circle.

   Riya watched as Sheila was dancing a bit too vigorously. She was about to walk over there to stop her, but Armaan beat her to it. She saw him lovingly pull the pouting Sheila away from the circle. After what seemed like a little heated discussion, Armaan laughed and they did a mini dandia dance, with just the two of them.

   Riya smiled watching them. They were so meant to be together.

   "...So I'm gonna go ask him to dance with me," Riccha said.

   Riya turned to Riccha and heard only the last few words.

   "Uhh what?"

   "Never mind. I'll introduce you to two of my other friends. You need more friends here. Sheila told me how lonely you get. She's the only friend you had!"

  Riccha grabbed her hand and dragged her to her friends. Her friends were animatedly talking to each other and Riya felt embarrassed to disturb. One girl was wearing a grand pink Gagra Choli while the other was wearing a yellow sari. Her blouse showed a lot of cleavage, and the back of her blouse showed off her sexy back. Both of them were very beautiful. But Riya felt Riccha was the prettiest.

   "Auroshi, Keerthi, this is Riya. Riya, this is Auroshi and Keerthi."

   The girls said hi and Riya was about to protest but she yelled as she walked away. "I have a conquest to make."

   Riya turned to the girls and smiled awkwardly.

   "So..."

   The yellow sari girl, presumably Auroshi spoke up. "So which part of India are you from?"

   "I'm from Tamil Nadu," she said, shyly.

   "Oh! That's nice. A South Indian eh? We both are from New Delhi. I moved to the US a year ago. But Auroshi has been living here since forever," The other girl said.

   "That's lovely. So what are you two ladies doing here?"

   Auroshi said, "We both are freelance writers. That's how we became friends."

   "We've been planning a trip to Las Vegas. Do you want to come?" Keerthi asked.

   Riya was taken aback. They had hardly spoken for two minutes and they were already asking her on a trip.

   Keerthi laughed at her bewilderment. "I know how you're feeling. But relax. We're going with our husbands. Riccha's friends are our friends too. Are you married?"

   "Yes. I got married in June."

   "Where did you go on your honeymoon?" Auroshi wriggled her eyebrows.

   Riya squirmed. She hardly knew these people. Should she lie? If she didn't she would have to explain so much more and it would be really awkward.

   "We went to Switzerland," Riya blushed. It was her mom's favorite place. The first place she could come up with.

   "Oh my god, I envy you," Auroshi gushed. "That's a super romantic place to go. My sister went to Geneva. Where in Switz did you go?"

   Maybe lying was a bad idea. Nothing came to her mind.

   Aaah, there was the capital. What was it, she wracked her brains. It started with a Z.

   "Zucchini," she said, triumphantly.

   Auroshi looked at her curiously. "Zucchini?"

   Riya groaned inwardly and bit her lip. Was her lie going to get revealed? Was she going to lose her newfound friends already?

   "Actually I uh..."

   "She meant Zurich, Auro. That was funny. Good one," Keerthi said.

   "Yeah..." Riya said, a little too high pitched. "He he he" she added, to appear less suspicious. She had mentioned the name of a vegetable. How much more of a face-palming moment can she get?

   Fortunately, they didn't probe further.

   Riya asked if they could exchange numbers. She stored their names, phone numbers, and addresses.

   "What are you guys doing here," Riya asked, pointing at the refreshment table.

   "We were dancing up until two minutes ago. Want to go dance?" Auroshi questioned.

   Riya shrugged. "Okay." She followed behind Auroshi, but stopped in her tracks, making Keerthi bump into her.

   "What happened?" she asked.

   Riya stammered. "It's nothing. I need to go to the washroom."

   "Oh," she chuckled. "Go straight, and it's on the left."

   Riya nodded and headed back to the refreshments table.

   "One bottle of water please," she asked the servers.

   She gulped the entire contents trying to erase the memory from her head.

   Madhan was dancing with Riccha, and he had the biggest smile he could possibly get.

   The nerve of him!

   He hadn't even danced with her once.

  Riya was really upset. Ever since their almost kiss, Madhan was acting like nothing had happened between them.

   He didn't even comment on how beautiful she looked when she came out half an hour later. In fact, he almost yelled at her. If it weren't for her glare, he would have said something more, but he stopped with just this. "I was worried we would be on time for the closing ceremony."

   She didn't speak to him after that. Madhan made repeated efforts in striking a conversation with her, but she was quiet. Madhan didn't try after that.

   Thankfully the hall was loud and bursting with activity. She managed to sneak in and lose Madhan. She met Sheila and got introduced to Riccha. Time flew and half an hour had already passed.

   She was feeling horrible.

   Drinking the whole bottle at one go calmed her down. She picked up her sticks and joined the circle.

   She swished and swashed. Her right and left partners were men, but they danced so gracefully. She found herself having a great time. For a few minutes anyway. She had been inconspicuously watching Madhan. He was dancing between Riccha and another girl.

   Her smile faltered as she watched Riccha drag Madhan away from the circle.

   Riya stopped dancing.

   "Oww," she rubbed her forehead. Her partner on the right hadn't anticipated her standing still, and hit her head by accident.

   The man profusely apologized. Riya smiled and said it was okay. She stepped away from circle however and let them resume.

   Her mood was spoilt. She didn't blame Riccha. She told her she was married, but she hadn't told her who it was. She was single at twenty-six, and her parents were waiting for a call from her regarding her getting hitched.

   Riya stomped her foot and felt steam blow out of her ears.

   She had had enough when she saw Riccha cup Madhan's ear to tell him something.

   She walked in slow motion like RajiniKanth in Chandramukhi.

   Riya fumed when she saw Madhan laughing. He was so going to get it from her when they reached home.

   "Riccha," she said, impatiently.

   Riccha turned around and smiled gleefully. "Riya, this is Madhan, my future husband. Darling, this is Riya."

   What the hell?

   Madhan's wide-eyed expression was an indication of absolutely nothing.

   "Riccha, that's my husband."

   Riccha burst out laughing. "You guys should have seen each other's faces. It was hilarious."

   Madhan heaved a sigh of relief and Riya was stumped.

   "That wasn't funny," she said, steely.

  "Oh come on, cheer up. That's payback, Madhan, for not telling me you got married, let alone not invite me, " Riccha scowled.

    Madhan turned beet while Riya was quizzical. "You two know each other?"

   "Duh. He was my project leader at work. I quit a year ago."

   Riya sighed inwardly. That was a relief.

   "I'm sorry, Riccha. It was all of a sudden, and I didn't tell anyone at work," Madhan said, shamefacedly.

   Riccha gasped. "Not even Sheila?"

   "You knew?" Riya asked.

   "Oh please. Everyone knew," Riccha said, rolling her eyes. "Everyone except this douche-bag here."

   "No, he didn't tell her," Riya said, looking at the floor.

   "She knows now? I presume she did since she moved on with another guy."

   Riya chose not to comment further. For some reason, this made her feel guilty. If she had told him about Aakash in the first place, this wedding might not have happened. Who knows, Sheila would have proposed to him, and they would have had a lovely life together.

   Madhan sighed. It was getting really awkward. He could sense Riya's uneasiness. "No. Not even Sheila."

   "How did that happen?" Riccha asked, pointing her thumb backward at Armaan.

   As much as he loved Riccha like his sister, she had the worst timing.

   "It's a huge story. And really complicated."

   "I have time."

   Madhan glanced at Riya, who was looking at everything except them.

   "I don't," Madhan said quickly, grabbing Riya by the hand. "We still hadn't had our first couple dance."

   Riccha brought her hands to her mouth. "What are you two doing not having had your first dance together yet? Go!" She herself shoved them to the circle in the middle of the hall.

   Auroshi walked over to where Riccha was standing. Do you now know why you're still single?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

   "I spoke too much, didn't I?" Riccha asked, face-palming herself.

   "Yup, you did." Keerthi chimed in, joining them on Riccha's other side. "Well, I feel like dancing. Let's go!"

   Riya should have been happy. She was finally dancing with Madhan. His attention was completely hers. His eyes never left hers, although she was frequently looking down. She was still feeling really miserable. She didn't even know what it was that was bothering her.

   Madhan was worried. Whenever Riya looked at him and smiled, it never lit up her face. After ten minutes, he guessed that staying there any longer wasn't going to help. He needed to lift her spirits up.

   "I'm hungry. Shall we get something to eat?" Madhan asked, pointing to the dining hall behind the refreshment table.

   Riya didn't feel hungry but said yes anyway.

   The dinner was set up in a buffet fashion. The ticket entry to the place had cost $40 for both of them, dinner inclusive. Along the walls, the tables were lined up, with big aluminum vessels. There was a soup table in the middle of the hall. Four different types of curries, along with Naan, Poori, and Chappathi were available. There was also Biriyani and mixed Curd rice. The dessert table comprised of a gigantic chocolate fountain.

   Riya squealed when she saw that. The whole setting reminded her of a typical Indian catering buffet. "This feels like home," she gushed.

   Madhan chuckled. "It does, doesn't it? I never used to come here cause I would have to come alone."

   "Well you don't have to come here alone anymore," Riya said, smiling at him. "I'm going to the desserts. I'm not hungry."

   Madhan nodded. "Alright, I'll be waiting here with the food."

   Riya walked as fast as she could, to the desserts table. There were fruits of all types. She was curious about the grill on the side. She questioned the person standing there.

   "Oh, we roast the fruits and use them as toppings on the ice cream. Want some?"

   Riya looked skeptical.

   "It's good. Try it," the man said, piercing a piece of pineapple, watermelon, apple, and strawberry on a stick. He let the stick roast for a minute on the grill and dipped it into the ice cream in a long vertical cup. He scooped some ice cream into the cup. He took a marshmallow on a stick and dipped in the fountain.

   Riya's mouth was watering. She could hardly conceal her excitement when the man handed the cup to her. It had a total Indian appeal.

   The man chuckled. He guessed she had just come from India.

   Riya almost dropped the ice cream when she walked to where Madhan was standing.

   She made a face when she saw what he was eating.

   "Dude there's hardly anything on your plate," she said, looking at him disbelieving.

   Madhan looked at her funnily. "Yeah I'm dieting. You know how many calories each item is."

   "So? I can name a billion items that you could eat with less fat."

   "I'm sure you can. If I did eat all those, then I wouldn't be able to do this, will I?" he asked, taking the spoon from Riya's hand and gulping it. "Hmmm this is so good," he hummed. He stopped chewing in the middle when he looked at Riya's O-shaped mouth. And it wasn't a good O. It was more of an "I'm going to kill you" oh.

   Riya squealed. "Madhan!" She turned beet when she realized she was a bit too loud and people were staring at her. Awkwardly smiling at them, she turned her attention to Madhan who was looking terribly frightened.

   "I'm so sorry. I'll get you a new one." He handed the plate and cup to her, and zoomed past her to the ice cream table.

   He came back empty handed a minute later. "They have no more ice cream left," he said, sorrowfully.

   Riya looked wistfully at her ice-cream. Should she eat it anyway? She never shared her food with anyone, didn't like to. She only saw it as an exchange of saliva.

   Speaking of which, she did want to kiss him a few hours back. If she had, this wouldn't be such a big deal then.

   "You're making me give up a lot of my ethics," Riya mumbled at Madhan, handing him his plate back.

   "I'm s-" Madhan started, but stopped when he saw Riya eat a spoon of her dessert.

   That was something, he thought. He couldn't believe he just shared food with her.

   "You want some of my naan?" he asked, hopefully. Riya glared at him. Okay, maybe he was pushing it too much. He should take what he gets when he gets. That was rule number infinity.

   Madhan quickly finished eating his dinner and kept his plate in the tray for eaten plates. Riya appeared full, so he ate the remaining of her dessert.

   "Shall we go home?" he asked as they walked back to the main hall.

   Riya pondered. She didn't feel like going back home. "Nope."

   "Where do you want to go?"

   Riya looked at him. "Surprise me," she winked and sauntered off to her new found friends.

Author's Note:

     I have great news! I finally finished the rough draft of the entire book! :D It's coming to totally 50 chapters! I've decided a proper update schedule! Every wednesday and Saturday! Fret not, the chapters will be either long or action packed! There's still loads to come! Buckle up and sit tight! The ride is going to be rough ;-) I'm so glad it's come out better than expected! Hope you enjoy the rest of the book! :D

So, what do you guys think about Riccha, Auro, and Keerthi? ;-) Is Riccha  Do you think Riya and Madhan are acting like a couple now? ;)

What will the surprise be? Where do you think they will go? Oh, and will Madhan mess again? :P :P :P

Indian Food description: 

Naan: (in Indian cooking) a type of leavened bread, typically of teardrop shape and traditionally cooked in a clay oven.

Biriyani: an Indian dish made with highly seasoned rice and meat, fish, or vegetables.

(Let me know if you have other doubts!)