Kishtwar, Jammu & Kashmir

Gritting, Adhvik returns, all the way reminding himself, "She's a child"

Surprisingly, he didn't feel a bit of cold this time, infact he didn't feel anything except for the temper which made him indifferent to the temperature.

Next day, early in the morning, the brother & sister went to greet Verma's as they were tired with the circumstances & couldn't visit them yesterday.

Nandana is closer to them than Adhvik as he hardly visits the place. But he acknowledges the Verma's & Raiza's friendship which began with their mothers & now retrospected to their grandfathers.

Verma's just knew him as the first born of Lalitha & now the President of Dehwaars Group but Nandana is like their grand daughter. Nevertheless, they warmly recieved the duo in.

Sipping the hot pink tea or Rose chai as it called, Adhvik sits back observing their home after greeting the elders when he halts listening a sound.

A Royal Enfield sound specifically.

He slowly gulps the tea knowing too well who it is even without looking at the doorway.

Seconds later, a woman enters followed by a guy.

He is tall, lean & built. With that short hair and polo shirt, he looked rigid but his vibe is casual.

And with their arrival, the Verma's bunglow brightened up even more. It's Vijay's sister, Eshal Khar and her son Vittal Khar.

She weekly pays visit to her parents. As per their vacation plan, she should come earlier but her son just came back from his training thus the delay.

When Eshal stepped in, she is not expecting the duo in the hall but she nods at them with a smile & leaves to meet Geetha while Vittal friendly greets them & talks to Nandana. He knew her better because of his cousin.

Though the mother & son are chatting with Geetha & Nandana respectively, they are searching for certain someone when that one hurriedly comes down carrying a wide smile with her & ran to Eshal.

"Mami",Teja sings hugging Eshal tightly taking her by surprise.

"Meri favourite Bhanji...I missed you", Eshal says hugging her back & kissing her hair.

"Meri favourite Mami...I missed you too", reciting, Teja hugs her even tighter.

She's her most adored Eshu Mami who defends her for all the naughty things she does. Her secret keeper too.

When they are in their moment, Adhvik reprises to himself, "Nandu keliye tho nai aayi"

"Ab chod bhi do meri ma ko.Bull dozer ki tarah crush kar rahi hein", huffing Vittal seperates them & acts like checking his mother.

"Aap theek hona Ma? Aap saas le sakthe ho?", Teja widens her mouth at the comment & his act while others laugh except for two whom she didn't even mind.

"Mein bull dozer hu tho thum Bull ho bull. That big black angry big nose wala bull"

This is their way of greeting eachother. No hi hello direct attack.

Vittal snaps at her angrily, "Kya bola?"

"Dekho kaise dua aa rahe hein dono naak se Bull. Jallikattu pe jaoge?", she retorts.

Vittal about to hold her neck when she shouts, "Mami"

Her saviour mami comes infront as usually and chides at Vittal.

"Did you hear what she called me Ma?"

"Kisne shuru kiya ha?", his mother shuts his mouth while Teja pokes her tongue out enjoying behind his mother.

"You...", he's about to scold her when his mother intervenes again.

"Khabardar meri bhanji ko kuch kaha tho"

He steps back at his angry mom while his cousin is giggling like she just won a cup.

This happens everytime. His mother doesn't hesitate to show her partiality towards Teja & his cousin doesn't hesitate to use it against him.

Eshal turns to Teja & shows the package she brought, "Chalo mein tereliye Phirni layi hu".

Teja's eyes lighten up at the box.

Her mami cooks the best Phirni, a popular Kashmiri dessert made of rice, milk, dry fruits & rose essence.

"You are superb Mami", she kisses Eshal on her cheek as she leads her to the dining hall followed by others leaving the duo in visiting hall.

"She says the same to my mother", Adhvik objects when he heard Nandana beside,

"Shall we go Bhai?"

"You don't wanna stay?",he quizzes as she would always wanna be with her best friend.

"Bunny is busy. Mein kya karungi yaha rukke?", Nandana knew how close Teja is to her mami.

But her answer makes him squarely glance at Teja who's immersed in savouring the dish while chatting with the new guests. He didn't like his sister feeling unwanted. Actually, he didn't like Verma's ignoring them making him immediately take their leave.

Two hours later, Teja came to Sekhar's house with a box of Phirni to give it to Nandu.

Chaya told her she's up  & she made her way there shouting her friend's name.

Her shrieks disturbed Adhvik, in call with Zaid who's updating him of their plan of action regarding the ordeal. He is already annoyed at the lack of proper connectivity & he even tried to ignore but her voice is too loud to avoid as she came near to his room.

Holding Zaid's call, he irritatedly came out when at the same time Teja is passing his room & is about to shout for Nandu again.

"This is not your home. Tone down your voice"

Scowling, he unholds the call & walked back into his room shutting the door.

She is too surprised to react one by his sudden appearance & his subtle warning.

Gritting her teeth on the closed door, she strides to Nandu's room just beside his.

She's about to shout at her friend when she saw what Nandana is watching on TV.

Dehwaars just released the official statement regarding their stance on denial of engagement & that is what all the channels are displaying with both Nandana & Gautham pictures.

Lunging inside, Teja switched off the Tv taking the remote from Nandana.

"Kya kar rahi hein?", she calls out Teja.

"Thu kya dekh rahi hein? Nonsense.",she doesn't want her friend to think of that day anymore.

Nandana tries to take the remote from her, "Arey hamari pictures dekhne do. Kitne sundar lag rahe the!"

Teja hides the remote at her back, "Ha ha ghoda ghodi too good to look at."

Nandana widens her mouth at her remark but strictly tells her, "Do not insult him in my presence"

It is just an act which they both are playing and enjoying.

"Acha? Kya karoge? Ghode ko bataoge?"

"Aur kahaka ghoda? It's long gone."

Looking at eachother, they both burst into laughter falling on the bed.

As her misery was put to an end, Nandana felt relieved & elated.

"Kya baath hein? Bahot kush lag rahi ho ha",Teja lays on her palm facing Nandana.

"Ha mein bahot kush hu"

Nandana widely smiles which lessens when her sight catches the photo frame of her family.

"Par kya Ma aur Pa kush hein? Dadi ma kush hein?",she mumbles looking at their smiling faces in the frame.

Sighing, Nandana lays on bed staring the fan for few minutes,

"I was ready Bunny. I made up myself for them but I failed...again."

Her eyes brim as she recalls how she handled herself for the engagement at those last minutes.

She mutters the everlasting question as she glances at the photo again,

"Can I ever make them happy?"

Though she always puts them before, Nandana never got why she would always be the reason for the disappointment in her family.

Her thoughts stop hearing her friend's voice, "You can.", Teja sits on bed, "With my help ofcourse"

Nandana frowns, "Kaise?"

"Aise",and she tickles her.

Nandana though resists at first but slowly starts chuckling which turns into a full laughter.

Nearly after dreadful 5 min, she finally sits on bed pleading Teja, "Bas bas aur nai. Aur nai"

Teja guises to tickle again making her scoop  frightened at her which makes her laugh.

"Aise hathe raho because they don't need anything but your happiness"

An instant smile steals Nandana as she gets amazed at how her Bunny manages to take her worries out all the time & puts a smile on her face.

"And I don't need anyone but you", squealing she falls on Teja hugging her on bed,

Teja tries to leave but her friend doesn't let her, "Chodo mujhe"

"Kuch karthe heina?", Nandana tries throatily.

"Kya?", Teja's brows come near.

"Kuch kuch hota hein Teja. Thum nai samjoge", her friend sighs drooping.

Teja widen her eyes,"Tujhe ladka nai ladki dundhna chahiye"

Nandana laughs so hard while Teja relieves herself from her & goes to pick the box she brought.

"Let's eat", Teja opens the container with spoons.

"Thu nai khayi?", Nandana makes place for her.

"Fir kha nai sakte?", Teja's answer makes her chuckle & the girls settle on the bed opposite to eachother with the box in the middle having the sweet & chatting & chuckling.

"Bunny", Nandu calls devouring the sweet as she seemed to think about something, "If you think about it now, that was all filmy. I was being the heiress in distress & at the last time my saviour comes in the form of Income Tax", she laughs, "Goodness I gained something from our Government. Perfect time pe raid"

She takes another spoonfull, "Waise IT raids itna achanak ho sakta hein? Matlab without any prior leaks mujhe laga sirf films mein hotha hein"

"Ask your brother. He knows it too well",Teja simply says but Nandana didn't get what she's implying.

"Ha Bhai ko pata..."and her mind clicks making her startled. She looks at Teja who's casually eating her sweet.

"Matlab Bhai ne?", Nandana's voice drop.

"Ofcourse. Aur koi ho sakta hein?", Teja shrugs it off without even looking at her.

Nandana is at loss of words.

Adhvik did that?

She couldn't believe her brother is the reason for the mishap.

Now that she calmly rewinds, she could connect all the dots. The reason for his absence at Opera House that day & the repeated calls he got, him rushing her to their residence.

What if Dadi ma gotta knew about it? He will be in trouble. A big one.

Because when it's a cause of respect & dignity, Janaki Devi wouldn't spare anyone.

But he took the risk... for her.

Can she ever repay him?

"Agar thu shock se bahar aa gayi tho mujhe tera cashews do na",she requests as her share of nuts are finished.

Nandana gives a look at her.

Just then Adhvik comes in.

He was disturbed by their chatters & laughters hence he's here to give them an earful but he was taken aback when his sister hugs him as soon as she saw him.

Teja halts licking the sweet, "Is he sneaking upon us?"

She dubiously frowns with flip side of spoon in her mouth not forgetting the last encounter.

"You ok Cadbury?", he asks hugging her back. She isn't sad it's more like a comfort hug.

She didn't answer but hugs him heartfully for a minute then looks at him in his hold,"Thank you Bhai"

"For everything",she adds, her eyes showing tons of gratitude.

Smiling, he kisses her forehead. "Anything for you"

Feeling grateful, Nandana goes into his hold again.

At that second she decided, if anytime her brother is questioned, she would take the blame & tell them she never liked the proposal in the first place.

Teja sighs knowing he isn't hearing them & she also thinks to leave.

Nandana comes out of the hug, "Aap kuch bolna hein Bhai?",

"Hm.Jab se holidays keliye ayi ho tab se kahi nai gayi.Let's go out."

Nandana gets excited as she is waiting to explore.

"Sure"

"Mein bhi jaungi ghar", Teja jumps out of the bed.

Nandana turns to her,"Thu nai aayegi?"

"Nai yaar. V ke saath farm jaana hein. Chachu ne bola Kuch kaam hein waha.Mein tujhe shaam mein milungi"

Nandana sulks, Teja pinches her cheek, "We will go out tomorrow.Bye for now"

She leaves but Adhvik disapproved her turning down his sister.

They went out visiting the nearby places with wali for directions.

It's 3'O clock in afternoon & on their way back,

"Khan drive to VR farms", Adhvik tells Arshad after receiving a phone call.

"Waha kyun Bhai?", Nandana asks to which
her brother pleasantly says, "Dadu is there waiting for us."

"Woah.."

Delighted, she looks on, as Arshad turn the wheels to the saffron farmlands.

Picture tho abhi baaki hein mera dosth...