Thanks @DevanshiPatel5 Meghamanojc   :)

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Payal's POV

Today was the auspicious day panditji chose for our parents to meet. It was decided that Viren's parents and his sister along with a few elderly people would visit my home for the talks. My mom insisted I stay back.Who ever those elderly people were, they wanted to see me. My work had been lagging behind since the moment this whole marriage thing started and I can't afford to loose any more days. I decided I would stay until they arrived. It took me a lot of time to convince my mom to accept that offer. She finally did on one condition. She wanted me to wear a saree!

I got my self dressed the way my mom wanted me to look. I was just lazing around in the room when they arrived. I, of course did not expect to see Viren but my heart beat raised thinking just maybe he would be here. But as I expected he was nowhere to be seen. The bunch of people who came seemed all smiles looking at me. "You look beautiful", Swetha complimented as soon as she saw me. One old lady who was supposedly Mrs Jain's mother asked me to come to her side. She looked at me from top to bottom.I left most of my hair open, tying only few strands back. This was probably too much for the old lady's liking as she scrunched her nose and adjusted her glasses staring at me. My mom who observed all this, intervened but only to annoy me. "She just washed her hair, it is not good to tie up wet hair. So-", she left the sentence unfinished with a stupid smile on her face. I glared at her for trying to justify my open hair . The lady asked me all sorts of questions about cooking ,cleaning etc. I could see my mom's breath hitched, fearing my answers. I smirked at her, yet gave obedient answers. She was the most notorious of all his relatives and I decided that moment, I would stay away from her. I had to exit this place before any more embarrassing questions are shot my way. I somehow managed to excuse myself and leave to office.

*

Viren's POV

What if that girl was Sneha? This was the question that troubled me since the moment I saw her at M.S.T. The last I heard she was with CGI. This was 2 years ago. I had to know where she worked now. Not that it would matter much but the possibility of my past intricately  connected to my present was giving me panic attacks. I had to decide my immediate course of action.  I knew who would give me the right information. But the problem was I had lost their contact. I tried calling number of my friends and with great difficulty I got it. I picked my phone and dialed.

"Viren?You Asshole! How the hell are you?", an exuberant voice sounded on the other side as soon as I greeted. That was my friend Aakash. We have been buddies in college and for a long time after that, but because of some situations we lost contact. " Is that the way you greet Aakash?", I said chuckling into the phone. "You should be happy I stopped at that. Where did you find my number?", he asked surprised. " Well I have my sources",I replied and I could imagine him rolling his eyes."Where are you working now man?", I asked. He was one of the brilliant guys of our class. In fact the whole of our batch was like that. Immediately after college he got an offer to do an internship in U.S.A.After that he joined Barclay's."I am with BOA now. Joined an year ago. This is a little less tiring. I am able to concentrate on family too", he said. "Chennai? How is Neetu by the way?", Neetu was his wife and our friend. They fell in love during college and eventually ended up together unlike me and Sneha. Neetu was Sneha's best friend and they always stuck to each other. She was so annoyed at me when we broke up that she threatened to kill me. That was probably the last time I spoke to her.

"Yeah Chennai and Neetu is doing great! We have a good news bro", he beamed and stopped. It was his old habit to make people wait before he declared something. I laughed," You haven't changed a bit. What is the good news. Spit it.", I said and heard him laugh at the other end. " We are pregnant!", he shouted making me move my phone a little away from my ear, wincing. " Wow! that is a great news dude!When is the due?", they were both my friends and it gave a strange excitement to hear it from them. " In two months", he sounded so happy that I wanted to really see them. "Where did you vanish Viren? The last I or Neetu spoke to you was three years back", his voice sounded really disappointed. " I am sorry Aakash. You know what happened. I really did not want to be in contact with anyone", I sighed. " What are friends for? You should have come to us instead of going into hibernation. I tried reaching you, you know!", the concern he had was evident. I was so depressed back then that I went into a shell ignoring calls from all my friends. I even changed my number so that no one could reach me."I know it was a bad phase but its a part of life man!Anyways, how is life now?", he asked excitement back in his voice. "Back on track thankfully!", I exclaimed. " So when are you getting married? Or is this a call for invitation?",he said getting excited. "Hmm.Not exactly but you will be getting one soon", I blushed, I don't know why." Woah! Awesome! Neetuuuu, Viren is getting married!", he yelled with joy.

"Is that Viren?Viren Jain!", a female voice said in the background and the next moment I could hear some hissing sounds and some disturbance." Viren?", Neetu said and a huge smile spread across my face."Hi DeeDee", I said. "You remember!", she chuckled. It was a name  I gave her when we were in college. She had been like DeeDee of Dexter's laboratory, always annoying me. " Ofcourse I remember", I said feeling extremely nostalgic."How are you?", her greeting was so warm that I could feel a surge of emotions rise in me. These were the people who knew and understood the impact that incident had on me. Talking to them made me vulnerable, yet I had some strange comfort.

"Great!",I said. She was silent for a minute, " You are getting married?", she asked, surprised."Well yeah! finally",I tried sounding cheerful. I did not want her to feel I was still disturbed by Sneha."That is such a great news Viren. Who is the girl?",I could feel she was genuinely happy. "Her name is Payal, she works for an IT start up as a team lead", I did not know what else to say. "We would like to see her picture. Send it to us", she ordered. I realized nothing has changed between us, it was like I was back in time. Probably that is a sign of good friendship " Yes madam", I said and we both started to laugh. She interrupted ,"Here talk to Karthik". " Wait! Neetu", I hurried before she was off the line. " Yeah, tell me", she said doubtfully. " I want to know something", I said. "Yeaaaah!" she dragged that word a bit. I fell silent not knowing how to ask what I was about to.

"Where is Sneha working now?", I asked in almost a whisper.  " Viren! why do you want to know?", her voice suddenly changed cold. "Neetu,its not what you think. I just saw someone the other day and I want to know if its her", I tried justifying. She sighed," Listen! She told me about the little encounter you guys had the other day. I think you should just forget the past and move on Viren", she sounded exasperated. " Neetu, I moved on. I am getting married. I just want to know where she works. That is it! It is not like I will go and meet her.", I snapped. " Well! You gave us the impression when you stalked her the last time!", she said "I did not follow her or stalk her. I was there to pick up my friend. She misunderstood the situation and I did not want to clarify. I am not a pervert. She is marrying someone ,   I have heard. I have got nothing to do with her anymore. I just asked her if we could be friends. That was just impulsive. I later understood how stupid I was to even have said that", I paused and could only hear her breathing. " Neetu, it is okay if you do not want to tell me where she is now. I am still happy I got to talk to you guys", I smiled."It was important to me that I know and that is why I reached out to you. Anyways, now I will surely keep in touch with you guys", I said and waited for her to respond

" She is working for a company Maxsol Soft Tech",she said.My phone almost slipped from my hand. I was right! That girl was Sneha. To make matters worse, Payal seems to know her and too well. She knows the whole story and she hates me.Damn! "Hey!are you there?", she tried bringing me back to reality." Ye-s, thanks Neetu", I said and fell silent. " Anything else you want to know?", she asked sarcasm in her voice. " Huh?No. Take care of your health Deedee. I will come to see the little bundle of joy.", I said and after speaking to Karthik for some time, I hung up.

*

Payal's POV

"So, when is the marriage?", Priya asked me at lunch. We decided we would visit the Dhabha that was close to our work place for lunch today. Apparently Priya was in a mood to talk and importantly hog. With that, another day of work was in the process of getting wasted. The only relief was that, the new team we had employed were picking up quick and have almost started to work. " Not for four months", I grinned wide. " Like you wanted", she smiled at my excitement. " Yeah. The date is August 20", I sipped from the chilled butter milk that was served to us. "Hell!I will be on my honeymoon Payal", her eyes went wide. I almost choked at the sudden realization.I did not consider that point. She was my friend and I would obviously want her to be around for my big day, but looks like it was not going to happen. "Priya, wait for a week, we will go together", I stated it like I was giving her the best idea ever. "No, I don't want you to disturb us. Couples go on honeymoon for a reason", she winked. The thought of Viren and me on our honeymoon, getting intimate suddenly made color rise on my cheeks. "Don't tell me you suddenly realized what you would be doing on a  honeymoon!", she looked at me with a quizzical expression. " What? No!", I looked everywhere like I was looking for the waiter." Don't try to cover up. I saw you blush, when I mentioned that. Never mind, I know you won't accept", she said and I walked to the counter to pay. She almost jogged to reach me.

"What else did they discuss?", she asked while I ransacked my bag for the credit card.  My mom had called before we started for lunch. She poured in, the happenings of the discussion that went on in the morning. The date was also decided in the discussion. " All the regular stuff", I said and she  stopped me from the frenzy I was creating to find that damn card. She reached for hers and gave it to the guy on the counter. "Why don't you organize your bag Payal? So much of junk you have in there, you will take ages to find anything", she frowned peeking into my bag. I agree that I am a bit unorganized but I am comfortable this way. "Don't be my mom, please!", I pleaded. She shook her head, opening the door to the car. " What about dowry? Did they ask?", she reversed the car from the parking lot  keeping any eye on the road from the rear mirror. " Nope, they did not ask and like I demanded my parents did not offer either", I said tying my hair into a bun. The summer heat was scorching and the coolness of the air-conditioner was taking time to spread throughout. "That is great!", she exclaimed as she drove with finesse. " That is not it, the best part is, Viren insisted that our parents split the cost for wedding and other ceremonies. Can you believe it?", I was surely surprised when my mom told me this. My respect for him grew heaps after this gesture. I am sure he must have convinced his parents a lot  and I appreciate him for thinking about it. " Really? Such guys even exist?", she seemed surprised and it was understandable." You sure are lucky, Payal", she smiled at me warmly. Yes I am!

"By the way, will you ever introduce me to him?", she asked dramatically. " Of course, but the situation is not propping up.", I wanted her to meet him. Infact I wanted all my other friends to meet him too. I will be more confident if I have their approval.  "At least a picture?", she said as we reached."Yeah! Sure", I got down while she went to park the car. I remembered there was one picture that we clicked when we went out last time. It was not that great with Viren being in a bad mood that night and was just not posing well. I still went on and clicked because these would one day form a good memory. " Show me!Show me!", she rushed to my side and I laughed at her. I browsed through the photographs to find 'the' one.

"Here, this is my fiancee, Viren Jain", I said handing the phone to her.

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