Prerna brought Kukki home and after dinner put the girl down to sleep. She was with Kukki when Rishabh came home. Rishabh went up to his room to put away new work files, but when he opened the drawer, he found his files out of place. He sighed and took out files to rearrange them the way he liked. The last file in his hand was of Siya.

Rishabh sat holding the file for some time, quietly talking to himself in his head. Reluctantly, he was going to put away his late wife's file when he saw the Basu file on top. Rishabh sighed and replaced the files, taking the Basu file with him.

Mr. Bajaj went downstairs to see Kukki, and stopped at the door seeing his daughter sleeping on her new mother's lap. Rishabh swallowed hard; how he wished that had been Siya sitting there. He shook his head and went in, sitting beside Ms. Sharma.

"Yeh, Basu file hai. Aapne abh tak Kukki ke liye bohot kuch kiya hai. Aap apna promise nibha rahi hain, and I'll keep my promise," he placed the file beside her. "Main Mr. Basu ke piche nahi jaunga. Main Basus ke saath apne past ki karwaahat bhulane ke liye ready hoon, bus koi mere present ko na touch kare."

That last bit got to Prerna. "Past ki karwaahat?"

Rishabh sighed, catching himself. "Har baat bataane ka sahi waqt hota hai. Abhi nahi," he finally turned his attention to his daughter, stroking her sleeping face. "Abhi bas aap Kukki ke saath rahein. Yeh khush rahe, isse pyaar milta rahe. Kukki ke aage nothing else matters."

After a few moments of silence, Rishabh left and Prerna fell asleep beside Kukki.

In the morning, the nanny woke them up for school and Prerna helped her get ready. They ate breakfast with Rishabh before he took Kukki with him to drop her off at school.

Later in the day, Kukki was home and taking a nap while Prerna was doing some housework. Suddenly, a man from the office came in looking huffed.

"Aap ko kuch chahiye?" Prerna asked him.

"Mr. Bajaj ghar par hain?" The man asked, half scared.

"Abhi tak nahi aaye. Koi problem hai? I can help?..." Prerna volunteered.

"Woh, sir ne kaha tha ki American bankers ko baahir dinner pe leke jaana tha."

"Okay. Toh phir?"

"Jo hotel sir ne bataya, us mein aaj shaadi hai, to woh last minute accommodate nahi kar sakte." The man was sweating. "Agar sir ko pata chal gaya to meri naukri..."

"Kuch nahi hoga aapki job ko," Prerna calmed the man down and called for the housekeeper.

"Yes ma'am?"

"How quickly can we set up the backyard? Aaj raat office ka dinner hai."

"I can make them set up before the party, ma'am."

"Thike, aap saare workers ke saath baahir set up karwao, main khaane ko manage karti hoon."

Prerna turned to the man again. "Suno, office ke konse log hain?"

Prerna got the information from the man and invited the wives of the men who were coming. She then called her mom, asking her to send the street food vendors to her house, telling her she would pay for everything.

By 8pm, the backyard was arranged nicely with lights and curtains and outside couches. The vendors put up their carts at one end of the yard, ready to serve. Prerna had even gotten a bartender.

The ladies Prerna had called started coming one by one with their husbands. They marveled at the decor and commended their boss's wife for her last minute getup. Even Rishabh was shocked to see activity in his backyard.

"Sabh log yahan? Main ne hotel book karwaya tha na?"

Prerna casually dismissed him. "Hotel available nahi hai. Abh aap jaldi se ready ho jayein before the Americans come. Go, go!" She brushed him.

Rishabh gave her a weird look and acquiesced as he went inside to change. While Prerna tended to the guests, she noticed someone else at the party: Anurag. Good! She could give him the file here. Happily, she went to him, but he was upset.

"Wow, yeh sabh tumne Mr. Bajaj ke liye kiya?"

"I don't understand. Tum yahaan kya kar rahe ho?" Prerna was confused.

"Deal abhi final nahi hui. Hum dono companies abhi apne proposals de rahe hain. This was supposed to be a neutral dinner."

"I'm so sorry, Anurag. Mujhe nahi pata tha ki who's coming..."

Anurag scoffed, cutting her mid sentence. "Of course, tumhe to kuch pata hi nahi hai tumhare husband kya kar rahe hain, hena? Excuse me."

Prerna stood shocked as Anurag abruptly left her to go greet the American bankers who'd just come in. Prerna got mad, and even more frustrated when Mr. Bajaj was taking a long time to come down. She sighed happily when he finally decided to join the party.

"Aapne aane mein itni der kyun kardi?! Mujhe to laga aap party khatam hone ke baad hi aaoge," Prerna said quietly to him as she walked beside him.

Rishabh put a hand behind her, looking as if he was escorting her. "Actually," Rishabh started, his voice sounding embarrassed, "woh main decide nahi kar paa raha tha ki kya pehnu. Kukki ne help ki, thorda confused tha."

Prerna pouted in fake amusement. "Aap itne barde businessman ho, itne barde barde decisions letay ho, aur aap yeh nahi decide kar paaye ki aapne kapde konse pehnnay hai?" She laughed at his expense, and he was watching her through a side look, but they had finally approached the American guests.

"Rish! I didn't know the dinner was at your house! We could have left together!" The old man exclaimed excitedly.

"Actually, the surprise is mutual. I know we weren't supposed to be talking business at dinner, but..."

"Actually," Prerna cut in, "consider this neutral ground. Tonight, there's no teams. Tonight, I would just like to represent to you: team India. I hope you enjoy our hospitality, and especially our local foods. There's no formality, in India, we're all family!"

The old man laughed happily at Prerna's introduction. "Lovely! I can't believe you've not introduced us before, Rish!"

Rishabh cleared his throat, trying to avoid eye contact. "Mr. Jones, meet my wife, Prerna. Prerna, Mr. Jones is the senior representative for the American Bank."

Prerna extended her hand for a shake and Mr. Jones took it and kissed it. "Prerana, how pretty!" He complimented as he placed her hand in his arm. "Well, as you're our host tonight, why don't you show me around to your hospitality?"

Prerna happily agreed and walked Mr. Jones around, introducing him to all the street foods she had invited. After testing each stall, they walked to the bar where Mr. Bajaj was standing nearby with Mr. Basu.

Mr. Jones ordered his usual drink and leaned over the bar. "Now, the hospitality is lovely, but I always appreciate a good dance at my dinners. Call it... "American tradition?"" Mr. Jones hinted to Prerna, and she smiled as she agreed. The old man told the bartender which song to play and lead Prerna into a dance.

It was less awkward with other couples dancing as well. From a side view, Prerna could see Mr. Bajaj talking to Anurag, and she was getting irritated. Her dance partner noticed her looking towards her husband, and politely ended the dance as the song ended. He walked her back to the bar.

"My apologies, I seemed to have stolen your wife!" Mr. Jones commented to Rishabh, but it was Anurag who swallowed hard.

"It's alright, you two looked like you were having fun!" Rishabh replied with a smile.

"Indeed! But I think you owe your wife a dance for all her hard work!" Jones winked at Prerna and placed her hand in Rishabh's as he sent the couple off to the dance.

"A hand, for our lovely hosts of the evening!" Jones started an applause.

Prerna smiled awkwardly as she placed herself to dance with Mr. Bajaj. They were taking it slow, especially considering Prerna was distracted.

"Aap... ghussa hain?" Rishabh spoke, trying to get her attention.

"Aapse naraz nahi hoon for the first time. Aapko worry karne ki zuroorat nahi hai."

"Kind of hai," he replied, finally getting her attention. "You're more likely to step on my feet."

Prerna looked down and laughed slightly, leaning over his shoulder. "Just because you're on a dance floor, doesn't mean you know how to dance!"

"Excuse me?" Rishabh took the challenge and lead her into a fantastic dance that wowed her and the audience.

As Rishabh pulled out to dance, he imagined himself dancing with his wife, no thought about who was watching. Some point during the dance, Rishabh had extended her out and his dance partner almost tripped, bringing Rishabh back to reality.

Prerna was amazed that the man who she thought was so cold and cruel could dance so well. She was trying hard to keep up with him, but she was enjoying herself. Suddenly, she was almost about to fall, coming face to face with Anurag. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, but Prerna made her decision. She twirled herself back to Mr. Bajaj, enjoying her well earned dance.

Rishabh noticed her decision, and was slightly impressed as they continued the dance for a few minutes more before the song was ended. Prerna hung onto Mr. Bajaj as the audience clapped for them again, but she had to quickly excuse herself as all the dancing had made her sick.

When Prerna came back to the party after throwing up, Rishabh gathered everyone's attention and ended the dinner, sending everyone home for the night. Prerna stood beside her husband as they saw off their guests.

Finally everyone had left, and the couple was leaving the staff to wrap up the party. Rishabh walked beside Prerna, his hands behind his back. They had come inside and were about to part ways when Rishabh stopped her.

"Aapko yeh sabh karne ki zuroorat nahi thi. But you went out of your way for my business. Thank you."

"It was just business, Mr. Bajaj. Nothing more. Good night," Prerna said awkwardly and went up to bed.