The Love That Was Once Hidden

Chapter 3

"Di! Aap kaha thi?" Preeti asked as soon as Suman entered the house after a tiring day of work and her meeting with Mr Mehra.

"Meri aaj meeting thi. Kyu?" Suman asked.

"Di, mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai. Lekin aapke fresh hojane ke baad. Aapne khaana khaye? Ya main aapke liye khaana lagwao?" Preeti asked.

"Nai meri pretty Preeti, I already ate. Waise tune aur sabne khaye?"

"Haan."

"Theek hai. Main fresh hojati hoon aur tu coffee leke mere kamre mein aa." Suman said as Preeti nodded her head and walked off to the kitchen to prepare coffee.

"Hmm ab bata." Suman said after taking a sip of her coffee as the sisters sat on the bed with their legs stretched out in front of them.

"Voh main... Uhmm you know voh Preeti Bhoj se hi... Main... Uhmm..."

"Yeh main main Kya kaha rakkha hai? Bakri Thodi hai? Seedhe seedhe bol na." Suman asked irritated.

"Theek hain. Lekin! Aap meri baat acche she sunon, with a calm mind, aur interfere nai karengi aap." Preeti said as Suman agreed laughing to it.

"Toh aapko pata hai na, main aur Pushkar Preeti Bhoj ke baad se hi acche dost bane. Aur ab toh hum dono... Uhmm."

"Ek dusre se pyaar karte hai." Suman completed the sentence making Preeti look at her in shock.

'Is she some sort of mind reader?' Preeti thought to herself.

"Arrey, aise hairaan hoke look kyu de rahi hai. Bhool mat, main teri behen hoon aur Pushkar ki best friend bhi, tum donon ki harkaton se pata lagta hi hai. Aur waise bhi, ek din Maine aur Shravan ne tum dono ki baatein sunli thi phone pe." Suman said with a smile.

"Kab?" Preeti asked.

"Yaad hai, jab Pushkar aaya tha 'mujhse milne'?" She asked making quotation marks with her fingers, "Aur main uski aur teri tang kheechne mein lagi huyi thi. Wahi din." Suman said as realisation dawned on Preeti and she blushed.

"Aur waise bhi mujhe pehle se hi shak tha. I mean dekh, main aur Pushkar kitne saalon se acche dost hai aur uss kanjoos ne mujhe itne saalon mein ek chocolate tak nai diya aur tere liye fauran perfume laake diya. Tab hi mujhe shak lagne laga aur voh shak sahi nikla jab Maine tum dono ki baat suna phone pe." Suman said as she raised her imaginary collar.

"Di, are you sure aap part time mein koi jasoos ya detective nai ho? Ya Shravan ke Sangat ka asar hai?" Preeti suggested wiggling her eyebrows but soon regretted after seeing the smile slip off her mouth.

"Sorry Di. Voh main bhi na, kuch bhi bolti rehti hoon." Preeti said as Suman quickly masked her sadness.

"It's okay Preeti. Waise bhi mujhe ab koi fark nahi padta." Suman said nonchalantly.

"Lekin aapki aankhen toh kuch aur kehti hai." Preeti said lifting her chin so as to meet her eyes.

"Aap Shravan se pyaar karti hai." Preeti said, confidently as Suman looked at her shocked. How is it that two people caught on to her feelings in one day!?

Am I that transparent?' She thought a little scared of any of her family members or Shravan's family picking it up as well.

Seeing her quite, Preeti continued, " Di, main aapse choti hoon, lekin dimaag aur aankhen dono hai." She said and Suman realized she said the same thing Pushkar told her earlier on.

"Hmm waise, Pushkar ne bhi mujhse aise hi kaha tha, aaj. Toh Ms Preeti Tiwari, kahi yeh Pushkar ki Sangat ka asar hai?" Suman asked with a lopsided grin making Preeti flush.

"Kya Di, aap bhi na. Aur waise Maine aapse mere aur Pushkar ki baat batayi, Abhi aapki aur Shravan ki bari."

"Tu kyu itna interest dikha rahi hai mere iss incomplete love story pe?" Suman asked.

'Is this conversation really necessary?' She thought to herself.

"Di! Aapne hum sab ke liye kitna kuch Kiya. Humesha doosro ki khushi ke saamne aapne apni khushi kurbaan ki. Ab aapki khushi ki baari." Preeti said.

"Awwh meri Preeeetii, I love you meri behen!" Suman said as she pulled her in a hug.

"Yeh na, aap Shravan se hi kahiye, mujhse nai." Preeti said giggling making Suman whack her arm.

"Ouch!" Preeti exclaimed rubbing the spot.

"Ohho Kya gup shup horahi hai tum donon behno mein?" Manju asked as she made her way to the room.

"Mamiji aap? Aap soye nai Abhi tak?" Suman asked.

"Haan, hum bas paani lene aaye the tere mamaji ke liye. Dekho na tum dono, kitna late ho gaya hai. Sone jao." She said.

"Haan Haan, bas thoda aur time mommy." Preeti said.

"Haan Haan maharani toh yahi kahengi na? Jaisi tu subha subha utke sab kuch karti aur PCT jaati hai na." Manju taunted Preeti good naturedly as Suman giggled making Preeti pout.

After the accident, Manju had realised how wrong she was to keep taunting Suman and how Suman was the one who kept the household going. Without her, they were all like lost goats on the road. She had come to appreciate the girl's efforts in doing things that were seemingly difficult for her as a married lady.

What do you know? Her accident was good in a way. It brought her and Shravan a little close, let his guards down and her family, who previously didn't appreciate her, started knowing her worth and value.

"Chalo Chalo, main jaati hoon, aap donon ke taanein se toh better hi hai." Preeti said getting up making Suman giggle and Manju shake her head at her antics.

"Ab tu bhi so ja, jaldi bhi toh uthna hai na." Manju said to Suman as she nodded her head and her aunt left.

As she lied on the bed, she just thought of how weird life is. She never got happiness in full. It always came in bits and pieces. For instance, when she was small and had first come to stay in Tiwari Killa, her family looked after her as their own, then she didn't have a best friend to confide in. Slowly, as she grew older and she got a best friend in Shravan, her Mamiji treated her as an unwanted burden. 10 years long without Shravan, it felt as if the world's grief was put before her feet. And now, as she got her full family by her side, it all still felt empty, just because of one person.

Shravan

》》●●●●●●●●●●●●《《

"Oye khotiya! Tu ki kar raha hai?" A man in round about his 50s asked a guy who was bewildered at what just happened while his friend was in hysterics looking at the scene.

"Mamu, mujhe nai pata yeh sab kaise karte." Rishi whined looking at his uncle helplessly and shot a glare to Shravan's side.

"Oye usse Kya dekh raha hai?" His uncle, Rudra Kashyap, asked as he pointed a glare to his nephew.

"Mamu, not fair. Aap humesha mujpe hi ghussa hote hai, iss Shravan ke bacche pe nai." Rishi said.

"What happened?" Eric asked as soon as he joined them as well as Riya and Camilla. He took a seat next to Shravan who was currently laughing at the scene in front of him. They were currently sitting in the huge lounge of Rishi's uncle's house and were supposed to be having their dinner there that day, but the dinner was long forgotten after what Rishi had done, that made his uncle angry and gave Shravan his daily dose of entertainment.

"Rishi, the great Masterchef, thought he can prove his uncle wrong by making the 'world's best' pizza and biryani. The pizza along with the oven burnt out. On top of that, he added sugar to the biryani and since he left in on the stove with hardly any water in the rice, it got burnt. And well the fun part is, he was told to keep mamu's clothes in the washing machine and instead of washing liquid, Rishi, the great, added blue dye. In his defence, they look the same." Shravan finished off as the ones who had just come in, started laughing.

"Gadhe ke bhatija! Ab isse kaun, tera mama saaf karna hai?" His uncle shouted.

"Mamu, aap khud ko gadha bula rahe hai." Rishi said innocently as his uncle bit his tongue at his folly. This was what he called his son every time he done something wrong.

"Teri mami ko aane de, aise class lagayengi na woh teri." His uncle said not knowing how to reply to his nephew's previous statement, making Riya giggle, but soon replaced it as a blank look.

"Ab hum kya khaenge? Bhook lagi hai." Riya said in her British accent.

"I'll make my favourite sev ki sabzi." Shravan volunteered as his friends looked at him as if he grew horns on his head while Rishi's uncle gave an expected look, happy to be eating Desi food after three months, since his wife had made a trip to her parents house in India.

"Tu sabzi banayenga?" Both Rishi and Riya asked at the same time making Rishi give his girlfriend a flirtatious look. "Have you ever even visited a kitchen?" Riya asked giving him a mock look.

"Oh please. I don't cook bad." He said.

"Oye khotiya chup kar tu. Aise bol raha hai jaise tu dunya ka sabse bada chef hai na? Tabhi toh pizza hi Kya, pura oven jala diya tune." His uncle commented making the others laugh at Rishi's misery. This will go on for a long time!

"And as it is, the greatest chef, Su-"

"Who?" Rishi asked. The way Shravan immediately stopped, gave him an inkling it's something to do with the girl he calls his best friend.

"Uhmm my one friend back home. She actually has her own catering business, so she once taught me." He said clearing his throat.

"Oye changa hi ji, changa hai. Tu chetti chetti ja aur banake la. Aur tu, jaake uski madad kar." His uncle said excited at finally eating Indian food while the group of friends headed to the kitchen and he attended an important phone call.

"Ahem, is this 'friend' of yours that same girl you were talking about right?" Rishi whispered while they walked to the kitchen.

"Just shut up." Shravan whispered back as he glared at him, he didn't want anyone hearing him.

"What's going on here?" Eric asked as he raised an eyebrow at the guys.

"Our Shravan is in love!" Rishi exclaimed since the girls were already in the kitchen, given their slow pace due to their conversation.

"What!?" Eric exclaimed shocked the fact his friend, who stayed 10 feet away from women, was actually in love.

"Bro, you know, I always used to think despite being in London you didn't exactly date any girl, or even danced at the club or even the fact that you simply didn't pay them attention made me think you're gay. But look, you're in love!" Eric said making Rishi laugh and Shravan glared at the two of them.

"Shravan is in love." The two sang as Shravan pressed the bridge of his nose but a a crimson hue appeared on his cheeks.

Only if this one sided love story could somehow be completed....