Sarangi came to her senses and was about to say something to Vairagya, but by then he had already left. She looked at herself in a nearby mirror."Okay, I'm short, but not that short… just because I look cute doesn't mean he can call me a kid!" Sarangi muttered angrily.
Shikha came over and asked, "What happened, Sarangi?"
"Oh, some old man just called me a kid!" Sarangi replied, pouting.
"Really? Who was it?" Shikha asked, surprised.
"I don't know," Sarangi said, making a face. "Anyway, I'm going to shower now."
"Sure, go ahead. I already took out your clothes… wear those," Shikha replied with a mischievous smile.
"Hmm..." Sarangi nodded and walked off.
Shikha smirked wickedly and said to herself, "Just wear those clothes, Sarangi, and if your fair skin doesn't turn red, you can change my name… if you don't end up looking like a monkey bride at your own wedding, I'm not Shikha."
Sarangi went to shower, and when she returned, she saw a red kurti and jeans laid out on the bed. She frowned and said, "Mom told me not to wear jeans in front of the groom's family. They won't like it… I'll just wear something simple instead." She took out a dark blue Anarkali dress from the closet and put it on.
"Shikha might feel bad that I didn't wear the clothes she picked... never mind, I'll just say sorry."
Meanwhile, Shikha went to her room and felt like someone was already there. A moment later, she realized who it was and smirked, beginning to take clothes out of the closet.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind. She smiled and said, "Jiju, shouldn't you be with Sarangi right now?"
"I'll be with her all my life... but before that, why not shower some love on the half-wife, I mean, the sister-in-law…" Ajit whispered into her neck.
"She'll be hurt if she finds out..." Shikha whispered.
"She's a fool. She's marrying me and didn't even ask once if I had a girlfriend before…" Ajit laughed.
"You didn't ask me either..." Shikha turned toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Because I know she's a sanskari girl. She would never bring shame to her parents' name... let alone an ex, she probably doesn't even have a male friend," Ajit said confidently.
"You're getting to know her pretty well," Shikha teased as she moved away from him.
"But I want to know you better," Ajit said, moving closer.
"Oh really?" Shikha smiled. Just then, someone entered the room, and both were startled.
It was Sarangi.
Ajit immediately started justifying himself, "Sarangi, it's not what it looks like, I was just—"But Shikha interrupted, "Sarangi, you're here...?"
"Yeah, I came to call you for lunch. But Ajit ji, what are you doing here?" Sarangi asked, surprised.
"Well actually, I twisted my ankle a bit, so Jiju brought me to the room... I hope you don't mind…" Shikha replied innocently.
"You're hurt? Where? Show me…" Sarangi asked, concerned. Shikha smiled slyly at Ajit. He smirked back. For a moment, he had panicked, but now Sarangi's innocence—or foolishness, in his eyes—was making him laugh.
"I'm okay now, Sarangi. I'll just take a shower and be down soon. Please wait for me," Shikha said, and Sarangi nodded.
"Thank you so much, Jiju…" Shikha said with meaning, smiling.Ajit replied with a smirk, "Most welcome, dear sister-in-law… shall we, Sarangi?"
"Yes…" Sarangi followed him.
As they walked down the corridor together, Sarangi smiled and said, "Thanks for helping Shikha…"
"My pleasure…" Ajit smiled and tried to hold Sarangi's hand, but just then Rajveer came running.
"Di! Come quickly, someone wants to meet you," Rajveer said.
"Brother-in-law... right now she's going to lunch with me. Your important person can wait," Ajit said arrogantly.
"Sorry... but it's important she comes now. You see, the hotel owner is more important than you," Rajveer said with a smile, grabbing Sarangi's hand and walking away.
Ajit gritted his teeth."I'll break your pride once I marry your sister... I'll make her suffer and you'll be the one crying. You think you're so cool now, but I'll make you bow before me, or my name isn't Ajit Verma..."
"Raj, you shouldn't talk to your brother-in-law like that. He must have felt bad…" Sarangi said as they walked together.
"Did you not see how he spoke to me, Di? Like I'm some servant... Why are you even marrying him? Please cancel it, Di… He doesn't seem right to me. But Mom and Dad won't listen. Otherwise, I'd break his face myself…"
"Raj!" Sarangi scolded him.
"Sorry, Di… but I just hate this man," Rajveer said as they stopped outside a cabin door. "You wait here, I'll ask if you can come in."
Sarangi nodded.
Rajveer knocked and asked, "May I come in, sir?"
"Yes, come in, Raj," Vairagya said, still working on his laptop.
"Sir, I wanted to introduce you to my sister… if that's okay?"
"If you want to introduce her, I have no problem. Just make sure your sister's comfortable meeting me," Vairagya replied kindly.
"I'll bring her right away, sir!" Rajveer said, excited.
"Di, come in…" Rajveer called.
"Is this meeting necessary?" Sarangi asked nervously.
"Di, he's not a monster anyway... he's a gentleman," Rajveer assured her.
Sarangi gathered her courage and slowly walked toward the door.
To be continued...