Eighteen Minus (COMPLETED)

Chapter 41

KARTHIK
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'Ummmm I think Adityaji... this Sherwani is a little too...Uh...I mean...I don't wear such-' and I started coughing as Aaryan sprayed some more perfume on the Sherwani when Aahirji shouted at him saying

'Aaryannnn!!! Bas kar (Enough)!!! He takes bath regularly unlike you!!! Ewww!!! Why is it so strong!!!' saying he pushed away Aaryan and made me wear a watch which I denied but he said it was sent by Shika and I couldn't deny. I was suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

No! It wasn't that they treated me differently but I wasn't used to all of this. Although I belonged to a rich household, my mother and I have always experienced the financial crunch. I have seen her slog to make our ends meet. We have always been a middle class family. It's only after I secured a good position at The Nayak's and my mother's business settled down since our lifestyle got better but of course we can't even dream of the richness that Khannas, Sehgals, Kapoors, Suryavanshis or my grandmother's family possesses.

The reason why I felt a little uncomfortable when Adityaji forced me to wear this designer Sherwani. Although it was designed by Aaryan, I saw its price tag which read 3 lakh Rupees and that's almost my monthly salary with taxes and GST ofcourse. I couldn't even dream to wear something this expensive for my own wedding but neither of the men heard me out and now Shika sent this expensive watch. I couldn't get rude with people, I already lectured them enough. So I silently put in the show.

This was going to be my first Punjabi function and it seemed like a huge affair at the Kapoors. Yes the function was organised at Dev Kapoor's mansion which looked extremely old school lavish bungalow. It had this wooden interiors which gave a royal feel and although there were multiple rooms we men were given a single room because of the amount of guests who had poured in. Most rooms were filled with women of different age groups dressing themselves for the night.

While we are getting ready here, there are some rituals happening downstairs in the living room which had a lot of women gathered. But we weren't allowed there. Adityaji was desperate to see Lavanya ji. Especially after his sister Kashish had managed to send him a glimpse of his wife and since then Adityaji has been hacking a plan. Aaryan being Aaryan had made a plan already.

He volunteered to perform a dance for entertaining women tonight in their honour and also managed to sneak in we men. I wasn't really interested until something caught my eye in the same picture that was sent to Adityaji. I could see a lean figure with butt long braid adjusting her flowers in the mirror. It was not clear. I could only see the person's back however the length of the hair clearly told me it was my Shika.

My Shika???

I mean...Shika!!! Vanshika!!!

Nowadays her name rolls differently on my tongue and makes me tickle in my stomach. I smile at my thoughts again.

But ever since I saw her today morning and the way she called me 'Karthik' instead of 'Tikki'...I wanted to see her. Once. Just once. I don't know why my heart wasn't at peace. So I couldn't deny the offer. Can I?

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Author's POV
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As the men started walking towards the living room one after other, they were suddenly stopped by two women.

Neiyat and Lavanya.

Neiyat pushed the men as she kept her hand on her husband Aahir's chest saying

'Excuse me Excuse me!!! Kitthe??? (Where?)' She asked in her bossy tone when Aahir took a step closer to her and removed his glasses and kept it in his Sherwani pocket saying

'Itthe!!! Twadde Dil Vichooo (Here!!! Into your heart)' and he smirked while although Neiyat tried to hide her blush she made a face trying to made a cringey face saying 'Ishhhh!!! Come on Aahir!!! I expect better from you!!!'