Chapter 9 : Flowers and Lights

MUMBAI

KHANNA MANSION

Next day, it was the day of Saumya's Mehandi ceremony and everyone was so busy with their respective works.....

The decorations of the hall were also getting changed as the theme for the day was different from the previous day....

" O God!! How much work is still left !! Excuse me, please hurry up na , Function is in the evening not tomorrow and you don't keep it here, go and keep it there please , Don't know if all the work will get done in such a short time or not , don't know about marriage but I guess I'll get a heart attack for sure " Shweta panicked……

" Shhh!! Relax aunty !! Everything will be done on time, don't stress, it's not good for your health..." Avni tried to calm Shweta….

" But Avni , How could I relax beta? Look nothing is done till now, Everyone is busy with some or the other work. Neil had to leave for an important and urgent work and Don't know where this Aanu, Saumya Nishant and Naina went, I have other works too, no one is here to look after these decorations..." Shweta said in a single breath….

" Wohoo Aunty chill!! Just close your eyes and breath in and breathe out, ok?", Avni suggested….

"But….", Shweta was interrupted in between by Avni….

"C'mon Aunty , do it , trust me you'll feel better", Avni insisted...

Shweta did what she was asked to do....

"Feeling better?", Avni asked….

"Much Better", Shweta smiled making Avni smile too….

"Now come " Avni held her shoulders….

" But where Avni? I have lots of work " Shweta was perplexed….

" Aunty do you trust me?" Avni asked all of a sudden , startling Shweta….

" Of course I trust you beta..." Replied Shweta honestly….

" Then come please" Avni requested again…..

Avni made Shweta sit on the couch….

" Now you sit here and relax ok ? I'll see the decorations, You just give instructions ..hmm?.." Avni said , handing her a glass of juice, making

Shweta smile….

Shweta nodded and Avni started her work , I.e. , instructing the decorators, everything was going good until....

" Arey bhaiya, don't put these lights here, put them there na, and Decorate these flowers here and these curtains put them in the middle, around the stage of the bride and yeah please decorate the railings of the stairs with flowers , not with light , Light can cause danger , it's risky to use them on stairs" she was instructing them when one of the worker spoke….

" But mam, sir asked us to do as instructed by him only and not to change a single thing, we can't change anything without his permission..." The worker spoke hesitatingly….

" kon se Sir... ?"( Which sir?)", Avni asked….

" Neil Sir..." Replied the worker , while Avni rolled her eyes at the name...

" He won't eat you up!! Chill and Do as I say, I will see him", she said confidently…..

" But mam You aren't understanding, he will be very angry," the workers spoke , they were evidently scared….

" Wo to unki aadat h(That is his habit) And in this house, everyone keeps saying the same thing all the time, so I understand but you don't have to worry about that and please do what I am saying, I'll handle your "sir" ?..." Avni spoke nonchalantly and Just then Neil entered the hall...

" What's happening here? Ohh I see , so today Ms. Ayesha didn't find anyone to argue with, So started arguing with these workers", Neil mocked….

"Look you ....." She tried to retort only to get cut off by him...

" Dekh hi to rha hu (I am looking only) Why do you love to argue with everyone so much?", He asked, smirking….

"Hawww!! Listen!! I don't love to argue , it's just that…..", she was again interrupted by him….

"Btw can anyone tell me What's the problem? " He enquired the workers….

" Sir , We were doing our work as you instructed us, but this madam is saying that don't put lights here , flowers will be here and curtains in the centre around the stage and……", the head of those workers told everything to him….

" Please Do as I told you, she has a habit of poking her nose in other's work ," Neil declared….

" What? I poke my nose in other's work? ", Avni glared at him which he ignored….

"Please you put it there, because it is his habit to not listen to others, he just knows to make everyone obey to his orders silently", she snapped...

" Excuse me!! I didn't know that in one day you came to know me so much !! And by the way, this is my sister's wedding and my responsibility, so you better stay out of it...." He snapped back….

" She is my friend too!! And when you left your responsibilities and went to your "urgent and important work", then I took this responsibility from Shweta aunty, so now it is my responsibility, If you want, you can ask her", she air quoted the word "urgent and important work" because in her point of view nothing can be more urgent and important than your sister's wedding preparations….

" What? You are crazy!! ", He said unbelievablingly….

"That I am!! ", She shrugged , making him shake his head in disbelief….

"You put it here only", he ordered the worker...

" No !! You put it there.."she commanded quickly...

"I said here!!"

"I said there"

"Here"

"There"

They continued their argument while the worker was stuck between the two and was scratching his head thinking that where was he stuck? He was mentally praying to God to save him...

In their fight unknowingly they came tòo close and Avni slipped as she unknowingly kept her feet on the pile of slippery curtains scattering on the floor...

She fell on the floor taking Neil along with her…

The wooden stair on which the worker was standing , holding the big basket of flowers shook and the flowers fell on Avneil....

They were lost into the depth of each other's eyes, He carefully tucked the hair which was falling on her face , behind her ears in trance...

" Avuuu..Avuuuu....Avniii" Unaware of the happenings in the hall, Aaniya entered the hall screaming Avni's name….

"Avuu Yaar!! Where are y….ou?", Her last words came out in a whisper as she witnessed the scene in front of her, making her go awww on them….

" Ahem Ahem…" Aaniya fake coughed to bring them back from their world...

Avneil looked at her then at each other and jerked quickly but Avni hissed as her hairs got stuck in his shirt button badly and it was hurting her, they at the same time tried to free her hairs, their hand touched they looked at each other and both of their eyes got locked with each other's. ....

Neil hastily tried to remove her hairs which was hurting her more...

" Can you plzz stop let me do it" she spoke angrily...

She removed her hair carefully and stood up , followed by him….

" O my god! Look What have you done with my hair!! Next time na Don't mess with my hair, understood? Were you wrestling with my hair ? Ooo no my poor hairs.." She was scolding him nonstop while Neil was just lost in her, she was looking more pretty with the messy hair…

" O wow!! Sorry to disturb you guys!! I didn't know what was happening here, otherwise I would have come a little late!!", Aaniya teased , embarrassing them …

"But Right now I have a very important work with Avni, so let's go Avni, you guys can continue all this later ..." Aaniya winked...

" Shut up Aanu!!", Neil glared Aaniya...

"And you Ms. Ajooba!! Do you know anything else besides tripping or falling? And is this your hair or bird's nest? Nikalte hi nhi, they deserved to be pulled..." He stated only to fuel her anger….

" Excuse me! ! Don't you dare to say a word against my hairs ok And I didn't fell intentionally, I..I ...I just slipped ….", Avni retorted, fumbling at the last….

" This is your every time thing, You don't do anything, everything gets done on its own, Right? And that too when I'm around!!" , he rolled his eyes...

" What do you mean by " that too when I'm around"? O yeah, actually you are right!! Whenever you are around me , only then something or the other happens that means you are unlucky for me..." she smirked playfully...

" As if you are very lucky for me, you are unlucky for this whole universe..." He spat back unaware of the effect of his words on her , his words resonated in her ears along with some other words...

" If i'm unlucky then why don't you stay away from me , please just stay away.....", She went silent for a minute before finally giving him a reply , hiding her moist eyes ....

" Ohh please!! I am not even interested to come to you, you come to me , Always!! ," He retorted….

" I come to you? Even , I am not interested to come to you, you alwa…..", but her words were left incomplete as Aaniya interrupted her, she was enjoying their cute banter but she had to stop them right then otherwise they would have kept fighting for the whole day...

" Stop it guys!! Please!! Gosh, How much do you both fight !!..." Aaniya exclaimed as they glared at each other...

" Sir , Mam please Confirm and tell me where should I decorate these flowers and these lights .." the worker asked still confused….

"Decorate these lights here and... " he got cut off by her...

" uhh I'm saying na there, trust me Mr. Khanna, they will look more beautiful there.." she tried to convince him calmly this time…

" O really Ms. Ayesha? Thank you but I don't need your suggestion!!.." he gave her a tight lipped smile…..

" Arghh!! Do you have a habit of arguing over everything?", She asked irked by his behaviour….

" Guys guys calm down!! And you please do as Mam told you , decorate them there, ok?"," Aaniya said to the workers and the workers started their work again...

" What? But Aanu... " Neil tried to argue again...

" It's ok na bhai !! If Avu is saying so, then I'm sure that they will look better there, come let's go Avu, we are getting late!!," Aaniya reasoned….

" Arrrgh this girl!! She has turned everyone on her side, If Avu is saying so then I'm sure, it will look better," he mimicked Aaniya in his mind…

"As if she isn't any ordinary girl but God," he rolled his eyes While Avni smirked at him and left with Aaniya and he too left in the opposite direction...

" Arghh !! Ms. Over smartness ki dukaan" he murmured to himself

" Huh..Mr. I'm always right.." , she smirked...

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As soon as Avni and Aaniya entered Avni's room, Aaniya twirled Avni holding her shoulders..

" Avu...Avu...Avu" Aaniya seemed to be so happy...

" Woohoo Aanu !! You seem to be so happy!! What happened , something interesting? " Avni arched an eyebrow at her….

" Yes I'm soooo happy, look at this" , She showed Avni her hands, she was wearing a beautiful ring...

" Wow ! It's beautiful !! Who gave you this?", Avni asked curiously….

" You remember Aarush? ", Aaniya was blushing….

" Of course how could I forget him!! ", Avni knew everything about Aarush, Avniya came really close to each other in a short span of time and Aaniya used to share everything with her , even about Aarush about whom nobody knew, not even Saumya...

"O my God! Don't tell me that he gave you this ring!! Did he propose to you? What did you said I mean..wow I knew it something like this gonna happen soon..." Avni was so happy for her….

" Yes he proposed to me and I said yes and now I want to tell it to family members and you will have to help me in that" she asked hopefully while Avni hugged her..

" I'm so so so happy for you Aanu!! May you get all the happiness and love of this world and of course I'll help you to convince everyone and I know they will agree for it easily, because they love you so much, moreover Aarush is a nice guy , he loves you and you'll be happy with him," Avni assured her, rubbing her arms ...

" Thank you Avni!! Btw Today you are helping me to get my love story approved by everyone , When your time will come I will also help you to get your love story approved by everyone, okay?", Aaniya asked teasingly….

" I am not going to have any love story, so you keep your help to yourself," Avni rolled her eyes….

" Who knows Avu ? Who knows what will happen tomorrow? No one knows when , where and how "this" virus invades in your heart , and makes you sick , " Lovesick "!! Btw Avu You didn't tell me, bhai and you I mean you and bhai , since How long has all this been going on?,...." Aaniya crooked her brow with a silly smile….

" Huh? Are you mad or what? Never" , Avni replied immediately with a horrific expression….

"Why? You don't like my brother?", she asked with a mischievous smile….

" No !! Not at all , not even a tiny winy bit !! He is just so rude, snobbish and judgemental !! He feels that he is always the only one who is right and all the others are wrong!! He considers himself to be a Turram Khan!! He thinks no one should speak a word against him in their defense!! He himself never listens to anyone and accuses others to be rude and ill - mannered, Huh!! he doesn't like me at all and....." She was counting his flaws to Aaniya and wasn't ready to stop…..

"Enough !! Enough dude, you aren't even taking a pause while counting my brother's shortcomings

and what's that turr..turram...urghh forget that btw that means you want him to like you, isn't it? ", Aaniya asked teasingly….

"Whether he likes me or not , I simply don't care , I came here to attend my friend's wedding , will do that and go, I don't care what he thinks about me", Avni rolled her eyes….

"Really? Btw Avu I have to admit that you are the only one in this world who has the audacity to speak no not speak argue with Bhai, and only you can do this , that's why you are perfect for him", Aaniya whispered the last line under her breath...

"By the way, Do you really not like bhai? I mean just some minutes ago, downstairs, the way you two were lost in each other And the way you were looking at him , God !! It was just so awww!! Are you sure you don't like him? Something something, isn't it? ", Aaniya winked...

"Nothing", Avni rolled her eyes but her cheeks betrayed her.

"Ohh Really Then why are your cheeks turning red Ms. Ayesha", Aaniya addressed her Ms. Ayesha in the same way as Neil...

" Uhh Aanu ki bachi.." Aaniya ran and Avni started chasing her, they were running all around the room giggling….

" Stop!! I can't run anymore!! Uff I'm tired " Aaniya stopped panting heavily...

" Me too " Avni was panting too...

They fell on the bed breathing heavily, looked at each other and then bursted out laughing...

" Tell me honestly, Avu you like to irritate him haina.." Aaniya asked seriously this time while Avni smiled mischievously....

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Later in the evening, the function was in full swing, everyone was praising the decoration….

Avni was looking stunning as always clad in a simple yet elegant traditional green colored skirt and silver blouse (top) and Neil was stealing glances at her unknowingly…

After Saumya's Mehandi had been done,

Everyone else had applied mehandi on their hands while Avni denied at first but later on bebe's insistence she told the mehandi artist to just write her name initial "A" on her palm beautifully , the lady did as she was told but her "A" was looking more like "N"...

" Wow Avu!! Your "A" looks exactly like "N" btw , whose name starts with "N"? Oh what a coincidence!! Bhai's name also starts with "N"," Aaniya batted her eyelashes….

"Shut up Aanu!!", Avni glared at her while Aaniya smirked...

After some masti (fun), dinner and all , the guests left, only family members were there in the hall…

Bebe was going in her room, she was about to climb the stairs holding it's railings but all of a sudden Avni pushed her so hard that she was about to fall but Neil came at the right time and held her...

" Bebe!! Bebe Are you alright?", Neil panicked , while Bebe nodded panting and rubbing over the left side of her chest....

"Yo...you sit here", Neil made Bebe sit on the nearby couch and handed her a glass of water....

Everyone came to Bebe asking about her well being, while Prakash went to call doctor, Avni too proceeded towards her but Neil showed his palm to her to stop her on her track, his eyes were red blazing with so much rage that he can burn anyone only with his gaze, he stood up and moved towards Avni….

" Mom!! Please take Bebe to her room ", he said to Shweta who nodded while Nishant helped her...

"And you Ms. Ayesha, how dare you haa? How dare you even try to hurt my babe ? How can you be so cruel , how can you be so ill - mannered , how can you be so ungrateful, You want to hurt the member of the family who considered you as their daughter haa, bolo? What kind of girl are you ? This is what your parents have taught you? You know what I was so right about you , you don't deserve to be with us, Get out of this house right now!!", He roared , holding her shoulders tightly….

"Ahhh! ! But at least Listen to me once..",

Avni said wincing as his tight hold was hurting her….

" Shut up!! Just Shut the hell up !! I don't want to hear anything !!", He yelled ….

"Bhai please at least listen to her once I'm sure…..", Aaniya couldn't complete as her brother didn't let her to…..

" Shut up Aanu!! You just stay out of it!!You are so naive, You don't know but I know these types of girls very well , they first trap people in their "fake sweet talks" and then hurt them , break them , for money they can do anything, ANYTHING!!, " he went mad in rage….

" It's not like that, at least listen to me once", Avni pleaded , her eyes turned moist hearing his accusations, especially about her parents but she took all of it because she can very well understand his fear and anger , of course why won't she , she herself had gone through the same emotions …..

" Neil please" Saumya requested too...

" Leave!! I said get out now and never show your face again, not even by mistake, if I want, I can arrest you right now, in the charge of fraud and attempt to murder but I want to give you a last warning, If ever I see you again, I will surely send you behind the bars, " he threatened making Avni smile sarcastically….

"Neil once listen to what she is saying, Avni cannot do this intentionally", Naina too tried to knock some sense into him….

" Bhabhi please!!", He showed his palm , not paying heed to anyone's words...

" I know you don't wanna listen to me like always and you won't , right? All you have to worry about are your Judgments and your Principles, and you know what Now I don't even want to tell what happened and I won't because I don't give a damn what you think about me at least my friends trusts me , they want to hear me out , so do whatever you want to do now, You want to arrest me na , then what are you waiting for ? come on arrest me", Avni extended her both hands asking him to handcuff her while he stood still looking at her angrily….

"C'mon arrest me !! You want to throw me out of your house na , throw me out then , I really don't care", Avni looked at him with the same rage in her eyes , her eyes spitting fire ….

Neil grabbed her arm harshly and dragged her to the main door, everyone was pleading him to stop and think calmly where she would go at that late hour of the night in an unknown city but he didn't listen to anyone, he literally threw her out harshly....

"Gud bye forever Ms. Ayesha!! Hope to never see your this unlucky face again and yeah will send your luggage to your home..." Saying that he hardly banged the door at her face …

She started to leave from there with angry and teary eyes, she didn't know where she would go at that time in an unknown city. She didn't even know any of the route there and even didn't have her phone right then, so she started walking on the road aimlessly....

Later on her way, she was already scared because of darkness and then she saw a bonfire , she panicked and clutched her locket again, she again got some flashes making her run from there sweating badly having a panic attack, yes she was strong but everything has a limit she was unable to calm herself thus fainted in the middle of the road...

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