Kabier put his hands on his wife’s shoulders. “You will look perfect whenever they get married. So don’t rush them.”
Janak moved from the window, where he had been listening to them all and went to Raashi. “How are you, my dear?”
She smiled. “I’m a little injured, but feeling better already. I’m just so, so happy.”
“Well, then I am happy if you’re happy. That’s all I want.” Janak told her kissing both her cheeks.
He turned to Sameer. “You sure took a long time doing the right thing.”
“Not without a little help from you,” Sameer told his grandfather.
The two men shared a cunning look. The last few months flashed in her mind and her eyes popped. “Is that why you gave me the land?”
“Well, what other way was there to get the two of you together again? You’re both so damn stubborn. You needed a little push in the right direction,” Janak declared, sounding elated.
She leaned up and pecked his old, weathered cheek. “Thank you for everything, as always. You are my greatest strength and I thank God every day for you.”
Janak beamed at her words.
Raashi turned to Sheena who stood a distance away and held a hand out to her. When Sheena refused to meet her gaze, Raashi called out to her, “Sheena, come here and give me a hug. You know I can’t move.”
Sameer knew that Sheena had been steadfast in her support to Raashi throughout. She had fought with him for his heartless behavior towards Raashi and she continued to maintain a strained relation with him because of that. But, now it was time to put the past behind them.
“Will you forgive me now, Sheena?” Sameer asked her, as she stood in front of them.
Sheena nodded slowly. Sameer kissed her cheek giving her a hug.
“So guys, I won the bet,” Keya told Rishi and Kabier. “Which means, you owe me twenty thousand each,” Raashi heard Keya say.
“What bet?” Sameer asked.
Keya told them about the bet they had made the night of Sheena’s party.
Raashi scowled at all of them. “That is such a horrid thing to do. I cannot believe you guys would bet on our relationship like that.”
“Oh, please! All of us were confident of the outcome. It was going to happen, we just didn’t know when,” Keya shrugged. “It’s you guys who took such a long time to realize that you were meant to be together.”
26
The days were passing in a blur. Once Sameer had informed his parents that Raashi had agreed to marry him they couldn’t wait to begin the wedding preparations. His parents had welcomed her into the family with joy. Since his sisters were in town and because Jiya had time before her college reopened, the wedding date was set in two weeks.
Jiya had been ecstatic about their impending wedding. She promised to return home soon. Raashi had also called Rithwik to tell him her news. He was delighted for her and claimed full responsibility for getting her and Sameer together.
Sameer’s sisters Shauna and Rhea sat at a table in the T-cafe´ waiting for her. The two of them had blended seamlessly into her life. They were very excited about the wedding and met her frequently. They would take her shopping with them or they would just come hang around at the restaurant she was in on that particular day and just be around her. Today was one such day.
Reaching their table, Raashi sat next to Shauna. “Are you girls ready to leave?”
The girls had insisted on a family outing tonight. So, all of Sameer’s family, including his parents and Rishi were going for a movie tonight. This was much to Sameer’s annoyance who constantly complained that his sisters took way too much of her time. But she could see the happiness in his eyes each time he saw her with his family. He was delighted that she had gelled so easily with them.
They quickly left and she sat in the back as Rhea drove her car towards the cinema hall. Raashi stared at her hand. Sameer had slipped the ring on her finger last night and Raashi was enchanted by it. She had fallen in love with the ring she had chosen. It was a heart-shaped diamond surrounded by smaller stones. She sighed. Life was good, indeed. She smiled and turned to stare out of the window of the car. They were near the cinema hall already.
“Oh, look, I can see Sameer and Rishi waiting outside,” Rhea announced. “Raashi, why don’t we drop you first and then Shauna and I can go and park. We will meet you all inside. Let me just make this U-turn first.”
Raashi shifted to move to the other side of the car and that’s when all hell broke loose.
Sameer checked his watch.The girls would be here any minute and so would his parents. He waited along with Rishi outside the cinema hall for everyone to arrive. He saw his sister’s white Audi on the other side of the road with the girls in it. The car drove past them and he watched as Rhea moved forward to take the U-turn ahead of her.
Sameer stood frozen in shock as a huge SUV came out of nowhere and rammed into his sister’s car. Rishi swore out loud. Hearing his brother shout, Sameer started running towards the car. As he ran towards them, he saw that the back passengerdoor was completely damaged, right where he had seen Raashi sitting a moment ago.
