Chapter 38: 36

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Sahil Ananya Rajput Khurana. Bonus point!"

× SAHIL ×

"Put the flowers properly, na! It is not straight" I heard Ananya shouting at the man who was setting up the flowers on the wall.

Although I could see only her side face which was currently resting with an irritated expression, I decided to look at her only from a distance and not interrupt.

She'll start gossiping once I go there and will not work and won't let me do that too.

"Now?" The man asked.

"No, it's still not proper. It's not looking nice even if the colors are not going with each other. Who was the event planner for this? Whoever it was, he's very bad at his work, I'm telling you. Main toh uss field ki bhi nahi fir bhi behtar kardeti esse. Faltu mei paise barbad karte hai aaise event planner par sab" she said shrugging.

[I do not belong to that field of work but I would have still excelled in that. People waste their money on such event planners]

"Haina, Madam! Main bhi yehi sochta hu, ki kyu paise waste karne hote hai, mai toh kaam bhaav mei esse acha kaam kar deta." The man said.

[Exactly, ma'am! Even I wonder why people waste their money. I would have done a better job in less amount]

"Mujhe bharosa hai aap par, yaar. Ess wale planner se toh better kar hi loge."

[I trust you. You would do better than this planner at least]

"Haan, aap na aapni shaadi mein mujhe hi bulana. Acha rate bhi laga dunga apke liye."

[Yes, you call me at your wedding. I'll give you a discount too]

"Arey pakka. Meri shaadi ke wedding planner aap, Ramesh babu" she said dramatically showing him a thumbs-up and both of them laughed. An unknown smile crept on my face.

[Sure sure, you'll be my wedding planner, uncle!]

How does she manage to get comfortable around people within like 10 minutes?

And by comfortable, I mean, the level of comfort as if she has known them for the past 10 years.

"Aap bade ache ho madam. Mera timepass ho raha hai thoda bichme aapke karan" Ananya gasped at this.

[You are very good, ma'am. I am having fun in between because of you!]

The way she changes her expressions every second, she deserves to be the leading actress in a film.

Following the sudden urge my brain had, I removed my phone from the pocket of my jeans and started recording her and her award-winning expressions.

"Hum timepass thodi karne aaye hai yaha. Aap aaise karege toh mai aapko meri shaadi ka contract nahi dungi, han!" She threatened him with that and I chuckled.

[We are not here to have fun. If you do this then I'm not giving you my wedding contract]

This girl is still a 7-year-old kid, I'm telling you.

Kiddo.

"No no, I'm working. Don't do that." The uncle started aligning the chain of flowers again. He set the chain and turned to get an affirmation from this kid. She nodded with a bright smile and he adjusted it that way.

"Perfect, uncle, perfect. Aapka order pakka" she clapped her hands.

[Your order is confirmed]

"So when are you getting married?" He asked her and even I was curious to know the answer.

"Whenever my groom is ready." she shrugged.

"If you say so, I can set you up with a guy-"I immediately stopped recording and a scowl appeared on my face while I walked towards them.

"Hi, chamatkar" She looked at me and muttered something under her breath. This reaction came out because yesterday night, I called her by that in front of everyone and now she gets teased by them. I get teased too, but she'll only shout at me not considering that. Sad.

"Hello, Jaadu" she replied and I just let out a chuckle at the choice of her nickname.

[Jaadu- Magic]

"Who is he?" The uncle asked her.  Before she could reply, I did.

"Her boyfriend"

I felt her eyes gaze at me but I just smiled.

"Oh, Aapne.. galti se bhi suna tha kya maine jo bola woh?" I nodded.

[Did you, by mistake, hear what I said?]

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I think I should get back to work" his voice trailed off and he turned around muttering something and continued his work. I heard a chuckle and shook my head.

I intertwined my right arm with her left and started walking taking her along. She stumbled and held my arms with both of her hands.

"And you, if you got married, it would be child marriage" She slapped my arm not-so-lightly.

"You speak nonsense."

"Just like you" I replied just to get a slap on the arm again.

"Stop harrassing me" She put a hand over her open mouth dramatically. I hit her head softly.

"I'm harrassing you? What did you do then?" I hit her head again at this question as a reply.

"Ayeee"

"I just showed you what I did because you asked me" I shrugged.

"Okay, now don't whine that I'm harrassing you" She kept hitting me on my back and I rolled my eyes.

"You think that is hurting?" This time the slap I got on my back hit hard.

"Ouch"

"You asked for it, Mr Softie." She shrugged while I narrowed my eyes at that name.

"I'm not a softie"

"Prove it then" she smirked.

"You'll not like it when I prove that," I said with a serious expression.

"Oh please, bring it on."

"Not the right time, chamatkar"

"And when is the right time?" She questioned.

"Soon. "

"Okay, whatever-" We both turned around when Abhinav called us.

"You both love birds stop your romance here and do some work" Ananya was going to remove her hand but I caught it with my other one.

"Why? Who am I going to romance with if not my girlfriend?!" I flashed my brightest smile at him intentionally.

Yesterday, he was the one who suggested I act a bit better because we were doing nothing interesting or couple-like.

"Now she's suddenly your girlfriend?" He asked with a teasing smile.

"Suddenly? I've been his girlfriend for sooooo long" I could feel that she got nervous and started acting so that we wouldn't get caught. But little does she know that he already knows.

"He knows" I informed her.

"Who told him?"

"Me, of course. He's my best friend."

"Doesn't mean you can go around telling everyone. Not fair, Sahil."  She whispered.

"Okay, I'm considering it's official now. Nothing looks fake anymore. I'm officially calling you bhabhi " He interrupted before I could reply to her.

"Nah, his wife? Never?" I passed her an offensive look.

"As if you don't dream about that" As soon as it came out of my mouth, she started coughing.

"Oh, so you do? I am honored." I said smirking.

"Anything." She slapped my arm.

"No, like just imagine,-"

"Guys,-" I showed my hand to Abhinav which was enough for him to stop for a second.

"Just imagine getting called by, Mrs Ananya Sahil Khurana. It's such an honor" I teased her and she failed to hide her smile and the red tint on her cheeks.

"Such an honor, I-" she repeated.

"Guys-" I stopped him again by showing my hand.

"I think I should marry you just because the name sounds so good."

I was flirting thinking she would get all blushing-blushing but now looks like she has joined me.

"Totally. It would suit this way too, Sahil Ananya Rajput Khurana. Bonus point!"  She nodded while smiling in agreement.

"Totally." She exclaimed in an impressive tone.

"So, when are we getting married?" I just wanted to check her limit of flirt. And I think this was it because I earned a smack on my arm again.

"You should not hit me, chamatkar. You should start hitting on me if you want to earn that amazing name" She looked at me with an amused smile while I smirked looking into her eyes. Her cheeks got red and the smile didn't leave her face.

"GUYS-" Abhinav shouted this time and added, "I'm still here."

"So?" I asked.

"Stop flirting so opening, man. It cringes me out now" he said making a face.

"Aren't you getting married? You should learn to flirt now" I advised him.

"I can flirt and I'm sure it's better than you two. At least it wouldn't be so public" He taunted to which I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, please. You can only  come and tell me how whipped you already are for Aditi Bhabhi." Ananya tried to remove her hand but I tightened my grip and didn't let her do so.

"We can see who is whipped." He smirked.

"Why did you interrupt? What was it for?" I asked him coming to the point because he would take forever to do that.

"If my interruption hurt you so bad then I'm sorry, man." He said sympathetically.

"Shut up, come to the point"

"You leave my hand!" Ananya whisper-yelled while glaring at me.

"No" her mouth formed in an 'O' after hearing my response.

"Right, I have some work and Avyaan looks like he is bored. Can you guys take him out somewhere for a walk? I would have done that but I have an important meeting to attend in half an hour, so.."

"Who works when your marriage is in ten days? Call Aditi di, sneak out to meet her, do anything, but work? Seriously?" Ananya questioned him.

"It's Mr Dutta's project. You know, how important it is" Abhinav replied.

"Oh, it's the one my team is going to get? Go then, attend your meeting then. We don't mind going out with Avyaan. At least I don't."

"Take Vivian with you, if you want" Abhinav suggested and I scrunched my nose.

"No, I'm going with her"

"Yaar. I meant that take him with you guys"

"A big No!" Whenever Vivian is there, Ananya and him either start roasting me, or they get along too well because of their vibrant personalities, she'll start gossiping, talking, and having fun with him then. She forgets me!

"Okay then, just take Avyaan." He said. "Now I'm leaving, I've to get ready for the meeting too."

"All the best. Go rock, boss!" Ananya shouted and Abhinav chuckled while muttering a 'thank you'.

"Why did you say decline when he said about taking Vivian along? It would have been fun" Ananya asked me as soon as Abhinav went away. A part of me felt bad at this.

Why does she want him? Am I not fun?

"He would have irritated us the whole way. But, do you want him to come, Ananya?" I asked her. She looked at me in disbelief for a moment.

Say no, say no, say no.

"Nah, it's alright. Both of us will be enough" I smiled.

"Let me find Avyaan first," I said and she nodded.

"I'll get ready by then" I nodded

"Okay"

"What 'okay'? I can go only when you leave my arm" I understood and removed my arms from hers.

"Right" Not gonna lie, I liked it better with intertwined arms.

🦋

"Nu?" Avyaan called Ananya by that two-lettered weird name.

"Yes, Avi?"

"Two dogs? Joined?" He asked in confusion while pointing towards the dogs who were not exactly joined but were doing something.

I waited for her to reply something but she just kept looking at them in confusion too.

Don't tell me she didn't understand.

"Weird but yes"

"Joined dogs?" He asked not being able to believe.

"Probably." She replied still confused.

I looked at both the kids whose eyes were not leaving the dogs and chuckled.

"They are not joined, chamatkar" I whispered in her ear.

"Then?" She asked while looking at me.

"They are mating," I said and her mouth formed an 'O'. Just when her brain registered the words, she bit her tongue and turned red.

"Oh my my."

"Yes, oh my my" I copied her and laughed.

We walked on the road which had shops and stalls on both sides, basically the market. It was evening time so there it was crowded.

"Avyaan, if you want something then tell me, okay?" I told Avyaan while he was walking ahead in his world.

"Okie" he muttered softly and walked.

"You too, chamatkar. Buy anything if you like"

"I have money, Sahil," she said.

"As if I'm letting you pay"

"You are." Her attention went towards Avyaan when she noticed that he stopped in his tracks.

I followed Avyaan's gaze and it stopped at a lady and a child. The lady, probably his mother was holding the child a year smaller than him in her arms while talking and laughing with him.

"Avi" Ananya called his name and he turned humming.

"Come here" he obediently walked towards her and looked at her curiously. She picked him up in her arms just like the lady and a smile formed on his face. This particular scene in front of my eyes, made me smile.

"Do you want to eat something?" She asked him while her own eyes shined. He gave a soft nod.

"Okay, let's find something good to eat."

"Okie" Both of their eyes looked here and there searching for some food shop, while my eyes were exactly fixed on them, I couldn't stop adoring them.

"Nu, there" Avyaan pointed out to a big shop which was on the other side of the road.

"We'll have to cross the road and then come back again," Ananya said to which Avyaan replied.

"Okie"

"Stop doing this Okie at everything, Avi" He just giggled cutely and said again.

"Okie"

"Not Okie!"

"Not Okie!" He repeated.

"Before you continue, let's cross the road silently," I stated.

"Okie," both of them said at the same time and then chuckled.

I held Ananya's hand firmly while crossing the road. We waited for a few minutes for the vehicles to pass and once it was all clear, we reached the other side of the road just in front of the shop.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked Ananya, she looked at the menu after sitting on the chair and making Avyaan sit on the one beside her.

"I don't know. Order anything tasty," she replied.

"Alright." I went towards the counter and placed an order for two aloo tikki chaat and some sev for Avyaan. He loves to eat those.

[Aloo tikki chaat - A dish of diced potatoes spiced with chili, cumin, chaat masala, chutney, and coriander.

Sev- Sev is a thin, crispy noodle made from besan (chickpea) flour]

I waited for some minutes and then once it was ready, I took the bowl to the place where Ananya and Avyaan were sitting.

"Here is your order, ma'am," I said like a waiter.

"Thank you, waiter. You can leave now" She said royally placing her one leg above the other, straightening up, and placing her hands on her leg. I kept looking at her antics and she burst into chuckles after a few minutes.

Even Avyaan looked at her with confusion filled in his big doe eyes.

I sat on the chair, shaking my head and muttering, "Kids these days"

"Don't say anything to Avyaan! I get that he understands only a few things but that doesn't mean you'll say anything to him. Huh," She said after she heard me.

"You know which kid I'm talking about" She showed me her tongue at this statement and digger the spoon into the aloo tikki and blew some air into it.

"Avyaan can eat this, right?" She asked me.

"Yeah probably, yes." Avyaan opened his mouth and made a noise right after I said that Ananya made him eat that with the spoon.

"How is it?" She asked him as if he were a professional chef. As soon as he gulped the food, he coughed.

I went to order a water bottle and till I was back, Ananya already made him drink water from the bottle that magically appeared.

"Where did you get that from?" I asked her.

"It was in my purse. I always carry a water bottle in my bag" I nodded.

She carries chocolates in her bag too, every time I've asked for one, I've got one in my hand.

"Is this spicy?" I asked her and she shrugged. She took a bite of that and chewed it while deeply engrossed in its taste.

"For Avyaan, yes. For me, no"

"Alright. Don't give him that. He can not eat spicy food. No one in his family can" she nodded.

"It doesn't even look like he wants it now," She said noticing him eating his sev silently.

"Right." I took a bite of the Aloo tikki chaat and it was good.

It was tasty, like always.

"Ayeee, don't play with food," Ananya told to Avyaan who was digging in the spoon and filling it up, and then emptying it again. He pouted in response.

"Here, let me do that." She took the spoon from him and gave him the sev. Once he completed eating the amount of sev he had in his mouth he would open his mouth with the 'Aaaaa' sound, taking the clue,  Ananya fed him with the spoon again.

I took a bite of the chaat and brought it near Ananya's mouth. She ate it and grinned afterward. Then made Avyaan eat his. This continued till we finished our food.

Going back into the market, I told her, "You guys go ahead, I'm coming"

She nodded and went towards a stall where all soft toys were kept. I took a few steps back and went to the jewelry stall I noticed while coming in the way. There was a beautiful pair of jhumkhas which caught my attention when we came. I searched for it and found those, I asked my uncle to pack it.

Ananya wears jhumkhas a lot. I assumed she liked those. And when I saw this one, the only thing that came to my mind was Ananya wearing it, so I bought it for her.

Taking some bangles for Mom and a necklace for Preet. I asked the uncle to pack it separately. Taking the packet wrapped in newspaper so she didn't know what it was, I took the carry bag and searched for both of them.

I found her at the stuffed toy stall with Avyaan holding a toy tortoise in his hand and Ananya picking up multiple toys to check and debating on which one to select.

"Which one looks better, Avi?" She asked picking up a Panda and a teddy bear.

"Both" he replied.

"You know never go to Big-boss once you grow up. You're too diplomatic!" She told him and I could tell by his expression that it went above his head.

"You are a Big Boss fan, na?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Obviously. I like drama so much and it only has that so we are a perfect pair. However the deserving one didn't win this time, and my heart broke. It hurts when people who do not deserve get the trophy!" She complained.

Just mention her one word and she'll give you a paragraph about that within a second. Talented.

"Ma'am, which one do you want?" The shopkeeper asked her.

"Right. I have to decide that" She turned towards me and asked me, "Panda or Bear?"

She looked at me, and waited for my response, before I could reply, she said, "You look like Panda. It's Panda now"

What does she mean by I look like a Panda?

My dark circles? Is this about them? Why did she say that I look like a Panda?

Am I supposed to take that as a compliment? Or not?

"Give this one" I heard her say to the shopkeeper and he packed it along with Avyaan's tortoise.

"I look like a...Panda?" I asked her in disbelief and she nodded.

"Like theoretically, a Panda is cute, you look cute, so you look like a Panda," she said and flipped her hair proudly.

"Aw, you're blushing, cutie" She pulled my cheek and I scrunched my nose.

"No"

"What 'No'?"

"Nothing" I still made a face.

I don't know whether to be happy or not.

"Okay, now next, Avi" the mentioned one just shrugged.

"I swear, don't go to Big-boss. Ever" He giggled at her words. I bet he understood nothing, he just laughed at the cute face she made.

"You go to Big-boss, you provide free entertainment anyway," I told and she nodded.

"Exactly, even I thought of that. The Trp will increase all because of me but then for that, I'll have to leave my job and become famous, chalo I'll become famous for once but then leaving the job and Kirti and now you for months, too much pressure. But then I like to argue, and kaleshi toh main hu hi, so sometimes I think I should go. I'm just waiting for them to call me and if they didn't they are missing out on a gem...." There she goes. I shook my head while smiling and looking at her speaking every nonsense she has kept in her mind without filter.

I told you. Say one word, and get a paragraph for free.

🦋

The cutest chapter of all times, tell me otherwise.😭

Avyaan being a cutie is. Ananya being a kid she is.

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