Chapter 40: 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"They are pregnant..."

× ANANYA ×

"Kisi ke sath baithna aasan hai lekin sath khade rehna bohat hi muskil" I heard the reporter say on television regarding some current controversial topic. Sahil's Dad, Vinay Uncle, and his brother who is also Abhinav's Dad were watching the news at night, their eyes focused on the television as if one blink would cause them lots of loss.

[Sitting with someone is very easy but standing beside someone is tough]

The youngsters which included us wanted to watch a movie but both the brothers were not ready to give us the remote. Even their wives were tired of convincing them.

"Kyu, apke gotno mei dard hai kya?" I blurted out loud, irritatedly, without thinking for a second. My dearest fake boyfriend started laughing followed by his brother. Soon everyone along with the remote-snatchers chuckled.

[Why, do you have knee pain?]

Damn, look at my skills, I can make everyone laugh even at my lamest jokes. It wasn't even a joke, it was just a reflex.

"Sometimes you crack good jokes, Ananya" I raised my brow at Vivian's question.

"Sometimes? You sure?"

"Most of the time they are pretty lame. You and I both know that. But your humour is better than my brother's" The mentioned brother of his looked at him with his mouth hung open.

"Agreed," I said.

"Agreed" Preet added.

"Agreed" It was Abhinav and Rahul in sync.

"Agreed" Sahil's mom, Gayatri Aunty.

I chuckled, my eyes fixed on his face, he was still gasping while looking at the person who kept adding that word. Even Uncle and his brother added that later.

"First time in my life, someone, no, everyone agreed on what I said. I feel proud."  Vivian's voice was filled with amusement.

"What makes you all think that my humor is bad?" Sahil asked with narrowed brows.

"Quality of your jokes,"  I answered and heard a few chuckles while one pair of eyes were glaring at me.

"You don't even say anything. You laugh my every joke"

"I like to laugh at lame things" I shrugged and bit my lower lip to hide my smile.

"Sahil, By the way, Did you pay the loan off?" The random question by Bua made the atmosphere tense.

How is this even related? Everything was going properly, everyone was having fun and there she went. Again.

What does she even think? Probably Kalesh kaise nahi hua abh tak? Chalo main hi kardeti hu.

[How did anything not happen till now? Let me do that]

Sahil did tell me once about this loan stuff when we were having a conversation about his restaurant and work. He wanted to do something on his own, and not from his father's money so he applied for a huge loan in the bank. However, some issues regarding the papers occurred and his loan wasn't approved.

Everyone suggested he take money from his father because in the end it was his money too but he wanted to be independent on that note, so at the end they settled on one thing. Sahil pays his father the loan with the perfect interest every month as it would have happened if he took the loan.

But my only question is, why would this woman bring it out from nowhere? In the past days, she and her daughter, of them had been pointing to one or other thing which is sensitive for people.

She would tell Preet how her acne was getting worse and she should do something about it.

She suggests to Abhinav how to keep control of his future wife, and how he will regret marrying her because she's a divorcee.

She tells Vivian how he made a mistake becoming an Architect and should've joined his father's business only.

She keeps telling me how and which pact should I use so that my skin gets brighter. Now I don't reply to her or give her any importance, but she still doesn't stop.

She tells Sahil how he needs to settle down now and that it's high time, she also reminds him that the same thing is going to happen as what happened with Natasha, she gives him advice in front of me how love marriages don't work out much, she indirectly tries to ask him if he can handle the work because it doesn't look like that. She keeps telling him that he's just a chef.

She pokes him again and again because she knows that he won't back reply to her like Vivian or Preet and neither is he going to ignore her like me and Abhinav. The guy keeps listening to her bullshit and never speaks a word against her.

She commented on his life. Okay.

She commented on his love life. Okay

She commented on his professional life. At least take a stand for this. That guy does not understand how important it is for his mental peace to shut her down.

And now she starts again. Only because he is letting her do that.

"I,...No. I still have to" He replied. The awkwardness was visible in his eyes but that lovely bua of his doesn't seem to understand.

"How long will it take? Is the restaurant not working well or something? You have now majorly switched to handling the restaurants na. You don't cook food, right? Why did you even become a chef, you could have got a good degree-" This time I didn't keep quiet and decided to open my mouth. Because the one she kept targeting again and again will never do that.

"He has a degree. It is called Hotel Management, just in case you don't know." I felt Sahil's eyes on me the whole time but I didn't look at him. I know that if I look at him, he'll ask me to stop.

"Haan, lekin hai toh woh ek cook hi na," Sana said, and her words ignited a fire inside me.

[Yes, but at the end he is just a cook]

"He's not just a cook. It's a profession, I was expecting you to respect the profession but looks like you don't even know it. But who am I even keeping expectations from? The one who won't even know the spelling of profession. But it's okay, baby. You're just a kid right now" I threw a flying kiss at the 18-year-old in front of me at the end of my sentence with a tight-lipped smile.

"Who are you to speak in between of our matters?" Her mother came and stood right in front of me to defend her kid.

"His girlfriend, I believe."

I felt Sahil holding my arm and pulling me back but I was adamant, so I removed his grip. "Ananya, No,"

I ignored him and heard the Bua say. "His girlfriends are going to come and go. The last one was also like you, but you and I, we both know what happened"

"Well, Aunty, let's meet again at my wedding and then decide." Preet who was just behind the Aunty, fisted her hand and moved it in the air while mouthing a 'slay' to me.

"Ananya, stop, now" Sahil whispered in my ear and pulled my hand.

"How does this girl even speak? She has no manners on how to talk with elders-"

"Let's go inside, we'll speak later," Sahil's Mom said holding Bua's hand and trying to take her inside.

"You guys will tell me only. No one will tell this girl who came yesterday in our lives-" The older woman took her away while she complained about how bad I am and I don't know how to respect elders.

What did I even say that hurt her so much?

Oh, the truth.

"Ananya, that was like a blast which was needed. You rocked-" Vivian's words halted when he saw Sahil's glare. It was a serious one this time.

Sahil held my wrist, the hold wasn't tight and dragged me with him, we climbed the stairs and to the terrace which also included our rooms, and he stopped and left his grip on my hand.

"What was that?" I noticed his left hand was clenched in a fist clearly stating that he was angry.

"What did you do outside?" He asked again.

"I did everything which you should have done"

"Seriously? I handled it my way, why did you have the interrupt, Ananya?" I looked at him with narrowed brows.

"Interrupt? Did you like the way she spoke with you or underestimated you? No, it was obvious from your reaction then why would you not tell anything to her? What are you scared of?"

"I'm not scared. She is older than us, I need to maintain some respect for her. And you should have thought about that too, but no, you wanted to fight."

"Does her entering the world years earlier justify her actions? Elders are not always right" I said.

"Yes, but there is a certain limit. You cannot disrespect her or speak back to her. I cannot stand anyone talking that way to elders."

"Even if they are wrong?" I questioned him. He waited for a second to reply.

"Even if they are wrong! You don't disrespect them"

"Wow. When did I disrespect anyone? You know what, if I did that then anyone from your family would have stopped me, but no one did. Everyone knew that I was not disrespecting anyone, I stated facts by staying within my limits. I'm sure about that. And I was taking a stand for you, Sahil. I didn't speak back for fun" He closed his eyes in frustration and left out a deep breath.

"I can take a stand for myself"

"Clearly. But you are not, and I can't figure out why" I tried my best for my voice to not go above a certain decibel.

"Because I do not like to argue with elders. I do not want any drama, Ananya. That woman lives on drama, she won't let this go easily. And you are here acting as my girlfriend. Can you understand how wrong it was when you spoke with her in that tone? You need to understand that in an argument even the backstage matters, you only see the limelight and start fighting. See the relations, see the people." He explained and ran his fingers through his already messy hair.

"I agree, I understand that too. But I didn't react the first time or the second. She has said this a million times and therefore this time I told her, Why can't you understand that, Man?!"

"There is nothing to understand. If I wanted to, I would've told her. But at least in a better way-" I cut him off in between.

My irritation was increasing because this creature was not ready to listen.

"I did not misbehave with her. Yes, I told things to Sana but I spoke to her most politely. Don't even repeat this disrespect, misbehave, and everything. Being older doesn't mean you can degrade anyone or disrespect anyone's profession. Someone had to speak in front of her, it was me."

"And now I understand why no one else speaks a word when she tells you anything. You would have restricted them from doing so. Someone takes a stand for you, you get mad at the person who was there for you. I shouldn't open my mouth in your defense. Noted." I added.

"Yes, exactly. Don't take a stand for me. Even this time I didn't ask you to do that because I knew what the consequences were going to be. That it's about my family-"

"Yeah, people can speak bullshit about you and you'll give a reason in their defense that it's your family. Great." I clapped my hands sarcastically.

"Yes. They can. Is it a problem?"

"Talking with you is so damn pointless, you don't seem to get what I'm saying," I muttered in frustration.

"Don't talk with me then. It's very clear. This is how I am built. I cannot take disrespect against my loved ones. No matter what they say." I looked at him in disbelief.

This clearly states what importance I have in his life. He seemed very comfortable when his loved one was commenting on me. It didn't affect him then. Only I was whipped for him, living in delusion because of his certain acts thinking that it might be mutual.

"Anyway, it's a matter of seven days now. We have to act for like seven days, let's keep it only till acting now. Because we are just fake-dating at the end of the day." These words of his cleared everything out.

I should be at my limits and do what I'm told. Act like his lovely-dovey girlfriend for seven days, do not speak when anyone says about him, just listen and let it go as he does, and mind my business.

I spoke for him thinking as a friend, it wasn't even in a romantic manner. I would have spoken up for Kirti if she was in this kind of situation too. But yeah, understood, don't be too good, and don't poke your nose in anyone's matter, Anu.

"Okay," I muttered and stormed towards my room. After I entered, I closed the door with a bang.

I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.

I regret telling anything to his loved ones.

However, I didn't even say anything so offensive that he reacted this way. I would have said only five lines to her maximum and I had to hear from him the whole lecture about misbehaving, disrespect, and how to treat elders.

And all because I took a stand for him? It wasn't even for me.

Dammit, I heard everything from him for something I did for him? Great.

Fucking stop! I wiped a tear that escaped from my eyes. It's worthless, Anu, you're not crying over that Aunty, or over him.

Screw him.

Don't talk to me then. Those were his words, right? Now let's follow what he says because the last time I didn't follow what he said, he had to remind me Because we are just fake-dating at the end of the day.

🦋

"Kirti!!" I shouted and ran towards her, right when she came to my view, and threw my arms around her.

"I don't do hugs, Ananya," She said with an accent.

"Well, I do, so shut up" I heard her chuckle and soon I felt her hands on my back, reciprocating my hug.

"I missed you so much," I said honestly.

"I was rather happy. A few days Sahil had to handle you" At the mention of him, my smile fell. I remember what happened yesterday. And from that night it's been 18 hours, and I haven't even looked at him. Neither did he try to get my attention.

Even if our eyes fell on each other, we would ignore and continue our work. I was in no mood to talk things out when I wasn't at fault.

We broke the hug and I noticed Deven, the blue-eyed co-worker of mine, standing right beside her.

"Deven!" I exclaimed and hugged him in a friendly manner.

"Anu!" He exclaimed back with the same excitement.

Deven worked at Abhinav's office and he was close to him too. And I already introduced Deven and Kirti because Kirti meets each one of my friends, directly or indirectly. And I know almost all her friends beside me.

"Kriti is finally back, now I'll have to deal with headache again," Vivian said while Kirti poked his stomach with her elbow and they shared a long hug which was longer than it should have been but who am I to judge?

"You are a headache, Vivaan"

There they go again messing up with each other's name, intentionally.

I broke the hug with Deven when Sahil stood there and muttered a "Hey"

"Hi, Deven, Ananya's friend." Deven forwarded his hand for a handshake to which Sahil responded.

"Sahil, Her boyfriend."

The double standards of this man. Yesterday it was, we are just acting. And now her boyfriend?

"Fake, Boyfriend" Deven corrected him passing a wink. Sahil looked at me directly after hearing this.

"She told me about it."

"Oh, alright," He said and his eyes were still looking at me. My face was void without any expression.

"Kirti, someone was missing you, by the way," Abhinav said with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, Ananya told me that she missed me. I am so good that people miss me" Kirti flipped her long hair behind.

"Someone who is not Ananya missed you. Very much" Abhinav said and eyed Vivian.

"Someone who is not Ananya? Who?" She asked clueless.

"I don't know, let's ask Vivian. Who was missing Kirti, Vivian?"

"Not me" Vivian replied.

"Lair, lair, pants on fire." I sang and Deven who was standing beside me started laughing. Seeing him laugh I chuckled and forwarded my hand for a hi-fi.  Amidst all this, I could feel a strong gaze on me, which was not ready to leave.

After a while when Deven and Kirti freshened up, we all walked towards the dining table for lunch. Sitting on the table, I saw the Bitch Bua, Kirti gave her that name, do not tell me that I am disrespectful, she looked away as soon as she saw me.

I even went towards her and apologized to her if she felt bad about anything I said. She said that she accepted my apology but it didn't seem like that.

I didn't care much then, neither did I plead or force her. I did what I was supposed to.

First of all, I am not feeling good today, I feel a bit sick and the cold and cough don't seem to leave my back. This happens only when I have to attend an event or something fun, or else I am as fit as I can run a marathon.

I took the rice on my plate because I didn't want to each much and just then I noticed a spider hanging on the table, careless.

Knowing my history with spiders and how I feel like puking even after just seeing them, I rushed towards the washroom. I vomited on the sink and felt a hand patting my back. After I was done, I stood there for a minute trying to catch my breath.

"What happened?" Sahil asked me with genuine concern.

"Nothing" I walked towards the kitchen and drank some water, Thankfully, Sahil didn't follow me there. I walked back towards the dining table after I was done.

"What happened, Ananya? Are you okay?" Gayatri Aunty, Sahil's mom asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I just vomited-" I was cut off by a loud voice.

"Congratulations Ananya, congratulations Bhai!!" Vivian stood up and shouted.

"What are you congratulating them for?" Uncle asked as soon as he sat at the table.

"They are pregnant. Sorry, Ananya is pregnant"

What?!

Sahil when he heard this, choked on his water and looked towards me in disbelief. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What nonsense?"

H-how?

Oh my my, I'm pregnant?

God damn, No. My period ended a week back.

What periods ended? I am still a virgin. My lips are still a virgin, and you talk about me becoming pregnant.

"I'm not. Are you insane?" I asked Vivian still in shock.

"This is how they react in the TV serials when they find out that the heroine puked. I was just giving you those vibes, lol. No harm intended." He chuckled and everyone glared at him.

"You will be harmed if you repeat this kind of joke next time, Vivian" Sahil told him in a very serious tone and he muttered a sorry.

Even I was so shocked for a  moment when he said that.

I was like, I'm pregnant and I don't know it?

More like I'm pregnant after what? Fighting?

Because we didn't even do anything. Not that I want to.

I am angry with him right now. And I'm not speaking with him as he suggested me not to.

🦋

An update after a long time, ik ik. Now the updates will be regular again.

This chapter was kind of a filler but important one. The next ones are going to be damn fun.

Get ready to meet jealous Sahil>

Thoughts on Deven? And that Bua?

As per you who was right in Sahil-Ananya's fight?

Do let me know your views in the comments and click the star button before leaving.

Next update - In this week only. Will inform on Instagram once I decide (Insta I'd @weirdpranialive_)

For the update to come soon, do vote and let me know that on an average, you'll have read this one. Because back to back updates leads to people missing on one of them.

Cya 🤝🏻