Part 18

As soon as they entered the upstairs balcony, both said at the same time…

“I want to ..” started NK

“I have a …” Lavanya started

Neither finished. They looked at each other and smiled.

“Ooh gosh… those dimples are so cute…” NK thought but immediately “NO .. no NK don’t think any further, not until she says yes to your requirement.”

 NK walked over to the railing, bent and placed his elbows on it, relaxed and looked over the beautiful garden.

“ooh… he has such a cute rear…Noooooooooo don’t start thinking like that…” Lavanya reprimanded herself. Smirked admitting to herself that she had thought about much more than that downstairs. Yes, Lavanya liked this man-boy; he had a boyish charm but coupled with just the right dose of manliness. It amused her how he interacted with his family and hers downstairs, pulling everybody into conversation. Laughing whole heartedly even at the silly jokes his Maasi was making. He even spoke properly to the house help. Actually he had sort of scared Ramu kaka with his Hindi, she smiled remembering.

When the conversation had turned to her profession, he had looked into her eyes rather seriously and asked her what he should do first when he thinks he is getting a heart attack. When everybody else questioned him he had said something about a person called Nannav yelling too much which could lead to him having a heart attack soon. All his family had burst into laughter at that and a smile had formed on her lips too… unknowingly.

Yes, she liked him. She liked his easy going nature. She liked his boyish charm. She liked his well built body. She loved his smile which brought a twinkle in his eyes. She liked the bonds she saw in his family. She liked his broken Hindi and his whole hearted effort to learn it.

Last but not least she liked the special feeling she felt in her heart and inside her tummy when he looked at her with admiration in his eyes. If only… he would agree to her condition.

Lavanya came back to this world when the house help came up and asked where to leave the tray of refreshments.  Lavanya took the tray went and sat down on the sofa and placed the tray on the coffee table and said “Help yourself if you want anything.” she said crisply hiding the nervousness out of her voice.

“No I am fine.” NK replied just as crisply.

An awkward silence followed, both of them deep in thought about how to approach the other.

“You were saying…”

“You wanted to say…”

Again both started at the same time and stopped at the same time. NK turned to face her completely and said “Ladies first…”

“Nope, you go ahead..” Lavanya wasn’t in the mood to encourage gentlemanliness

“Please I insist.” He persisted.

“No, you first” it’s either Lavanya’s way or the high way, she wanted him to get the hint.

He got the hint “Lavanya, I have a requirement that my life partner should commit to, only if you are interested in it we will take this further. That requirement is essential for me.”

Lavanya nodded frowning a little and said “I have a condition too. If you are not interested then there is definitely no point in taking this further.”

NK nodded, he knew she was a fiery one. He had noticed how she kept silent down stairs and had given everybody an air of high handedness, especially to his Maasi. But he had seen her eyes softening when she asked Nani how she was, he understood behind that hard and fierce exterior there was a soft hearted young lady.

When he had seen that smile on her face after his question about heart attacks, he knew she was special. The smile was so pure he wanted to see more. He wanted her to come out of her shell and laugh and he knew he would cherish her laugh. He decided to make it his life’s mission to make her laugh as much as he could… but …. only if… she can agree to his condition.

“What if she says No? What then NK?” his subconscious questioned, “I don’t know ….” he replied truthfully, he really didn’t know.

He knew it would be hard to forget her, her beautiful eyes, the dimples on her cheeks, her exotic complexion, her wonderfully curvy figure… and her smile which touched his heart though he had only a glimpse of it.

“Ahem..” He heard her clear her throat as if to say what next and an idea struck him.

“Lavanya as neither of us want to proceed without our conditions being accepted by the other, I think we should talk about the conditions now. It is only fair that both of us know the others condition at the same time so that there will be no influence of one condition over the other…. So I propose we write down our conditions on a piece of paper and hand it over to each other… ok?” he said enthusiastically

Though Lavanya wasn’t much interested in kid games, she didn’t have the heart to say no to his enthusiasm. Also there was sense in what he said, what if one condition was to influence the other. She agreed and went to get a paper and pens from her room.

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“I won’t leave India.” Said the note that NK opened.

“I want live in India after the wedding.” Said the note that Lavanya opened.

They looked up at each other astonishment and wonder written clearly on their faces and burst into laughter after the initial shock wore off.

“How could this be? How could he want the exact same thing she wanted? Was he playing with her?”.. she looked at him still laughing…”No…. he was not the kind to play with emotions… he was just made for her…. there was no other explanation for this…” she thought and went back to laughing at the situation.

He looked her laugh, if he was not bowled over before… he was now… there was no going back for NK. She is the one who now holds the reins of his heart in her hands.

“Why?” she asked looking into his eyes wanting to know about his condition.

He smiled took her hand in his and said “Since I am ok with your condition, I hope we can take this forward…” he explained at her stunned reaction to his actions.

“Shall we go for a walk, my lady? And I will explain in detail…” and when she nodded, slowly lead her to the stairs that lead off the balcony and into the wide gardens.

They walked and talked and walked some more and talked some more. Neither was ready to end this. The more they talked the more they wanted to. He made her laugh and cherished her laughter. She was amazed at how he was breaking through her barriers and coming closer and closer to her heart. The way he felt comfortable expressing his feelings about how he wishes to build his future broke the last barrier to her heart as she realized they both wanted the same thing.

She felt bad she couldn’t open up to him as much and had said

“I need time, I can’t feel comfortable so easily with people…” he had simply said

“Take your time Lavanya.. we have the whole bandagi ahead of us…” And she was in love…

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By the time they got back to the house, their families were done talking…. Actually they  were even done watching a movie together, they didn’t even ask the couple what their decision was. Nani stood up and walked over to Lavanya held her hands and said “Welcome to the family Lavanya.”

Lavanya nodded with joy and with a wide smile on her face said “Thank you.” And then bent to take Nani’s blessings and Nani had blessed her stopping her midway and saying “May your life be a bed of roses.”

NK hugged Nani and said “What next Nani?”

“NK bhai… please get a hold on your enthusiasm and move aside so we can also welcome our Bhabi..” Anjali said walking over to the couple.

NK shrugged and moved aside and said “She is all yours for now… Di”

Which brought smiles and laughter in the room, sweets were distributed and discussions about what the next step would be were held. It was decided that the decision will be conveyed to the bride’s family after the Raizada’s have a talk with the Sharmas. However, the bride and the groom were allowed to go on a date the following evening.

NK left the Kashyap’s a happy man looking forward to the next evening.