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The countless bunches of balloons look-a-likes hung from the ceiling in the center of the room. The dried orchids covered the rest of the ceiling. The color changing lights illuminated the entire place. The white traditional chandeliers with candle-style lights had been suspended from the ceiling. The white theme made the sofas look plush and comfortable. The stage was raised a few steps above the rest of the place. Over the white spotless marble-floored rostrum, rested a royal white chaise lounge. Huge gypsum plaster arcs were placed at the extreme ends of the hall. The rostrum had a forest picture as the background before which the roman pillar flower racks stood magnificently. And people had already occupied the tables.
I gawked in awe at the view before me. If it wasn't for Viaan gently pushing me forward, I might have remained plastered in my spot at the entrance. All of this was better than my dream wedding! The only catch was the guy beside me, thejerk. Else I would have been on cloud nine!
Vikrant walked towards us. His hair had been pulled back into a small bun. His black peacoat and black pants looked like a new style for weddings. He gave me a half lopsided smirk before training his eyes towards his brother, "let's talk for a moment?"
Viaan removed his arm from another me to walk aside with his brother. They both talked in hushed voices that nothing could be heard over the music. Viaan glanced at me briefly before giving a stern nod in his brother's direction. He said something before walking back to me.
"What is it?" I asked him out of curiosity.
"Nothing that we cannot handle," he replied nonchalantly before adding with his signature smirk, "now smile, my dearwife. We are at our reception after all."
24. CHAUBEES
"Congrats,Mister and Missus Raivardhan," wished another business associate of Viaan's, handing over a bouquet of roses.
I cast a bright smile at him muttering a ‘thank you’ as Viaan continued to talk to him. I was already getting a hang of it, in fact, I felt like a pro at it. I sensed Prerna on my left bend towards me making me lean towards her automatically, "I can smell something burning, just waiting for her to visibly catch fire now."
"Who?" I mouthed while my eyes searched the crowd for any possible hint.
"The one who had concluded that she would be the one instead of you," Prerna's little riddle made my eyes automatically snap towards Nishika who was giving me a nasty stink eye. A scowl etched on her face openly.
I had shared everything with Prerna as soon as she came to greet me. She hadn't left my side ever since then. I wished that I had Anjali too by my side but though she had already arrived at the venue, she hadn't come to greet me yet while the rest of my family and her family did, including Luv and Kush had already visited the stage... I am grateful that Luv and Kush didn't raise any ruckus in my reception but Anjali not meeting me? That made me worried. Mayank had been dragged away by Aaryan whose eyes were filled with mirth, that felt like a bad idea but I already had a matter at my hands. Anjali. I could care less about Aaryan and his antics at the moment.
Deliberately, I summoned an innocent smile in Nishika's direction hoping it would piss her off more than she already was. And it worked beautifully well, she looked like a famished person, with a hunger that could be only sated by my blood. Can anyone blame me?
Prerna's laughter made me break our secret communication as I turned to look at her.
"You are too much," She shook her head. Guess, it wasn't that much of a secret after all.
"She had it coming her way," I simpered, glancing in Viaan's direction noting that he was still engrossed in their conversation.
Phew, as long as he didn't know about my little stunt, it was fine. Couldn't risk pissing him off by messing a bit with the love of his life now, can I?
I immediately felt my smile flatter at those thoughts. I had to force it back on. Viaan turn towards me saying, "I'll be back in a few." And he was off with the other two guys towards the backstage, leaving his bride alone on the rostrum.
"I loved that bluebird ballet and the stand-up comedy," Prerna mused out of nowhere.
"Yeah," I nodded mindlessly as my eyes searched the crowd for my family members.
"And I'm in love with Charlie Puth! Gosh, I so badly wished that he could make it to your reception but he was on a tour..." Prerna's chattering automatically toned off from my head when a particular Batra caught my eye. Her face was dull, her shoulders slumped and her eyes swollen. She forced a smile and nodded at the person who walked past her with a greeting.
It was crystal clear, she wasn't okay. Not at all. I could hear Prerna blabbering in the background, "I was this close to getting a concert ticket but then Mayank was na--"
Anjali glanced at me, her eyebrows knitted together as her nostrils flared a bit. Her nose was red even under her makeup. She turned and headed towards the corridor that led to the elevator.
"—I didn't talk to him the entire week! I would have continued to give him a cold shoulder—" I cut Prerna's rambling off in the middle saying, "I'll be right back."
I didn't wait for Prerna to reply as I followed Anjali towards the corridor. People tried to engage me into a conversation, many just complimented making me deliver a quick smile and a nod in acknowledgment. But I didn't stop, I followed after my cousin only to see the elevator doors close by the time I reached her. I felt the anxiety seep in.
What had happened to her that made my jolly cousin so upset within the span of a day?
Whatever it was, I was going to find out.
I looked around for the stairs. Without thinking twice, I started to climb down the stairs. Upon reaching the floor below, I noticed the lift had just descended another floor down, so did I.
When I landed on the last set of stairs to the floor below, the cracked open door opposite to me caught my attention. Behind the door, I could see Vikrant and Neel talking to each other. Neel raised his hand showing a tiny shiny metallic string to Vikrant saying something I couldn't hear. I didn't need to see it twice to understand what it was. It was the same metallic item that was trapped outside the rim of the manhole in the restricted area. Neel had managed to pull it out.
Daksh walked to stand beside them, covering my view unintentionally. I shook my head focusing over my priority, Anjali. I looked up to find the elevator was already two floors below me.
