Chapter 25: What Was That For?!

“Okay, okay! Enough soppy behavior!” Janya pulled away after a few moments, tears slightly welling up in her eyes!

“Huh? Who’s soppy? And you are the one with tears in her eyes! Why are you even crying?!” Aanya asked flabbergasted. “That was Farzeen’s role! Bursting into tears for the smallest of reasons!”

“Hahahahaha.” Janya burst into laughter wiping the tears. “It’s a miracle that she even managed to become friends with Harshil and the others. They messed around so much! Remember how many times Harshil pulled her ponytail in school? Being the crybaby she was, Farzeen just...hahahaha.”

“Forget Farzeen…I was more surprised that you managed to tolerate the boys yourself! After that stunt they pulled back in 3rd, you positively loathed them!”

“Which stunt?” Janya narrowed her eyes curiously.

“Oh, that one with Veena Ma’am! When the boys hid the harmonium! And Harshil blackmailed you!”

“Hmm? What are yo- Oh!” Janya exclaimed. “That one! How did you even remember that just like that? I had completely forgotten about it!”

“Oh, that’s because of Aarav.” Aanya smiled.

“Aarav?” Janya questioned. “What about him?”

“It’s like this...”

*****

“Oh...well, Aarav has always been a little shy around strangers.” Janya mused as Aanya locked the art piece carefully into her desk drawer. Aanya had just narrated the little tale about Aarav and his sudden interest in his parents’ school days.

“What about Kashvi? Has she thought about her stream?” Aanya enquired about her friend’s daughter.

“Well, she’ll be starting Class 10th this year only. So, I haven’t actually asked her. She seems to enjoy Mathematics a lot but science? Not as much. I’ll let her think it over by the time the stream choices come. We’ll talk then.”

“Yeah...makes sense.” Aanya nodded. “Let her focus on her studies for boards this year. No point in pressuring her for choosing a stream until the choosing time comes around. What we learned by 10th was just the tip of the iceberg anyway!”

“Tell me about it.” Janya giggled.

Aanya joined in the laughter.

“Well, it’s getting late. Shall we go down and ask everyone to come for dinner. You go and inform the men downstairs. I’ll call the kids.”

“Sure.” Janya nodded.

*****

Aanya informed the children and left them to shut off their games. Just as she was about to descend the stairs, a voice came from downstairs, “Aanya? The three of them aren’t here!”

“Oh, okay! I’ll call them!” Aanya yelled back.

“If they aren’t on the ground floor...” Aanya turned towards the door leading to the game room. “They are bound to be in the balcony.”

And just as she had predicted, the three men were leaning on the balcony railing. As she stepped into the balcony from the game room, she heard their voices-

“Stanford must have been a great experience, huh?” Cabir asked, taking a swig from his glass.

“I learned a lot, for sure. But more importantly, do you know that they have a concept of ‘free refills’ in the US? Like you can refill your glass with coke as many times as you want! Man-”

“Coke became more important than your career?” Aakash quipped from the side.

“C’mon, man! Just imagine...I could just keep on drinking-”

“And land up in the hospital and intermittently into the toilet. Yes, with your idiocy, I can well imagine it.” The spectacled man shrugged with a smirk.

“Hey-”

“If you are done fooling around, come to the dining room. It’s dinner time.” Aanya announced from behind them, startling the boys.

Harshil almost knocked off the glass he had kept on the railing. It was lucky that his reflexes kicked in and that he managed to grab the glass with his left hand.

“Fuck, Aanya! Don’t scare us like that!” He complained, recovering from his shock.

“I simply called out. How would I know that you were such a scaredy-cat?” The black-haired woman flashed a small grin.

“That’s a very valid point.” Aakash shrugged.

“Stop taking your wife’s side, you asshole! Bromance before romance!” Harshil complained.

“Like that line ever works...” Cabir muttered under his breath.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, you single- Agh!”

Cabir had kicked Harshil in the shin.

“Now I see why Janya hated you so much when we were in school.”

“She hated all of us...” Aakash pointed out.

Cabir: “...”

Harshil: “...”

“How did you even end up with her, man? You fought so much even in 10th!” Cabir scoffed.

“We’ve been together sinc-”

“We can have a chat over dinner on this! Janya and I were talking about this thing too.” Aanya interrupted.

“Why were you talking about this?!” Harshil looked so affronted that everyone broke into chuckles.

“Just come down.” Aanya shook her head and turned to leave. Aakash followed her even as Cabir gave a Harshil a friendly slap on the back.

“Yeah yeah...” Harshil sighed. “Oh! By the way, Anaya. How was that thing that Janya gave you?” He suddenly perked up.

“It was amazing! I never even expected it and it was sooo beautifully made!” Anaya gushed.

“What are you talking about?” Aakash enquired.

“I’ll show you later.” Anaya promised and suddenly reached out to muss his black hair.

“What was that for?!” The spectacled man complained, setting his hair.

Aanya just giggled softly and winked at Harshil who had caught onto what the action was for. He guffawed out loud as the other two men looked on, utterly bewildered.