Chapter 22: Chapter 22

*Shrishti Pov*

“Why are you suddenly nervous?” Nitish asked seeing my expression but I just shook my head.

“Is something wrong?” he continued and I finally turned to stare at him instead of the guests that came to attend the engagement party.

“My friends are coming now to greet you. I just don’t want any of you to feel awkward.” I explained pointing out his hatred towards GH and also I know my friends are a bit wary of him after everything that happened with Anny.

He stared back at me in silence before saying, “I know that they are important for you.”

I smiled hearing those words and Vikranth and Prathap reached us along with Kanika but Anny didn’t attend the function as she was busy with some shoot.

“Congratulations! I never expected that before me you are going to get en…” Prathap cut off his voice realizing he was about to blurt out their fake scheme before Nitish.

“Yeah! I will get married before you.” I stated covering it up and he smiled while Nitish greeted them.

It was definitely awkward with no words exchanging between them except for formal greet and them congratulating him.

“Your family managed to do everything in a short period.” Kanika tried to clear the silence and Nitish started talking to her while I glanced at Vikranth who is not saying a single word.

“Vikranth! What are you thinking?” I asked smiling at him.

“Will you return back or going to stay here?” he suddenly asked and I frowned at him but replied that I will go back.

Even though I agreed to this marriage but that doesn’t mean that I want to get married right now. I still need to get the new branch settled and then I will shift back to this place.

I definitely need a long time before the actual marriage and Nitish is fine with it. We are going to talk to our parents about that today after the function and hopefully, everything goes smoothly.

“I wanted to talk about the new branch’s expenditure. I think we can reduce it a bit if one of the options is changed.” He commented.

“This is her engagement party. You are going to talk to her about business right now?” Prathap asked frowning at him while I chuckled.

“Let’s take a picture.” Kanika mumbled glancing at Vikranth and we all stood together to get it done before they walked off.

“That was definitely awkward.” Nitish commented and I nodded sighing.

“They just need to know you a bit and everything will be fine. Even you need to know them a bit.” I mumbled while he nodded smiling.

“So, Vikranth is definitely a workaholic like you mentioned and Prathap is kind of jovial.” He whispered.

“I wouldn’t say jovial but he is just not a workaholic. However, he is very serious about his own dream.” He nodded before waving at a group of people.

“They are my friends and also part of my company. That’s Rohan and Arjun who were there when I started my company.” He explained while they were walking towards us.

“Who is the one that took care of the company in your absence?” I asked before I could stop myself staring at the two people he pointed out among the group.

“Why?” I turned back to glance at Nitish hearing his odd tone and I felt a loss on what to tell him.

Just because I defended him before Vikranth and others doesn’t mean that I am fine with everything that happened between NK and Anny.

They attacked a girl ruthlessly and it can be covered under competition between GH and NK but still, it doesn’t feel like some matter that can be shrugged off.

However, I know I can’t discuss the same with him right here in front of all the guests so I just shook my head with a smile and tried to be as normal as I can when his friends reached to wish us.

I need not act much as they kind of only talked to Nitish and gave me just a glance and I am glad of that even though surprised by their behavior.

When Nitish doesn’t seem to mind this interaction, I just ignored it to wear a smile for the next set of guests after a few pictures with his friends.

I glanced at his mother again for the tenth time to see how to start a conversation but she is very silent and not saying much even when we both exchanged the rings.

“Did you talk to Aunty?” I asked in a whisper and he glanced at his Mom who is talking to his friends with a smile.

“I think she just needs some time. She is a bit reluctant because my Dad proposed this marriage and she is always against my Dad’s way of doing things.” He explained and I sighed in relief.

If her attitude is because of Uncle and not me then everything is fine. She can just get to know me later and get closer or at least friendly.

*Nitish Pov*

“Why were you asking about which one of my friends handled the company in my place?” I asked the moment I reached my home and gave her a call.

When she queried about that earlier, I felt a bit uneasy thinking about how close she is to Prathap and must be close to his girlfriend too.

“Why are you suddenly asking this?” she asked after a moment of pause.

“Just… curious… so, why?” I repeated and she sighed before not saying anything for a few seconds.

“I don’t want to hurt you but it just I am not fine with what happened with Anny from NK. I can defend you as you were with me but your friend is in the wrong. Why did he do it? Not just once but so many times.” She asked and I stilled getting right with half of it.

So, she still doesn’t know about what happened with Anny and me. I sighed in relief before trying to answer the best way.

“It is just for the competition, Shrishti. I will make sure that none of this will repeat ever again. He too got punished and even me. You know this right how much I am struggling with the company.” I mumbled while fisting my hand.

Sorr, Shrishti! If I say the complete truth then you will unnecessarily feel uneasy about everything.

“Oh! You are right! Let’s just forget about this then. So, will you miss me when I go back tomorrow?” she asked changing the topic.

However, even though I continued to talk to her normally I can’t stop the guilt from sweeping in for lying to her.

It was actually not the competition but because of Lisa, Rohan did all this. Lisa is anyway not present in our lives right now and I just don’t want to mention her and create unnecessary complications.

“Of course I will miss you. When will you shift back?” I asked after lying on the bed.

“A few months for sure as everything is finally coming together. Then after I transfer back, we can meet regularly.” I smiled hearing her reply.

“After you transfer back, you need to think about our marriage too.” I pointed out.

“Fine! Fine! Why the hurry? It isn’t like I am going to run away from you, right?” I chuckled shaking my head.

“When will you visit me? What am I even asking when I didn’t even return myself.” She mumbled the last words making me laugh.

“Not this weekend as I will be busy but next weekend I can try.” I promised but she just asked me to come only if I have time otherwise it’s fine.

“I know you will be fine if I don’t visit but I will not be fine.” I pointed out and we finished talking at two in the morning and that too because she need to travel within a few hours.

I closed my eyes while relieving the moment of our engagement by caressing my other finger over the ring.

I thought it will take too long to accept this engagement but she finally did even though because of the force from the family.

I know it is selfish on my part but I am happy about it. I drifted off into sleep with that thought while not expecting a surprise waiting at my work the next day.

****

‘I just reached the office. I will talk to you in the evening but it will be late.’ I smiled at the message and immediately replied saying, ‘Don’t worry! I will e waiting for your call.’

Just as I placed my phone on the table, the door to my cabin suddenly opened making me frown thinking who is it opening the door without knocking first.

“Rohan! I told you to always knock.” I pointed out but he was grinning before swiftly moving aside after entering the cabin.

“Guess who is here.” He stated and the next moment my eyes widened looking at the person I didn’t expect to see at all.

“Lisa?” I whispered in shock.

Why is she here? Isn’t she busy in the states? She already left the agency after reaching that place to have good management and we also lost contact.

So, this is definitely more than a surprise for me. She grinned stepping forward to reach my side while I calmly stood up.

“Seems like I really surprised you.” Saying that she leaned over to hug me while I patted her back smiling.

“When did you come back?” I asked stepping back to release her hold while she just smiled.

“Today morning and I directly came here. Rohan picked me up and we both decided to keep it as a secret.” She replied holding my hand and I nodded glancing at Rohan.

“I will be going then. By the way, today evening we all are going to gather. Is it fine, Lisa?” he asked staring at her.

“Yeah! I don’t think I will rest a bit until I spend some time with all of you.” She replied and he nodded leaving the cabin.

“Sit down! Do you want anything to drink?” I asked gesturing the chair while she grinned before taking my chair.

“This chair is more relaxing. I don’t want anything to drink but let’s just talk or you try to come over the shock.” She replied while I smiled before reaching the guest’s chairs to sit down before her.

“Is there any project in this city?” I asked still ordering juice for her.

“No! I am here for you… and our friends. I took a break from the projects as nothing is going well right now.” She replied and I nodded as I heard from Rohan that she is not doing that well for some time.

“Good! It is better to take some rest before returning with the best work.” I nodded and she talked about her work there along with a few problems.

“What about you?” she asked leaning forward on the table.

“Got some problems with the company and I got engaged.” I replied showing my finger and she gave a shocked look.

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked in a low tone.

“You were out of India and I got engaged just yesterday.” I replied and she slowly nodded.

“Arranged?” she asked raising her eyebrow.

“A part of it. She is great and you will like her when you meet her.” I replied while she just smiled.

She stayed in my cabin while using her phone and I calmly finished my work until Rohan and Arjun along with others came to call us for the get-together.

She continued to talk with all of them even when we sat down in the restaurant while I took out my phone to inform Shrishti.

“What is this? I just came back and everyone is playing with your phones. Drop them! Drop them!” she called all of us and I sighed placing the phone in the middle of the table after putting it in silent mode as everyone decided to do it.

“This will be my treat for coming back after so long. Order whatever you guys want to.” She stated leaning back.

“No way! Let Nitish treat us as he is the engaged boy.” Arjun commented and Rohan coughed nodding.

“Yeah! How can he let you treat us?” Rohan nodded while I shook my head before accepting their order.

She leaned closer to whisper, “We can act like you are paying but I will pay it.”

“It’s okay! I didn’t give any treat before and it is good that you are here to be part of it.” I smiled whispering back.

“Can’t believe that my first love is getting married.” I froze hearing those words and glanced up to stare at her and she is already staring back at us.

“Delete that picture, Rohan. I closed my eyes in that.” I jerked back hearing Arjun’s shout and found Rohan shaking his head before saying that he already posted our group picture.

“You always post the pictures where I close my eyes. You should inform us before taking any picture.” Arjun complained.

“Why are your eyes so short then? No matter how many times we take the pictures it will be the same.” Rohan shrugged and we laughed while I threw her question away from my mind.

Like that it felt like we went back to our college days and the time just passed without any of us knowing it.

After reaching home, I found a few missed calls from Shrishti and immediately called her but she didn’t pick it up and it’s already midnight.

I checked the messages and realized I didn’t send her the message that I will be late and found her asking whether I am busy.

‘Sorry! My friend returned from the states and we all college friends just hang out. Let’s talk tomorrow.’ Sending that I closed my eyes and immediately slept off feeling exhausted after having a few drinks with them.