Atharva warned her in a mock tone, "Just wait and watch lady... I will show you badlaa lena kisko kehte hai!"
An involuntary shiver ran down her spine, thinking about the innuendo, and blurted meekly, "What do you mean by that?"
He said haughtily, "Sorry... please wait and watch... I'll take an appropriate remuneration for this."

She scowled, "Hello! This is not one of your business deals that you will ask for remuneration," she said stressing on the word.
He bit his lower lip and grinned, "No.. it's very personal, and don't worry, I'll demand a very personal kind of a compensation as well."
She took a minute to digest what he meant and it made her body feel hot and cold, at the same moment.

Just then Atharva noticed.....

To be continued...

Just then, Atharva noticed the same female he had seen outside, coming in the restaurant and smirked. He confided, "You know Shruti? Just before coming in, I had seen a girl, and for a second I thought it was you... crazy na? And here you were. That is why it took time to register, I thought I was imagining things..."

Shruti put a hand on her mouth, trying to control her laughter, and said, "Mr Atharva Shah is visualising things... of course! You are head over heels in l.." and she stopped right there. Gosh! She can never keep her big mouth shut... well, mostly.

Atharva knew what she was had been about to say and goaded her, "What? Cat got your tongue? Am waiting..."

Shruti was saved from responding as Nainaa and Abhinav had come up to their table. It took Atharva a nano second to finally put two and two together, and realisation dawned. No doubt, they looked similar.. just like him and Minish.

Both Shruti and Atharva stood up to greet them. All of them said almost simultaneously, 'Hi'... 'Hello'.. and the guys had a firm handshake, followed by brief introductions. Atharva immediately called the waiter and asked him to combine the adjoining table, so that all 4 of them can sit comfortably. Nainaa sat besides Shruti and Abhinav besides Atharva.

For a minute, there was an awkward silence after which Nainaa said, "Hope you liked the surprise..." and looked expectantly at Atharva.
He grinned, "Yes of course... I was rather shocked to see her, you can say."
Nainaa shook her head and chided her sister, "I told her not to torture you unnecessarily... but she wasn't ready to budge."

Shruti looked down coyly, and in an attempt to change the topic, said to Abhinav, "Jiju... please go through the menu. We can order accordingly."
He replied, "Oh no Shruti. We already had our dinner at Kailash Parbat. We are quite full actually."
Nainaa said, "You guys please carry on with your meal."
Atharva suggested, "How about having some Green Thai curry with steamed rice? We can all share..."

Abhinav mentioned, "Very lil please." Nainaa scowled, "Arey, we just had quite a bit... aur kitna khaoege?!"
Shruti giggled thinking, 'Ye dono ka shuru ho gaya.'

Abhinav started addressing Atharva, "Be prepared bhai... ye shaadi ke baad sabki khitpit start ho jaati hai. Enjoy these golden days buddy. It's a different scenario post marriage."
Atharva sat grinning at the light banter. Shruti faked anger, "What jiju... please don't scare him..."

He was happy to see the light hearted chitchat going on, realising instantly that Shruti shared a very frank relationship with her sister and brother-in-law. At his place, it was a different state of affairs. He was used to a formal code of conduct with his parents, although he did have an excellent rapport with his brothers, specifically Minish. But still, theirs was a more disciplined family. He realised that Shruti will take time in adjusting in his family, but vowed to always stand by her.

He came out of his musings when Nainaa said, "You know what Atharva? I might as well warn you... be prepared for endless hours of shopping. She is a nightmare for shopkeepers, literally. Today, to hunt for one perfect outfit, she took 4 hours, going through innumerable dresses."

Shruti was trying to stop her sister once she realised where it was going, by tapping on her lap, but she refused to halt. Atharva could just imagine the whole scenario, eagerly waiting for more information. Nainaa w
as, as if, determined to pass all her lil secrets that day itself. Shruti very well knew that once if her sis starts on her shopping habits, there would be no stopping her. But Nainaa was in no mood to listen to her pleas. Amidst having their meal, followed by the mouth watering Sizzling Brownie, Nainaa revealed it all.

Nainaa continued, "You know... once when she was around 10 years old, she actually went to endless shops for an entire day, but didn't buy even a single outfit! Can you believe that??"
Shruti tried to interrupt, "Nainaa... pl.."
But her sis didn't allow her to finish her sentence and continued, "Then on another occasion, when we had come to Mumbai during our summer holidays, we had to actually cancel our plan of going to Esselworld because madam wanted to go to Grant road on that day itself to shop from her then favourite showroom Sheetal. Can you believe that? Not going to an amusement park for the sake of shopping?! We were all so pissed off!"

Shruti and Abhinav both asked her to take a breather, but she was in complete command on that day. Atharva on the other hand, was having a gala time imagining all the while, a young Shruti obsessed about shopping and making unreasonable demands.
Nainaa reasoned, "Arey bhai.. let's not keep him in the dark. He should be prepared na what all he has to face in future?"

Eventually, she conceded and Shruti breathed a sigh of relief. During the entire time, both stole glances at each other. Shruti was trying to gauge his reaction while Nainaa was rattling about her childhood escapades; whereas Atharva couldn't help notice the captivating look, the discomfiture she was feeling was reflecting on her face. On the contrary, he could feel the magnetic pull towards her and was desperate to have some me-time with her.

He asked to get the bill, when the manager came in to inform, "Sir.. it has already been paid."
Atharva was quite surprised, when Shruti gave Nainaa a questioning look. Nainaa replied, "What? Can't we do that much?" Atharva felt very uncomfortable about all this, but Abhinav, being a sweetheart, refused to hear any of it.

Finally, they all got up to leave, and Atharva questioned looking at Abhinav and Nainaa, "How did you come here?"
Nainaa replied, "Since we had gone for shopping, the car and driver was with us only through the day. And Abhinav came directly from office."

Atharva requested, "If you don't mind, can I drop Shruti home?"
Nainaa had been expecting this all along; she had observed the love stricken couple sneakily peeping at each other all the time they had been together.
Abhinav assured, "Of course! Please feel free..."
Shruti gave a dazzling smile and said gleefully, "Thank you so much jiju... I promise I wont be very late." They all wished each other bye and parted ways.

Atharva just sent a simple 'Thank you' text to Minish, who instantly reverted with a smile, 'You are most welcome bro.. have a good time.'
He had a broad smile on his face, when Shruti questioned, with her eyebrows raised.

He simply shook his head saying, "Nothing... just sent a thank you message to Minish."
And Shruti realised, "Ohh.. It completely skipped my mind to thank him... my bad.. will do so right away."
Minish very sweetly returned, "It was my pleasure Bhabhi."
It brought a foolish grin on her face and said, "Bhabhi sounds so sweet na."
Atharva smiled, bewitched looking at his charming partner. They had both settled in his car, and sat quietly for a while, just enjoying each other's company. They were just craving for each other's presence; even in the complete silence, it felt as if a magical spell had been cast over them.

Atharva slyly asked, "So Shruti, ready for pay back time?" She questioned, "What do you mean?"

To be continued....
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