Still clueless on what to do next, I pressed the cup of hot chocolate against my forehead. It had been five days to my birthday and I was supposed to leave for Ahmedabad in other five. The last few days were all about coming up with excuses to tackle Miral's interrogation as to why I can't get 'Kshitij' to her wedding. 

I had spent hours talking to her on the phone arguing about what a mess it would be if someone in the house realized that I was coming over with my boyfriend(fake, of course). But that stubborn female was too determined to catch my lie (well, technically Drishti's lie).

"You got me in this mess so now you'll be the one rescuing me out of it!" I put the mug down and stared at Drishti, "And, what do you decide on my made-up boyfriend's name? Kshitij! Same name as the guy who stood me up that day!"

"I still don't see my mistake. Your cousin's evil mouth needed a shut up and I was more than happy to assist to the noble cause." She shrugged before sipping on her cup, "About the name- it is just that it was the name that was on top of my mind."

That's Drishti. All she believed in was-- You don't sob over something. You get up and get even! She is that one friend in every group who cheats in cards and board games no matter how alert you are. It wouldn't be wrong to say that she had a mind of a devil to scheme around. Yeah, she comes out as the nasty one but then again, isn't that a relative term? Of course she was using her scheming mind to shut Miral but it could be considered as a kind deed for my moment of weakness that night, irrespective of the fact that it chose to blew up in my face later! 

"Well, your noble cause had a few consequences which I'm left to deal with." I sighed.

Resuming back to my dose of chocolate, I gazed at the infinite blue sky stretching beyond the balcony railing. Sitting on a patio chair in a balcony at Naina's place, we were pondering on my current issue. It is one of the many perks of running a cafe- you have a whole lot of free time to complicate your life and then resolve it again! 

"You're just over reacting." Drishti rolled her eyes.

"Really? She wants some Kshitij at her wedding and I swear she knows I am or rather you were  lying through your teeth and I don't have any boyfriend. You just gave her that one moment on a silver platter that she has been waiting for all her life-- watching me embarrass myself in front of her!" I whined, "She wouldn't put up with any of my excuses."

"I don't get you two sisters." Naina laughed, "She hates you for being an ideal daughter of the house while you reciprocate to her hatred because you think that life is too nice to her even after her easy-going attitude."

"It is just that I don't see any justice here. I wouldn't say that I'm the most ideal person but I always opted for what was logically and morally correct. Scoring enough to see myself through school and then going for a professional course of Architecture for a secured future irrespective of the fact that I had a different dream altogether. Never sneaked out of the house, never tried liquor or anything that is considered even remotely immoral." I murmured.

Both of them looped their arms around me.

"And there she was all along- not caring, partying away, sneaking out with her boyfriends, somehow crawling her way to some college and managing a random two year course. How does Karma pay her? By getting her a nice guy to marry and settle down happily without a single hiccup!" I shrugged, "sometimes I doubt whether I'm the ideal sister or the spineless one who was just too scared to try anything in her life.... who didn't  even have enough guts to pursue writing over architecture just because it wasn't promising enough!"

"You aren't a spineless, gutless person. You're the rational sister who took decisions in life with wisdom and reasoning. So what if they weren't perfect? They weren't completely wrong either. And who says sneaking out and getting wasted is the only way of life?! And, about finding your right man-- however How-I-Met-Your-Motherish I sound but the truth is that the universe is looking out for you, for all of us." Naina smiled affectionately, "It's going to turn out fine for you. Have patience, okay?"

I nodded convincing myself to believe every word coming out of her mouth. 

"You know what?" I sat up straight, " I'm going to call Miral and speak nothing but the truth. I don't care what she thinks about me. I don't have to go along with something that randomly slipped out of Drish's mouth. If the worst comes to worst, she may mock me for a while and bask in the superficial glory of it."

"I am still not on board with this plan." Drishti raised her brows as I pulled out my cell.

Staring at Miral's saved contact number, I fidgeted as to whether to hit the green button or not. Well, making a speech was a simple task but going through with the thing and standing by your words was a whole lot difficult.

"Aren't you going to say something?" I turned to Naina, "I don't mind a second opinion to the suggestion of this scheming psycho female who is sitting next to you."

Drishti scowled at me and went back to her cup of hot chocolate.

Naina sat there caressing her huge belly with affection. She looked at me and then at those tall buildings standing in the sky. Considering her childish looks and tantrums, Naina was blessed with quite a sagability and advisability. She had her way with making people realize what was the right thing to do. I always looked upto her when it came to my inner conflicts about anything. So here I was again, relying on her profundity to help me out of this dilemma.

"You tell me." She stared into my eyes, "Rationally speaking, Drishti shouldn't have started this in the first place and trusting her to do such stuff, you shouldn't have played along. Now that the damage is done, you decide. Are you okay with facing the consequences after telling the truth?"

I bit my lower lip in confusion.

She continued, "You are not the person who would go with something this stupid, are you? C'mon, we are hyping the situation. She is your stupid cousin who will have some stupid remarks once you tell her the truth. I think we can handle that, can't we?"

I took a deep breath, “You are right. I will call her right now and clear everything up.”

Drishti huffed and slouched back in her chair. I picked up my phone and tapped Miral's saved contact. I could hear the rings as I pressed my phone against my ear.

"Did you book railway tickets for yourself and Kshitij?"   She chirped on the other end. Evil dripped from her voice. She knew I was lying.

"Yeah, I need to talk to you about that. I have some truth to tell you." I sighed in the phone.

***************************************************

***************************************************

"What is wrong with you?" Zalak shook me by my shoulders.

"I know I am repeating myself but seriously, didn't I tell you to go along with it?" Drishti smacked my head.

"If you really wanted to embarrass yourself, you could have danced on this table instead." Kavya tapped at the table she was sitting by. 

On a buzzing Sunday evening, Zalak, Drishti and I were behind the counter at the cafe to give a helping hand to Julie. Kavya was settled on the table closest to the counter scowling at me. Apparently everyone was pissed at me for telling the truth to Miral. As always, she had  some snide remarks ready to throw my way and I managed shooting some back at her- the usual. 

My current problem were these three idiots hovering over me and my support, aka Naina was stuck at home, throwing tantrums at her poor husband just because he wasn't allowing her to travel upto here in her delicate condition.

"Will you get your butt off that table and vacant it for the customers. We have people lined up outside." I shot a look at Kavya.

She got up from that place and walked to us behind the counter, crowding the tiny place even more. Julie smiled at me awkwardly as she stepped on my shoe in an attempt to reach for sugar packets.

"I still don't believe she let that bitch Miral walk all over her." Zalak huffed, "And now, she is not going to her wedding also. You are missing out on a pretty saree I would have let you borrowed for this wedding."

"I think I'll take the loss." I hugged her, "And what do you expect? I am not in a mood to deal with those aunties in the wedding. They'll just keep commenting on my single status and that I should get married real soon because my biological clock is ticking. After which the topic will somehow shift to my menstrual cycle and that's the worst. Trust me!"

"You don't cancel your trip home and miss out on your cousin's wedding just because you kind of had a slip with her. What happened to my friend who didn't mind if people commented about her singlehood? She believed that her right man is on his way here and he's going to shut everyone up very soon!" Kavya fixed her hand on her waist.

"She is embarrassed and a little tired now." I bit my lip, "I think I will pass on this one. I need a break from this blind chase. I don't even know what kind of man am I waiting for since the first bud of romance bloomed in me. So, let's shut the topic close, okay?"

All of them rolled their eyes and made their way to the cash-counter. I stayed back to give a hand to Julie. Those three were busy whispering and bickering about something in that corner- probably a  speech or an intervention for my "demotivated" self! 

The glass door of the cafe flew open and Naina entered in her loose T-shirt and preganancy-pants. She shot a killing glare at Aryan behind before stomping her way to the cash-counter to join those three. I wiped my hands on a napkin and made my way towards my magic beans. 

"Why can't you leave me alone even for a few minutes?!" Naina huffed at Aryan who was scrambling in his trouser-pockets and pulled out a chocolate bar.

Naina's baby eyes ogled over that shiny wrapper as she grabbed it from her husband. Rising on her toes she planted a quick kiss on his cheeks. I must admit that these hormonal mood-swings of a pregnant woman were seriously difficult to put up with. He grinned sheepishly and tucked her loose strands behind the ears. 

"I'll be in the reading nook. Call me if you need anything." He kissed her forehead and walked off to the other corner.

Kavya snapped her fingers at me, "I don't understand why you can't see the exciting drama element of this whole situation Omi! I think it's fun to go off track sometimes. It is so cliche and filmy- faking a boyfriend, an Indian wedding and stuff!" She clasped her hands together in excitement, "I hope there's a twist  lined up to conclude this story."

I gave her a skeptical look and said, "First of all, my life isn't some story to be---"

My phone's ringtone interrupted our conversation and I pulled it out of my pocket jeans. Miral's name in bold illuminated the screen. 

"Jai Shri Krishna, Miral" I talked into the phone after tapping the green button.

My magic beans leaned forward to catch on my conversation with her over the buzzing in the cafe.

"I heard you aren't coming to my wedding." She stated, "You don't have to be embarrassed of your lie sweetheart. Nobody in the family knows about it. I didn't tell anyone about your made-up boyfriend stories so they are anyway hopeless about you coming over with some man. I completely understand that such things happen to an unmarried, lonely woman of your age."

I wanted to get into the phone and strangle her with my bare hands. But, the kindness in me and the lack of advancement in the current technology restricted me.

"Darling, you forget that not everyone's life revolves around you." I gritted my teeth, "Did it occur to you that I might have my own reasons for skipping your wedding?"

"Well, I just didn't want you to feel awkward for your desperate behaviour. I'm sure you'll get over it when or IF you get married. Of-course I hope you do." I could totally imagine her evil grin, "Jai shri Krishna."

The line went dead on the other end and I tossed the phone over the counter.

"My life doesn't revolve around her." I whispered zoned out. "Nor does it revolve around those aunties who taunt me on my status."

"Obviously it does not." Naina put her comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I am not postponing my visit to home for such lame reasons. I miss mummy, papa and my family. I'm going for the wedding." I smiled.

"I'll get my saree pressed and ready for you to take along!" Zalak grinned.

"Great! You could have decided on this before and saved all the embarrassment on your part. " Drishti shrugged, " But who listens to me?! I don't always---"

"Drish!!" I shook her by her shoulders, "Here's the flat-faced truth- Even if I had played along with your mindless lie of I having a boyfriend, it wouldn't have gotten me anywhere because you aren't realizing something -- I don't have any guy named Kshtij to take along with me to Gujarat!"

"That is no biggie darling. I could have managed that with a snap of fingers if you had co-operated with my lie." She smirked.

"and how exactly were you planning on managing that?" I mocked her, grabbing my phone from the counter desk.

"I'm sure you remember the episode 'The One With The Pediatrician' from the sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S. where Joey chooses to bellow out the name  'MIKE' in the cafe because he had lied about setting up a date for Phoebe with some guy named Mike." she folded her arms.

"Your point being?" I raised an eyebrow at her as all of us were keenly listening to her.

"We have a name we require- Kshitij. We have a cafe right here and I'm sure all of us are capable of yelling a name." She shrugged.

"Yeah right. That would work well. My life is a sitcom and I'm sure there is a Kshitij sitting here, waiting for us to shout his name out!" I stated sarcastically and started walking towards the service counter where Julie was still on short of hands.

"We can always try." She suggested over my shoulders. 

"Sure!" I laughed as I positioned myself behind the counter.

Putting on an apron on my large tee, I bent down to pull out a pastry from the glass showcase below for a customer waiting. I handed the pastry on a tray to that impatient customer on the other side when I heard---

"KSHITIJ!!!!!" Drishti's loud voice from the cash counter silenced the entire cafe.

I stood there frozen contemplating the recent happening. Did she just do that? All the heads in the cafe were twisted in her direction. She had a satisfactory smile on her face. The other three of my friends were as shocked as I was. 

But the thing that followed this hullabaloo shocked us even more-

"Yes?" A masculine voice responded from one of the tables near the reading nook.