He Followed Me First
1855 Words
Ishanvi reached her home and went straight to her room as she didn't want to face her parents yet, not after what happened at the office; she had been avoiding her parents since her meeting with Neer a couple of days ago. She was also a bit upset with them that they didn't tell her about Neer beforehand and kept her in suspense.
But she failed to understand that her parents knew that she needed time, so they gave her space; they had only asked her a couple of questions about the meeting when she had returned that day, and let her go without prying her for more details. Having gone through the same phase in the past, they knew it's not easy to take one of the biggest decisions of your life solely based on one meeting. They understood that one needs time to get to know the other person and see if they are willing to take the chance, if they are willing to spend the rest of their lives with that person.
Ishanvi walked into her room and was surprised to find her sister, Inaayat, there who was going crazy over someone as she stared into her phone. She was constantly muttering dreamily 'OMG! He's so hot!', 'Damn, he's so handsome!', 'Gawd, look at that smile!', and 'Isn't he just perfect?'
Ishanvi shook her head in amusement at her sister and putting her bag on the glass coffee table, she grabbed her water bottle from the nightstand before going to Inaayat who was sitting on her bed like it was hers.
"Who are you drooling over now? JA again?" she asked, amusement lacing her voice.
"It's not him. He's the most handsome but Neer is pretty good-looking too!"
Ishanvi choked on the water she was drinking as she heard Inaayat's words. She was baffled.
Did I hear her correctly? Am I mistaken? Did she really say Neer?
Inaayat when looked at her sister choking on the water, she rushed to her side and rubbed her back slowly.
After a while, Ishanvi managed to regain her breathing back to normal.
"Why are you so careless?" Inaayat chided her sister who was staring at her with eyes as big as sunflowers.
"How do you know about Neer?" Ishanvi inquired in a slightly panic-stricken voice.
"He had come home today to meet Mumma Papa again," Inaayat replied nonchalantly.
Ishanvi was completely flummoxed. "Again? He has come here before?"
"Yes, he had visited a few days ago as well."
Ishanvi frowned. "What for?"
"To ask for your hand in marriage of course," Inaayat replied in a 'duh' tone and rolled her eyes.
"And here I thought Mumma-Papa had gone somewhere to meet him! Looks like, he had come home to meet them," Ishanvi thought to herself.
"So why are you fawning over him just now? Didn't you meet him last time as well? Weren't you there the last time he came here?" Ishanvi pestered her sister for more information.
"No, Mumma Papa didn't allow me, bhai, and Tia - Pia to be there. They sent us away saying it's 'elders talk' and kids have no business there," Inaayat mimicked her father.
"Ohhh," Ishanvi drawled.
"By the way Di, I'm upset with you," Inaayat said, turning dejected suddenly.
"Why?" Ishanvi couldn't understand the reason behind the sudden change in the mood.
"You didn't tell me you've met a Prince! And you didn't tell me you're getting married to him. I thought we shared everything with each other but clearly that isn't the case anymore," Inaayat complained, sounding genuinely hurt.
"First of all Inu, I haven't decided about getting married to him," Ishanvi told her sister. "And I still share everything with you but I didn't know how to bring this news to you when I couldn't understand anything myself."
"I can understand that it must be hard for you to decide what you want to do," Inaayat said.
Ishanvi nodded her head. "It is indeed very hard, Inu."
To lighten up the atmosphere, Inaayat asked her sister, "Anyway Di, you didn't tell me how was your first date with the Royal Prince?"
Ishanvi glared at her as Inaayat tried to suppress her smile.
"Tell na, how was it?"
"Inu, don't irritate me."
"Arre! How am I irritating you? I'm just asking you a question," Inaayat replied in a matter-of-fact voice.
"And I don't want to answer your stupid question," Ishanvi brushed her off.
"Okay then, I'll ask Neer," Inaayat said smugly as she began to dial Neer's number.
Ishanvi suddenly recalled the incident that had happened in the office earlier and an embarrassed blush crept up to her cheeks and neck.
"Don't you dare, Inu!" Ishanvi yelled at her sister as she tried to reach for her cellphone but to no avail as Inaayat stood on the bed.
"Try me," Inaayat said in a challenging tone, raising her phone high in the air. "But if you promise
"I promise I'll tell you everything," Ishanvi quickly promised. "Now
"Relax, Di. I don't even have his number yet," Inaayat told her elder sister. "I was just fooling you," she added in a self-satisfied voice.
Ishanvi glowered at her younger sister who stuck her tongue out in response.
Just then something stuck in her mind, so Ishanvi turned to her sister. "By the way, tell me one thing Ini, how did you get so many pictures of Neer, huh?" Ishanvi asked, raising her eyebrow at her sister.
"Oh these? Neer added me on his i********:. You know his account is private and he doesn't let any strangers follow him there but he told me that now that I'm his friend, he has no qualms about letting me follow him. What's more, he followed me first and then I followed him back," she sounded excited like a child who has won some trophy at the school.
"And look, he has liked all the pictures of me which have you in it as well," Inaayat thrusted the phone in Ishanvi's hand.
And with that, Inaayat began to sing the praises of Neer's gorgeousness once again.
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After having dinner, Ishanvi felt she needed to talk to her parents now. She realised she couldn't ignore them forever so she made her way to their room.
Reaching there, she was about to knock on the door when she halted midway as her parents were talking in their room.
What's more they were talking about her and Neer.
Although she found it rude to eavesdrop on someone's conversation, she couldn't stop herself from doing that. So, she stood right outside their room sneakily and focused her attention on the conversation happening inside the room.
Her mother spoke first, "He seems to be a really nice guy. Now, I hope he matches Ishi's standards as well."
"You're right, Irshita. Even I like Neer for our daughter and at this age, we can see through a person if he's genuinely nice or pretending to be nice. Experience teaches you that," Mr Dixit said.
"True. But kids these days don't really listen to their parents," Mrs Dixit sighed.
"Look Irshita, although Neer is amazing and suitable for our daughter, we won't force our daughter for this marriage if she doesn't want to. We'll stand with her no matter what her decision will be. Because it's her life, so she must choose for herself," her father said in a stern voice.
"You're absolutely right. We won't do anything against her wish or try to influence her decision in any way," her mother agreed.
Ishanvi's eyes teared up as she heard these words. She realised her parents really loved her and how they've always supported her in all of her decisions and even now they wanted her to decide for herself.
Blinking the tears away and putting a small smile on her face, she finally knocked on the door before entering.
Pretending like she hadn't just overheard the conversation, she asked, "what you two are talking about?"
"Oh, just chatting casually," her mother brushed it off.
As Ishanvi already knew what they talked about, she didn't probe them further.
"Why didn't you tell me that Neer is the guy you've chosen for me?" Ishanvi complained, sitting on the bed between her parents like a third wheel.
"That's because you would've refused outrightly," Mr Dixit said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That's true," Ishanvi agreed as she thought about it. "But still you should've told me, at least I wouldn't have been so shocked to see him there!"
"Neer too didn't want us to tell you because he was afraid you'd go with your preconceived notions about him being a Prince if you knew it was him," Mrs Dixit broke the information.
"Ohhh," was all Ishanvi said.
"So, did he manage to change your opinion about the Royals? Or do you still believe that he'll serve your head on a platter if you ever disobeyed him?" her father asked her with a knowing smile.
Ishanvi was baffled. "How do you know?"
"We are your parents. We know how our child's mind works," her mother told her knowingly.
She pouted at her parents who laughed at her antics.
Ishanvi grumbled which made her parents stop laughing.
"Maa I was thinking…" Ishanvi began but paused midway.
"What is it, Ishi?" her mother questioned.
Ishanvi mustered her courage and said, "Papa, Maa, I need more than a meeting to arrive at any decision."
"Meet him as many times as you want, take your time. There's no rush," her father assured her. "We know it's not an easy decision to make."
"Yes and we are absolutely okay with you taking all the time you need to know Neer better and to see if you're willing to be with him," her mother told her. "In fact, the Oberois feel the same."
"You guys are the best!" Ishanvi hugged her parents.
"We know," Mr and Mrs Dixit agreed in unison, hugging their daughter back.
"Achha maa, how did you meet the Royals?" Ishanvi asked as she remembered what her mother had said earlier.
"Oh, it was quite a sudden meeting. We received a call from them on the night of your company event and next morning they were here," her mother explained. "And you know what, they are quite a foodie! They loved my homemade dahi-vadas and kachoris!" she added gleefully.
"They were just being nice to you, Mrs Dixit," her father teased her mother.
"Papa, don't be a meanie," Ishanvi told her father. "We all know Mumma cooks the best food in the whole wide world," she said, hugging her mother.
"Sadly, I'll have to agree with you on this," her father said solemnly.
Ishanvi burst out laughing as she heard that.
Just like that, Ishanvi kept talking with her parents about their meeting with the Royals and their first impressions of them until midnight. It was only when her mother reminded her and her father that it was still a weekday and they both had to go to their respective offices, that they called it a night and went to bed!
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