"Ok, everyone," Raghav recovered from seeing Pallavi's concern in her eyes, "the haldi starts in an hour, everyone get ready, and places!"
"Akka, you go change too," Keerthi said.
"Me, why? I think this sari is ok if we're just doing a haldi today." Pallavi replied.
Raghav looked at her, "no today is not just the haldi, then we have the mehndi, then tonight the sangeet, and then tomorrow night is the wedding. So go change, Amma and Keerthi have found clothes for you," he was still smiling.
Pallavi, still confused about something, walks up the stair, and as she walks in the bedroom, she sees four different racks of clothes. Lehengas and saris, in dozens of different colors and styles, and she steps back wondering if maybe Raghav had done all this for Mansi.
As she steps back, she bumps into someone. "Sorry, I think there's been a mis—"
Raghav is behind her, "no mistake, these are for you, this rack is specifically haldi approved clothing."
"Why do I need haldi approved clothing, Raghav, what is going on? How did you get Asha Aunty?"
"This isn't just Mansi and Rahul's wedding, this is also going to be...our wedding."
Pallavi's jaw dropped.
Raghav smiled and said, "If you're such a fan of eating non-vegetarian then go make some, why are you eating mosquitoes? That's what you said to me once, remember?"
"Raghav, why—"
"Because you deserve it. Because I don't deserve your forgiveness, because I don't deserve to be your husband until I can prove to you that I can be the husband that can protect you, that can stand by you, that you can always trust, no matter what happens. So, shall we choose your outfit, or do you want me to bring up Keerthi and all the other women in the house to help you because I'm not stylish enough?"
"Raghav, I—I need to know something first."
"Anything, ask me anything."
"The truth. Everything, from the beginning. You want me to trust you, but I'm afraid, I'm always afraid you don't actually trust me. So we have some time right, we can just let Mansi and Rahul get on with the rasams, you just tell me..." she pushed the clothes racks away from the bed, and sat him on it, "everything."
"You want me to tell you mistake I've ever made about you? Every wrong thought I've ever thought? Well if we do that all you'll do is make me feel like a worse human being than I already am, Pallavi!"
"No, that's not what I want, I want to know how we got here, what are these huge misunderstandings that you're hiding from me? Why don't we trust each other, at all?"
"What else can I do, I fixed Mansi and Rahul's wedding, I apologized to Asha Aunty for my role in it, what else?" Raghav didn't know why, but he knew if he told her what he thought she did to Keerthi, she might never forgive him for misunderstanding her so much.
"You don't want to look bad in my eyes, well I'm sick of being bad in your eyes."
"Fine!, fine." Raghav sat down, and sat Pallavi down, and started from the beginning. From Harish following Keerthi, to Anjali and her at the old age home, to her accusing him of kidnapping her, to the pictures of Keerthi that the police found.
At the last story, Pallavi sat back away from Raghav, this is what he was afraid of. She wouldn't forgive him for doing the same thing to her that he thought she had done to Keerthi.
"Is Keerthi okay, have you deleted the pictures, are the police still trying to investigate?"
Raghav looked surprised, she didn't seem angry, she wasn't hitting him, she wasn't screaming..."you're not mad at me?"
"Mad at you? Only NOW am I realizing what a big idiot I have been. I mean, yes what you did we've talked about, I've thought about, the whole city has heard about, but I spent weeks thinking you were attacking me for no reason. You also could have actually accused me to my face, but you didn't. But," she clapped her hand to her mouth, "I remember, I was talking about karma and revenge just around the same time Keerthi did her model shoot at the house..."
There was a knock at the door, Keerthi stepped in, "are you two planning on having your second wedding from this room or do you plan to change at all?"
Pallavi smiled, "we're coming down Keerthi, just give me ten minutes."
"Raghav, you go change in the washroom, I'll choose an outfit and change right here."
"Pallavi, what about, you said you wanted to know everything—"
"Yes and you told me everything, right?"
"No, I haven't. I've been hiding a big truth from you, and it might definitely affect the wedding plans."
Pallavi got worried, so far everything was hard to accept, but when she considered where she was sitting today, and what she had gained from her many fights with Raghav, she knew she had forgiven him, but what else is so important?
"Pallavi, I love—I love you" He pulled her close, willing her to not reject him.
Pallavi was preparing for the worst, and then hearing this, she pushed herself away from Raghav and yelled, "Tum pagal ho kya? You started to tell me love me like you were going to actually tell me you're actually some right-wing terrorist!"
"Well you didn't have to hit me, I'm telling you, ek na ek din main zaroor FIR likh waa loonga." he grinned.
"Ok, so are you going to change or not, I have to change to," Pallavi turned around and started going through the clothing racks.
"Ek minute, you didn't say anything back to me."
"What did I have to say?" Pallavi said, smiling.
"Are you going to make The Raghav Rao, Don of Hyderabad, wait for something?"
Pallavi turned around and pats his cheek, "ex-Don."
He pulls Pallavi close by her wrist, "shall we set a challenge?"
"What kind of challenge, you do not have the best track record."
"By the end of the sangeet, I will get you to tell me you love me and how much."
"And if you don't? Deals have to be two ways, right?"
"If I don't Mrs. Pallavi Raghav Rao, I will dance with Saanki Baap at the wedding tomorrow."
Pallavi laughed, "get ready to lose!"
Raghav left to change, and Pallavi chose to wear a pale white and yellow lehenga, and she wouldn't wear any other jewelry, just the diamond necklace she still had on, and the bracelet.
