Nikhil had heard almost all of Raghav and Baba's conversation, and when he walked in the shop after Raghav left to give Baba his lunch, he decided if his sister could make such a big sacrifice for him, he wasn't any less willing.
"Baba, your stubbornness is getting you no where."
"Nikhil, I don't want to talk about this, I've made my decision."
"Great, well just like I can be melodramatic with my ultimatums as well, if you don't bring Pallavi back to the shop and forgive her, you won't have just lost a daughter, you'll lose another son too. Pallavi Di sold the gold embroidery from her own wedding saree, the one her parents left her, to pay for Mansi's wedding jewelry. She worked every odd job she could find over the past two years to make sure no one at home was ever worried about money. Baba, she didn't make a mistake lying to you about the accounts, she knew everyone at home had enough worries. What aren't you understanding? And now, you know that Pallavi only married that Rao in order to get me out of jail, and here you are, complaining about her to Raghav Rao as if she's a stranger. Who knows what she's going through in that house—" Nikhil shook his head and then stood resolute, "I'm giving you twenty four hours too Baba, if you don't make the right choice, I'll find another place to live." Nikhil left the store and Baba sat down, his head throbbing. He knew he should forgive Pallavi, he knew that she must be suffering in that marriage.
Pallavi arrived at the restaurant Vikram had told her to come to early, she thought it best to let Raghav know why she was here. Though she hated him, she didn't want to give the impression that she was messing with his work. She didn't like interfering with anyone's work, it was disrespectful, even if Raghav deserved it. She was about to ask the hostess for a table, when she heard Vikram call her over, "Pallavi, you're early!"
Pallavi walked over to the table, "Ah, I'm sorry to be early, I just wanted to let Raghav know—"
"Don't worry about that, what husband minds when his wife joins him for lunch?" Vikram smiled. "So shall we get down to brass tacks?"
Pallavi listened carefully as Vikram took out his tablet and went over how his boutique was going to be organized, the other designers he was bringing on, and what kinds of designs he was interested in. She was still a little wary of him, but she could tell that this opportunity wasn't one to pass up. Forget working for Baba, if he refused to forgive her after all this, she might as well stop trying. The two of them talked for around twenty minutes before Pallavi heard a voice behind her.
"Saree ka Dukaan, what the hell are you doing here?" Raghav was unable to mask his anger.
"Saree ka Dukaan?" Vikram laughed, "That's an interesting nickname for your wife, Raghav. Not that creative though, if you ask me."
"Raghav, I was going to message you, but I forgot—um Vikram invited me to..." Pallavi tried to stammer an answer to Raghav as he strode forcefully to the table. She didn't know why, and she hated it, but sometimes she was still a little taken aback by his glare. It usually took her preparation to hide her worry and fear when she had to talk to him.
Vikram noticed Pallavi's discomfort and what he realizes was a hint of fear, "Raghav, it's my fault, I had to meet with Pallavi about my boutique to give her the full pitch. She's a hard one to convince, and I thought I might as well kill two birds with one stone."
Raghav's brows were still furrowed, but he softened when he noticed Pallavi's scared expression. He felt a little bad about his anger now, after all, her so called 'father' had just disowned her for the third time in a matter of days.
Raghav took a seat at the table, next to Pallavi, "so, you're still interested in hiring Saree ka— I'm sorry, you don't like my nickname for my wife, Pallavi for your boutique?"
