Locke and Key

7

Neil stood at the window and looked out through the chiffon curtains. "It's madness down there."

Shruti frowned. "Are you sure we did the right thing by telling?"

"Yes," Arjun assured her, pulling her feet to his lap. "It will die down when the next storm hits."

"Jay Bhanushali got married and didn't tell," Arohi pointed out. "When it came out, people cared for a week and then moved on."

"He was married for months without telling anyone!" Shruti cried. "We've been married for four years!"

"Someone should write a book on you two," Arohi smirked. "Plus, we'd be major players because we've all done a lot to keep the secret."

Arjun rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Arohi."

"You do have to venture out shortly," Neil explained. "You perform in five hours."

"I'm aware," Arjun nodded. "It will be fine. I'll have my wife holding my hand the whole time."

Shruti smiled. "I look forward to it. I mean, not the hoopla we'll walk into, but just that we can finally do it together."

Arjun leaned over to kiss her. "I love you."

"Me, too," she breathed against his lips.

"Ugh, enough of that," Arohi grumbled. "You guys need to get moving. Arjun, you need to shower and Shruti, I need you to help me round everyone up. No one has seen Shivam in a while."

Shruti sighed and stood up. "I'll go find him, 'cause Shivam doesn't think like a normal person, but isn't this Yogita's job?"

"Can you just fire Yogita?", an angry Shanaya stormed into the room."I was thinking of firing her because of her incompetent nature towards her work," Arohi shrugged at her sister-in-law.

"What happened, what did she do?"

"She's pretty worthless and spends all her time eyeing my husband."

"Oh?" Shruti mused. "So you hate having a young idiot fawning all over your husband? Bappa, I wonder what that's like. Oh, no, I don't because your last assistant was way worse than my husband!"

Shanaya chuckled. "Waheguru ji, how could I forget Malishka."

"I have, but now you know how I feel," Arohi shrugged. She groaned. "Ugh, now I'm thinking about Anushka."

"She emailed me last week, asking for a reference," Arohi admitted. "She's trying to work for SANAM."

"Don't write it," Shruti shook her head. "They're all bachelors. She can't go in there and ruin lives."

"O Teri," Arohi smirked. "Arjun is a complicated guy, and Anushka studied psychology in college, so she was attracted to his broodiness."

"Please!" Shruti cried. "She threw herself at him a minute after meeting him. She'll do that with four rock stars in one band. Ew, remember when she dressed like Red Riding Hood for Halloween because she overheard Shivam saying Arjun was going to be a wolf?"

"And you guys didn't even dress up at all," Arohi remembered fondly. "So she looked like an idiot at that party at the Mariott while you two were all cuddled up with candy corn and The Shining."

Shruti smiled, remembering their night in. "Shivam sent me pictures all night of her standing in a corner, looking ridiculous and out of place."

"I'm going to write her letter," Arohi said, "because when it came to doing the job she was hired for, she was good. I will, however, warn them that she's a major fangirl, so they can make the decision."