The Royal Commoner

24

Nalani hums to the song playing in the room as she gets ready for the day. She pulls out a blue t-shirt and black joggers from her trolley. She had taken a shower and now needed to dress up before her phone rang.

She changed into her outfit, pulled her hair out of the towel and started brushing her hair. In the other room, Hridyanshu was attending a business call and writing down the information in his diary. He needed to get ready. He has no idea why Nalani decided to land here, not in Jaipur.

He couldn't say no to her when she asked him to change his location. Without asking further, he booked their flight tickets. Vedant and Vidha landed in Jaipur.

"That's a good process, Arun. I will be able to connect with you later in the evening. If there's an emergency, leave a text to my personal number or else just email."

"Wouldn't you be able to connect around 2:00 PM?" Arun asked.

"No, I will be quite busy and I don't want to check on work in between." Arun gave a nod. "Cool, I will speak with your assistant and send the rest of the documents. I will keep you updated on the latest documents."

"Okay. . . Talk to you in the evening," Hridyanshu said before ending the call. He got up from the sofa and went over to his luggage. He got a text from Nalani asking him to wear comfy clothes. He changed into a light blue Lenin shirt and beige trousers.

*

Hridyanshu waited in the living area. They have got a suite with two bedrooms. He was about to call Nalani when she walked in wearing a cap. "Hi. . ."

"Hey," Hridyanshu said, checking her from head to toe. "You― You look good." Nalani smiled, handing him an extra cap. "Thanks, you look handsome as well."

"As well?" Nalani laughed. "You know what I mean." Hridyanshu smiled. "No, I don't know what you mean." There was a playful glint in his eyes.

Nalani crossed her arms and looked at him with a playful smile. "Someone is in a good mood, today. . ."

"Oh, that would be me," Hridyashu said and Nalani was surprised, but she loved it. "Come on, let's have breakfast first. It's going to be a long day."

"Long day? What are we going to do?" Nalani started walking towards the main door. "That you will know later." Hridyanshu hummed. He looked at the suite and together they went to the top floor where there was an open brunch.

"When are you planning on going back to Hyderabad?" Hridyanshu asked as they waited for the elevator. "Probably on Friday."

"What are you going to do the whole week here?" Nalani gave him a cheeky smile and shrugged her shoulders. They got into the elevator. "What? Are you not going to answer my question?"

"Nada."

"Okay." There were two other people in the elevator. Nalani gave a friendly smile before pressing the button. Hridyanshu stood beside Nalani. Nalani handed him her cap. "Can you hold it? I don't need it right now."

"Sure."

*

"Where are we going?" Hridyanshu asked, getting into the Uber cab. "Ssh― You will be knowing soon." Nalani removed her bag and placed it on the other side. Their arms were touched as they sat close.

"Did you speak with Vidha?"

"I did. . . You haven't spoken with her?" Nalani questioned. "She was not interested in having a conversation with us."

"Us?"

"Vedant and me." Nalani chuckled. "Vidha is angry and she needs space when she is angry."

"That doesn't mean she can ignore us. Anyway, Atulya is home." Nalani looked at Hridyanshu in surprise. "Wasn't he supposed to be in Bangalore for a campaign?"