The Summer Of Love

THE BEST NIGHT EVER

I freshen up and arrange my clothes in a beautifully crafted wooden wardrobe. The room also has huge french windows through which one can view the gardens. Perfectly trimmed, different kinds of trees stand tall with bushes along the lake. I hear two light knocks on the door.

I lift myself from the bed and go around to open the door. Padma's face appears in front of me.
"Are you well, Padma aunty?" I ask her, having nothing else to say. Padma smiles elegantly and says, "Oh I am. I'm glad you know my name. Are you comfortable, dear?" She pauses and continues, "Your mother was worried about you. She told me you are afraid of sleeping alone." she says laughing a little.

Well, that was embarrassing. So mom has bonded with her well enough to throw my secrets at her. My face must show my panicking at what else my mother told her about me because she chuckles and continues, "Don't worry, I'm not judging you. I hated sleeping alone when I was little, too."

I sigh at that and say, "Thank you so much for checking on me. It's alright, I'll try to sleep. If I'm not able to, I'll just go sleep with Sonali."
She hums. "Do you like it here?"

"I do. In fact, I was just talking about how beautiful this place is, to my cousins. Thank you for letting us stay here," I conclude.

"Of course. Our families are becoming one, why not live like that as well? Besides, the media would be crawling to you all if you were to come and go every get together. Here, you won't find any of them. Also, you'll have to perform during the functions, isn't it? We'll call a choreographer."

"That's so exciting!" I almost jump but control myself. "But.."

"What happened?" she asks, worry creasing her forehead.

"I wanted to visit the Rathod Manor our family owns.." I say uncertain.

"Oh, we know that. Your father told us about it. All of your cousins and my kids can go there, that's where we are planning for you to stay for a week. You can practice dancing and plan whatever you want together, with no disturbance. And.. I know how much the place means to you," she says with eyes gleaming with an understanding. So my mother did tell her a lot of things despite her denying it.

But I can't lie, I like Padma, she understands me. We talk a little when she gets a call and excuses herself to go.
The royal family isn't what I thought they would be. Well, the royal women surely wear the Rajputi suits and the royal men wear traditional kurta suits but that's pretty much it. They are modernized and they are very understanding. For some reason, I thought that they'd not be so kind. That they would be arrogant or rude. They dress so simply but still look so elegant.

I lie on my bed and think what's on my list next. The girls' night and tomorrow the rest of my family members will arrive. I'm not sure how I'm going to face Sanam, Kanishk and Kairav together. It's a little embarrassing that we're still having this stupid fight. Deep in my heart, I hope all of this ends. Though Sanam is supposed to be our uncle, he's just 21. It's weird calling him that, but all of us used to tease him calling him exactly that when we were young. Those times-

I hear a knock on my door. Again. It'll be one of my sisters, calling me for the night, I think, so I call out, "The door is open. Come on in," still lying on the bed.

"Whose room are we going to?" I ask when I hear the door open, without looking at the door. Guess I'm too tired to even do that.

"Definitely not mine," I hear a male voice in an amused tone. I jump out of the bed and stand adjusting my dress. Ahaan smiles and cocks his head to a side.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. We had planned to- uh.. I mean, I thought it was one of my sisters," I say panicking, my voice coming out all breathless. I sigh placing my palm on my forehead. "Oh God."