the 𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔣𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍

|| 22 ||

I smiled at Radha Maasi as she piled more puris onto my plate and placed a large bowl of gajar ka halwa in front of me. "Maasi, bas. Aur kitna khilayengi?" I pouted.

Maasi rolled her eyes fondly, before patting my head. "You must be tired after such a long journey." She smiled, "Khaa le. Before your bandaar of a best friend ends up returning home and gobbling up everything."

"I heard that, Maa," we both turned around to see Ritwik who was frowning at his mother as he hung his coat on the coat rack. "And I'm pretty sure Nika is the bandaar, not me. She gobbles up everything in sight."

My eyes narrowed, as I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and threw it at him, "Idiot."

"Suna, Maa? Your pyaari Annika called me an idiot," Ritwik pointed an accusing finger at me.  

"Kuch galat nahi kaha," Radha Maasi shrugged.

I grinned triumphantly, as Ritwik gasped, "Maa! I'm your son!"

"Trust me, beta," Maasi rolled her eyes, "I know. You don't need to remind me." Ritwik gaped at Maasi as I burst out laughing.

"Mom!" He whined.

"Chup chap baith ja," Maasi pointed to the empty seat, serving him a plate of rice and palak paneer.

"No fair!" Ritwik frowned. "Why does she get aloo puri and gajar ka halwa but I only get rice and paneer?"

"Because unlike you," Maasi replied in a dry tone, "she travelled all the way from Mumbai without any complaints. She could've refused to come over and help us with the preparations and only drop by for your annual scrapbook day tradition——"

"Fantastic Four Photo Scrapbooking," Ritwik interrupted, correcting his mother.

Maasi waved him off, as she fried more puris. "That's what I said." Ritwik and I exchanged amused glances as Maasi shrugged.

"Have you talked to Neha yet?" Ritwik asked suddenly, making me choke on the morsel I'd just pushed past my lips.

"Why do you ask?" I evaded answering the question.

"I texted her and she didn't reply," he shrugged. "She didn't tell you about how the proposal went down, did she?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"She'll tell everyone together, day after tomorrow," I shrugged.

"You're avoiding answering the question, Nika," Ritwik arched an eyebrow.

"Call her up if you're so impatient," I rolled my eyes. "She's literally arriving tomorrow!"

"What proposal?" Radha Maasi interjected, looking at her son and me suspiciously.

"Oh, right," Ritwik nodded, "I forgot to tell you. Neha proposed to Mihir on New Year's Eve. She refuses to tell us his answer until the four of us are under the same roof."