Us.

Invitation.

"Hey, Diya!
I never thought this day would come in my life, but things don't happen the way we plan them, right? I never thought that I'd be writing you an e-mail. We were so well connected before, and even before that, we literally stayed in each other's houses. Time flies.

Anyway, coming back to back to the point. I'M GETTING MARRIED! Yes, you read it right (Re-read if you wish to, like you used to back then).
This is an informal invitation, I'll send you the card if you send me your address.

I'm getting married on 10th of February, this year. At the Udaipur Lake Palace. (Yeah, I can finally afford it now.)

I hope to see you there, at least for the wedding.
Send your mailing address, please.
Take care.
Pritha."

Diya didn't know how to react to this. JUST. DIDN'T. KNOW.
Pritha, her best friend, was getting married.

Wow!

Not that is was shocking but the way they had drifted apart surely was...

Diya knew that this would be the last event on Earth that she would want to miss. She booked her tickets to Mumbai, where she knew Pritha lived, and made all other arrangements.

She wondered if Pritha had read about her in the papers. Diya Gupta, the sensational designer.

She replayed the situation in her head and contemplated.

Will success change the core of our friendship? Why hadn't Pritha written 'your best friend' in the e-mail? Are we still the same?
Is this e-mail a formality or does she really mean it?
Should i cancel my tickets?
I know she lives in Mumbai, but where in Mumbai? How will I find her?
Should I really go?
Should I only attend the wedding or the other functions too?
Damn, I need sleep.

Diya slipped into the bed, next to her fiancé. She thought of her inseparable bond with Pritha.
It had been six years since they had met or even communicated. Diya was well aware that both of them were trying equally hard to forget each other but neither of them could avoid thinking of each other even for a week.
She chuckled to herself as a train of memories hit her.

It was the winter of 2004 when Avni, a friend of Diya's, texted her the latest gossip from Pritha's birthday bash.
"Diya, you know what Pritha just did at her party?"

"I'm not there. How do you expect me to know?"

"Yeah, sorry. But I'm here and I'll tell you what just happened. So Pritha got to know that someone had sent across an invitation to you, too. Now she is furious about it. Why does she hate you so much?"

Then, Diya had no answer to it but now, she did. Pritha never hated her but could find anything to like her either.
Pritha was a nerd yet popular. She was outgoing and extroverted. She was someone whose only aim in life was to ace in everything.
Diya was the prettiest girl of their batch but was friendly, and not one of the super-proud-bitches. She had her own small little group and was reticent.

No one in back in 2004 would have guessed that 2005 would make a Romy-Michelle friendship out of a Diya-Pritha cold war.

***

Meanwhile, Pritha panicked in her office.

Diya didn't reply to my mail. Did she even read it? Does she remember me? It's been six years. Long time. I hope she attends the wedding. One of the most important days of my life, and without her? No way. I need her. I want to talk to her, laugh with her, cry with her, I want her to design my wedding dress. I want to party with her. Apologize to her. I miss her so much.

There was a knock on her door.
"Come in!"

It was her assistant, Eric, "Ma'am, I've scheduled anappointment over dinner tomorrow. There's a lady who refused to give me hername. She didn't even let me know the details of the case. She wants to meetyou. She sounded terrified so I fixed her an appointment with you but, postworking hours."

"Alright. She has given no details?"

"None."

Pritha nodded and asked Eric to take the day off, "I'll see you in court tomorrow."

She picked up her briefcase and headed home.

The next day wasn't easy. Pritha or the 'Lawyer Ace', as the journalists referred to her, had lost her first case in the Bombay High Court. To make herself feel better, Pritha blamed it all on her ignorance of Diya's whereabouts.
Dinner, that night, found her in tears.