Us.

Three Musketeers?

Diya stood astonished, her jaw dropped. She couldn't believe her eyes! And after asking Pritha to pinch her, she was satisfied that this was no dream.

All three of them were standing there, together, after 10 long, very long years.

She hugged Avni and told her that she had missed her a lot.

Avni was another pretty girl. Her beauty was in her simplicity. Her features were perfect, no make-up required, ever. She was the head of the Blondie Group but herself, wasn't blonde. Her innocence was often, rather always, assumed to be nothing bit sheer stupidity. She didn't give a damn about it, though. Happy in her own world, with her friends. She didn't seem to care a bit about what the world thought of her. Girls calling her dumb or every second guy wanting to date her, "Whatever" was what she used to say. She was the only one who actually was happy.

Presently, Diya began to shoot her questions at Avni. Where have you been, what are you up to these days, how is work going, for how long have you been married now, why wasn't I invited and many more, all at once.

"Diya, calm down. Let me answer you, right?" spoke Avni, finally.

"Yeah, okay." grinned the curious girl.

"So, I live here in Mumbai and am married to a Naval officer, Jaydeep Shah. We got married five months back and I did send the wedding card to your Delhi address but it came back to me. I guess you changed houses or something. Tried calling but 'number invalid'. Your whereabouts were unknown to Pritha, too. So, no way to contact you.
I'm working with SBI as DGM, Economist. I'm really happy with this job." She paused and then asked, "Ma'am, do I pass the test or have I left some questions unanswered?"

"You pass. And I'm sorry about the address and number change. I actually moved in with Armaan two years back. It was a lot of things together; engagement, moving in and inaugurating five more stores, that I couldn't update you with the details. I'm so sorry." Diya made a puppy face.

"You moved in with Armaan and you're engaged to him?! Why wouldn't you care to tell this to me? Why wasn't this in the newspapers?" Avni glared at her.

"You didn't ask. And it was a secret engagement sort-of thing. Low profile." stated she while sipping her iced tea.

"What do you mean by I didn't ask? You could've told! Like you told me that you were still together."

Here, Diya's phone beeped. It was a text from Armaan, saying he won't come to Mumbai because he was too busy. She told Pritha who said, "If he can't come. We'll go."

"So? How does that help? You wanted him to meet Kabir, right? We take Kabir, too?" another question from Diya.

"No, we'll get Armaan here. Kabir isn't in Mumbai right now. He's in London for a business meeting. He comes day after. We'll go, fetch Armaan, make him meet Kabir and then you guys can go back home together." Pritha let out an evil smile.

"What are you, a kid? And what is my fiance, a toy? 'Go and fetch him'! Be a little practical, Prits!"

Pritha turned to Avni. "Say something. And you'll come too, na?"

"I won't come. I won't get a leave on a such a short notice. You guys carry on.
Diya, I'm sure he'll come. No one can tolerate this woman for a long time. If he doesn't come, I'm sure Pritha will go nowhere until he agrees. She is a little kid, no doubt." the peacemaker gave her decision at which both the girls displayed their disappointment. But both of them always listened to Avni. She was never wrong in her decisions. Mature, she was, unlike the other two.

Plan was made over breakfast, complemented with anecdotes and flashes of the past at regular intervals. "The Three Musketeers" had joked one of the young women while another thought of them as the 'Plastics' of Mean Girls and the third thought they needed a cool name for themselves as a group. All three wondered why they hadn't done so years back.

"The three of us bonded this well only when I got to know that I had to move to Mumbai. I was friends with Avni. Avni with Diya. Diya with me and Avni. And Avni with me. Me with Diya. But we weren't actually a group, you see." Pritha pointed out.

"What did you just say? I got the beginning, got the end. I've no clue what you said in the middle." laughed Avni.

"Nothing." Pritha  shook her head.

Reliving all the moments, though there weren't many, two hours passed. Finally, a steward came and requested them to leave because they had to close the restaurant for cleaning up before lunch. They got up and left.

At the parking they talked for another half an hour. Old classmates, their jobs, general gossip, traffic, weather, books, gorillas, fashion, hair, electronics, cars. Everything was discussed before they drove back home.

Back at Ghar, Diya and Pritha booked their tickets and packed the luggage.
Diya, still not happy with the idea and Pritha, like a little kid, full of excitement. Diya wondered how Pritha, who had a heart of a little kid, could fight those high profile cases. But then, she didn't know her professionally. Pritha understood Diya without her saying a word. "Don't worry. With you, I'll always be a kid like this. I'm a mature person in front of my boss, my clients and in the court." she assured Diya.

They left for the airport in the evening. A series of security checks and off to Delhi.