Unfazed

Epilogue (Harsh)

~ Months later ~

After waiting for over half an hour, I finally decided to go and check on what was taking Lanny (Alana) so long, when I walked into the "board" room of her office. Alana Peterson did not care if it was a Sunday morning – if there was something interesting happening, she would work. Even at 9 am, when I would very much rather be asleep. However, both of us were due to be at Dev's birthday breakfast and if we didn't hurry, Dee would kill both of us.

Watching her from outside the glass walls, I felt a sense of pride in calling her my friend. Sure, we both wanted more, but weren't ready to commit ourselves to being more than friends...yet. She noticed me hovering outside and in a dramatic movement, I pointed to my watch and then to my stomach. I was hungry as hell, amongst other things.

She flashed me a grin and I knew she wouldn't be doing this if she could help it – as an emerging journalist, she was nowhere near where she wanted to be. Hence, the working Sunday mornings. I returned to the waiting area of the office while she got back to her work, but it wasn't long before my phone rang.

"Harsh ya – you didn't pack yesterday also na?!" she asked referring to my approaching trip to Dubai to assist Varun Mama with his restaurant business. Hopefully, by the time I got back I would be able to reapply for a restaurant licence of my own. Breaking my train of thought, Dee said, "Anyway – Chuck that. You were supposed to reach here half an hour ago. Where are you?"

"Calm down Watson" I said with a chuckle as I heard a few splashes and kitchen noises in the background. "Are you at Dev's already?" I asked.

"Yes, and Omg – Dev – please step away.. Omg HAHAHAHAHAHA" she said, her incoherence broken by random sounds from the background. Still laughing, when she got back to the phone, she said, "Yeah – Harsh, sorry – It's just that.. Dev nearly tripped over a carton of milk.. hahaha – it was so funny!"

"Okay – listen – I'm picking up Ally but she's a little caught up at the moment. We're gonna leave here soon. Is there something you want me to buy on the way?" I ask.

"No man – just get that weirdo out of office – it's a frikkin Sunday, for God's sake!" Dee cribbed. Over the months, she and Alana were in a much better place with their friendship – though between us, I was still her best friend and she, was mine. Yet, she had promised to be supportive of my relation with Al, so long as I didn't get in the way of hers. I tried.

Two hours, a heavy breakfast (thanks to Vishwas and Dev's culinary skills and Sneha's excellent breakfast organization skills) plenty of coffee and laughter later, we were all seated around the dining table in Dev's house. We had just taken turns to officially raise our toasts of the breakfast beverage of choice to Dev and only Dee was left. Getting up from her seat, she looked a little pale but I reasoned out that her long working hours were the cause.

"Okay – the most special one now!" said Sneh excitedly but Dev contradicted her with, "You called me a chocolate eating mongoose; Harsh threatened me about hurting Dee for the four hundredth time this year; Alana promised to put up a creepy photo of mine in her paper for my next birthday and Vishwas teased me about my lack of cooking skills... Again. She's gonna have a hard time topping all that, you know?" We all laughed and Dee agreed.

Clearing her throat and setting down her mug of hot chocolate, Dee began with, "I really didn't know how to start this little speech – so I did what any naturally occurring nerd would do: I researched on the net!" This was met by laughter from all of us. "How to raise a toast of hot chocolate on your boyfriend's birthday – didn't exactly show me any results." More laughter followed.

"So, I decided to research relationship-y things and the first tip they had was: Speak about the first time you met. Now, this got me thinking – because honestly – 'I crashed into him at the age of 13 and spilled lemonade all over him; then again crashed into him at the age of 20 and spilt my hot chocolate over him' speaks more about my clumsiness than about a rom-com type first meeting. Further, 'You are my brother's arch nemesis and we have a super complicated past – but boy, are you hot!' didn't seem breakfast appropriate either", she said with a chuckle.

Dev had the audacity to ask, "Wait... You think I'm hot?" and Sneh reached out to whack him lightly on the head while the rest of us laughed.

"The second tip they had was: Talk about something meaningful to both of you. So, after thinking long and hard, I found something: Cookie Dough. Unfortunately, according to research, the longest set of facts one can find for the keywords 'cookie dough' is a recipe – who would have thought!" exclaimed Dee. By this point, all of us were laughing for real.

"The third, remotely useful tip they had was: Refer to a time when they have been helpful to you. Okay.. I guessed I could talk about this. But since there are a lot of references, I'll be a little quick on this list, yeah?" she asked before ranting, "You saved my life twice in school and once from Viren. You stood up for me every time people said I didn't have the qualifications to be an aesthetician. You gave me my first job and allowed me to quit when I decided to fall in love with you because there is no way in hell I am sleeping with my boss. Eww..." With a face made, she continued while Dev turned a little red in the face and all of us teased him about it.

"But hey – let me make it clear – I'm the most horribly obstinate person in the world" she says and I say, "I testify to that", earning more laughter. "hey – watch it!" she said before concluding.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted" with a pointed look at me, Dee said, "In a few weeks, my best friend who is now free and out of his case is going to Dubai so that he can come back to start his own restaurant in India. Viren is serving his years of community service for the civil crimes and won't ever be a threat to any of us again. Sneh, my babe – is gonna be busy prepping for her own wedding and just being the mother hen to our lot, in general. Ally – already barely finds time to spend with us – and I know she would if she could. Vish – well, Vish is cool but he's super technical and I fall asleep when he explains things to me from the documentaries he watches."

Having earned well-intended retorts from all of us throughout her speech, Dee walks from her end of the table to Dev seated at the head of the table and says, "What I'm trying to say is – I love these guys – but soon, you're gonna be the only one bearing with me in the madness of having started my own company, followed by whatever craziness it is, that lies ahead."

Now kneeling on the floor next to Dev while his eyes are fixed on her like the rest of us don't exist, Dee asks, "Not immediately, but definitely – and don't laugh because I know you've always wanted this too... Dev Sanghvi – will you do me the honour of making me Deeksha Bhalla Sanghvi?" 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Hi there!

Thank you so much for taking time to read Unfazed - my first ever book. It gives me *literal chills* to think that Unfazed is technically now over and that I have been able to create something like this! The feeling is SURREAL. 

I want to thank everyone who has read this story and supported it: friends and family, alike. 

I took the liberty to ask a few of my most dedicated readers to send me some questions about Unfazed - and in the next chapter, I will be answering them. I am also going to add a few photos of what the undefined future of the characters is like. 

Once again, thank you so so much for reading and loving my story; but more than that, thank you for giving me the confidence to be posting my work out there and being so wonderfully receptive of it. 

Stay gold (and read more!) !!

xoxo

Smri :)