Chronicles of Life

#chap28 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

The entire week just flew by. Atharva was busy juggling in between the office and factory, keeping late hours. The machinery that they had imported was due to arrive in a week’s time. So they had to oversee the last minute preparations. He would consciously make an effort to talk to Shruti for at least sometime in spite of the busy schedule, as just hearing her voice soothed him; helping him to relieve himself of the day’s stress.

It was Friday already. Shruti impatiently waited for Saturday morning as Atharva was going to be home for lunch.

To be continued….

The Vermas were busy on Saturday. Jyotiji being an expert cook made a lot of specialities and delicacies on that day as their son in law was coming to their house for the first time. All that Shruti contributed was in chopping the veggies, thanks to her cooking skills… or let’s say lack of it. She had decided to dress up today in a long grey sleeveless one piece, had left her hair open, and wore simple diamond studs to go with her outfit.

Shruti had been texting him since morning to leave early. Atharva finally reached the Verma house around 1 p.m. She heard a car being parked in the parking lot, when she went running out on the porch.

He observed that their villa was located in a posh locality, with a porch, a small garden and a spacious parking lot. He got down from the car when she saw him. He looked dapper in blue denims and white casual shirt and those shades looked really cool on him. By the time they greeted each other, her parents had come out as well and welcomed him inside.

After the initial preliminaries, they sat down for lunch. Atharva had been talking about business with Mr Verma and Rohan, but couldn’t help stealing glances at Shruti every now and then. He was seeing her in a new avatar on that day, and she looked magnificent.

Atharva dutifully praised his would be mom in law’s culinary skills and jokingly said, “ Mummy… you forgot to pass it on to your daughter.”
Jyotiji smiled and agreed, “She had always been busy with her studies.. although she does lend a helping hand in other ways, I am afraid she was always a bit pampered and I let her be. Time teaches everything Beta… don’t worry.”
Rohan said wittily, “If I were in his shoes mumma.. I would worry. Imagine having Maggi for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Coz that is all our Shru can make decently.”
She defensively said, “That’s because I have never bothered about it.”

The arguments and discussions continued till the lunch was over. Shruti’s parents gifted him a gold coin as a token since he was coming for the first time. He felt it was too much since they had already given for the Gud dhana, but they refused to listen.

Atharva was shown around the house… he spent some time in Shruti’s room; was curious to know where she spends her days and nights. There were a couple of frames lying behind the bed which he picked up.

Looking at one he exclaimed, “I can’t believe this is you… look so different.”
She said sheepishly, “Ya more so as mom had got my hair chopped off.”
He could make out there was more to it. She fumbled while she clarified, “I... I was too fussy about my hair.. you know… it has to look in a particular way,  not a hair should be out of place… she lost her patience and got my hair chopped off.”
He was looking at her wide eyed. “My God! No wonder she did that…”
She tried to divert his mind and said, “Chalo, enough about me… you go and freshen up… I’ll just check my bag before leaving.”

He complimented her, “Shruti you are looking pretty today…” She went pink in her cheeks… she had of course been hoping all along to get a compliment from him, but actually hearing it made her feel buoyant. He then requested, “Though I loved your outfit, do change into some Indian attire before we leave. We need to go somewhere on our way.”