As soon as the door closed, Aanandita sighed, letting her shoulders drop. Her brow furrowed as she bit her lip in thought. Had she been too bold? She had acted entirely on a whim, because she believed she read his personality right. But she could have also spent the past half hour establishing herself as the biggest fool.

“Aanandita Chauhan! Yeh sab kya tha?!” Her mother, Shivani, questioned her with an incredulous look on her face.

(Aanandita Chauhan! What was all that?!)

“Mumma, please, ab sawaal mat puchiye. Main khud nahi jaanti hoon ki abhi kya hua hain.”

(Mumma, please, don’t ask any questions now. Even I don’t know what just happened.)

Aanandita left for some peace and quiet in her room. After letting a shower wash away her thoughts, she changed into her favorite pajamas and relaxed in her favorite place in the entire house, the swing on her balcony. Although she had a sketchbook in hand, there wasn’t a single line on the page as she stared unseeingly into the distance.

There was a knock on the frame of the open balcony door and Aanandita’s three siblings stepped out to join her. Aanandita only had one younger sister, but her tau-ji’s children were more her siblings than her cousins, especially since they had grown up together in neighboring houses. Her aunt and uncle, tayi-ji and tau-ji, were attending a relative’s wedding and weren’t in town. Otherwise, they would have been over the moon to see Aanandita’s rishta.

Perhaps it was a good thing they weren’t here. She had shocked herself and her family enough; she couldn’t imagine how her aunt and uncle might’ve reacted. Her younger sister, Pranali, was the only sibling present today, since she used this as an excuse to bunk college. Harshita, her cousin and one year older than Pranali, had an exam today. While Ashwin, Harshita’s older brother, had work as usual.

Aanandita’s father and uncle managed the family business, an accounting firm. Though not one of the top businesses of the country, or even the state, it was a well-reputed firm, and Aanandita considered herself fortunate to enjoy the privileges of the upper middle class. Ashwin joined the company as soon as he had completed his master’s and had worked his way up from the position of intern to director.

At 27, his parents deemed him at the perfect age to get married, and his mother had been pestering him, or gently requesting him if we wanted to be nice, to bring her a daughter-in-law. He was particularly grateful to Aanandita for distracting the attention from him as she agreed to begin her own search for a groom.

Though they had a very dry, banter-filled relationship, Ashwin was the most protective of Aanandita. Leaning against the rail of the balcony, he asked, “So, I heard you were in rare form today?”She rolled her eyes at him but smiled at his obvious attempt to lighten her mood.

“Jiji, yeh lijiye. Aapke liye chai laayi hoon, aur aapki chocolate pastry bhi.”

(Jiji, take this. I brought chai for you, and your chocolate pastry.)

“Thank you, baccha.” She took the plate from Pranali’s hands and signaled for everyone to take their plates as well.

“Jjji yaar! Pari ne batayi ki kya kya hua hain aaj apke aur Vikram-ji ke beech, aur aap ek dam fire the! Matlab, patakha! Ab main toh literally marr rahi hoon unke jawaab sunne ke liye!”

(Jiji yaar! Pari told me what went down between you and Vikram-ji, and you were just fire! I mean, a firecracker! Now I’m literally dying to hear his answer!)

That earned Harshita a smack on the head from Ashwin. “Oy! Pagal baatein mat kar!”

(Hey! Don’t say such things!)

“Bhai! It’s just an expression of speech!”

“Jo bhi ho, agar phirse yeh marne warne ki baat suna tumhara mu se, toh sach mein maar- mera matlab, chodunga nahi tumhe!”

(Whatever it is, if you speak about dying again, then I’ll actually ki- I mean, I won’t let you off so easily!)

While Harshita huffed in annoyance at her brother’s superstitions, they all found it very cute that their brother was so protective of them. “Harshi, bhai theek keh rahe hain. Puri zindagi baaki hain tumhari, aise baatein mat kiya karo.”

(Harshi, bhai is right. Your whole life is ahead of you, don’t speak about dying.)

“Jiji, aap bhi?”

(Jiji, you too?)

“Haan, main bhi.”

(Yes, me too.)

“Waise, do you think Vikram-ji ne ab tak jawaab soche honge? Message kiya unhone?”

(Anyways, do you think Vikram-ji would have thought of his answer by now? Did he message you?)

“Woh mujhe message kyun karenge, Mumma aur Papa ko call karenge, na. Waise, ab sochoon toh mujhe nahi lagta ki unka jawaab badlega. Pata nahi kaunsi Wonder Woman banne ki koshish kari rahi thi unke saamne.”

(Why would he message me? They’ll call Mumma and Papa. Anyways, now that I think about it, I don’t think his answer will change. I don’t why I was trying to be Wonder Woman in front of him.)

“Hey, Nandu, look at me.” Ashwin kneeled in front of her and held her hands. “Khud ko doubt mat karo. Tum ek bohoti intelligent, successful, mature ladki ho, aur dil se toh sabse acchi ho. You have an amazing ability to read people and interact with them. Mujhe pakka yakeen hain ke tumne uss admi ko sahi se read kiya, aur uss hisaab se hi baat kiya. Baat sirf yeh hain ki kya tumhe woh admi aur uska family accha laga ki nahi. Tumne haan toh kahi, lekin jab tak shaadi nahi hoti, tab tak waqt hain tumhare paas mann badalne ki.”

(Don’t doubt yourself. You’re a really intelligent, successful, mature girl, and you have the purest heart. You have an amazing ability to read people and interact with them. I’m sure that you read him correctly and spoke accordingly. The only question is if you liked him and his family or not. You said yes, but until the wedding happens, you still have time to change your mind.)

He squeezed her hands and released them, dusting his pants as he stood up. “I hope you listened properly to what I said because I’m not repeating such cheesy emotional stuff again. Mere bas ke baatein nahi hain.”

(I hope you listened properly to what I said because I’m not repeating such cheesy emotional stuff again. It’s not my style.)

“Haan haan, aapse aur umeed bhi nahi tha. Waise, aapki shaadi hone dijiye, phir aapko hi pata nahi chalega ki aap majnu kab ban gaye. Agar yeh rishta pakka hua, toh kuch mahine mein meri shaadi ho jayegi, aur uske baad aapka hoga band baaja baraat.”

(Yeah yeah, I don’t have any hopes from you anyways. But just wait till you get married, then you won’t even know when you became a Romeo. If this rishta works out, then I’ll be married in a few months. After that, it’ll be your band baaja baraat (wedding rituals? – not the best translation.))

“Yaad mat dilao yaar mujhe. Then, I sincerely hope that Mr. Vikram doesn’t change his mind.”

(Don’t remind me.)

Aanandita raised her brows at him. “Lekin agar mujhe yeh rishta dil se chahiye toh?”

(But what if I really like this rishta?)

“Haan theek hain, haan kehne do usse,” he grumbled. “Sehlunga thoda Mumma ka drama.”

(Yeah yeah fine, let him say yes. I’ll bear Mumma’s drama.)

“Acha yeh sab chodiye. Jab tak unka jawaab nahi aata, hum kuch nahi kar sakte. Lekin jiji, yeh chocolate pastry toh top-class hain. Iss test batch ko final kar dijiye!”

(Okay, leave all of this. Until his answer comes, we can’t do anything about it. But jiji, this pastry is top-class. You should finalize this test batch!)

Apart from fashion, baking was Aanandita’s passion and therapy. She had always thought she would open a bakery if her career in fashion didn’t work out. But, she was feeling a bit restless lately, so she thought, why not do both? Her boutique was successful enough that she didn’t have to worry about the financial risks of opening a new business. And she would own the bakery, but not be in charge of running it. She new a rising pastry chef, a girl from the orphanage she supported, who would be perfect for the position.

“Shukhriya, Pari ji! Main test karke dekhthi hoon ki customers ko accha lagega ki nahi. Ab toh recipes kaafi hain, lekin main soch rahi hoon ki kya main boutique mein hi chota sa café open karoon, ya phir alag sa bakery open karoon.”

(Thank you, Pari-ji! I’ll test it with the customers to see if they like it. We have enough recipes now, but I’m wondering whether we should open a café connected to the boutique, or a separate bakery.)

“Jiji, aapko alag sa open karna chahiye. Sab ko chance hona chahiye bakery mein aane ki, chahe woh boutique mein aaye ya nahi.”

(Jiji, you should make it separate. Everyone should have a chance to come to the bakery, whether they come to the boutique or not.)

“Main bhi wahi soch rahi thi. But should we add another story on top of the boutique or open in a separate building? Should we open in another location altogether? Bas uske saath problem yeh hai ki mujhe alag se marketing karna padega. And building another floor is more economic. Baahar se seediyaan add kar sakthe hain, taaki alag entrances ho boutique aur bakery ki.”

(I was thinking the same. But should we add another story on top of the boutique or open in a separate building? Should we open in another location altogether? The only problem with that is that we’ll have to market separately. And building another floor is more economic. We can add steps from outside, so they have separate entrances.)

She quirked her brows at Ashwin. “Aap kya kehta hain, bhai?”

(What do you say, bhai?)

“Jab tumne sab sahi soch rakhi hain, toh hum sirf taal se taal milayenge, na? Tumhari soch theek hi hain, but why build another floor? You’re using the second floor for storage, right? Just use that for the bakery and add an extension to the first floor. That would be easier.”

(When you’ve thought of everything, then we’ll just join hands with you, right? Your thought is fine, but why build another floor? You’re using the second floor for storage, right? Just use that for the bakery and add an extension to the first floor. That would be easier.)

“Yeh bhi socha tha maine, lekin soch rahi hoon ki shayad mujhe kuch der mein boutique ko bhi expand karna padega.”

(I thought of that too, but I’m thinking of expanding the boutique in a little bit.)

Ashwin nodded. “Agar aisa hain, toh shayad dusra location his behtar rahega. Kaisa expand karna chahthi ho?”

(If that’s the case, then maybe another location would be better. What did you have in mind for the expansion?)

“Main thoda kam budget ke designs introduce karne ke baare mein soch rahi thi. So, I guess it would make more sense to open a branch with those designs in a locality where they would attract more customers,” she said, thinking on the spot.

(I’m thinking of introducing lower budget designs. So, I guess it would make more sense to open a branch with those designs in a locality where they would attract more customers.)

“Toh boutique ko alag location mein ek aur branch open kar sakthi hain, kyunki existing business hain aur already uska ek naam aur reputation hain.”

(Then you can open the second branch in another location, because the existing business already has a name and reputation.)

“And open the bakery with the existing branch. Kyunki Tanisha sab handle karegi. It’ll help her career as a pastry chef to have access to that clientele. Main toh bas do theen recipes de rahi hoon, baaki uski mehnat.”

(And open the bakery with the existing branch. Because Tanisha will handle everything. It’ll help her career as a pastry chef to have access to that clientele. I’m just adding a few recipes, but the rest of the hard work is hers.)

Aanandita leaned back and smiled, happy that she’d sorted out some of the chaos in her mind. “Thanks yaar bhai, you’re a great sounding board.”

“Shukhriya, mohtarma! Kam se kam yeh toh maan liya ke main ek cheez ka layak hoon,” Ashwin replied sarcastically.

(Thank you, my lady! At least I’m useful for one thing.)

The whole time Ashwin and Aanandita were talking, Harshi and Pranali were looking back and forth as if watching a badminton match. They’d learned how to navigate life because of listening to their parents’ and siblings’ conversations. Until a few years ago, both Shivani and Ramya, Ashwin and Harshita’s mom, also worked at the accounting firm. But they decided to take an early retirement together to focus on home and charitable works, handling the firm’s charitable activities and frequently volunteering at a few other organizations.

Later that night, Aanandita pacified her mother while helping her make dinner, and her father, well, he didn’t need pacifying. Ravi was shocked at first to see his daughter speaking so boldly to a stranger, because she usually wasn’t the sort to do that. But the more he thought about it, the more amusing it seemed to him.

His daughter was a gem, and he couldn’t even take credit for raising her that way. She was simply special all in herself. Truth be told, Shivani also enjoyed the scene her daughter made that afternoon, for she had never had the courage to challenge a stranger in such a way. But, being a mother, Aanandita had crossed just one too many levels of social impoliteness for Shivani to accept her behavior.

As all the kids, including Harshita and Ashwin who stayed for dinner since tayi-ji and tau-ji weren’t home, were cleaning up after dinner, Ashwin signaled to Aanandita, asking if she wanted ice cream. After Harshita and Pranali went upstairs, determined to get in a few hours of studying (very unlikely knowing the two of them) before going to bed, they headed out.