“Avantika, I’m heading out for today. Baaki sab bhi chale gaye.”

(Everyone else left, too.)

“Swati, what are you still doing here? I thought you’d already left. Anyways, of course, leave already and enjoy the little bit of the day that’s left. I’ll be locking up and leaving soon, too.”

Swati smiled and left the room. She was an extremely fair and flexible employer, encouraging a hybrid work format and shorter working hours. Avantika was also a great judge of character, prioritizing skillset when hiring employees, but also giving chances to people who needed them, such as her.

Swati had been in an abusive marriage, left with her tyrannical in-laws while her husband, who was no less a monster himself, carried on with his mistresses in another country. Note the plural. All under the excuse of his foreign job.

She had met Avantika at an event being held at her in-laws home. As a lonely new mother, who was up all night looking after her child and being worked to the bone all day, she was comforted by Avantika’s spirit. Unconsciously, Swati began blabbering about how she had planned that event; she was just so thrilled to have a normal social interaction.

Avantika, though, had noticed her skills and encouraged Swati to apply as her assistant. Obviously, under the condition that she look at Swati’s credentials, take an interview, and work through a trial period. That had shocked Swati out of her haze, and she nervously declined, afraid and just too tired to go against her in-laws. Her spirit had been completely drained in her farce of a marriage.

But Avantika had persisted, and soon found out the truth of Swati’s marital condition. It was she who helped Swati find all the right resources, who helped her divorce her husband and leave that abusive household.

It inspired Swati every day to see a bright young woman braving the world, and succeeding beyond measure. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she opened the door and came face to face with a handsome man dressed in a three-piece suit.

“Aap…?”

(You…?)

“I’m here to pick up Avantika.” Swati was hesitant to let him in. Avantika hadn’t mentioned anyone coming to pick her up, and Swati was extremely wary of strangers. Who knew what nefarious intentions they might have? 

Vedansh showed her Avantika’s message, and after confirming that it was indeed from Avantika, she let him in and stepped outside. But of course, she decided to wait in her car for a few moments, just in case. When five minutes passed and Avantika hadn’t stepped outside, she called her to make sure.

____

Knock, knock. Vedansh rapped his knuckles against the wooden frame of the open door, surprising Avantika out of her focus. With her glasses perched precariously on her nose and her hand flying madly across the paper, she looked…cute. Vedansh, since when did you start thinking of girls as cute?

“Ah, Mr. Suryavanshi, you’re here. I’m sorry, I got caught up and didn’t see your message.”

“Call me Vedansh, and I didn’t reply.”

“Oh, well, you should have called me or sent me a message, main khudi baahar aati. Aapko andar aane ka takleef kyun.”

(Oh, well, you should have called or sent a message, I would have come outside myself. You didn’t need to trouble yourself to come in.)

“Koi takleef nahi tha. I’ve been ordered to escort you, and was threatened to complete the job to a ‘t'.”

(It’s no trouble…)

Avantika smiled at that as she packed away her stuff. “Matlab aunty ke orders?”

(Aunty’s orders?)

“Hmm.” Vedansh strolled around the room as if he owned the place, noting every detail as Avantika watched him with cautious amusement. “So, this is your office. I’ve heard you’ve built a very successful business.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but we do get by.” Vedansh was quite frankly impressed. Her business accolades spoke for themselves, but it was clear from the images of events they had organized that she maintained a high-profile clientele.

Avantika held up a finger to excuse herself and picked up her ringing phone. “Swati, is anything wrong? Arey nahi, thank you for waiting for me, lekin aap jaa sakte hain. Yes, I was expecting him, but I appreciate your concern.”

(…Oh no, thank you for waiting for me, but you can leave…)

Seeing Vedansh still absorbed in reading the certificates hung on the walls, Avantika interjected his thoughts. “I would offer you a tour of the office, but…”

“We should get going.” As Avantika was juggling her work bag and the craft box, Vedansh relieved her of both. She immediately took back her bag, but he refused to let go of the craft box. Normally, she didn’t bring anything home, but she was experimenting with a decoration that she hoped to use at Riddhi’s engagement or wedding.

“Do you normally carry around all these things?” Vedansh set the box in the trunk.

“No, this is just something I’m experimenting with for the wedding.”

“Maa did tell me that your company will be planning everything, which wouldn’t be surprising even if you weren’t the bride’s sister, especially considering your clientele.”

“Well, our exclusivity is the main part of our company’s attraction, but we don’t only cater to high-profile clients. We love to be involved in the community, and we offer our services to clients of all backgrounds and financial capability.

I’m glad to say that we are stable enough to work pro-bono whenever we want. The richie-rich love to be pampered, and the fact that we don’t pamper them, that we don’t offer our services exclusively to the rich, is what makes them want us more. My only hope is that if we can push sustainable event planning while being an environmentalist is trending, then people might like it enough to make it a habit.”

“Most people don’t realize that. They end up stretching themselves too thin across consumers, or pampering the upper classes to the point where they have no value. I’m surprised you started off with this mindset.”

“I’ve had great mentors and examples, and I’ve always been a bit hatke (out of the box). My ideas aren’t always successful, but we’re lucky that it worked out this time.”

The rest of the ride passed by in friendly conversation. Vedansh typically maintained an intimidating and standoffish demeanor, but something about Avantika wrapped him in comfort, enough for him to open up with her and converse normally.

Avantika didn’t expect Mr. Suryavanshi, sorry, Vedansh, to be so normal, especially based on his demeanor from the last he came to her house. But his casual conversation drew her out, and she actually kind of liked him? Not to mention he was a hunk. That was something to ponder at another time.

____

“Maa, main bas aap sabko madat karne aayi hoon. Mujhe kuch nahi chahiye. Kaafi suitable gehne hain humare paas aur kapde bhi. Aap bas Riddhi par focus kijiye, uska special din hain.”

(Maa, I just came to help you all. I don’t want anything. I have suitable jewelry and outfits. You just focus on Riddhi, it’s her special day.)

“Par kya pehnogi tum?”

(Then what will you wear?)

“Nitin bhai ke shaadi ke kapde hain na, aur bohot saare thyohaar ke kapde. Mere paas bohot saare ideas hain, main thoda alteration karwadungi, aur bas, hogaya!”

(I have outfits from Nitin bhai’s wedding, and loads of festival clothing. I have a lot of ideas, I’ll just have them altered a bit, and there you go!)

“Lekin didi…”

(But didi…)

“Nahi Riddhi, itne acche kapde hain mere paas, I’ll just change them a bit to suit my current style and I’m good to go. Aur Maa ke paas bohot saare purane kapde hain joh main churana chahthi hoon. Lekin tumhare liye exception hain kyunki yeh tumhari engagement aur shaadi hain.”

(No Riddhi, I have such nice clothes, I’ll just change them a bit to suit my current style and I’m good to go. And Maa also has loads of old outfits that I want to steal from her. But it’s an exception for you because it’s your engagement and wedding.)

Namrata had only bought one saree that day. She hadn’t been expecting it, but she had found the perfect saree for Riddhi’s wedding and couldn’t let it pass. However, after hearing her daughter’s words, she knew Avi was right, and she had loads of options at home for Riddhi’s engagement and other wedding functions.

It seemed like Madhuri had also gotten convinced. “Theek hi toh keh rahi hain Avantika. Ab main yeh faisla leti hoon ki hum bas naye kapde aur gehne phere aur shagun ke liye khareedenge. Baaki sab functions mein, jo hain, wohi pehnenge. Except for Riddhi and Adhvay, of course.”

(Avantika’s right. Now, I’m making the decision that we’ll only buy new clothes for the wedding ceremony and shagun (auspicious gift is the best translation I could come up with). The rest of the events, we’ll wear what we have. Except for Riddhi and Adhvay, of course.)

**A/N: of course, this scene is a bit extreme, but in our day-to-day lives, let’s make a resolution to practice sustainable fashion!

____

“Vedansh, hum sab milkar aaye hain, toh tumhe Avantika ko ghar tak chhodna padega.” With that order, his mother sauntered off to where their car was parked, and Adhvay gave him a look that Vedansh couldn’t interpret.

(Vedansh, we all came together, so you’ll need to drive Avantika home.)

“Madhuri-ji, aapko waise bhi hume drop karne ghar tak aana padega. Kyun na dinner ke liye ruk jaaye?”

(Madhuri-ji, you’ll anyways come to our home to drop us off, why don’t you stay for dinner?)

Madhuri was about to decline, but Namrata interjected. “Already bohot der ho gayi hain. Agar apko ghar jaakar khana banana hain, toh aur der ho jayegi.”

(It’s already late. If you have to go home and cook dinner, it’ll be very late.)

“Theek hain Namrata-ji, lekin koi khatirdaari nahi. Ab hum ek hi parivaar hain!”

(Alright, Namrata-ji, but no hospitality. We’re all a family now!)

Laughing, Namrata agreed. “Jaisa aap kahe!” Amar and Ajay had gone out to finalize the venues, on Avantika’s orders, and were on their way home as well.

(As you say!)

Seeing Avantika walking empty-handed to the car, Vedansh frowned, then realized the rest of the ladies had minimal shopping bags as well. He and Adhvay had split from them to get their sherwanis, so they had no idea what the ladies had bought.

After a few minutes, he couldn’t hold his curiosity. They had spent the past four hours at the most famous boutiques but had barely bought anything? His mother had never done that before.

“Tumne kuch khareeda nahi?”

(You didn’t buy anything?)

“Hmm, nahi. Purane functions ke kapde hain, toh it seemed like a waste.”

(Hmm, no. I have outfits from previous events, so it seemed like a waste.)

Was she lying? But if she was telling the truth, then kamaal ki ladki hain.

(…then she was an impressive woman.)

“Umm, kya main radio on kar sakti hoon?” Vedansh gave her an absent nod.

(Umm, can I turn on the radio?)

Avantika tuned in to her favorite channel, the purane gaane wale (the retro songs one), and happily hummed along the rest of the way home. A faint smile fixed itself on Vedansh’s face, and he didn’t even try to erase it. Iske gungunane se itna sukoon kyun mil raha hain mujhe?

(Why do I feel so peaceful listening to her hum?)