"Just remember, you will be representing me and the entire Admin department there. It is upto you as to how to behave," Shaurya said quietly.
Mriga stood there, letting the seriousness of his words weigh in on her shoulders.
Nodding slightly, she locked her gaze with his and replied solemnly, "I promise that I won't let you down."
Shaurya tried to break the gaze lock but he couldn't. He felt that her eyes were pulling him in... he had never found them to be hypnotic ever before this. Jeez, what was wrong with him, like seriously?
"Uh, ahem… ok then, as long as you know what to do. I am going to go now," with that he walked off.
Mriga stood there looking at his retreating back. There was something weird about him today but she couldn't figure out what. With a shrug, she also turned to trace her steps back to the Gurukul.
Vindhya was late.
"Hey, where are you going? You look beautiful, so… so royal!" Gauri exclaimed as she bumped into her at the entrance of the Science girls' hostel.
"I told you that I had to go for an important event today, right? I am late for it. It's all that arrogant man's fault," Vindhya said with a scowl.
"Which man? Wha… what…" Gauri didn't get to finish her sentence because her friend had taken off right in the middle of it.
"Wow! I have never seen her throw a temper like that," Gauri muttered to herself.
Standing at the entrance of the venue, Yash swallowed nervously as he waited for the guests to arrive. He was feeling extremely embarrassed at the thought of facing Vindhya. On one hand, he was grateful for her politeness to have agreed to come to the party because it gave him a chance of telling his mother about the truth at peace. But on the other side, he was feeling guilty to have dragged Vindhya in his family issue to this degree. And then there was the whole other issue of Mriga not even having a whiff of this mess which he shied away from even thinking about, at the moment. His reasoning was that as long as he was able to tackle it at his end successfully, there was no need for Mriga to get to know about it, ever. He was sure that Vindhya was too graceful and kind a person to ever mention it in front of Mriga or anyone else for that matter.
All he needed to do was convince his mother and everything else would sort itself out. Squaring his shoulders, he summoned a smile on his lips as the first set of guests came in front of him.
The party was in full swing when Vindhya made her entrance. She had met Ujjwala earlier in the year when the former had visited her parents' house in Western Zilla.
"Greetings, aunty," she tilted her head politely, paying her respect to Ujjwala, who stood surrounded by the important officials of Chandragarh's royal palace.
Ujjwala murmured to be excused from there and walked up to take Vindhya's hand in her own. Dressed in a royal blue silk lehenga and a muted pink blouse, the girl looked pretty enough. But more than her dress, it was the way she held herself that won the approval of Ujjwala. In her eyes, it was equally important to look the part, to be the part.
"Hope all is well with your parents. I am so glad that you could make it to this event and thank you for the generous offer to help me in the organising of it. But I didn't want to cause any disruptions to your schedule," she began.
Vindhya shook her head and said smilingly, "Congratulations on the winning of the Best Zilla award, aunty. I am sure that it is just the beginning. As for the help, I think you misunderstood me. I had only meant that I would send some of my local help who stays in the capital to aid you."
Ujjwala's eyebrows rose up to her hairline. She had been wrong about the girl. This was no shy, overenthusiastic miss.
"Ah, my mistake… I would have gladly accepted their help then. But my minions weren't that incompetent as you can see for yourself. They have managed to put up a passable show," Ujjwala extended her hand offering Vindhya to take a look around at the extravagant décor.
"I had no doubts in your capabilities, Aunty. It was just a polite gesture from my end," Vindhya let go of the matter after having made her point.
She was well aware of the woman's cunning and dominating nature and wasn't going to let her get a one-up on her. After all, she was a failed Queen contender while Vindhya was going to be the Queen. There was no way that she would let the woman try and fulfill her unfulfilled aspirations through her. Yes, she had become fond of her son but Vindhya wasn't foolish enough to let Ujjwala get to know about her vulnerability.
Right then, a worried looking Yash walked upto them.
"Uh hi, you are here," he said a bit awkwardly.
Vindhya gave him a wide smile. It was as if she knew exactly what was making him uncomfortable.
"Vindhya, you have come at the right time. Would you be kind enough to help Yash in looking after the city's merchant group for me while I go and attend to the politicians?" Ujjwala asked amiable and walked away when the girl nodded in agreement.
Yash grabbed Vindhya's hand the minute his mother was out of sight and pulled her behind a pillar.
Vindhya's heart started to race. This was completely unexpected. Finally, he let go of her hand and stood in front of her.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Vindhya was shocked at her own voice.
Was that her, sounding breathless and girly?