' Best wishes.' He said, staring up as if he was staring at the sacrificial lamb. But she was more amused than pissed.
'Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers, Boss.' She said with a sweet smile.
'Oh, one more thing. Don't call me boss. Call me by my name or surname, whatever you like. You can even come up with an innovative nickname, all up to you. But no Boss thing, or we will be doomed.' He suggested with a smile.
'But, you also called me Miss Chauhan.' She reminded him.
'Because that's what you are, your identity.' He reasoned, making her frown.
' I know how our society is. But, I would appreciate and love it more, if I have to call you, by the identity you have created and earned within the last four years, yourself.
I don't want anyone to mention you as Mrs. Pratihast, just like they won't mention me as Mr. Chauhan, just because we are married. Your name, your surname will remain the same as it was.
So, will be your personal and professional life. I won't interfere and definitely will not let anyone interfere in it , either. Miss Chauhan. That's my word.' He said with seriousness, he shows when he makes a decision.
Bringing a smile on her face.
'By the way, you should get dressed. Within half an hour, your favorite people will come knocking on the door. I have taken care of everything. No one will know what happened last night.'He said, bringing a small blush on her face.
~~
She was wondering about what she should wear, when there was a knock on the door. Ashutosh was already sitting in the chair of their wedding room, focusing on his tablet's screen, to stay updated with everything he was missing because of this wedding.
She opened the door to find Vivek leading a few people in. As curious as he was, he tried to find out what happened in his absence. But except for the fact, Yuvika was wearing his boss's favorite gym pair, the beautiful bouquet resting majestically on the table, her usually confused look, his boss sitting on a chair, most probably trying to create an ' I am busy' image, everything was absolutely normal.
Half of his hunches say something happened, but half says they are boring people. So, expecting something different would be stupidity. Just like Vivek, Yuvika was busy assessing the people who came with him, wondering just who they were.
' Oh they are the one who will help you with getting ready. You see, you are still a bride. So, they will help you look the part.
Vivek and I will wait outside. Take your time.' Ashutosh finally snatched his eyes away from the work, when he saw the trespassers in the room. He thought his work would keep him distracted for five to ten minutes. But he didn't expect so many things to happen at the same time. The market rises. A flood of money is about to come and they will be sailing in this flood.
Indeed, good news. If it had been any other day and even if he had been with his family, then he would have left everything and called for an emergency meeting to get the most out of this opportunity.
But the moment his eyes fall on his new responsibility, his train of thought finally calms down. No, he can't let her deal with everything alone. Not when they are bound together in the witness of holy fire.
So, he drags the overly curious Vivek away from the room, after getting her approval or nod. After which, he gave the good news to Vivek, right after which he gave one instruction after another, on how they should get benefitted from it.
Vivek, who was considering himself as a free man, wanted to cry, when suddenly all the responsibility fell on him. Nevertheless to say, it was the duty of the girl who is behind the doors getting dressed to bid her final farewell to her own family, as per the culture.
Yuvika Chauhan. Backbone of The Raj.
~~
Since the groom's family knows how much time means for their son. How he hates wasting time on things that don't earn him money. So, they suggested shortening the Pag-Phera ceremony to one hour instead of three days.
The bride's family, who doesn't want to tolerate the bride for even a single moment longer, to say nothing about three day, as the groom's family has clearly suggested, he won't be able to pick her up or stay with her. So, they immediately agreed with the suggestion.
Since, Mr. Chauhan wanted to spend some time with his daughter, so he debated against the proposal, but in the end the majority wins and it was decided that the newlywed couple will perform all the ritual which are supposed to happen in groom's family house and bride's family house, in the hotel itself, to avoid the hassle.
So that from tomorrow onwards the groom can focus on his work, while the bride gets familiar with everything and takes charge of every house and social work.
~~
Soon, the couple came, looking all prim and proper . Every ritual took place, from vidai to home entry, to ring finding, to face showing, to cooking, to leaving for the bride's home for a final farewell, and then leaving the bride's home forever.
Yuvika wasn't even able to process everything. But she still manages well. She wasn't interested in wasting her time , either. Though, she would have loved it, if she and her father would have gotten some time alone. But not everything goes as we want it to be.
At the end of the day, Ashutosh and Yuvika bid their farewell to the groom and bride's family and left for Ashutosh's home. Vivek had been demoted to the post of driver, but still he was flashing the smile from ear to ear.
~~
Soon, they reach the destination, which to Yuvika's surprise was their company, not home. She wondered what exactly was going on and what she was supposed to do. Ashutosh and Vivek took her to their personal floor, where Ashutosh escorted her to one of the VIP rooms, reserved only for the high authority, which includes Ashutosh, Kirti and Vivek. The right wing of the fiftieth floor was reserved for these three VIP rooms.
'Everything has been arranged. Get changed and then join us. Something serious has happened.' Ashutosh gave his instructions to her, then started walking towards the left wing, where their cabins were.
She stayed rooted to her place, confused. But when she digested the information, she walked in the room. It was such a splendid room. She thought it was just a single room. But only after exploring she realized , it was no less than a penthouse, with World's Top class luxury available.
Soon, she found a room with a sticky note on it, which says ; 'Treat this as your temporary bedroom. I will soon bring you to our house.' She noticed how 'my' was written first, then was lined to the point making it invisible and 'our' was written next to it.
She enters the room and finds her belongings and baggage there. Her night gown and formal dress were placed over the duvets of the bed. Must be for any emergency.
She sighed, then went to the bathroom, after getting changed, she locked the room and ran towards the cabin , to meet the duo. Well, at least that's what she was expecting. But she was shocked to see the entire high-end staff present there.
Only two people were absent, Her Boss, Kirti, and she, herself. When Ashutosh saw her entire dress in formal attire, a small smile appeared on his face. He motioned her to take her reserved seat and then repeated everything, he explained to everyone.
After which he continues the meeting. The meeting lasted for three and half hours and after that everyone ran as if the ghosts were chasing them. Miss Chauhan being one among them.
' Miss Chauhan, please stay.' She heard and since nobody knew about either marriage and it was more than normal for two high authorities to talk with each other. No one gave it a second thought and left, except for a certain someone, whose ears perked up and who was waiting patiently for what these duo wanted to discuss.
' Mr. Bacchas, Can you please?' Ashutosh pointed firmly, while staring in the direction of the door. Left with no choice he had to leave with a disappointed face.
~~
' I am sorry, Miss Chauhan, for not being thorough enough in my arrangements. But, I will show you home soon.' He said, while giving an apologetic grin. She just nodded, then left.
Right now, her work mode is 'on'. How could she think about something else?
~~
Two days have passed in a blink; yet all that everyone could think about was work, work and work.
It won't be a lie to say, they were feeling that the time they were wasting on breathing was too much than the time their work was consuming. But despite that, Ashutosh had established a new habit of the trio having their meals together.