Part 8
In the morning Ram woke when his phone started ringing, he reached out for his phone and picked it up, "Hello?", he said, holding the phone next to his ear but keeping his eyes shut.
"Mr. Kapoor, it's Jenny," Jenny said.
"Yes, Jenny, why do have the pleasure of you waking me up?" Ram asked, sitting up.
"Sir, you know that today you have an important meeting with Dusza and…" she was saying.
"I get it Jenny, I'll be there in one hour," Ram said and disconnected the phone.
Ram got up from the couch and stretched. He got a new project with Jessica's father's company, in that project no matter what, he was always stuck with Jessica. It was not for long because Jessica would always request her father that she wants to assist Ram whenever they work with each other's company and Ram would have to return to his old boring routine. He made his way to the only bedroom where his closet was. He noticed Priya was up and was taking a shower. He walked to his closet and opened it to get himself something to wear. He randomly took out his clothes and sat on the bed, waiting for Priya to come out. As he was waiting for her to come out, he noticed the ring was still on the side table.
"You're up early", Ram turned and saw Priya walking out of the bathroom but she was not looking at him.
"Jenny called, she's my secretary. Said I have to show up early," he said, getting up from the bed and walking towards the bathroom.
"So what about breakfast?" she asked, drying her hair with the towel.
"I'll drop you to the cafe on my way to work. You can take a cab back," Ram suggested.
"What about you?" Priya asked. Ram was taken aback by her question. He thought she wouldn't be as before after last night but nothing had changed between them. Ram saw her searching for something, "Where did you put my ring?" she asked, still searching.
"What? You're not mad?!" Ram blurted out, not able to hide his surprise.
She found the ring and put it back on her finger and said, "Yes, I am still mad at you, but not for last night. I thought about it and concluded that you wouldn't want to end up in fists fights after you have worked hard for more than 12hrs, it will make anyone go insane. I know you overreacted, but it was obvious. And I am sorry for having that stupid argument last night."
Ram couldn't believe his ears. He thought he was dreaming, and he was more shocked than anything. "So what are you angry about?" Ram asked, snapping out of his dreamland.
"That you are to skip breakfast and, most probably, lunch," Priya replied, making bed.
"I won't be skipping them, well at least not breakfast," Ram told her.
"That's like a good boy now hurry or you would be late," Priya said, smiling that million-dollar smile. And Ram could not help but smile at her. She was so sweet and understood him so well that he was surprised by her every time.
Half an hour later, they were sitting in the cafe. This cafe was different from the one I took the other day and it, like the owners of this cafe, opened it up really early in the morning, since all other cafes, including the one they visited previously, were closed.
"So what would you like?" Ram asked when the waitress asked them for their order.
"I like to have a sandwich and a hot black coffee, thank you," Priya said, smiling at the aged waitress.
"And what would you have, Ram dear," the old lady asked.
"The usual, " Ram beamed at her.
"Ram dear?" Priya said, raising her brow.
"This is her cafe and her son died a few years back in a road accident," Ram said.
"And he reminds me of him." The old lady was back with their coffees. "She's your new girlfriend?"
"How many of his girlfriends has he brought here?" Priya asked her.
"Only one and I wanted to tell you Ram, she was a b***h," the lady said.
"I know Riley," Ram said, sipping his coffee.
"Come on, why don't you join us, there aren't many customers," Priya asked Riley.
"Okay dear," she said and sat on one of the chairs.
"So does he come here often," Priya asked.
"Yes, almost every day," she said, "No other shops are open, when leaves for work."
"And I thought you don't do breakfast," Priya said to Ram.
Ram rolled his eyes. "I am careless, but not that much, " he said, smiling
"Yes, right," she said sarcastically, "the thing you care about is how to beat crap out of people."
"So Ram, you didn't introduce her to me, " Riley said, cutting their argument in between.
"Ah… she's Priya Sharma, my fiance," Ram told her.
"Your fiancee this time you found just the right girl for yourself", Riley said and there was a bell, "Excuse me dears but I've to go", Riley left the table and was back with their order, "enjoy your meals", with that she walked away as she had to attend some other customers as well.
"So, Ram Kapoor had a girlfriend, " Priya said, smiling mischievously at him.
"Everybody has one in their life, don't they?" Ram said casually, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Yes they do, but they are not The Ram Kapoor, are they," she said, raising one of her brows.
"Hey what are you getting at?" Ram asked suspiciously. "you're not thinking of leaving me, are you because if you do, I'll track you down, remember I am Ram Kapoor."
"Oh no, you stupid I won't leave you unless you want me to. Remember, I don't have enough money," Priya said, smiling.
"Thanks!" Ram thanked her seriously.
"About?" Priya asked him, confused, and he shook his head.
"So, what're you going to do today?" Ram asked her, as they both enjoyed their meals.
"I'd probably clean your place, it's a mess, you know," Priya said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Our place, " Ram corrected her, and she smiled at him.
"Yes, our place is a mess," Priya said with a smile
Ram's phone rang as he looked at it. "It's from Jenny I better be going. Can you take a cab back home?" Ram asked, and she gave him a nod, "Catch you later, stay out of trouble okay and if anything happens, just call me," Ram said, getting up.
"Yes, you too take care and have a nice day, " Priya called as he hurried out of the cafe.
Ram jumped on to the driver seat and looked at Priya through the cafe window. She was looking at him. She waved at him, seeing that he was looking at her, and he waved back at her as he drove to office. Ram thought that today would definitely be a good day for him. He reached the office and parked his car in the parking space, which was always reserved for him. He got out of the car.
"Hey Ram, you're early," Rajat said, parking next to him.
"Isn't it good for you, you get to annoy me more," Ram said jokingly.
"Yes, I almost forgot about that kid," Rajat said, exiting his own car.
"What I told you about that nickname," Ram said.
"I just like to use it now because it makes me feel like we are brothers," Rajat said.
"Then do your brother a favor. This time please switch meeting with me," Ram said as they walked towards where Vikram was.
"Ram! Rajat! You guys are always late," Vikram yelled at them.
"Hey give us a break. I was sleeping and Ram now had a fiance so he must be up late, haven't you buddy," Rajat said.
"Yes, right, " Ram said sarcastically. If Rajat knew the truth, he would definitely eat his words back. Priya was his friend, she was his fiancee too, but he hadn't taken the liberty to exploit her.
Ram made his way back to his car when someone called his name. He turned around and saw the figure of their group friend Noah jog towards him. "Yes Noah, how can I help you?" Ram asked electronically, unlocking his car.
"Did you forget about it?" Noah said, catching his breath.
"About what?", Ram asked, trying to remember if he had forgotten anything.
"Hey it's Friday and you all guys have dinner at my place," he said, trying to remind him.
"Oh yeah, it almost slipped my mind, Noah," Ram said, remembering.
It was a sort of tradition that once in a month they had Monday's dinner at Soumya and Rishabh's house, Tuesday's dinner at Ayesha and Sid's place, Wednesday's dinner at Natasha, Vikram and Neha's, Thursday's Dinner was hosted by Aarav and Ella, Friday's Dinner at Noah's and Nora Saturday and Sunday was reserved for Rajat and Ram respectively, for when they get married.
"Okay, Noah, I'll get Priya and be right over," Ram said.
"About that, Rajat is already on his way to get her, you just have to come with me," Noah said and it seemed he forced a smile.
"Rajat, but why?" Ram asked, getting a little suspicious.
"His today's meeting is cancelled so He got off work early, so he got Priya. It would give us more time," Noah explained to him, and somehow Ram felt the air around him get a little dense.
The doorbell rang and Priya opened the door. "I was just about to… "she stopped mid sentence when she saw it was not Ram at the door.
"About to what?" Rajat asked her, smiling.
"What are you doing here? Where's Ram? Don't tell me that something has gone bad," she said, getting a little worried.
"Nothing has happened to him, he's alright," Rajat assured her.
"Okay, come in", she opened the door more to let him in.
"I am not here to come in, but here to get you," Rajat told her, not stepping inside.
"What do you mean?" Priya asked, puzzled.
Rajat explained everything about their little dinner tradition and she said, "I am not sure Rajat whether I should go, let Ram come and maybe I'll be over with him."
"Now you are Ram's fiancee, you have every right to come," Rajat said, trying to convince her.
Priya was about to speak when her cell phone rang and she excused herself to pick her phone. She only said hello and then quietly listened to the caller and then disconnected the phone with a 'see you later'.
"It was Ram. He told me to come with you to Noah's place, I guess, " Priya said, and picked up her purse, and followed Rajat to his car.
"So how did you guys meet?" Rajat asked a little while to drive.
"Through Ram's Grandmother, " Priya answered truthfully.
"Oh, yes, he told me he was visiting her," Rajat said, remembering something.
"Yes, she and my grandmother are best friends," Priya told him.
"So you are childhood friends. I should have asked you guys that eventually," Rajat said, keeping his eyes on the road.
"No, we are not childhood friends. Even though our grandparents were friends, they weren't in contact until some 7 years ago when we moved to Mumbai," Priya explained the situation to him.
Rajat didn't want to appear too kind, so he changed the topic, "So what do you like in Ram?"
"What is there for him to like," Priya asked, rolling her eyes. "apart from the fact that he is good looking and has a good pay. I am telling you he's worse than a five-year-old."
"What do you mean by that?" Rajat asked, letting out a laugh. He surely wanted to listen to Ram's fiance's interpretation of him.
"I mean he doesn't eat properly, doesn't sleep properly and is always looking forward to getting himself in trouble. I don't know why he's like that," Priya said with a little frustration, but one could see that she was really concerned about Ram.
"So how's Ram's Dadi?" Rajat asked, pulling his car into Noah's driveway.
"She's dead, " Priya said softly.
"You okay?", Ram asked, appearing in Priya's window.
"Ram! Don't you ever do that again you scared the hell out of me, " Priya said, stepping out of Rajat's car as Ram held open her side door.
"Yes, kid, I will not kidnap and torture her," Rajat said, locking his car.
"I was kinda worried you took so much time and I've been waiting for a long," Ram said to him, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"It's because your apartment is much farther than Noah's," Rajat said as they walked into Noah's house.
"Hey you brought your fiance really fast," Soumya said, spotting them.
"This is Priya, Soumya and Priya. This is Soumya, Rishabh's wife," Ram introduced her.
"I was looking forward to meeting you," Soumya said.
"Thanks, it's nice to meet you too, " Priya said, smiling warmly at her.
"Hey Soumya, when we are going to have dinner, you know I am hungry," Rishabh said, walking to her.
"Everything's ready. Me and the girls have set the tables. Just get everybody, " Soumya said and walked to the kitchen. Rishabh headed toward the living room where supposedly other male members were.
"So how's your cooking skill?" Rajat asked, "Since after marrying Ram you'd have to treat us to dinner one Sunday every month."
"It's alright I guess, " she said, being modest.
"I assume that you have bad cooking skills," Rajat said.
"And why is that?" Priya asked.
"Well you see every woman here thinks they have good cooking skills but since I have eaten their handmade dinner, I can tell that they are okay but not good, well apart from Neha nobody here can cook perfectly and since you said you're your cooking skills are okay…", Rajat put forward his theory.
"Okay Rajat, we get it, don't you, Priya? Now Priya, please I beg you to stop talking to him or he'll reach a higher level of annoyance," Ram said, cutting in between.
"Ram, you're so rude buddy", Rajat said as they took seats Ram in the middle and Rajat and Priya on either side. They sat in complete silence for a moment then Rajat cursed, "Shit I forgot beers in the car". With that, he walked out.
"Rajat didn't ask you questions, did he?" Ram asked Priya. He had wanted her to ask this from the moment she arrived because she looked a little upset when she got here. And he took their moment to be alone on the table as his chance.
"Ah… no, " Priya said with hesitation.
"What was that 'Ah…' ? Ram asked, and a line of concern spread across his face.
"Well, he asked about Dadi," Priya told him.
"I know they are planning to confront us, let's just go," Ram said, getting up.
"What?! Are you mad? It's nothing like that, just sit down. They are just following the little tradition of your group and Rajat only asked how she 's all just sitting down," Priya hushed, pulling him down.
Ram sat back, "God I can't believe it, what have I done I shouldn't have brought you to the UK or should have forbid you to come here," he spoke, feeling a little restless.
"What are you saying? These are your friends we're talking about, aren't we?", Priya said, putting her hand off his, trying to calm him down.
"Hey, I am back, " Rajat said as he took his seat next to Ram.
"Rajat, why are we here?" Ram asked, being straightforward about it.
"To have dinner, buddy, " Rajat said, smiling innocently.
Ram said nothing when he saw more people joined them. Everybody took their seats at the dining table, dinner was served and everybody just chatted normally to Priya. They were having a normal time when Neha asked, "So Ram, how's your grandmother?"
Ram stopped midway through eating, his hand hanging in the air; he looked at everybody; they were all looking at him, waiting for his answer." She died a week ago, " Ram answered, setting the fork down.
"Oh, I am sorry, " Vikram said, expressing his grief.
"Don't give me this shit, Vikram. I know why we're here, head along and do what you want, " Ram said coldly. He was sure that this dinner was organized, so they asked the very questions he wasn't looking forward to.
"What are you saying?" Jessica asked innocently, who was sitting in front of him across the table.
"You know what I mean", he said to her coldly, curling his fists, "you all know", he briefly looked at everyone before turning back to Jessica, "I saw you extracting information on what I've been doing this past few days when I was gone", Ram told her in a calm tone, even though he was raging inside.
"So there's no point playing, we'll skip to the point, " Noah said, relaxing on his chair, addressing everyone.
"Hey what's this all about and why I don't know about it all," Rajat demanded, frowning a little.
"If we had told you, you would've run to your best buddy and told him everything," Jessica said mockingly.
"Shut up Jessica ," Rajat said. "Ram, I swear they didn't tell me anything about it."
"So Ram, tell us why Priya?" Natasha asked Ram.
"Nat's you too. I thought you'd understand, " Ram said, a little hurt and shocked at the same time.
"Don't change the topic Ram," Vikram said, "We want to know what happened?"
"Okay, Priya is my grandmother's doctor. I met her through her, our meetings became frequent and I confessed, she said yes and rest you know," Ram lied because he knew they'd never understand his and Priya's bond.
"How much do you know about Priya?" Jessica asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"She is a doctor, lived with her grandparents after her parent's death in a car accident, she did her graduation from Delhi medical university, then moved to Mumbai in search for a job, moved to Mumbai before the accident next to my grandparents," Ram told them everything they wanted to know and everything he knew about Priya.
"So what did you see in her?" Jessica asked, giving Priya a look of contempt. "She's no special."
"That's none of your concern, " Ram shot in anger standing up; it was fine with him they were tightening a noose around his neck, but he didn't want Priya to get more involved in this matter than she already was. He realized that Jessica was the ringleader of this drama somehow, because after his break up she wasn't showing up on any of the meets and appearing in this one only meant one thing: it was all her doing.
"Yes, it is. You seem to change your girlfriends with each passing week. What is so special about her that you got engaged," Noah asked, looking at Priya, a little puzzled.
"Yes, what she got that other girlfriends of yours haven't," Rishabh asked, supporting Noah.
"What she did in one week that none of your girlfriends did, "Jessica asked, her voice rising with every word, "What does she have that I don't, maybe I should have crawled in your bed in one week," now standing up.
"Yes, maybe you should have, " Ram screamed at her, shaking with anger, not thinking about what he said. Everybody looked at him for his sudden unexpected statement.
"I think I should leave, " Priya said, and rushed out of the door.
Ram didn't waste any time and rushed after her. He knew his friends weren't going anywhere, but his fiancee was and stopping her was of utter importance for him now. She rushed out of the house and headed in a random direction. "Priya, wait! I didn't mean that, you know that, I am sorry", Ram said, running after her as she walked away in hurried steps.
"Ram just… " Priya tried to say between her sobs and Ram got hold of her hand and turned her so she faced him and it pained him to see that she was crying.
"I am sorry, " Ram apologized sincerely.
"You were right, I shouldn't have come with you. I am taking the first flight tomorrow to India, it would be better for you and me too. This was a great mistake Ram, just forgive me please, I…" she was saying.
"You are staying here, you are going nowhere", Ram emphasized, shaking his head in a no.
"I am leaving Ram. I don't want to be the reason for your quarrels with your friends. I am sorry," she said, wiping her tears.
"Don't be stupid how are you supposed to live with me when you don't even anyone to go there to," Ram tried to beat sense in to her.
"I get my parents' insurance money and that's more than enough. Please let go of my hand. You can't stop me now," Priya said as more tears streamed down her face.
"I am not letting you leave. I promised to take care of you," Ram said, not letting her go.
"Promises break Ram, " Priya said, slipping her hand through his grip.
"You're not going anywhere. " Rajat reached and caught Priya's hand before she slipped.
"Rajat?!" she said, surprised.
"Hey don't you Wanna know what happened inside," he asked to both of them. "Well, Jessica sort of convinced everybody that Priya is blackmailing you into marrying her. She was jealous, as always. As you knew, she tried to find out what you did during your little vacation time and how long did you know Priya and all. So everybody believe you were being blackmailed, but everything was clear when you ran after her and everybody is here to apologize. Right everyone," he pointed towards his friend's.
"We're sorry, " they all sang in unison and Rajat pushed Priya in Ram's arms and they all had a group hug, but in the whole group the only one giving him warmth was Priya.
"Jessica we didn't hear you, " Rajat said in a faking anger.
"I… I am sorry, Ram, " Jessica said, but she didn't really sound apologetic.
"And", Rajat said again.
"And Priya, too, " Jessica said, shooting a death glare at her.
"Now that's like a good girl," Rajat said.
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