Desde sempre e para sempre Chapter 23

Desde sempre e para sempre

Chapter 23

Gael was sitting on one of the stools around the extended kitchen island staring at the glass of Frooti in front of him. Aaji was sitting on a plush sofa in the living area across from him. She was pretending to read the newspaper but they both knew she wanted to ask him what had transpired between Naina and him before she stormed out of the suite. It was never quite simple between the two, was it?

Leo walked into the living area followed by Davi. Both of them were yawning with their mouths wide open and scratching their tummy as they sat on the stools, each on either side of Gael. They sure were identical in their looks and they also were identical in some of their very peculiar habits. 

The bottle of Frooti was right next to Leo and so he poured a glass for himself and Davi. He then skillfully pushed the glass toward Davi so that it stopped right in front of Davi’s hand. 

Leo: “Gooooooooooaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll1” 

Davi: “Yeahhh! Up top!”

Gael: “Silêncio! Por favor!” 

Leo and Davi looked at Gael, although, they did keep silent. 

Aaji just looked at them and chuckled. 

Davi: “Thank you for the Frooti Aaji. Cannot imagine a day without it.” 

Aaji: “Well, how can you?! You guys import this juice even though you are probably the only ones who drink it in Brazil! I cannot believe you would stay without it in India.” 

Gael: “It's nothing but sugar.”

Leo: “Hey! Then let me take care of your sugar for you, honey buns.” Winking at Gael, Leo downed Gael’s glass after having already finished his. 

Gael smirked at him and before Leo could reach for the bottle, Gael grabbed the bottle and downed all of it. 

Davi: “That’s not cool, irmão, what did I do to you?!” 

Gael: “Sorry, Davi, it’s each against the other when it comes to Frooti.” 

Aaji was looking at the brothers fondly and could not hide her smile. Their bond was so precious. No matter what, they would always have each other. But she needed to interrupt this because there were other things she had to take care of, more precisely, clear up Gael’s love life which was practically non-existent at the moment. She had no doubt that the other two could take care of themselves. Not because they were wise when it came to the matters of the heart, rather, they knew when and how to ask for help if needed and they had no qualms about doing the same. When it came to Gael, well, it was just difficult to say what was going on in that complicated mind of his. 

Aaji: “Breno, when do we move?” 

Gael: “Where?” 

Aaji: “Breno! To my home!” 

Gael: “You tell me when and we will charter the flight back home.” 

Aaji: “GAEL BRENO BOURGEOIS!” 

Gael: “Fine! I have spoken to John already. He will be leaving for the place soon.”

Davi: “He? I mean…won’t you go?” 

Gael: “As promised, I have already taken care of the matter. It’s mere formalities now and John can take care of it.”

Davi and Aaji looked at each other. They understood just how much of a pull Gael might have used in order to get the “matter” solved overnight!

Leo: “So then when are we moving?” 

Gael: “WE are not moving anywhere. Aaji will be allowed to visit the place and spend a few hours over there during the day but her nights will be spent here in the hotel where I think she will be better cared for…”

Aaji: “But…” 

Gael: “This is non-negotiable. Take it or leave it. I am not the one running out of time.” 

Leo and Davi were looking at Aaji and Gael shocked. Only Gael could talk like this. Well, if it were them, they would take it, no matter what Gael was dangling as a bait before them. The look on Gael’s face at the moment was enough to get them to agree to anything. 

Aaji: “Fine! BUT while I am there, I want YOU to be with me. Breno, you will stay with me there and I do not want your office to follow you there. And we go there NOW! Do we have a deal?”

Gael: “It’s not ready yet…It’s a community centre for God’s sake!”

Aaji: “I want to go over there regardless! Do we have a deal?!”

Gael looked at her. He knew he could bully her out of it but he also knew that this meant a lot to her. It was difficult but Gael agreed. It would be hard for him to withdraw himself from the office for a couple of hours especially since he was physically absent there but then he was proud of his multi-tasking skills, he was sure he would find a way to get around it. 

Davi smiled knowingly. Aaji was one smart women. She had just extracted the perfect bargain from Gael Bourgeois!

***

Naina and Jaya finally reached home. Kushal had insisted to drop them home but Naina had been successful in convincing him that if Jaya’s mother found out what Naina had been up to the whole night, that she had had an asthma attack and that Kushal and Jaya had ended up meeting each other in such circumstances, she would lose it.

The two girls were able to sneak all the way up to Naina’s room. Naina quickly pulled the door shut behind them.  

Naina: “Oh thank god! Thank god your mom is going crazy with all the preparation that we could make our way here unnoticed…”

Jaya tapped on Naina’s shoulder so that Naina could turn around and look in the direction Jaya was facing. 

Naina whirled around. 

Dadi: “It’s about time. I know there is a 12 hour difference between here and where you came from and it explains why you weren’t asleep the whole night BUT IT CERTAINLY DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY AND WHERE YOU WERE OUT THE WHOLE NIGHT! Jaya, out with it!”

Jaya: “Dadi…I…we….”

Naina: “Dadi, Jaya must go and get ready. Kuku will be on his way and we don't want our Jaya to…you know…I…let me explain…”

Dadi: “Absolutely not! Jaya will tell me the truth. You have spent enough time in the service to know how to give answers without telling me anything!”

Lataji: “Jaya! Beta, are you here?” 

Naina: “Great! Dadi, that’s aunty. We best not keep her waiting…Sexy! We are in here!”

Naina quickly opened the door and pulled Jaya out of the room. 

Dadi had no choice but to follow the two girls out. 

Lataji: “LOOK AT YOU TWO! OH MY GOD! THESE TWO GIRLS WILL KILL ME ONE DAY! Jaya, I sent you to get ready more than an hour ago! What…why aren’t you ready yet??”

Jaya: “Ma…I…”

Naina: “She was trying to wake me up for the past hour! You see I had promised her that I would help her get ready, besides, we still have a lot of time…what’s the point in getting ready so early?! We want her to look fresh, no?”

Lataji smiled and hugged both the girls: “You two have always been so inseparable! I am so sorry…I am just so emotional today! Somehow, I feel that everything is going to change! That today it will be a happy day for BOTH of you!”

Dadi had tears in her eyes too: “I still remember when the two of you would dress each other up in sarees and pretend you are getting married…don’t you remember?” 

Lataji nodded but the girls simply shrugged. 

Dadi: “Oh, hang on!”

Dadi opened one of her old closets in the living room and pulled out a very old photo album: “I hope they are here…lately I don’t seem to find my stuff!” 

She sat on the sofa and opened the album. The two girls and Lataji huddled around her on the sofa. 

Jaya: “Oh my God! We look sooo…”

Naina: “…stupid!”

Lataji: “…cute!”

Jaya: “I cant believe we did this!”

Naina: “That doesn't even look like a saree! If this is how you dressed me, you are so not coming near me when I am getting married!”

Lataji’s phone started ringing.

Lataji: “Hello?’

Dadi continued to flip through the photos. 

Naina: “Wait a minute, who is that?? Who is that lady and that little boy? I don’t think I recognize them…I have never seen these photos…”

Dadi took the photo out of it’s casing and brought it closer to inspect it. 

Dadi: “Oh My God! I have been looking for this! I didn’t think they would be here with your childhood photos…” 

Lataji: “JAYA! NAINA! QUICK! That was samdhanji! They are on their way!” 

Jaya: “OH NO!”

Naina grabbed Jaya’s hand and they quickly ran to her room to get Jaya ready. 

Meanwhile, Dadi was fondly looking at the photo still in her hand as a lone tear dropped on her cheek. 

Dadi: “Tai…a mere thought of her’s still makes me smile…”

***

Gael: “Davi, Leo, I want you to make sure the doctors and healthcare over here is all good to go, alright? Also, can you find out when Mãe plans to come here and please coordinate with her accordingly…”

Aaji: “I am ready…”

The three men turned around. They all smiled. 

The excitement and happiness that reflected on her face made her look ten years younger, and healthier, after all, home is where the heart is and even though she loved her Brazilian family, and she did love them all fiercely, her heart truly belonged to her motherland, her home. 

Leo whistled: “Hot stuff!” 

Davi: “What a beauty!” 

Aaji: “Oh, shut up!” But she blushed and didn’t really want them to stop…

Gael: “Let’s take you home, Aaji.”

***

Lataji: “Jaya, beta, you look so beautiful!”

Jaya blushed: “Ma, it’s all Naina’s magic!” 

Naina: “You know that I am shameless and will take any credit you give me! Yup, it’s all me! I am the reason why your daughter is looking like a Goddess!” 

Lataji swiped off a bit of her kajal and dabbed it behind Jaya’s ear. She looked at Jaya and wanted to capture this image of her’s in her mind forever. Jaya was wearing a simple and elegant baby pink sari with delicate gold design all over it.

Jaya hugged her mother and both of them started to cry and laugh at the same time. 

Naina was looking at them and before she could start her waterworks, Jaya pulled her into their group hug.

Lataji: “Naina! What are you wearing?! I can’t have my other daughter dressed like this! What will they think?! I want you to be dressed up just as well. What if he comes along with a friend…”

Naina: “I am his friend!”

Lataji: “…or may be his mother might be looking for another girl for one of his cousins…you never know…whenever there is one wedding in the house, another one is always right around the corner!” 

Jaya: “You are right! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Naina also finds her knight in shinning armour along with me?!” 

Dadi: “I absolutely agree! In fact, I was going to suggest that we make Naina meet any and all prospective grooms who would be attending the ceremonies…” 

Naina simply rolled her eyes but she knew she couldn’t deny it.

Naina: “Oh alright, alright! I will get ready!”

***

The “function” was well on its way and had already moved beyond both the families accepting the proposal to discussing the dates for the wedding. Naina was ecstatic, sad, excited and a whole bunch of emotions she couldn’t quite figure out. She was so happy for Jaya, that part she was sure of, but there was still something unsettling…

Dadi: “Naina, bring over some of the laddoos here!” 

Naina: “Yes, Dadi, coming!” 

Naina skillfully maneuvered two loaded plates of food and after delivering them to their destination: a table full of hungry people; she ran to do her grandmother’s bidding.

The entire floor was full of commotion. Everybody was so happy! After all, their beloved was getting married! 

Naina looked back and surveyed the room. Both her friends were lost in their own world, she smiled when she saw them try to discretely steal a romantic glance. She looked around and spotted her Dadi and Lataji. Both of them were surrounded by a lot of people and were hugging and laughing and reveling the good news….

Naina gasped. All of a sudden she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Was it another attack already?