Mitali Jain

The last day of May

Weeks later, when I was back on the track, a huge number of files filled with numerous information of different paintings, a new season coming up my sleeves, a new target that was to be set once again; The tourists flooding in from morning to evening, I was said to be a certified busy person.

My days would start early, and nights would end by far late for my parents to have a proper conversation with me. As far as my brother was concerned he was as well MIA for the time being. But the business news that I read, were surely helping me to be up to date with him.

And to say I was proud of what he was doing would be an understatement.

That day by evening I was almost on verge of tears when I had finally got the approval mail from the London art gallery to let us showcase one of the finest art paintings that they had. When I had walked out of the room, I had this skip in my step that surely was visible to all those who knew me.

Walking up to the young lady who had asked out for me, I called her out and gave her the best of my smile which thanks to the news I felt was breathtakingly natural.

"Hii, thanks a lot for helping me out, this is really weird, I don't really know much about paintings and it's my brother's best friend's birthday, and It's like him and I ... we have been really close since childhood, I really want to give him something that would make him happy"

The small framed, bubbly looking young women fused about as I chuckled at her excitement. She surely reminded me of myself in my late teenage days.

"Relax.", holding her by her shoulders and made her look at me and said, "If it's okay, than please call me Mitali, I am the assistant curator here, and you really don't have to worry we can just work out on what you need after a few discussions."

"Aiiyooo! I am so sorry, by the way I am Tejal... but talking about things, I really don't have any idea what paintings are all about," Tejal's eyes then lit up in excitement as she almost squealed in excitement as if she had got the best thing in the world.

"ohh, I have an Idea why don't you help me out with it, like the whole of it."

I couldn't depict for a longtime what was it that she had to say, it was surely my job to help people out with understanding the paintings, letting them know what was the best we had, and though there were about 4- 5 people just like me for it, I was surely clueless as to what was difference with what I was supposed to do and the great idea that Tejal had.

"I am sorry but I really couldn't follow you up."

"ohh, yes you can and you will, first let's sit somewhere I am already tired." Tugging at my hand, while she successfully ignored all that I had to say, Tejal finally led me to the small sitting area and fell down with a huff. She adjusted the ends of her dress and crossed her legs as she finally looked at me, the excitement still intact in her features.

"See, I know that you work here and your job is restricted till providing details of the work, but can it be possible that you could help me out with selecting one such painting and an artist whom we could literally invite for the birthday and make him give the painting as a gift to my friend?"

I narrowed my eyes at her not at all believing the relation that she gave to me of theirs.

"Are you sure it's a friend?"

"Umm... yeah, obviously!" she exclaimed and began to fidget with her fingers. Though we were meeting for the first time, and technically she was my client, and I had to maintain certain decorum, but then again I was really thinking of going an extra mile and literally helping this poor soul out.

"Okay, I will help you out, but you need to know that we can work on it every day for an hour during my lunch or after I am off work..." she nodded her head, with her lips tucked under her teeth, her eyes wide open.

"No formal greetings, I would really like to be your friend."

"Ohh, my... so would I!" Tejal literally squealed in such a manner that we had a fare amount of people who were yet in the gallery giving us the weird looks as she hugged me.

"And sometime through this you are going to explain me this friend thing of yours...I am kind of sucker for dramatic – romantic stories." I winked at her, while a hue of pink spread across her cheeks with her mouth hanging open as she gaped at me.

"Why did I have to meet you?" she asked in exasperation.

"ohh please, when this whole thing will be over, I can assure you, this won't be the last thing that would say while leaving." Her eyebrows rose as she picked up her bag, ready to make her hauty exit.

"You will be all hugging me, claiming how much you loved me."

The hallway towards the exit was filled with two things that moment, our heels clicking and the laughter of our new friendship.

And did I say it felt good to finally have a new friend?

That night when I had walked into my home, I was met with my whole family sitting on the dining table. A huge smile spread out on my face as I quickly dumped my belongings on the sofa and yelled, "I will be back in 5 min!" though the living room was filled with chuckles, I felt my hands working on the speed of rocket.

"How was your day?" my dad asked, he had this small smile on his face. It seemed it had been a quite good day for him. As I let my wander off on the table I could see the same expression on everyone's face.

"It was amazing, but you guys tell me am I missing out on something?"

"ahh, noo... nothing, it was just that we thought maybe you would have grown up, now that you know... you have started to work and all?" Naveen teased, as my parents tried to hide the chuckles of their own.

"I didn't know you guys missed the kid inside me..." I squatted a bit towards Naveen and leaned into his ears, "promise you will be highly entertained from now on."

"Mitali, Bache it's nice that you come home late, sometimes graze your presence for dinner, we don't need any more entertainment from you."

"Why Bhai? And here I thought maybe it's been really been a while since I had last called up your girlfriends for you." Naveen's eyes narrowed at me as he took hold of his cell phone that was between the two of us and kept it back in his pocket.

"I do not have any girlfriend!", his statement surely made our parents laugh, but I had a different theory, no matter what the age gap, I Surely knew the knowhow of my brother.

"ohh really, than may be I heard someone else saying ' no baby we can go for a lunch if you want?'" and even if I sucked at mimicking his thick accented voice, I surely did succeeded in getting the real reaction from him.

With his cheeks flushed, his palm balled up in a fist he leaned in towards me and in a really low voice threatened me, "you are not allowed to enter my room."

"So you do not deny it?"

"Well, what can I say, believe what you want to?" He picked up the napkin and patted his lips to erase off any remnants of the food and looked back at me with that small smirk on his lips. "But pray tell me, what you have to say about that late night chat you and Jai had, he said you weren't convinced, I wonder why."

I wasn't ever dramatic until these friends of my brother had come into my life. The spoon that I had very well held fell off my fingers as soon as I heard Jai's name. But the question was, how the hell did my brother knew about this?

"How... how would –"

"How would I know?, well Jai is way mature and understanding than you, he came to me first, and thought it was better to let me know about things unlike you." the sarcastic smile that he gave me was chilling.

My brother surely knew how to play dirty.

But that wasn't the end of the confrontation; when my head moved up from my plate, my eyes were met with my dad's slight frown and my mom's raised eye brows as they stared down at me.

I had always had a clear chart when it came to boys. What all friends that I had were mostly none and the only friend that I had never would be in that radar. Hence even if I would have been a progressive parent, I would surely be concerned if not would like to know what was going on in my daughter's life.

With a small huff I picked up my spoon and filled it with a large amount of rice. "Jai might or might not have confessed that he likes me, though I would really like to know how the hell he could like me on our very first meet." With my eyes still glaring at my brother I filled my mouth with the huge amount of rice.

With the tension that had now filled in the room, my appetite for food had died away.

***

Later that night when I was in my room, sulking in my bed with the i-pad in my hand, I could clearly hear and see the door opening from the corner of my eyes, as well as I knew who could it really be.

We both were the products of same blood, hence I knew, I couldn't go long without apologizing if I had laid down one thing that I knew about my sibling is that he wouldn't as well.

Naveen's head peeked in as he smiled at me when I let my eyes wander off to the door for some time.

"You didn't sleep?" he asked, while I stayed mum. Making his way towards the bed he plopped down with a bounce and kept on staring at me to rile up some sort of reaction from me.

When that didn't happened, he leaned his back to the wall and went back to staring at me. "Mitali, you read the news and keep a track of the stock to make sure that I am doing fine and if I need you, I wouldn't have to seek you." Naveen pulled his legs to his stomach and crossed his hands over them. He then rested his head on it, with his face, facing mine.

"And I make sure that the people whom I trust the most know what kind of a person my sister is, who they will tend to meet at every corner of my life."

Confrontations, compliments and confessions... three things that began with 'C' were the ones that I suck at. I would either do something which I always did with my friends that is present certain valid excuses or just what I did today and back than with Jay, stay quite while pretending to do something really important while in reality the other person would have my complete attention.

And my brother surely knew this about me.

"I don't know how he came to like you, through my stories or was it really what people said love at first sight, but I know that you are very precious to me, and if any way I am saying this..."

My head turned sharply towards him as he gave me his softest smile, " Because I Know you and him, don't serve him with any stupid excuses, if he comes back to you again, just for the sake of his feelings give him a chance, see where this goes and if anything goes wrong, you just have to whisper my name..." he cupped my cheeks in his large hands and planted a kiss on my forehead and said,

"Best friend or not, I will surely kick his ass and cut off his balls for hurting you."

Though I Vince at the violent things Naveen promisedto do if this ... anything that it would be go wrong, But what mattered was, Iwas smiling, my brother was happy, my parents weren't as curious as earlier andmay be my brain was finally heeding to my pleading heart, as I began to thinkof this certain heir to the Kapadia industries that I knew off, as my brotherdozed off right beside me hogging most of the place for himself.

A/n 

My exams are having a very bad effect on me, I am stressed out as hell and than there are people as stupid as my class mates who keep on asking the answer for last fill up with the options already been provided. i dont understand why people cant just use some of their brains. 

well My leave my college life , it sucks pretty bad. 

lets talk about this chapter. 

how did you find Tejal? there is a very special reason why Tejal is there in this story, it would be understood in upcoming chapters. 

what do you think of Naveen and Mitali's relation? 

and lastly what do you think will Mitali will do about Jai?? 

Do share your views

also dont forget to share the story ahead with your other wattpad friends and to vote and comment 

happy reading 

Cuteminger A.K.A Yadni