Page 33 of That Same Old Love

“Have my husband kick her out from there, making it obvious to her that her games won’t work on him,” Vani replied.

“Good decision, Vani. Very good decision. You heard her, Mahi. Now you can either leave on your own steam or we will have to wait until we find Sidhu to throw you out. But he might be busy mingling with theinvitedguests.” Disha’s voice was cold.

Vani looked shocked.

Mahi had been watching Ananya all the while, when her friend was tearing her apart and insulting her. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Ananya. I can’t say it wasn’t deliberate at that time, but all I can say is that I’m not the same person anymore.”

“Stop your drama, Mahi. And while you are here, maybe we should ask you to stay away from Samrat too. He would never be interested in you. Maybe you think it’s easy to trap him, but he is really interested in someone else for keeps. Someone more suited to him.”

Mahi ignored Disha and continued to look at Ananya. “I haven’t deliberately sought out Srishti and would never harm her or let anyone harm her.”

Ananya felt uneasy in her stomach, as though whatever was happening was wrong. She even felt sorry for Mahi, but she held back. She had confided everything to Disha the previous day. So she had already known that her friend would rip Mahi apart and drive home the message to stay away from her family. But Mahi had been so quiet all the time. The old Mahi would have turned aggressive and challenged them, or even mocked them. She would never have apologized.

“Wow. Really Oscar worthy,” Disha continued. “And you haven’t really commented on leaving Samrat alone.” She looked at another woman at the table. “Don’t worry, Preethu. Samrat would never go for trash and he loves talking to Varun.”

“Disha… Samrat and I are not together. We have just met a few times in some parties, that’s all. And Varun is pretty friendly with everyone.” The other woman’s tone was uncomfortable.

“Oh, come on. Anyone with eyes can see that you both are meant for each other. Anu likes you too and so do her parents. Who wouldn’t? You are beautiful and successful, and not a washed up or a used up immoral person who involves children in her schemes. I can confidently say that Samrat hates Mahi.”

Everyone was quiet at that statement.

Disha looked at something behind Mahi. “Anu’s family is heading our way. Mahi, seriously, we would rather avoid a scene in the party. So please get out of here, right now.”

Having heard enough, Mahi got up, “I’m really sorry about what I did Ananya, and the only reason I’ve come here was to apologize. I know it’s difficult to forget, but please try and forgive me.” She was about to step away when something crashed into her.

It was a tray that held drinks. Mahi’s cream colored dress was covered with red wine, some rose scented drinks and lots of other drinks that were luckily all cold. The front of her dress was wet and almost clinging to her transparently.

The server looked distraught and was picking up the glasses quickly. He also wondered why one of the guests signaled him to their table and then pushed the tray on another guest.

Disha told him it was okay, and asked him to go away to continue serving drinks to other guests. “Oh no. Look what happened. Now Mahihasto leave. How sad.”

Preethi got up immediately with a napkin to offer Mahi, but Disha dragged her down. “Leave it Preethu. She’s not worth helping.”

No one else from the table moved or offered to help.

“Mahi! Are you okay?” Sidhu asked.

“I’m… fine, Sidhu. It was just an accident. I wasn’t watching where I was going, that’s all.” She was trying to pull her dress from sticking to her skin and it was a losing battle.

Ananya’s mother offered her shawl. “Here, you can use this.” She placed the shawl around Mahi. “Your name sounds familiar.”

“Oh, she was your neighbor, Aunty,” Disha informed. “Don’t you remember? The same girl who had falsely accused Samrat of cheating during our college.” Disha was outraged of the attention Mahi was receiving from Ananya’s husband and parents.

Ananya’s mother was quiet as she assessed Mahi. “Oh, I remember you now,” she softly said. “How have you been? Convey my regards to your parents. And Mahi… it’s okay to get stains on the shawl. I have another one that’s exactly the same.” She smiled gently at Mahi.

Mahi felt humbled by the woman in front of her whom she had inadvertently caused much grief. “Thank You.”

“Did you drive here, Mahi?” Sidhu remembered that Mahi never drove during their college days. He usually drove her and sometimes their friends around.

“No. But I’ll call a taxi service. They are pretty efficient. You all should go or you might keep Srishti waiting for her performance.”

“There is no need for a taxi. We have several drivers available. I can ask one of them to drop you home. Let me find one.”

At Sidhu’s offer, Samrat intervened. “Sidhu, you should all go now. I can find a driver to take Mahi home. I’ll join everyone in a few minutes.”

Sidhu nodded and led the group at the table back into the main hall.

CHAPTER 10

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