The Big Swap - Part 41

~FORTY ONE~

Vedant stirred the freshly chopped onions on the oil-stained stove expertly and sniffed at the spectacular aroma. Humming to himself, he then fished for the garlic and began chopping them into fine pieces.

"I didn't know you liked to cook." Gaurav affirmed with a smirk, as he bit onto a fresh and juicy looking apple.

Vedant grinned with a shrug, "Just something I picked up from my girlfriend. Her cooking is phenomenal."

The response came with a chuckle, "Well, so is my wife's, but that never inspired me to switch places."

Gaurav was one of the senior CAs working in the Audit with them. Rather short, but with an extremely well-maintained physique, he easily was the kind to make heads turn. Sadly, his rigid personality always tilted his attractive features to the negative side.

"I...don't know what to say man."

"I'll tell you what." Gaurav started.

Vedant turned towards him with curiosity, "Take it from a happily married man for five years now, never praise your girlfriend's cooking to your Mother."

"Yeah? Iske itne bhi bure din nahi aaye that he'll take advice from you bro."

Vedant let out a laugh, watching his other new peer, Keshav walk in with a smug grin.

"Haan haan tu ne bade jhande gaad liye with women. I've been married to Shikha for five years no-"

"-and he's been with Meera for five years too. I'm sure your advice is the last thing he needs. Now, if you'll let him work in peace, we'll actually get our first decent homely meal since the Audit." Keshav cut hastily.

Gaurav rolled his eyes irritably, before strutting out of the kitchen. Keshav shook his head, with a light mumble, "He's such a work of art."

"You don't say."

Vedant's phone screen lit up at that, as he wiped his hand on a towel next to him. Sliding through the video call accept button, he started,

"Ma? What's up?"

Mrs. Shah smiled brightly. "Kem chhe tu? You don't call only Vedant."

He sighed, watching Keshav leave the kitchen with a teasing smirk.

"You know my odd work hours Ma. Barely get enough time to sleep."

Mrs. Shah shook her head dismissively, before her brows creased with confusion, "Is that...an apron you're wearing?"

Vedant looked down, before feeling a blush creep up to his cheeks.

"Uh...yeah. I offered to cook the Sunday lunch for us."

"Us?"

"Yeah I'm over at a friend's place."

She nodded sceptically, "Single chhe?"

Vedant's brows creased. Why were they pretending like Meera wasn't in the picture? "Chokro chhe Ma. Unless of course, you want to find out for Vidis-"

Even before he would finish his sentence he heard a screechy yell slice through the phone, "SHUT UP BHAI!"

Mrs. Shah laughed, as did Vedant, before saying, "One second Ma. Let me place the phone here, don't want the sabzi to get burnt."

"Hmm. What are you cooking?"

"Nothing special. Paneer Bhurji and we're ordering paranthas from a local store. Not good with paranthas yet." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I'm surprised you know how to cook Paneer Bhurji Vedant."

Even though she said no more, he could sense an implying indication towards a topic that included Meera. This was strange.

His Mother had known about Meera for years now, and if not actively encouraging, she'd never seemed so on edge about things either. Something was bothering her, and he wondered how to ask her what.

"Did uh...Meera happen to call?"

The expression change on her face was hard to place, and Vedant turned towards the paneer as he threw them into the frying mixture to give her time.

"Yeah. She's coming over in the evening today."

He nodded.

"She...didn't tell you?" she probed cautiously.

"We've not been able to talk that well lately, what with her Dadi in the hospital and all."

Mrs. Shah's brows creased again, as he watched her shake out of some thought she clearly tried hard to keep within. "Oh yes. How is she now?"

"The last time I spoke to her she said Dadi's stable. Baaki, you ask her when she comes."

Testing waters with his Mum was so tough, especially since not more than once, she'd seemed like a splitting image of Meera with her calculative demeanour. But this time, she looked a little lost and seemed unfazed by his statement.

"Is everything okay, Ma?"

She looked up to him at that, before forcing a smile. "You really love her, don't you?"

Where did that come from suddenly?

"Yes."

Mrs. Modi looked away again.

"Something's clearly bothering you Ma."

"If I tell you something, will you promise to keep your love for her aside and think rationally?"

Nothing about her disposition sounded good to Vedant. He instantly turned off the gas, and placed a lid on the half cooked sabzi before heading into a more quiet part of Keshav's house. After plugging in his earphones he began,

"Tell me."

"Do you know...Dr. Gandhi?"

Vedant's brows scrunched up, a little surprised at her knowledge of the subject. "Kanan, you mean?"

"You know him?"

He nodded, "We used to play football together. Eventually he got busy with the whole medicine thing."

His Mother didn't respond.

"Ma look, if this is about Meera and Kanan...I know. I'm not sure if Meera would want me to tell you this, but I see no point keeping it from you. Meera and Kanan have dated before. Much before I came into the picture. And Kanan has always been more than just a friend to Meera. They've...practically grown up together-"

"-so it doesn't bother you?"

Where was she headed with this?

"Should it?"

"I...I don't want to jump to conclusions. But at my age, you have to understand that sometimes, some things...seeing them at face value is enough to give a lot of insight. And I can't stand anyone toying with your feelings Vedant. You're my son."

He didn't understand what she was talking about. But it didn't sound good to him.

"What did you see, Ma?"

She gazed his way unmovingly for a few quiet seconds.

"Dr. Gandhi is definitely not over Meera, Vedant. And somewhere, somehow...I think Meera isn't either."

His heart skipped a beat, his world already seemingly paused.

"What did you see, Ma?"

Mrs. Shah said nothing.

His eyes narrowing at her with question, heartbeat now quickened with an accompanied adrenaline rush, he repeated, "WHAT did you see Ma?"

"She embraced him, in the middle of the hospital floor. And it was definitely not the kind of a hug two friends exchange."

Bile rose to his throat, as he tried to be rational and reason things. They were meeting after years, surely a hug couldn't mean anything.

But that was the thing about doubt, if it housed itself in your head once, it never quite got out ever again. He was already getting unimaginably disturbing visuals.

Stop it Vedant. Stop doubting her. This is Meera we're talking about.

"I trust her, Ma. So..."

"Of course you do. I bet she doesn't understand the gravity of the situation herself. She's always so busy with her own unimaginably high career goals she's set for herself, I hardly think she's ever sat down to rationalize her thoughts."

"I don't know what to say, Ma. I love her. And while I respect everything you just said, I know her. If she would've felt anything along those lines, she would've talked to me."

"Are you saying that to me, or are you saying that to yourself Vedant?"

The second's hand of the clock ticked in the quiet room. Was any of this possible? She'd looked so sure about her feelings when she'd opened up about Kanan. She'd looked him in the eye and for the first time said the three words to him like she meant it with every fibre of her being.

Was his Mother right after all?

"I try Vedant, but I can't seem to trust Meera's judgement on this one bit."

He blinked, his hand trembling suddenly. Even the thought of Meera considering leaving him churned his insides and froze the World over for him.

You'll always be my number one.

I admit that what him and I felt for each other was something special too. I will never stop caring for him, but I love YOU, Vedant.

Two seconds of silence and one deep gulp later, he found himself respond, "Then trust me and trust my judgement, Ma."

"Vedant you promised me you would keep your feelings aside and rationali-"

"-I know what I said and I will try. But you have to promise me that you'll not let her get even an inkling of what you saw when she comes over today. Promise me you'll be nice and make her comfortable. I want her to feel at home, I want her to want to come back again. I want to marry her Ma."

Mrs. Shah gazed his way disapprovingly, more worried than angry at realizing that Meera had become more of a weakness than a strength for Vedant. 

She wanted to disagree, wanted to tell him to be more cautious, but found herself stop anyway. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was Vedant's love for Meera. If she made him happy the way she clearly did, Mrs. Shah was going to try to help with making things work between the two too. It was worth giving a shot, for her son's sake.

At last, letting out a deep sigh she mumbled, "I promise."

continued... The Big Swap - Part 42