VK personally sought permission from the resort’s chef to let Mishti use their kitchen. The staff not only agreed but even helped her gladly with the ingredients.
Karan, who was aware of all of this, was completely taken aback by Mishti’s eagerness, by the effort she put in, not just for one person, but for the entire family and the guests, on such a large scale.
Finally, it was time for dinner.
The gathering included mostly Rajat’s aunts, cousins, and a handful of very close family friends. As everyone settled around the dining table, Karan deliberately left the seat beside him empty.
When Abhimanyu moved to take it, Karan stopped him with a stern glance.
“Take the opposite seat,” he said evenly. “The one next to me is reserved for Mishti.”
Mishti, who wasn’t too far away and was lovingly serving bowls of gajar ka halwa around the table, heard him. She realised the table was fully occupied by now, and knowing Karan had left a seat next to him reserved for her was really a gesture she hadn’t expected.
She continued serving everyone. When she reached Kanika, Kanika refused, claiming she didn’t want to indulge in so many calories.
Mishti smiled, didn’t react, and simply moved on to the next person.People had already begun eating, enjoying the spread, relishing the food, when Mishti finally placed a bowl on the plate set beside Karan’s seat, for her, and then set the remaining tray of bowls on the table in front of her. Shedid notserve the bowl to Karan.
Everyone seemed immersed in the meal. Everyone except Avni, who noticed immediately that Mishti hadn’t served Karan a bowl of gajar ka halwa.
And strangely, even though Avni still carried her own unresolved feelings toward her brother, this didn’t sit right with her at all. She looked up at Mishti and almost casually pointedout. “I think you forgot to serve dessert to everyone,” she said, glancing at Karan once.
Mishti hadn’t expected that. Neither had Karan.
Yet she cleared her throat and smiled lightly at Avni before replying, “I’ve heardhedoesn’t like sweets.”
Karan, who had been quietly eating, looked at Mishti then, but she kept her gaze lowered and began eating her own meal. Avni, though unconvinced, let it pass and turned back to Rajat, resuming their conversation. That was when Karan leaned closer to Mishti and whispered, meant only for her ears, “Some choices change with time.”
Before she could react, he reached over, picked up the bowl Mishti had served for herself, and began eating the gajar ka halwa from it, one spoon at a time.
Mishti froze.
This was the second time he was eating something she had cooked with such fondness.
The first time flashed vividly in her mind: him sneaking into the kitchen at the Wadhwa mansion in the middle of the night, eating her food in hiding, only for her to catch him later. That night had ended in a kiss she still hadn’t forgotten.
A warm flush crept up her face as she watched him finish the bowl… and then reach for another from the tray she had placed on the table.
Karan almost dragged his tongue over his lower lip before turning to Mishti who was already staring at him, stunned.
He leaned just enough so only she could hear as he murmured, “This muchMishti… this kind of sweetness… is exactly what I need to stay sane.”
The words were meant only for her, and they landed exactly where he intended. Mishti had to press her legs together as something curled deep inside her, triggered by the way he had said her name.
Thankfully, Komal and Abhimanyu, seated close by, interrupted with some comment, pulling the moment apart. Mishti forced herself to look away, refusing to focus on the man beside her…not even when he picked up a third bowl of gajar ka halwa, as if fully intent on finishing the entire tray, determined to prove just how much he loved it.
And her.
****************
Dinner had concluded, and the guests slowly began to disperse once again, spreading out across the venue, some lounging comfortably, others chatting in small groups. A few, like Rajat’s close aunt Meena Aunty, had already slipped into matchmaking mode.
Karan stood nearby, engaged in conversation with Rajat, when Meena Aunty suddenly pulled Avni and Mishti toward her. She was all praise for Mishti’s gajar ka halwa, and before long, the compliments turned into questions—what Mishti did, where she lived in London, the usual curious inquiries that followed.
Karan sensed instantly where this was heading. But he stayed where he was. Avni was part of that conversation, and the last thing he wanted was for her to suspect anything.
Mishti, unaware of the brewing direction, responded politely and cheerfully to Meena Aunty’s questions. That was when Meena Aunty turned to Avni and said,
“You know, beta… I’m still looking for a good bride for my son, Manav.”
