Chapter 16 — She Executes Plans

Three days later, on Wednesday, Sanaya was over excited about the surprise she had planned for Randhir and Sanyukta. She had told all her friends what the plan was. Her friends included Juan, Laura, Myra, Joy, Arjun, and Kritika. They had told everyone else in the office that they were throwing a long weekend party that included a surprise. People were excited because a free party meant free music, fun, and free booze. The party was going to be held in the community hall of the RCIBMT campus.

She was excited. No one was talking about the anniversary in the office; all they knew was there was a party. Of course, they were asking each other if they'd be going.

"I can't wait to see their reactions!" Sanaya spoke excitedly.

She was sitting beside Myra in the restro at lunchtime that day. Sanyukta and Randhir were sitting privately on a table, having their food. The rest of the gang was sitting on the counter far away.

"You are excited as if it's your own anniversary." Arjun rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Kritika, we can throw a party like this on our anniversary too!" Joy grinned at Kritika, who was sitting beside him.

She choked on the food she was having, "Let us get married first. We aren't even engaged yet." Kritika said after gulping down the food as her boyfriend patted her back, soothing her from the choking.

"Of course." Joy winked.

"I had to do something for them, Arjun. Of course, I am excited. They're my best friends." Sanaya snorted.

Myra fixed her spectacles, "I agree. They are always high on work. It's time they got some free time and had fun."

"The bummer is we had to tell Vardhan, Abhay and Nirman, though." Juan shrugged.

Laura nodded, "Well, we didn't have the choice. If we didn't reveal what the party was for, the company wouldn't have given us the space to use. They had to get permission from HR."

"They're so in love!" Sanaya said with a dreamy look in her eyes as she looked at Randhir and Sanyukta in the corner, smiling about something, "They deserve every happiness in the world." She spoke out loud, and everyone sitting there seemed to agree.

* * *

"Are you going to the party?" Sanaya asked one of her co-workers, Upasana, later that day.

"Yes," the soft-spoken girl replied back, "Can I bring my fiancé?" She asked, blushing profusely.

"Of course. How long have you known your fiancé?" Sanaya asked as she looked at the plants in front of her.

That day she was working in the greenhouse, the place was devoid of artificial air conditioning, and it was her ultimate place of comfort — amongst plants. She would be preparing some slides of tissues soon after and take them to the lab to check those. But before she did that, she wanted to spend some time in the greenhouse.

"Since High School," Upasana replied, still blushing a hue of red.

"Love?"

The girl nodded.

Sanaya smiled, "You are lucky."

"Maybe."

"You are."

"Why do you think so?" She asked softly.

Sanaya shrugged, "You found love in a hopeless place."

Upasana giggled, "High School isn't hopeless."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh yes, it is! It was always just... study this and study that. You can't go out or hang out, and if you do... then, people will shout at you, saying that you are neglecting your studies. If you have a boyfriend, then people judge you. If you hug a guy, you are character-less. Some people are always bitching about you. What you do, what you wear, what you study, what you post... anything you do is someone else's business. Friends dump you, they leave you, they judge you, behave rudely with you, they look down upon you... so yes, high school is a hopeless place."

Sanaya's colleague stared at her with a polite smile on her face. No one who knew her was oblivious about Sanaya's tendency to ramble in monologues.

"I'm sorry about rambling again." Sanaya sighed an apology.

"It doesn't matter," Upasana waved off, "But somewhere, it's true. Maybe I did get lucky."

Sanaya smiled and nodded in her direction, "Is your fiancé coming here for the weekend?"

The girl beside her nodded, "He is. He doesn't get holidays. He doesn't have one this weekend also, but..." She blushed.

"Go on," Sanaya prodded, "I'm all ears."

She didn't have a love story to share, and she didn't want one. But Sanaya was a sucker for love stories around her. She could go on and on, talking to a person she had never met in her life before, for hours. To her, life was all about knowledge, love, relationships and interaction with people — be it anyone.

"He is taking a holiday for me after half a year, travelling from Delhi to here just to meet me. I don't want to m-" she cleared her throat, "miss out on a second with him."

"You love him a lot."

She nodded shyly.

"You don't have to come to the party tomorrow, you know?" Sanaya smiled.

"I might be... quiet, but Kabir loves to socialize. We have till Monday. He is coming tonight. So yes, we have plenty of time."

"Maybe he is not coming here to socialize. He wants to spend time with you."

"Then we can always sneak away." She giggled.

This quiet woman, who was indeed a little older than Sanaya, was in a long-distance relationship on the verge of getting married to her High School sweetheart, Sanaya thought. Upasana was brave and did have a humorous bone in her body. Her last sentence proved so.

Sanaya finished her job quickly that day and called up everyone again to recheck upon plans. She called the cake shop, rechecked the details and as well as with the decorators.

Sanaya believed she had too much money in her hand than what she required. It wasn't even necessary, but this was an occasion she could spend on. Sanyukta and Randhir would intrude and pay her back some of the amounts. Something that she never liked, but she had learned to cope with them.

They let her did what she wanted, and in turn, she accepted some of their terms.

Sometimes she felt, only if she had someone to love without those terms. A relationship wherein she could lose her heart, depend on and trust the person without anticipating if the person would come and hurt her in a way that would break her into pieces.

But the past had made her raise up the guard; she never let it down. Especially when it came to matters of the heart.

Right then, her heart belonged to her friends. People she could trust.

Only if... in future she could find a trust which would be romantically viable too.

But now, she was busy executing plans — plans that would change her own future unknowingly.

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This chapter might feel like a filler but believe me it's not. It's important for Sanaya's character. To understand her.

Vote and comment!!!

Love,
Dee.