Warrior - Chapter Four

A rishta? For me?

Who the fuck is trying to die, as well as get their son killed?

Amma, Babuji, Payal, and I were all in the family room, Amma waiting anxiously for either her phone or the landline to ring. Her and Babuji sat together on the sofa, while Payal and I stood and watched her. While Amma tapped her foot impatiently, I tapped mine with annoyance.

Who the fuck is trying to die?

"Oh, why isn't she calling," Amma murmured, rocking back and forth in her seat.

I rolled my eyes. Ugh! For the love of....

"Relax, they'll call," Babuji said, hoping to calm her down.

Not that it did.

Suddenly Amma's phone began to ring and she snatched it up so quick, I barely even saw her do it.

Geez, Ma, chill out! Don't rush these peoples' death sentence!

"Oof! It's not them!"

"How do you know-?"

"Mrs. D'Souza gave me their number," Amma said, cutting Babuji off.

"And she didn't give a name? Who it is that wants our Khushi? Or at least the boy's name?"

"No! In all of the excitement, she didn't mention who!!!"

Well I can see why Amma is even more anxious than she should be. She doesn't even know who these - in her eyes - angels are.

"But why aren't- oh my gosh it's them," Amma squealed as her phone rang once more, her almost throwing it up in the air.

She quickly caught it and gripped the phone to her for a moment, trying to calm herself down. While Babuji tried to quickly calm her, I glanced at Payal, who was just as entertained as I was.

"Psst!"

Payal looked up at me.

"Bet you one Cartier love bracelet that it's some old, ugly mama's boy that can't get a girl to save his life," I smirked.

"Yellow gold, and you're on," she grinned.

Amma finally stopped being dramatic and took the call. "Hello?"

We couldn't hear what the person on the other side of the call said, but Amma's eyes lit up.

"Y-yes, this is she."

I don't know what this person said next, but Amma now looked like the breath had been sucked right out of her lungs.

Who the hell is this person? Wait, didn't Amma mention a she earlier? Who the hell is this lady that's asking for a death sentence?!

"O-oh... it's a pleasure to be speaking with you."

Huh?

The two continued to speak, but Amma gave basically no clue as to who the hell this woman is, nor who the broken old man she was trying to offer.

The nerve of people, honestly.

"Yes, of course," Amma beamed. "This Saturday, for brunch! ...great! We can't wait to meet you then!"

The call ended and Amma shot up and started shrieking like she was half of Payal's age.

"They're coming this Saturday! They're coming this Saturday!!!"

"Who," all three of us asked.

Amma came darting over to me and kissed my forehead before taking my hands in hers. "Everything is going to be better now, Khushi, everything is going to be so much better!"

"What-?"

But the woman zipped off to Babuji, cutting me off.

"We have to make sure that everything is perfect this Saturday! Make sure that we get some really great chefs, this cannot be screwed up!"

"But-"

Again, Amma didn't care to listen, cutting Babuji off and going to Payal.

"Payal, take your sister shopping and find the most amazing outfit you can that will blow them away!"

"I-"

Once again, Amma didn't care, and she called out to the maids and workers, telling them to all come to the foyer.

Geez Louise woman! What the hell is going on!

The three of us looked at each other in confusion, then made our way to the foyer.

"...and I want everything to be clean, absolutely spotless! We have to impress them!"

"Impress who," I said in exasperation.

Amma turned around to us. "The Raizada's!!!"

I could feel shock radiating off of Babuji and Payal, while Amma glowed up like she was a neon sign on some Las Vegas casino.

What the fuck?!

"The... the who," Babuji gasped.

"The Raizada's! The Raizada's!"

Babuji let out a scoff with disbelief, still very much stunned, a small grin on his face. Meanwhile, Payal was starting to bounce on her heels beside me, trying her best not to squeal, though I'm sure dogs all over town could hear it.

"But how-? I mean-! Amma, give us details," Payal exclaimed.

"Yes, I mean how... we don't even know them like that," Babuji said.

Well no duh! The Raizadas are the richest, not to mention the biggest family in town. Everyone knew who they were, and all the aunties could ever dream about was getting their daughters married to one of the three available Raizada bachelors.

And none of them were 50 year old mama's boys.

Payal moved closer to me. "By the way Di, you owe me a bracelet."

I glared at her but she didn't care.

"Apparently she was at the brunch at Mrs. Das' today!"

Okay, now I'm confused. Did she not see how I put that aunty in her place? Along with the others?

"She saw Khushi and thought that she was beautiful, and wanted to know who she was, and that's when Mrs. D'Souza told her who she was, and she asked Mrs. D'Souza to reach out to us to see if we were interested!"

"But who," Babuji asked.

"Yeah Amma," Payal said, "which of the Raizada's was it?"

Payal was asking the right questions. After all, there's three Raizada seniors, which meant three different Mrs. Raizada's.

Not to mention each Mrs. Raizada had a son of her own.

"It was Shalini Singh Raizada," Amma squealed.

All three of us were totally floored! I mean Payal's knees actually gave out on her and she grabbed onto me.

Such a drama queen, I know, but I can also understand... just not as dramatically.

Shalini Singh Raizada is the eldest Mrs. Raizada, wife of Mr. Aryan Singh Raizada and mother of Arnav Singh Raizada - CEO of AR Group of Industries. Everyone knew who Shalini was, from the old and crippled, down to the little babies. I mean her charity functions and galas were always so extravagant, always helping those in need.

"Now do you understand why this Saturday has to be absolutely perfect," Amma exclaimed.

"Heck yeah," Payal hollered. "Don't you worry about a thing Amma, I will make sure Di looks absolutely stunning!"

"And I will make sure to get you those chefs," Babuji said, and he left to his study.

Amma let out another squeal of joy and came up to me, hugging me. "I told you things were going to get better. I knew things were going to get better!"

She placed another kiss on my forehead and wandered off, having the maids follow her.

While everyone was dashing off to their own thing in excitement, I remained rooted to the ground.

What the actual fuck is going on?