Love Finds a Way !!!

Chapter 31

Aarav watched his mother walk in with Chitra. He watched his mother quickly take in who all occupied the room with him. But it never reflected on her face just her eyes as they moved from one face to the other. She walked up to him and he kissed her cheek and hugged her before she nodded her head in the direction of Dhruv and went on to sit on the arm chair. Chitra was as usual more open with her warmth had hugged Aarav then Dhruv and then sat on the couch. Virendra followed in with a pensive expression on his face nodding at Aarav and ignoring both Dhruv and Palak. He took a stand by the couch. Tanish sauntered in with his hands in his pockets and then quickly narrowed his gaze taking in the two new people who stood in the room. Lastly, Shilpa walked in with her nose in the air clad in her designer sari looking as beautiful as she had twenty years ago.

"What's the occasion?" she asked as she walked in then slowed her gait as she saw Dhruv standing there in his Sherwani with a girl. She quickly narrowed her eyes as she took in the girl's appearance. She was a pretty girl dressed a bit festively if one was to ask her. Who was she? And what was she doing standing next to Dhruv? Though she did look a bit classy in what she wore or how she looked. There was another girl who stood in front of Dhruv. She was rather plain and very simply dressed too. She quickly dismissed the two with a shake of her head.

"Won't you take a seat aunty?" Aarav said as he smiled politely, "I wanted to introduce someone to you all," Aarav said continuing politely, "but before that meet Miss Kanak Sharma," he said keeping his tone neutral and Kanak took a step forward and folded her hands in greeting.

Kanak had felt uncomfortable meeting Virendra Singhania a few hours ago but now standing before Aarav's entire family she was ready to faint. They were for lack of a better phrase a league apart. Confidence and class oozed from every single one of them. It was as if they were a whole new species of human beings present in this room. And Kanak felt the urge to gulp. She didn't know who was who as of now, except for Mr. Virendra Singhania and she hoped Aarav would introduce the family members to her too. But if she was to take a wild guess who Dhruv's mother was out of the three ladies present she would wager on the last one who had come in. The haughty look on her face as she had looked down her nose at Kanak and Palak was enough indication that the woman was probably who Kanak thought she was.

"Kanak," Aarav went on, "this is my mother Rohini Singhania," he said and Kanak smiled a little. The woman nodded her head at her. Aarav didn't look a bit like his mother. Maybe he was on his father. Aarav's mother was about as tall as she was with short wavy hair. She was wearing a black and gold silk sari with a pair of diamond earrings, a gold chain in her neck and a thin delicate gold bracelet watch on her left wrist. She looked regal and sophisticated. Strangely, Kanak didn't find any form of disdain or any other negative emotion on her face. She sat in one of the arm chairs with her right leg crossed over her left and the fall of her sari draped perfectly over them. She seemed to be observant but besides that nothing else. She sat there calm and serene. Kanak did wonder where Aarav's father was.

"This is my youngest aunt Chitra Singhania," he introduced the woman in a peach chiffon suit and Kanak smiled again bending her head a little and she found Chitra smiling at her and that made Kanak feel a bit better. There was a gentle expression on her face and Kanak found her eyes to be really kind and her smile infectious. Chitra Singhania's smile put Kanak at ease but it was soon going to be short lived. However, Kanak did wonder how many aunts did Aarav have?

"This is my youngest cousin Tanish," he said in a clipped tone and Kanak's eyes turned towards the younger man. He stood there behind where Chitra sat. According to the introduction Kanak had deduced he was Chitra's son. There was a slight resemblance too. But she couldn't make head or tail of that ****y smile he passed her. And she almost frowned. He wore a navy blue polo neck t shirt with white checkered cargo shorts. Complete with blue sport shoes and white socks. His hair was styled towards the side. But he seemed to be really comfortable with what he was wearing and how he looked. And Kanak realized that good looks ran in the family genes. He was a very handsome man though not as handsome as Aarav according to her. He inclined his head at her and she responded with a tentative smile. There was something about the way he was looking at her that unnerved her. Who else had the habit of being so obvious? Of course, the man who stood next to her right now. What a similarity between cousins. They must be close Kanak thought. Dhruv was probably the only brother who was a bit different.