Free When Hari Met His Saali by Harsh Warrdhan Page A

best event planners in the whole of California.’
    ‘Yes, yes. We want Mr. Minto then,’ Tia said eagerly.
    ‘As I said, he handles all the bookings and has the authority to make reservations. But he is in France until next week.’
    ‘Can we at least see the property?’ Tia asked.
    ‘I am afraid it won’t be possible. It’s against the club policy. You’ll just have to wait until Mr. Minto is back.’
    Mr. Belvedere, without relaxing the stiffness of his stance, motioned towards an associate who immediately came running over to them.
    ‘He’ll show you to your car.’
    Tia was already in love with the property and was disappointed that she couldn’t see it.
    ‘That’s it, Hari. We are going to have our engagement here,’ she announced.
    ‘Great, but don’t you want to wait until
Mr. Minto
shows you the whole place?’ Hari asked with as much enthusiasm as a fossil rock, and mocking Belvedere’s accent when he said ‘Mr. Minto’.
    Tia came closer to Hari and whispered in his ear. ‘Sources tell me that Jennifer and Brad got married here. Secretly, of course.’
    Hari looked at her like she was someone else. Which was not entirely wrong. Tia turned into a different personalities when it came to planning her engagement and wedding ceremonies — all of them hyper.
    ‘First of all, why are you whispering? Secondly, you know Brad left Jennifer right?’ Hari stated.
    ‘That’s a misrepresentation. It was Jen who left him.’
    They argued in the parking lot about whether the venue was suitable, until Tia put her foot down.
    ‘Listen, Hari Malhotra, this is where you and me are going to get engaged, and that’s decided. Whether or not you want to show up on the day is up to you!’
    ‘You look damn sexy when you are possessed. I was just messing with you. I don’t care for any particular venue’
    ‘Why don’t you care about these things, Hari?’ Tia was breathing fire and was close to tears.
    He was not sure if the possibility of such a beautiful venue was making her hyperventilate or what.
    ‘Tia, Tia … I am agreeing with you. Don’t tell me you are going to cry.’
    ‘Look Hari, I took the day off from work. We still have to go and decide on our outfits. There’s still an issue with the guest list … and … and …’
    ‘Shh, don’t worry. Give me the keys. I’ll drive. We’ll get everything done, OK?’
    Hari hugged Tia and she slowly calmed down. He hugged her more than usual because he didn’t want her to start crying, that could be a two-hour process to bring her back to normal.
    Their next stop was to Macy’s to look for her evening gown and a tuxedo for him for the engagement ceremony. For Hari, it was a nightmare. Tia, on the other hand, was giddy and excited. She was twirling around in dozens of dresses asking Hari for his opinion. They all looked same to him. So he used generic phrases that neither encouraged nor discouraged her.
    ‘Spectacular, but you think it’s worth
you
?’
    ‘I think for the price range, this one is the best buy. But do you really want to select the dress based on price?’
    By the nineteenth dress he was having fun and had already decided what to say before Tia came out of the changing room each time.
    ‘This is the one. The … the work on it is so detailed, but then again, do you want a simple, elegant one?’
    ‘I couldn’t have designed this any better, the only thing is your figure is better than the cut on the dress.’
    ‘You want to wear a cream-colored dress? Your call is all I am going to say.’
    Tia had decided that white was too boring and she was going to pick one in cream. After all those tries, finally, and astonishingly, Tia simply decided not to get one today and that she was going to come back with Jenny and pick one.
    She shouldn’t have ignored the time-tested wisdom: A bride should rarely (never!) take her fiancé to choose her wedding dress or the engagement gown.
    Of course she didn’t tell Hari that, but instead she