23. Chaos

Author's POV

Half an hour later, the three boys stood by the kitchen counter with zero progress and a dozens of recipe videos in their Youtube history.

"Drop the idea already, Naman. We don't even have all these ingredients!", said Siddharth.

Rishi opposed him, "No way. We're not backing down after watching so many videos. Come on, guys, the ingredients can be ordered online!"

Siddharth glared at him, "Says the one who was busy munching on chips the whole time."

Rishi rolled his eyes, but before he could retort, Naman intervened, "Rishi is right. We have to make this. I am ordering the ingredients."

Naman quickly ordered the ingredients and until then, they shuffled around the kitchen to find the already available ingredients.

Soon, the doorbell rang. Radhika stood up to open the door but before she could reach for the door handle, Rishi stood between her and the door with his usual flirty smile, "Don't trouble yourself, honey. I've got this."

Radhika shrugged and walked back to where she was sitting on the couch, though she was pretty curious to know why he didn't let her open the door. The three girls watched as Rishi took the delivery and how he was trying to hide it from them. Ruhi and Radhika's eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion but Rishi paid no heed to them and rushed back to the kitchen.

Back in the kitchen, Siddharth and Naman were already taking the measurements of the flour.

"It says we have to take 1 cup of the flour, but they didn't even mention the size of the cup!", Siddharth complained.

Naman shook his head at the complaint and took out a medium sized cup from the drawer. Together, they added the flour, ghee, curd and saffron in a bowl.

"Now gradually add water into it while I whisk it. Until then, Rishi, you keep the milk on the stove. Boil in until it becomes one third.", Naman ordered both of them.

Siddharth added water only when Naman asked while Rishi stood by the stove to keep an eye on the milk.

Everything was going just fine.

In the living room, the girls' suspicion only grew with every passing second, or maybe they had nothing else to think about.

"I smell something suspicious, girls.", said Ruhi.

"And I smell the boiling of the milk.", Aditi replied, "What, guys? They are just making something and they want to surprise us. What's the big deal?"

Radhika completely ignored her, "Something is definitely fishy."

Ruhi leaned in, her voice lowering down to a whisper, "What do you say? Should I go and check?"

"Chill yaar, Ruhi, nothing-", Radhika interrupted Aditi, "Yes, you should go right away."

Ruhi nodded in agreement and went towards the kitchen.

"This milk is taking too much time to boil!", Rishi whined.

"You know you can increase the flame if you make sure it does not get boiled over.", Naman suggested.

Rishi immediately turned the gas flame to the fullest. 

"Add just a little water now.", Naman asked Siddharth.

Just as Siddharth tilted the jug to pour the water, they heard a voice, "What's going on, guys?"

As soon as he heard Ruhi's voice, his attention went to her, and in a moment of complete disaster, he tilted the jug a little too much and the batter was flooded with water.

Naman hissed, "Siddharth, what are you doing?!", he then eyed Rishi to go and engage with Ruhi so that she doesn't peep into their work. 

Before Ruhi could walk any closer to the kitchen counter, Rishi was standing in front of her, "Hey Ruhi! How do we have the pleasure to have you here?", he added a nervous laugh at the end of the question.

Ruhi crossed her arms, "What are you guys doing?"

On other side of the kitchen, Naman was in panic mode as he added more flour to balance the water. Beside him, Siddharth stood annoyed that she ruined his concentration by her presence, "We are dancing!", he answered.

Ruhi made a face, "Ha ha, very funny."

She then tried to step forward but Rishi immediately blocked her, "You can't come any forward."

Ruhi raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"It's a secret."

"What is a secret?"

"The thing that we are making."

"And what is that?"

"A secret."

"What secret?"

"The secret that is being cooked!"

"What is being cooked?"

"A sec-"

"Rishi!", Siddharth shouted, "Stop with this loop. And Ruhi, stop being so nosy, will you?"

Ruhi rolled her eyes, "Am I speaking to you? No, right? Then mind your own business."

"Yeah, tell that to yourself. Mind your own business.", Siddharth snapped back.

Ruhi pointed a finger at him, "Don't you tell me what to do and what not to!"

Siddharth, trying to make a point, decided to copy her. He started to raise his hand and-

SPLASH!

His hand hit the jug, and it fell down, water spilling all over the floor.

Ruhi let out a low whistle, clearly amused.

Naman, who was trying to control his nerves, turned to Siddharth, his frustration clearly visible. Before he could say anything, Siddharth raised his hands in surrender, "I- I'll clean it right away."

He grabbed the mop from the corner and started cleaning the floor hurriedly. The mop stick wandered dangerously close to the counter where all the ingredients were kept.

Naman noticed this.

"Siddharth-" before he could complete the sentence, the stick hit the flour packet, thrashing it sideways. The flour fell all over the kitchen counter and on Naman's apron. The impact somehow also reached the saffron bottle kept there and all the saffron fell on the floor.

Ruhi gasped, "Saffron is expensive!"

Naman took a deep breath and then-

The milk boiled over.

"OUT!"

In no time, the kitchen was empty other than Naman and the chaos around him.

Naman looked around the kitchen- at the horror they had turned the kitchen into. Water on the floor along with a sprinkle of saffron floating above it, flour all over the counter, the batter turned liquid, the boiled over milk. Naman felt like crying.

"Mummyyyyyy!"

Aditi and Radhika straightened as the three of them rushed out of the kitchen along with the sound of a whiny cry that followed them.

Siddharth looked guilty. Ruhi and Rishi were confused whether to laugh or regret.

There was a silence as they settled down on the couches. Radhika and Aditi shared a glance.

Aditi asked, "What happened?"

Rishi cleared his throat, "You might want to check on Naman. He might just be traumatized."

"What? Why?"

Ruhi sighed, "You'll see for yourself."

Aditi's brows furrowed in confusion, "Okay."

As soon as she entered, she gasped in horror. Naman stood in the middle of the kitchen, just like they left him. He hadn't moved at all, and his face, his face looked like he was going to cry at any moment. 

Naman looked up at the sound, his shoulders sagged in defeat, "Aditi... I - I don't think I'll be able to make your favorite-"

Aditi cut him off, "You were making jalebi?"

Naman looked down as he nodded, "And rabdi. I thought I could do it but-"

"You remembered?", she asked, surprised, "I don't even remember telling you."

Naman chuckled despite the situation, "You didn't. You told it to Divya when we went to old jalebi wala the first time."

Aditi stared at him in shock, "You can't be real. That was 6 years ago! How can you still remember it?"

Naman just shrugged, a sheepish smile forming on his face. 

Aditi moved closer, careful not to slip. Naman's smile faded as he looked at the floor again.

Aditi was about to say something when he said, "I am sorry, Adi."

She frowned, "What? Why?"

He didn't meet her eyes, "What's the use of remembering it if I can't even make it. You were angry at me, and I couldn't even do this much to cheer you up. I am s-"

She placed a finger on his lips, "Don't you dare say sorry, Naman."

She then moved her finger to his chin and tilted his head so that he'd look at her, "Look at me."

When he finally met her eyes, all he saw was softness in them.

Her voice felt soothing as she spoke, "First of all, I don't care about the jalebi or rabdi or whatever. All that matters is that you tried. And secondly, I wasn't even really angry at you. I was just pulling your leg. If I had known that you'll go to this extent for my forgiveness, then I wouldn't have done that at all. How can I even be angry at you, Naan? So, now stop spiraling like these jalebis and give me a smile."

Naman stared at her, a small, relieved smile forming on his face, "So, you are not angry at me?"

Aditi rolled her eyes, "Do you think I am some drama queen who'd get angry at small things?"

Naman immediately raised his hands in surrender, a chuckle escaping his mouth at her attempt to lighten his mood, "Not at all." 

His laughter subsided into a sigh. They stared at each other as the moment stretched longer than necessary. Aditi found herself unable to take her eyes off his face.

How can someone be so good to her, she thought. Her own parents didn't care about her as much as he did. Yes, he was good at cooking, but still, trying to make such a difficult recipe just for her, even remembering her favorite dish when she hadn't even told him about it, was too overwhelming for her. 

She had had feelings for him for a long time, but today, seeing him in sorrow just because he couldn't make some jalebis, she knew. She knew that he would go to any extent just to see a smile on her face. 

And as she stared into his black orbs, she became sure. 

She became sure that he was the one and that she was completely and utterly in love with him.

For Naman, it was not just a recipe gone wrong, it was a failure for him. Even though she said she didn't care about it, he wanted to make it. Because he promised her that he would. 

And her Naan would never break a promise he made to his Adi.

The moment was short lived as they heard hushed voices from outside the kitchen.

"Do you think they are going to kiss now?", Ruhi whispered to the others as they all peeked inside the kitchen. 

"Don't you think we should give them some privacy?", Siddharth asked while hypocritically peeking inside himself.

Radhika shushed them, "Keep quiet both of you!"

After hearing the voices, Aditi finally looked away, stepping back, her face turning red.

Noticing this, Rishi said, "I think they heard you guys."

Naman shouted, "Yes, Rishi. I don't think you guys were making an effort to be quiet.", his tone carrying a hint of annoyance. He grumbled something about 'ruining the moment' under his breath before turning towards the kitchen entrance, "You guys successfully ruined whatever was happening here, so you can come in already."

The four of them entered with guilty faces and sheepish smiles. Radhika glared at Siddharth and Ruhi, "I told you both to keep quiet!", to which, both of them immediately pointed at each other, "It was his/her mistake!"

Naman crossed his arms, "Talking about mistakes, who do you think is going to clean the mistake that you guys made by entering my kitchen?"

Rishi cleared his throat, "Technically, it wasn't my fault. I was just following orders."

Ruhi shrugged, "I was just talking. I didn't even do anything."

Naman then looked at Siddharth, "Do you have anything to say in your defense, now?"

Siddharth opened his mouth to speak, "Um... It was because of Ruhi.. She distracted m-"

"Haww! Don't throw the blame on me! I was talking to Rishi, not you!", Ruhi defended herself.

Siddharth narrowed his eyes, "Don't act saint now! I might be guilty but so are you! All of this wouldn't have happened if you weren't this nosy."

"Oh yeah? Mind you, you were the one who started-"

"Shut up!", Naman suddenly shouted, "Enough both of you! You know what? You two are going to clean this mess."

Ruhi's jaw dropped, "But that's not fair. Aditi, tell him na! I didn't even do anything."

Aditi raised her hands, "I am not going to speak in between when the topic is his kitchen."

Siddharth then pointed at Rishi, "Why is he getting away?"

Naman shrugged, "My kitchen, my rules."

Rishi immediately stepped forward to hug Naman, "Aww! Thank you, Na-"

Naman raised a hand to stop him, "Don't thank me yet. You're going to wash the milk container."

Rishi paused. He turned to look at the milk container which was very well burned. "This is going to take ages to get cleaned!", he exaggerated.

Naman smiled, "Take your time, guys. We will be outside."

Saying this, Naman walked out of the kitchen, followed by Aditi, who gave them a sympathetic look and Radhika, who said, "Don't make it worse than it already is, Siddharth and Ruhi, this isn't your war zone."

Ruhi narrowed her eyes as she watched Radhika's retreating figure, "She is enjoying this too much. I should have sent her for inspection instead."

Rishi sighed, "We don't have another option. So, let's get to work."

Rishi started cleaning the milk container, while Siddharth turned to Ruhi, "You clean the counter and I'll clean the floor."

"Oka- wait! Why should I agree to you? No, I'll clean the floor and you'll clean the counter!"

Siddharth suppressed a smile and nodded, "Okay then. That's final."

Ruhi stared at his face, confused by his immediate agreement.

And then, it hit her, "You! You fooled me into cleaning the floor!"

Siddharth smirked, "You can't fool someone who is already a fool, Ruhi."

Ruhi groaned in frustration, "I hate you!"

"Likewise.", Siddharth replied.

The three of them worked in silence after that and soon, the kitchen looked a little normal again.

In the living room, Radhika was eating Aditi and Naman's ears out.

"Come on, man! You have to tell us everything. Like, how did you guys become friends? Aditi never told us anything is detail.", Radhika asked.

Naman hesitated, "What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

Naman shrugged, "The teacher made us sit together and we became friends. That's it."

Radhika rolled her eyes, "Aditi! At least you say something!"

"Something.", Aditi replied blankly.

Radhika scowled, "Very funny!"

Just then, Siddharth, Ruhi and Rishi walked out of the kitchen.

"What's going on?", Ruhi asked.

"They just won't say anything about their school life! I am asking them to tell me their story of they became best friends. But they are not ready to open their mouth!", Radhika complained.

"I am curious about that too! You have to tell us everything!", Rishi said.

Aditi sighed, "Maybe some other time. We are here to talk about Siddharth and Ruhi-"

"Yeah yeah we will figure that out later, but you're telling us your story now!", Ruhi ordered.

Naman and Aditi looked at each other, talking through their eyes. A few seconds later, Naman declared, "Okay, we will tell you."

A wave of excitement and curiosity passed through them as they all sat in a circle, ready to hear the story.

"Yes! We finally get to hear the legend of 'NITI'!", Ruhi exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look at her, "What?"

"What what? Naman and Aditi, Niti!", she explained.

Everyone shook their heads at the ship name in amusement.

Aditi cleared her throat, "Okay, so should I start?"

She looked at Naman, ignoring the 'Yes' and 'Start fast' from the others, who nodded at her.

She took a deep breath, "So, we were in class 6th..."