A 6-foot giant shadow stood right behind my body. His red eyes were glowing in the dark. I was terrified; trembling, the only thing that came out of my mouth was— "Game over."
Just then, from behind that giant man, a beautiful, young, attractive, and stylish woman stepped out with a smile and shouted, "Dhappa!"
I turned around fearfully. There was clear fear and nervousness on Anaya's face. It was as if she was thinking— "I wish I had hidden better." "We found you, my child! How long were you going to hide?" that woman said with a smile.
A thought flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning—could this be Anaya's mother? I was frozen with fear, my heart started sinking. But then, from Anaya's trembling lips came— "M-Mausi (Aunt)... you're here?"
Mausi smiled and said, "Mausi? You're saying it as if you didn't even see us." (implying she knew Anaya was hiding from them).
As soon as I heard 'Mausi,' I felt a moment of relief that, thank god, she wasn't the mother. But the very next moment, I was in an even bigger shock than the fear of the mother. "Mausi?!" I thought to myself—Mausi, and that too in the fair with this giant man? My level of surprise returned to where it was before.
Mausi teased Anaya mischievously, "My niece has grown up, she's started hanging out with a boyfriend now?"
Anaya was completely embarrassed and stammered, "Oh no Mausi! This... this isn't my boyfriend, he's just a friend."
Hearing Anaya's words, I was a bit disappointed, but then Mausi looked at me and asked a direct question, "Why? Are you not a boy?" I blushed intensely and stammered, "N-no Mausi, I am indeed a boy."
Anaya handled the situation, "Mausi, he is a boy but not my 'relationship' boyfriend." Then Anaya pulled her leg and said, "And you've made a new boyfriend again? Is this your 34th boyf?"
Mausi immediately took Anaya aside and whispered in her ear, "Speak softly! I haven't told him which number he is. Look, your mother thinks you've come with your girlfriend, but I can see everything here. So it's a deal—neither will you tell your mom about me, nor will I tell her about this 'friend' of yours."
I couldn't understand what they were whispering about. Then both of them stood up and Mausi said, "Are you just going to keep standing here?" There was a question on that bodybuilder's face too, as if he was wondering why she was letting her niece's boyfriend go so easily. I thought he was going to hit me, and I got scared just thinking about it.
Then we all started wandering together. First, we reached a food stall. That giant man tore through the heavy crowd and brought Chole-Bhature and Pav-Bhaji for us and set them on the table. The aroma was good, but the taste? The taste was so bad that eating it was like a curse. We had to throw it all away against our will, and all that poor guy's hard work went to waste.
After that, we moved towards the roller coaster. I saw that Anaya, who was scared on the dragon boat earlier, was now full of excitement. But I couldn't understand why I had to sit with this bodybuilder? I had come with Anaya, right! As soon as the ride started, both I and that bodybuilder were in bad shape, while Anaya and Mausi were shouting with their hands up. As we got down, his face had turned white and he was about to vomit. I said to myself— "Is he really a bodybuilder?"
Then Anaya didn't listen to me and made me sit in the 'Tea-Cup' ride. As long as the swing was still, everything was fine and I was just looking at my Anaya, but as soon as it started spinning, I started getting jolts. Foam started coming out of the mouth of the man sitting in the other cup and he had turned white and almost fainted. Seeing him, I got even more terrified, but then for a few moments, my eyes fell on Anaya. Seeing her smile, I forgot all my fear. But then came another jolt and I started getting scared again. We got off the ride, and both I and the bodybuilder were exhausted.
Mausi and Anaya were talking about going on another ride, then the bodybuilder said, "Oh, my stomach feels bad after eating that garbage food. There is a famous Chaat stall here, let's go there." I thanked him in my heart that he saved both of us.
We reached that famous Chaat stall. He was managing the crowd, but as soon as he saw the bodybuilder, he called us inside. Then we found out that the bodybuilder is a famous Insta Influencer and his name is Rohit Kukreja. There, he started showing us his art—first he tossed the papdi, put it in the bowls, then poured the curd with great love, then the chutney, and its aroma spread everywhere. His style of adding spices was so amazing that people started clapping on their own. The Chaat was so beautiful that I didn't feel like ruining it, but I had to eat it since it was served.
The taste was truly like heaven! Whatever was meant to melt, melted in the mouth, and whatever was meant to stay crunchy, stayed crunchy. It was truly the best Chaat ever. I saw a trophy there and upon asking, the shopkeeper said modestly, "This is the 'Best Chaat in the World' trophy, but I don't deserve it. My master used to make it many times better than this." I wondered if this is so good, what a masterpiece his master must have made!
Rohit started giving money but the shopkeeper refused, "You are my mentor, I get motivation from you." But Rohit insisted that this is your hard work and we can't eat like this. Anaya and Mausi said the same. I also felt like giving my money, but due to my introvert nature, I couldn't gather the courage.
When we came out, it was still in my mind that maybe I should have said that I am paying for myself and Anaya, but I didn't say it. Just then we saw a massive crowd gathered. Someone shouted, "Hey! A member of 'BST' has come here!"
Hearing this, Anaya ran towards that crowd and Rohit too. I felt a little jealous and even tried to stop her. I saw that Mausi's face suddenly turned angry, so I couldn't go to stop her immediately. She turned her face away and asked irritably, "Do you want to go too?"
Anaya had disappeared into the crowd. Mausi said, "Let's wait here." Nearby was a pond with a fountain in the middle. We went and stood by the railing. Suddenly Mausi asked, "You love my niece, don't you?"
I blushed intensely and stammered, "It's not like that..." but she cut me off and said, "Don't hide it, I know." Mausi said happily, "Do you know how good a girl she is? How hard she works. Anaya is the class topper and also extremely beautiful. After all, she takes after me! Now you tell me, doesn't she look like me?"
I immediately replied, "Anaya looks like you." She immediately burst out laughing and said, "I didn't think you would say that. I thought you would say that I look like her or you would say I don't look like her. You know, she learned to say 'Mausi' first, not Mummy or Papa. I was very happy that day. I have always treated her like a friend and not like an elder, that's why she fights with me like this now, but it feels good."
Then her voice became serious and Mausi said, "Aryan, I love Anaya very much. She has been close to my heart since childhood. You know? When she was only two years old, my sister raised her hand on her. I saw her crying and I couldn't bear it. I fought with my sister and took Anaya with me. I didn't give her back until my sister promised she would never raise her hand on her again. Since then, her mother hasn't dared to raise a hand on Anaya."
A clear warning was now reflecting in Mausi's words. "If anyone tries to hurt her or touch her with wrong intentions, I won't spare them. If you stay within your limits, it's good. If you hurt her or try to touch her with wrong intentions... you are only allowed to touch her hand, so stay within your limits, and if you don't, no one will be worse than me. But if I like you later and if Anaya wants it, I promise I will give her hand in your hands myself and happily get you two married."
I gathered courage, looked into her eyes, and said, "Mausi, I promise I will always keep her happy. I love her truly; far from hurting her, I can do anything for her. Whether I am a good boy or not, I don't know, but Anaya is everything to me."
Mausi smiled. Just then Anaya and Rohit came back, they had autographs in their hands. Mausi suddenly looked at Rohit and said in a blunt tone, "Breakup!"
Rohit was shocked— "Why?" but Mausi walked away without saying anything and Rohit ran after her. Anaya burst out laughing.
Suddenly, a sound came from a distance... of guns