Apulki Chapter 2 - Bean There, Proposed That

Recap Chapter 1: A lazy Chimboli weekend finds Yamini, Isha, Neerav, and Akash juggling dreams, drama, and dozing — until Yamini’s scream breaks the calm: her filmi idol Sunil Waghmare has just popped up on Facebook!

Bedroom Blues and Famous Fingers

Yamini lay on her stomach, phone in hand, staring dreamily at Sunil Waghmare’s profile picture.He’s so gorgeous, yaar. I want to marry him.

She threw Isha a cursory glance as she left the room, before rolling onto her side and refreshing her Messenger screen for the tenth time. Nothing. No reply. Her eyes and lips drooped.

Then—PING.

“Yessss!” she squealed, leaping up in delight… and promptly tumbled off the bed.“Ouch!”

“Where’ve you vanished?” said Isha, coming back into the room with a bottle of water. She looked around the room with a puzzled expression.

“Here,” Yamini groaned from the floor, slowly hauling herself back onto the bed. “I think I’ve sprained my ankle.”

“What happened?”

“He replied.”

“Sunil? What did he write?”

“Thanks a lot, Yamini.”

“That’s it? You broke your ankle for that?”

Yamini clutched her phone to her chest, eyes shining. “Not just any words. He wrote my name. Don’t you get it? He wrote my name! He typed it with his famous sexy fingers.”

Isha rolled her eyes, pulling out a crepe bandage and expertly winding it around Yamini’s ankle. “Trust you to turn a Facebook notification into a full-body injury.”

“You know what?”

“What?” Isha muttered, retreating to her bed.

“I just re-read his message. I think he added that emoji after looking at my profile pic.”

“You’re mad.”

“No, seriously. Damn. I should’ve changed my picture before messaging him. I should’ve put that sexy one. Who knows…”

Her voice trailed off as she got a glazed faraway look in her eyes...

And then she was elsewhere...

The phone rang. Yamini picked up the receiver.“Hello?”

“Is that Miss Yamini Kadam? Sunil Waghmare here.”

Her breath caught. Sunil Waghmare! Young, athletic, devastatingly handsome.

“Hello? Yamini? You there?”

“Y-yes.”

“I was going through your profile on Facebook. You want to become an actor?”

“Y-yes.”

“Would you like to work opposite me in my upcoming movie?”

Yamini smiled, tears pricking her eyes.

Isha's “Stop smiling and go to sleep,” brought her back to reality. She realized she had been staring at the wall, grinning like a loon.

“The four little words he wrote were thanks a lot, Yamini, NOT I love you, Yamini,” said Isha.

“Huh!” Yamini made a face and snapped her phone shut, as Isha switched off the lights.

Two Wheels and Dragonosaurus

Isha dropped Akash outside the courier office and killed the engine.

“Thanks, Ishu,” he said, already half out of breath as if the mere thought of work had exhausted him.

“Bye. See you at the coffee shop.”

“Not tonight. Dragonosaurus wants me to work late.”

“You working late is as believable as your New Year resolutions, ”Isha chuckled. “Hope she doesn’t breathe too much fire down your neck.”

Akash smirked and hurried into the office.

Love, Lattes, and a Paper Ring

That evening, at Bean There Spilled That, Isha cradled a steaming mug of coffee between her palms. She took a slow sip, letting the familiar warmth settle in her chest. A sigh escaped her — the kind that came from contentment rather than fatigue.

At the next table, a baby in his mother’s arms gave her a toothless grin. Isha smiled back, indulgent, amused.

“One day we too will have some of those,” Neerav said, sliding into the chair across from her.

Her brows shot up. “Some of those?”

“I’ve already thought of names for three or four of them.”

“Three or four? How many kids are you planning to have?”

“At least eight or ten,” he said with a grin. “Kidding. Just four.”

“Hmm. Just four.” She narrowed her eyes. “And the names?”

“The girls will be Jasmine and Nilofer. If it’s a boy, then Tommy, D—”

“Tommy? Are we talking about puppies?”

Neerav grinned wider.

“Look, Neer,” she said, half amused, half exasperated. “You’re freaking me out. We aren’t even engaged, and you’ve already decided how many kids we’re going to have and what their names will be?”

“That can be easily rectified.”

Before she could react, he strode to the centre of the café and clapped his hands.“Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?”

The place fell silent. Isha froze.

Neerav pulled out his phone, cranked up the volume, and the Bollywood song — 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' — blared through the cafe.

“Oh no,” Isha muttered under her breath.

He sang and danced through the first stanza, then beckoned to the others. “Come on everybody!”

And to her horror, people actually joined in. Some even got up and danced.

While the cafe pulsed with song and laughter, Neerav folded a paper napkin into a rose and presented it to her with a flourish.

Isha accepted it, face solemn, saying nothing.

A waiter brought her a cappuccino. She pursed her lips as she noticed the heart traced in foam. Another appeared with a heart-shaped cookie. She felt the heat creep up her cheeks.

When the music ended, Neerav grabbed a plastic straw, twisted it deftly into a ring, and dropped to his knees before her. He took her hand, his grin boyish, his eyes intent.

“I love you, Isha. Will you marry me?”

“Say yes!” people chanted.

“Say yes!”

“Say yes!”

Isha looked at him — at the makeshift ring, the hopeful eyes, the expectant crowd. Her heart thudded, but not with joy.

“This is all too sudden… I need time to think.”

She pulled her hand free and brushed past him, the hush of shocked silence following her as she walked out of the cafe.

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Keep smiling friends. Life is beautiful. Cherish each moment. 

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