Hey readers â¤ï¸
Buckle up, because this chapter is going to be a rollercoaster of chaos, laughter, and absolute madness!
Get ready to laugh, cringe, and possibly cry from all the absurdity. You're in for a wild ride!
Let me know your thoughts after you finish reading, and don't forget to vote and drop your comments if you enjoy this dose of chaos.
Much love,
Author
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Siara's pov-
As I sat on the now-stationary scooter, parked in the middle of a dusty Roman construction site, surrounded by furious vendors, rolling fruits, and scattered pieces of Shivay's broken dignity, I couldn't help but wonder, How did I get here?
The vendors had cornered us in the construction site, their arms flailing and their angry voices bouncing off the half-built walls. Somewhere in the chaos, I caught a glimpse of Shivay hiding behind a pile of bricks, trying to "strategize"
Meanwhile, Divya was attempting to brush onions and banana peels off her hair and gown. "Forget the vendors," she muttered, glaring at Shivay. "I look like the tragic villain of a low-budget Bollywood film right now!"
The vendors were waving their arms dramatically, shouting in rapid-fire Italian that could probably peel paint off walls. I didn't need a translator to know that none of it was remotely polite.
"Hello! Helloooo!" Kabir chirped, waving back enthusiastically like he was greeting long-lost relatives instead of an angry mob. "Wow, I never knew we were this famous worldwide. Paparazzi next, maybe?"
One particularly enraged vendor responded by shaking a rolling pin at him, yelling what I could only assume were curses that would make even seasoned sailors blush.
Kabir, completely unfazed, gasped. "Are they inviting us for dinner? So sweet of them! We're definitely leaving a mark on Italy, guys!"
"True, we're leaving a mark" I muttered. "Mostly on their nerves and property damage reports."
Mahir leaned closer to me and whispered, "He says Famous? He's two seconds away from being infamous."
"I give it one second," I replied dryly.
Mahi, standing next to what was left of her scooter, threw her hands up dramatically. "In my defense, how was I supposed to know that narrow alley would turn into The Hunger Games: Fruit Edition, Also this was just my first time driving this thing?"
"First time?" Avi quipped, leaning casually against a stack of construction materials. "Oh, great! Maybe next time let us know you're a beginner before attempting vehicular war"
Then came Shivay's mind-blowing suggestion, delivered with the enthusiasm of a man who thought he was a genius. "Kavya bhabhi, you're pregnant with a baby, right? Show them your baby! They might leave us alone!"
The group fell silent for a beat, staring at him like he'd grown a second head. Now I'm sure, his IQ is in negatives.
Kavya blinked, then she snapped, her face turning red,"Show them my what?"
"You know," Shivay gestured vaguely at her stomach. "Show them your baby. They'll feel bad and let us go.
Avya, clearly fed up with Shivay's antics, turned to him with a scowl. "And how exactly do you want her to show them her baby, Shivay? By taking it out of her?!"
The sheer absurdity of the question hung in the air for a moment before Kabir snorted, doubling over with laughter. "Shivay, What's next? A PowerPoint presentation of the baby's ultrasound?"
"I swear, Shivay," Devansh finally muttered, rubbing his temple. "If we survive this, you're directly leaving for mental asylum."
"Wow, look now they are throwing tomatoes at us" Myra muttered, while glaring at shivay.
"Tomatoes?! Really? Can't they act like civilized people?" Kabir exclaimed, dodging a particularly ripe one. "This is a waste of perfectly good produce! What about world hunger?" He ducked again with an exaggerated yelp. "These people need to calm down!"
Avi, laughing like a maniac, shouted back at the mob, "Grazie! We'll make pasta with these!" which only seemed to infuriate them further.
Before I could even react to the chaos, I noticed something flying straight toward me. A tomato-no not one, two tomatoes-were heading for me with precision that could rival an Olympian shot-putter's aim.
But before they could hit, Mahir suddenly stepped in front of me like some action hero in a low-budget movie. "Stay behind me," he ordered, holding his arm out to shield me.
"Seriously?" I muttered, raising an eyebrow. "You're protecting me from tomatoes now?"
"Biwi, let me do that if you do not want to end up looking like divya after this?," he replied, dodging a tomato with a swift move that almost made him look graceful. Almost.
My gaze shifted to Divya, and that's when I truly understood the gravity of the tomato massacre.
She was a walking disaster. Her once-elegant floral gown was now a patchy mess of coffee stains and red splatters, as if she'd been marinated for a barbecue. Her hair had chunks of squished tomato stuck in it, making her look like she was debuting some bizarre vegetable-themed fashion line. There was even a stray basil leaf clinging to her shoulder, completing the "tomato soup with garnish" look.
Her expression? Priceless. Equal parts fury, humiliation, and pure disbelief. She flailed her arms, trying to shake off the pulp, but only succeeded in smearing it further. "What did I do to deserve this?!" she shrieked, sounding like a tragic soap opera heroine.
Kabir, of course, couldn't resist. "Well, Divya, I always thought you had a tangy personality, but now you're truly living up to it."
"Shut up, Kabir Bhai!" she snapped, but the effect was ruined when another tomato splattered right on her forehead.
Myra was doubled over laughing, tears streaming down her face. "Divya, you're literally a walking Italian recipe now. All we need is some parmesan, and you're good to go!"
Shivay joined, pointing at her. "Divya, you look like you just escaped from a pasta-making competition gone horribly wrong!"
"Say that again, Shivay, and I'll make sure you drown in this tomato bath with me!" she yelled, flinging a squished tomato in his direction. Naturally, it missed and hit Avi, who was too busy munching on a piece of bread he'd somehow found amidst the chaos.
"Hey, hey!" Avi protested, brushing tomato pulp off his jacket. "If you're making soup, at least don't use humans as utensils."
But then, without missing a beat, Divya glared at the sky, as if the tomatoes had personally offended her. "I swear," she muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "someone up there is having a vendetta against me today. I just wanted to be fabulous, but instead, I'm a walking salad."
Before she could even finish, another tomato slammed into the back of her head, splattering her hair with what looked like a very gourmet marinara sauce. The crowd cheered, as if we had all become contestants in some Italian game show, and Divya's look of despair was now fully visible to the world.
Divya-still coated in a fine layer of tomato sauce-managed to slip on what could only be described as the universe's final act of cruelty.
One minute, she was standing tall, trying to shield herself from yet another barrage of tomatoes, and the next-whoosh-her shoes betrayed her, and she slipped with all the grace of a penguin on ice. The way she went down, arms flailing in slow motion, made me almost certain that she was doing a live reenactment of a slapstick comedy. Her face went from shock to resignation as she crashed down onto the ground, landing with a splat that was the very definition of tragic comedy.
The crowd of angry vendors? They didn't stop their yelling, but they sure did pause for a split second to witness the spectacle.
It was one of those moments where all logic left the building. Divya, now covered in tomato goo, was still somehow managing to maintain her sense of humor, or at least the thin thread of it. She wasn't going to let a small thing like gravity and a tomato massacre ruin her. At least, that's what she wanted us to believe.
Mahir, who had been trying to navigate through the madness without completely losing his composure, leaned over and held out his hand to her. "Need a hand?" he asked, half amused, half concerned.
Divya looked at him, a wry smile spreading across her face despite her current predicament. "Only if you don't mind getting tomato juice all over yourself too."
"Get up, we will face this humiliation together ," Mahir said dryly, pulling her to her feet with an ease that made it look like he was rescuing her from a terror attack.
And that was when another tomato came flying in, hitting Divya right in the chest.
Just then another tomato was making its way towards me but as expected mahir moved to shield me.
Kabir, seeing this, couldn't resist. "Oh, look at Mahir bhai, saving his Ice-queen from the deadly attack of Italian tomatoes! Someone give him a cape!"
"More like a helmet," Shivay quipped, narrowly missing a tomato himself. "These people aim like snipers!"
As Mahir moved to shield me again, another tomato hit him squarely on the shoulder, splattering everywhere. "Great. Now I look like a bad pizza," he muttered, wiping it off with a sigh.
Avya, ducking behind Avi, yelled, "If they throw mozzarella next, we're halfway to making a Margherita!"
Meanwhile, Myra shouted, "Shivay, this is all your fault! Your genius idea of scooters has turned us into the crazy species that escaped from some other planet!"
"You're welcome!" Shivay yelled back, ducking and laughing. "I thought I was securing my Non-Icy hangout with Ice-Queen"
Kavya, wiping tomato pulp off her face, glanced at her belly with a smirk. "Well, looks like my baby is getting the crash course of life skills. I mean, who else can say they've been involved in a tomato war before they're even born?"
"Alright, Let's plan our escape!" Kabir shouted, grabbing a nearby plank of wood and holding it like a shield. "We're going to make a break for it. I'll lead the way!"
"Absolutely not," Mahir said, stepping forward with an exasperated look. "Your plans are what got us into this mess."
"Oh, come on," Kabir whined. "It's not like things can get any worse."
The universe, of course, took that as a challenge.
As Kabir turned to make his grand escape, his foot hit a bucket of wet cement, sending it flying into Divya.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" she screamed, now covered in a delightful mixture of cement and tomato juice. "I LOOK LIKE A FAILED ART PROJECT!"
"That's an insult to art," Avi quipped, earning a death glare from Divya.
"Shut up, all of you!" Mahir shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "We need to get out of here before this turns into an international incident."
"It already is an international incident!" I murmured. "We're about five minutes away from becoming a trending topic on Italian Twitter!"
Suddenly, one of the vendors shouted something in Italian, and the mob began advancing faster.
The moment they began advancing with brooms and more carrets of tomatoes, it was clear we needed an escape plan. Fast. Shivay, being Shivay, naturally took charge, though his "plan" involved pointing in a random direction and yelling, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
It wasn't exactly strategic, but it worked. The entire group bolted like a herd of panicked animals, weaving through the narrow streets with angry Italians hot on our heels.
"Kabir, why are you running in zigzags? They're not shooting arrows at us!" Myra yelled as she tried to keep up, her heels clacking against the cobblestones.
Somewhere behind me, Divya was screaming. "MY GOWN! MY DIGNITY! WHY ME?"
When I turned, I saw her slip again on a stray tomato and land face-first in a puddle of tomato pulp. Shivay, to his credit, attempted to help her up but only managed to trip himself in the process, landing right next to her.
Divya let out the most melodramatic scream I'd ever heard, clutching her dress like she was auditioning for a soap opera.
Meanwhile, Kavya and Devansh were doing their best to dodge the tomatoes, though Devansh couldn't resist cracking jokes. "I think this baby's first word is going to be 'run!'"
Mahir grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. "Stay close," he said, his voice low.
"I'm not exactly planning to join the mob," I replied, though I didn't pull my hand away.
We darted through the construction site, dodging scaffolding, paint buckets, and an alarming number of stray nails. Somewhere behind us, I could hear Avi shouting, "Watch out for the cement mixer!"
"What cement mixer?" Shivay yelled.
Crash
"That cement mixer," Avi replied with sympathy to shivay.
As we stumbled through piles of sand and scaffolding, Divya managed to knock over a bucket of paint, which promptly splashed onto her already ruined gown.
"Oh, perfect!" she shrieked. "Now I'm a tomato and a Picasso painting!"
"Hold on," suddenly Mahir said, pausing to glance back at the chaos behind us. "Where's Shivay?"
Before I could respond, a loud crash echoed from the other side of the site. There was Shivay, dangling from a wooden scaffold like a misplaced chandelier.
"Don't just stand there!" Shivay yelled, flailing. "Help me!"
Mahir sighed. "Why do I feel like this is your fault?" he asked me.
"It's always his fault," I replied.
Avi, bless him, decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed a rope lying nearby and threw it up to Shivay. "Grab on, bro!"
Shivay grabbed the rope, but instead of climbing down gracefully, he somehow managed to swing himself directly into a pile of cement bags, landing with a loud thud.
"I'm fine!" he called out, raising a thumbs-up.
But it didn't stop there. As Divya tried to catch up with the rest of us, she tripped over a loose pile of bricks, and with the most theatrical scream, she fell forward into a wheelbarrow filled with something suspiciously muddy.
"Oh no..." she groaned, sitting up slowly and wiping the sludge from her face. "What is this? Cement? Dirt? The shattered remains of my dignity?"
Kabir, who was already doubled over with laughter, managed to choke out, "Well, Divya, at least now you're contributing to the construction process. Community service looks good on you!"
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" she yelled, hurling a glob of mud in Kabir's direction. He dodged, of course, and the mud hit Avi square in the chest.
"Seriously, Divya?" Avi muttered, glancing down at his shirt. "I am already covered in tomatoes. Did you think I needed a mud facial too?"
To top it all off, just as we were nearing the exit of the construction site after helping Divya up, she stepped directly onto a freshly cemented area of ground.
"NO, NO, NO!" she shouted, realizing her mistake a second too late. Her feet sank in, and she froze like a statue.
"Quick, take a picture!" Avya yelled, pulling out her phone. "Divya, you're literally leaving your mark on Italy! Future archaeologists will think you were some ancient goddess of disaster!"
"I HATE YOU ALL!" Divya roared, struggling to pull her feet free. With a loud pop, her left shoe came off, now forever entombed in the cement.
Finally, Kabir and Avi had to physically drag her out of the cement while she flailed and shouted threats about ruining everyone's lives.
By the time we reached the alley where we collapsed in exhaustion, Divya looked like she had been through an apocalyptic event. Her gown was torn, one shoe was missing, and she was covered in a grotesque mix of mud, paint, and tomato pulp.
Kabir was the first to break the silence. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Divya," he managed to say between gasps of laughter, "you... you've just created a new fashion trend, you look like a half cooked meal!"
Devansh wiping tears from his eyes, chimed in, "Forget the Met Gala, Divya. You're headlining the Mess Gala!"
Avi, still brushing cement powder off his jacket, leaned back with a grin. "I mean, if anyone could pull off a mix of coffee, tomato sauce, mud, paint and cement, it's you, Divya!"
"This..." Myra panted, glaring at Shivay. "This is why we don't let you plan things."
"Hey, we made it out alive, didn't we? And It's the most fun I've had in years" Shivay said, grinning despite the fact that he looked like a walking disaster.
Divya, still dripping with paint and tomato juice, pointed a shaky finger at him and in a blink of an eye she lunged at him, but Avi quickly stepped between them, holding up his hands.
Meanwhile, Mahir quietly handed me a bottle of water he'd somehow acquired during the chaos. "You're too calm for all of this," I said, taking a sip.
"I'm just conserving my energy," he replied, his tone dry. "I'm going to need it to survive whatever they come up with next."
"This was just the warm up," I muttered while thinking of the disasters but somehow, in the middle of all this insanity, I felt... alive.
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We arrived at our hotel looking like extras from a low-budget movie. Each of us had a different story etched into our appearance-Kabir's shirt was splattered with what looked like an entire fruit salad, Shivay had a torn sleeve dangling like he'd been mauled by a bear, and Divya... well, Divya looked like she had personally wrestled everything on her way.
As we stumbled into the grand marble-floored lobby of Sehgal Elegance, I couldn't help but wince. Our hotel was supposed to exude sophistication and grace-two things we clearly did not bring back with us.
The staff froze mid-task, their polished smiles faltering as they took in the spectacle we'd become. That bellboy's jaw dropped, and a manager who had been gesturing politely to a group of guests now stared at Divya like she was a walking violation of health and safety regulations. Her hair, once styled in a chic updo, now looked like it had been styled by a tornado. That bellboy carrying a tray of water glasses stumbled, nearly dropping everything.
"Ah, home sweet home!" Shivay announced dramatically, arms spread wide as if we were returning from a victorious battle. "The Sehgals have arrived-minus our dignity, of course!"
"And he wants to go on that Non-Icy hangout with me" I muttered sarcastically under my breath.
The younger clan, however, seemed unfazed. Kabir was already making himself comfortable, grabbing a bottle of complimentary water from a nearby table. "Ah, nothing like being home," he sighed contentedly, leaving a trail of tomato pulp on the chair he leaned against.
"Divya," Kavya whispered, eyeing her war-torn sister-in-law. "You... um... you okay?"
Divya, who was valiantly attempting to fix her ruined hair, shot her a withering glare. "Oh, I'm fantastic! I've never felt better in my life!" she snapped, waving her hand dramatically and inadvertently flinging a piece of tomato onto the marble floor.
Mahir leaned down to me, his voice low and amused. "Do you think she's going to sue our hotel for having mirrors?"
I replied back,"She might just sue the mirrors instead"
Just as Shivay was about to make another grand announcement, Divya came forward, her head held high like a queen trying to salvage whatever pride she had left. Except the universe wasn't done with her yet.
Her foot hit a wet patch of floor near the reception desk-most likely from the trail of tomato juice she'd left behind. In slow motion, her arms flailed like a malfunctioning windmill. "No, no, no, not again!" she screamed as she went down like a sack of potatoes, landing flat on her back with a resounding thud.
The sound echoed through the lobby, and for a moment, there was absolute silence except for shivay, who burst out laughing so hard he doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Oh my God, Divya!" he wheezed. "You're like gravity's favorite person today!"
"OH MY GOD, DIVYA!" Mahi exclaimed, rushing to her side. "Are you okay? You've fallen more times today than stock prices in a recession!"
Myra also tried to help her up, but she was laughing so hard that she could barely keep her balance. "Divya, you're single-handedly redefining what it means to make an entrance!"
Kabir burst into laughter so loud that it practically shook the chandeliers. "Divya! At this rate, you're going to leave a Divya-shaped dent in every place we visit!"
Avya trying to stifle her giggles, reached out to help her up. "Come on, Divya. Our own staff looks like they'll ban you here."
Avi leaned casually against the reception desk, shaking his head in mock disbelief. "Honestly, Divya, at this point, you should just lie down and let fate do the rest."
"Don't encourage her," I muttered under my breath, watching the chaos unfold with a mix of exasperation and reluctant amusement.
Meanwhile, Devansh, standing beside mahir, let out a quiet chuckle and asked me,"Siara bhabhi, should we help her, or just let natural selection take its course?"
"Let's give her a moment," I replied dryly. "She seems to be bonding with the floor again"
"I HATE ALL OF YOU!" Divya screeched, her face now matching the tomato stains on her dress.
The staff was still frozen, unsure whether to laugh, offer assistance, or call security. Mahir leaned down to me again, his tone completely deadpan. "We should've just taken her directly to a circus. At least there, she'd fit in."
I didn't even try to suppress my smirk this time. "You're assuming the circus would take her."
Divya, now fully upright thanks to Kabir's half-hearted attempt to help her, glared at everyone. "You're all terrible! I'm going to need a full spa day just to feel human again!"
Just then, one of the hotel staff approached cautiously, trying to maintain a professional demeanor which he was failing miserably. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said, addressing Divya, "... do you need assistance? Perhaps some towels?"
"Yes!" Divya snapped, her cheeks flushing. "And a teleportation device, if you have one, so I can disappear from this nightmare!"
As the staff scurried off to get towels, Avi patted Divya on the back. "Cheer up, Divya. At least you're consistent. You've fallen so many times today that we're starting to worry Italy's gonna file a lawsuit against you for damaging their soil."
"And their reputation," Shivay added, dodging a swat from Divya.
As we finally made our way to the elevator, still drawing stares from every corner of the lobby, I couldn't help but wonder how the rest of this trip could possibly top this moment.
But knowing this family? It definitely would.
"Well, the main question here is," Kabir started, dramatically turning to me as we all shuffled toward the elevators, "Siara bhabhi still didn't smile. Like, seriously, bhabhi? Not even a tiny one? Not even when Divya performed her Oscar-worthy fall in the middle of the lobby?"
Avi joined in, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "Dii, you've got to admit, today's chaos was legendary. We're talking about scooters freedom from life, wedding interruptions, tomato warfare, and Divya's undefeated streak of falling at least once per location. If this doesn't make you crack a grin, I don't know what will."
I glanced at Mahir, who was leaning casually against the elevator door, clearly amused by the ongoing theatrics. "Tell them I'm not obligated to smile just because they want me to," I said, my tone dry but light.
Mahir smirked. "She's not obligated to smile just because you want her to."
As the elevator doors opened, Shivay muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, "I bet even the Mona Lisa smiled more often but I assure you everyone, Ice queen will definitely smile for the first time soon."
I sighed, shaking my head stared at the ceiling. This was just the beginning, I could already picture the next disaster unfolding. I couldn't help but brace myself for what would come next.
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