Dosti, Love, Aur

By Sima Patel

Sareena Mehta never expected to find love at college. As a quiet Indian girl living in America, she simply wants to earn a degree so that she could have a successful career, and worry about love later in life. However, fate intervenes. Sareena falls for her friend Bradley and dares to dream of having true love in her life.

Her father has o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rowanvale Books Ltd
• Release date: Oct 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781911240051

Sima Patel

Sima Patel is a daughter, a wife, and a mother of two working full-time to support her family. Inspiration for Dosti, Love, Aur: The Bond from the Beginning came from a recurring dream that she had intermittently for over five years. She had never before thought of writing a novel but, with help and support from a special person, she finally plucked up the courage to put her dream onto paper. Dosti, Love, Aur: The Bond from the Beginning is the result.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Red and blue lights flashed, and the sound of sirens echoed in every direction as several ambulances and police cars closed in on them. There were many people sitting down with others standing around them, crying. A body lay on the ground in their midst.

Let’s backtrack a little. This story begins at the University of Illinois in Chicago, seven years ago. Thousands of students attend that single institution, but this story concerns six specific students: Bradley, Arjun, Kyle, Sareena, Karen, and Jasmine. Each of them studied a different major.

Bradley studied architecture. He was a Caucasian male and came from an average family. He had an attractive appearance with longish hair, stubble, and a fit body. He loved getting attention from women.

Arjun was a business administration student. Born in India, he had come to this country at a young age with his parents, who wanted him to have a good education and a good life. He had the physique that would attract any woman but he was too focused on his studies to care.

Kyle majored in engineering. He came from a wealthy family where he barely ever had to lift a finger for himself; someone was always around to do things for him. Ever since he could remember, his life had lacked an honest friendship. He worked hard on his physical appearance, but to attract only one woman: the one he would like to spend the rest of his life with.

Sareena studied healthcare administration. Despite having Indian origins, she had been born and raised in America. She was quiet and shy, always wore her hair up in a ponytail or braid, and was constantly pushing her glasses up her nose. She wanted to become a successful career woman — to follow her dreams instead of sticking to traditions.

Karen was a social media student. Like Sareena, she was also an Indian born and raised in America. She had been valedictorian in her senior year in high school. She was mesmerized by Hollywood and Bollywood lifestyles, which made her determined to meet those famous people one day.

Jasmine was studying nursing. She was a Latino female that came from a vast family — she had seven brothers and sisters, for one thing! Out of all her siblings, she was the first one to attend college. Her beauty drew a lot of attention from her male classmates — a fact she took pride in.

It is not unusual for people to make lasting relationships in college. With such a diverse range of people in one place, students could meet their lifelong friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, or soul mates during any year of college. Destiny sure had something in mind for these particular six students. In order for them to know what it was, they needed to find each other.

One morning, during the final exam period of their first year, all six students in question found themselves anxiously studying in the library. Arjun and Karen were sitting at the same table — but on opposite corners. Karen’s friend Sareena joined her, and shortly after that Kyle appeared, searching for somewhere to sit in the crowded library.

Anybody sitting here? he asked Arjun, who looked up.

No.

Kyle smiled and sat down.

Meanwhile, Jasmine and Bradley were wandering around in different areas of the library, also trying to find seats. Jasmine, of course, felt ready for the exam but just wanted to make sure she remembered everything.

One of the girls checked Bradley out as he made his way towards the only table still free — the one Arjun, Sareena, Karen, and Kyle were sitting at. He smiled at her as he passed. The smile broadened as the girl blushed fiercely.

Jasmine found the others just as Bradley was sitting down. She asked to sit in the remaining free seat, and all six of them introduced themselves to each other, breaking the ice so the conversation could flow. Other students who were studying hushed at them to keep quiet. By the end of the session they had enjoyed each other’s company so much that they exchanged phone numbers.

However, what none of them had noticed was that the instant Sareena laid eyes on Bradley bells began to ring in her ears and her heartbeats increased in pace. She couldn’t figure out whether she was infatuated with his looks or truly had feelings for him. Was there a real connection between them? Why was she even thinking about it? Bradley obviously didn’t have the same feelings for her — they had only just met! He had treated her exactly the same as he had with everybody else.

Looking over at Sareena, Karen noticed something different about her. Sareena didn’t notice Karen looking at her because her eyes were glued in Bradley’s direction. Would you come with me to the bathroom? she asked pointedly. Sareena agreed. Washing their hands afterwards, Karen looked at her friend closely in the mirror. Sareena… Are you okay?

Sareena hesitated. I’m fine. Why do you ask?

There is something off with you. What’s going on?

Sareena held her breath. Karen knew Sareena more than she knew herself; they had been friends for years. She knew it would be hopeless to lie, so she said, I think Bradley is cute, okay? I went weak in the knees as soon as I saw him.

Karen couldn’t understand how Sareena could become so fond of Bradley when they’d only just met.

Sareena begged her, Please don’t say anything to anyone. I want to know how it all plays out. Who knows? We may never see each other again. Promise me?

Karen promised and they returned to the table.

After half an hour spent chatting, each of them returned to their books. When the time came, they left to go to their separate exam venues, but before parting ways, they all agreed to meet at the campus bar afterwards.

Jasmine walked confidently into the main exam hall, excited to be able to show off her knowledge. Of course, she was the first person to finish in her class. In the sports hall, Karen sat at her desk watching the examiner before shaking herself and checking over pages and pages of her work, adding bits here and there. As smart as she was, Karen didn’t want to rush through her exam; she was one of the last ones to finish. Elsewhere, Kyle and Bradley worked steadily through their papers and were done about halfway through the allotted time. Sareena was in the same exam venue as the two boys, but was struggling to focus on her exam. She kept glancing at the back of Bradley’s head; she simply could not get him out of her mind. She was the last student in her class to complete the exam.

* * *

Around five o’clock that evening, the six new friends gathered at the bar among loads of other students cheering, clinking glasses, and yelling, We’re finally done! The six of them spent the rest of the evening drinking, eating, conversing, and getting to know each other at a table near the back.

Since they hit it off so well, they decided they were going to spend more time with each other. From getting together at bars, restaurants, movie theaters, arcades, and each other’s apartments, their friendship grew over time and lasted through their remaining years in education.

During their final days of college, everyone in the group made promises and commitments to one another that they would stay friends after college, and that they would meet up regularly to hang out. Sareena was secretly relieved, because she couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing Bradley again. He still had no idea of how she felt, but at least the group meeting regularly would give her an excuse to see him!

* * *

In their graduate years, each of them went on to become successful in their chosen careers. Bradley became an architect for a prestigious company in Chicago, and often worked alongside Kyle, who was now an electrical engineer. Arjun became a high-level manager of an advertising firm. Sareena became a healthcare administrator at one of the major hospitals of Chicago — the same hospital in which Jasmine worked as a registered nurse. Karen became a social media director at the Chicago Tribune, which allowed her to achieve her dream of traveling to many different places and meeting lots of famous people.

They each had busy work schedules but they would not let it come between their friendships. They made plans every night. They even had boyfriends and girlfriends, but only if the others approved of them. If at least one person was in doubt, then the relationship was called off.

Sareena still harbored a crush for Bradley; she found it extremely difficult to see him dating another woman, but she would hide her emotions very well so that he didn’t discover she liked him. Sareena dated guys here and there but they just did not work out. She had a nasty habit of ending the relationship before it even properly began. She would not even let the date come up to her apartment for coffee.

She wanted to win Bradley over in her own way. She would cook for him and run errands for him, and he would thank her — just not in the way she wanted him to. Eventually, Jasmine figured out that Sareena had feelings for Bradley.

One evening, Jasmine wanted to know the truth so badly that she pulled Sareena to the side to talk in private. Sareena knew she could not hide the truth any longer. She ended up letting Jasmine know her true feelings towards Bradley. When she asked her why she wouldn’t tell him how she felt, Sareena replied, It’s complicated. I cannot explain it. She then made Jasmine promise that she wouldn’t tell Bradley anything. As the true friend she was, Jasmine kept her word.

Chapter 2

Sareena woke in a cold sweat, suffocating in bed linen. She’d had a nightmare again. She lay in the dark, thinking about how complex her life was at the moment. She often envied Arjun and Karen. Their parents were pretty down to earth; they were both allowed to do whatever they wanted. Sure, their parents really wanted them to marry people of Indian descent, to stay within the culture, but they had their own reasons for being strict when it came to marriage. Both sets of parents wanted to make sure they would visit them every weekend. Arjun would sometimes go with Karen to her parents’ house, and vice versa.

Sareena sighed; she barely kept in touch with her family. Sareena’s father was a successful import and export businessman. Her mother was a homemaker. Being wealthy, they had enough staff so that her mother didn’t have to cook or clean much, but she did love spending money. She would go shopping every day, and would attend various social occasions with friends: lunch dates, parties, get-togethers where they would play a few rounds of cards… She always seemed to have something social going on to avoid being at home during the day.

Sareena remembered telling her parents that she wanted to go to college; she remembered her father’s fury — the yelling, the slamming of doors, the disappointment… Her brother Priyesh had convinced them to let her go and live on her own until she turned twenty-five years old. His pitch was that guys wanted well-educated girls when it came to marriage. Sareena smiled at the memory of her brother standing up for her in front of their intimidating father. She had a good bond with Priyesh. They’d spent the early years of their childhood bonding with their parents, but then their mother’s increasingly frequent social engagements and their father’s regular business meetings meant they were left alone more and more. They didn’t have a choice but to rely on each other. They spent many nights helping each other on homework, eating dinner together, and taking turns putting each other to sleep. If Sareena had a bad dream, Priyesh would stay with her until she fell back asleep. She wished desperately that he were there to comfort her now; remnants of her nightmare were still haunting her.

Sareena would tell Priyesh everything because she knew he wouldn’t say anything to their father. He supported her in every decision. She thought back to her latest covert conversation with her brother; a phone call behind their father’s back. She’d even told him every detail about her feelings for Bradley! He had given her advice on how to get his attention, but she knew she wouldn’t follow it through — she was too afraid of the outcome. Besides, life’s never simple…

After Priyesh’s argument for her going to college, their father had agreed to let her go — on one condition: once she turned twenty-five, she had to come back home and marry somebody of his choosing. He had already decided who Sareena was supposed to marry: a guy named Anil. He’d arranged it many years before Sareena had started college. She had always thought the only reason he arranged the marriage was because it was good for business. If she married Anil, her father would gain more import