Alleys of Love (#1 Alleys Series)

2. Diya

What does he think of himself ? All these years, I thought some part of the brain must have developed in him. Par nahi ? Janab ne toh zindagi bhar gadha banke rehne ka hi socha hai. Bhaad mein jaye woh aur uski ego.
(But no ? Lord has planned to stay a donkey all his life. To hell with him and his ego.)

"Leave it dumbo. He has been like that ever since." Raag's voice interrupted my bitching.

"Right. Let's go bake the cake now." I paced towards their kitchen, which at one point of time I used to call mine.

"By the way..." Raag began but then stopped.

"Speak up."

"Do you know why you guys are here today ?" He asked, referring to me and my family.

"Nah. Dad told me it's a surprise." I shrugged my shoulders while mixing the ingredients to create the batter.

"Quite an appalled one." He murmured under his breath which was still clearly audible to me.

"Elaborate." I asked.

"HewantsyoutogetmarriedtoRayaan." Leaving a deep sigh he scratched his neck. My hands stopped where they were.

"Repeat."

"He. Wants. You. To. Get. Married. To. Rayaan." Spelling each and every word he made himself clear.

"WHAT !" Before my voice could get any louder, he pressed his palms on my mouth, preventing me from screaming.

"Bacchon, is everything fine there ?" Aunty asked from the hall.

"Yes ma ! Just playing around." Raag answered before I could speak.

"Stop yelling. Come with me." He dragged my hands and led me to the terrace. Since my childhood, I have always admired their terrace. My brother has been best friends with Rayaan and his group, but that's in the past. Pretty much has changed.

From their relations to my frequent visits. Coming back to their terrace. It has always been that place for a perfect candle-light-dinner-date. The glass barriers, those lavish statues, paintings and of course the furniture. My favourite part of this terrace was the cosy cyan coloured couch and the rose coloured swing just beside it. I would often sit there and gaze at the moon and the stars for I don't know how long. The nostalgia was hitting me so hard, it became difficult to hold back my tears. 'Cause there was a time when I would think of myself having a date here with Rayaan.

"Where are you lost dumbo ?" Raag flicked my forehead, earning a glare from me.

"I am older than you Mister !" I snapped before taking a seat on one of the bean bags. A new addition to the terrace since I stopped visiting.

"Only a year ? Who cares ? Now let us come back to the main point, yeah ?" He stated while sitting down on one of the swings.

"Mhm. Go ahead." I motioned him to speak further.

"They want you both to tie a knot. 'Cause of course they are unaware of whatever mishap that happened between you two. Now the main concern is you won't marry him and neither will he. But this is not your parents' decision, it's a decision made by your and our grandparents before they descended the thrones of their respective family businesses. So this means that you guys won't have any say to it. It's more like a forced marriage than an arranged marriage." He narrated the whole thing without a pause. My mouth was agape. My brain stopped functioning and my eyes would pop out any minute from their sockets.

"No-no-no-no ! This can't happen. We can't tolerate each other for a second let alone staying with each other forever. Not possible at all. Does he even know it ?" I was panicking. Not even in my worst nightmares had I seen this coming.