Destiny

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

One hour later Gauri walked in to the back of the reception hall where wedding party was waiting for the DJ to introduce them before they introduced the happy couple. They all turned to her at the same time. Each face wore a different expression upon spotting her. Kruti smiled knowingly and nudged Raj, Sweta glared at her, Karan looked confused and Siddarth smiled pleasantly. She looked each of them, one by one daring anyone to say anything.

Gauri knew she shouldn’t have done it, but she couldn’t help but grant Siddarth his wish. She had let her hair down and pinned back one side only. Now her back was completely covered. She took her place next to him and looked straight ahead to wait for their turn.

Siddarth couldn’t stop smiling, she just proved that she cared about him more than she was letting on. Thank you baby! Soon I will have you by my side granting me all my wishes one by one. Siddarth glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and saw her glance towards the entrance of the hall nervously.

He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, “Relax, it’s going to be fine, you will see.” He escorted her to the hall just as the DJ started to introduce them. They walked in right on time to a loud music and applaud from friends and family. Siddarth twirled her around twice just as they reached their place in the front. She flushed when he winked at her.

They took their seats at the table as the DJ started preparing the guests for the entry of the wedded couple. Gauri glanced at the projection screen in the back and smiled at the slide show of pictures. The pictures were all of Amit and Sanya with their families from childhood to present.

Her attention was diverted from the screen when the DJ introduced her brother and Sanya. Everyone stood up to greet the newly wedded couple as they came in and took the dance floor. The DJ played the song they had chosen for their first dance as a married couple. Thy looked beautiful together. Amit was in a gray suit and Sanya had chosen a purple and white lehnga.

Once the dance was over they took their place at the head table with the wedding party. The speeches were not long just few words about Amit and Sanya from their close friends. The couple cut the cake after the speech and made rounds of the receptions room greeting friends and relatives while other guests were served the appetizers.

An hour later Gauri needed a break badly, all the picture taking and also the pictures of the past flashing on the screen in the back were suffocating her. She walked towards the bathroom, unaware of Siddarth’s eyes following her every move. She freshened her make up and was about to go back out when she ran into her younger sister.

Gauri started to walk past Avni and couple of her friends when her sister grabbed her arm to stop her, “You are flying high these days sis, but how long do you think that will last?” Gauri pulled her arm back. “Leave it Avni and mind your own business.”

Avni gave her a calculating look, “Really? Well enjoy it while you can I am sure it won’t last long.” Gauri didn’t feel like arguing with her sister so she just moved past her and walked out the door.

She needed to get fresh air after that, so she looked around for the outside door and spotted the door to the gardens on the right side of the bathroom. She didn’t stop to look back and moved towards the door as fast as her feet would take her.

Once outside she walked to the dark corner of the garden where she was sure she could be alone to get her emotions under controlled, enough to face the crowd again. She will never let anyone have the satisfaction of knowing they have rattled her.

Siddarth had seen Gauri’s sister go in the bathroom as he waited for Gauri. As soon as Gauri came out of the bathroom he knew something had taken place in the bathroom to cause Gauri to run out to the gardens. He followed her and stood back to wait for her to gather herself. He didn’t want her to know he had followed her.