The Royal Nightmare

A start

"You went against my orders." Dhruv says handing me the beer can as he collapses on the couch of my cabin. "Where did you get this couch from?" he says pushing down the softness.

"Mom ordered it for me. I'll ask her and tell you." I say as his head falls back. He hasn't been on his optimum right now. "Saurav posted a picture on insta." I say he chuckles.

"We were talking about your mess, not mine." He says, as I shrug.

"The amendment declared LGBTQ marriage legal." I say, as he chuckles again.

"You still have to go home to a guy who just got out of prison." He punches back. That was a serious blow and did hit me in the gut, but I did not want to talk about it. I opened the can and looked up at him again. This time, I will get him.

"So, now we are drinking in the office in celebration of your ex-boyfriends birthday? Did you even wish him?" I say again as he shook his head.

"It must be too early in US, he isn't even up." He says as I nod. "You know the last time we talked he called me a narcissist coward who only likes things until they can be used. So, I don't think I'm wishing him and destroying his good day."

"Or you can go tell your family that you're gay, and then take a flight to US and ask him to marry you. It's been a month, I'm sure he hasn't found anyone." I say and take a pause. "At least anyone Serious. Even though he's an established software engineer and those are quite a pick on Tinder and Bumble in the Silicon valley."

"Why do you think the force is ready for such a senior police officer to be a homosexual?" he says, as I shake my head taking another sip.

"Why do you think they have a say? You are the boss, you pull the shots on your subordinates and... well you are best friends with the next queen to be, so let me take care of the seniors." I say with a wink as he chuckles.

"So, you ARE planning to stay in this marriage?" he asks, when there was a knock on the door. I sigh. We like teasing each other and this playful banter has become the way we talk but I was not ready for the serious conversation he was heading towards.

He straightens up in his seat as we hide our beer cans and look at the door. It was 7pm and Dhruv wasn't ready for the world to find his truth yet. So, we wondered who was still in the office who might have heard us.

"Come in." I say, as the doors open to reveal the man who was discharged from the adjoining building less than 4 hours ago.

"Tejas." I say and stand up, half shocked and half surprised. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands as he looked at Dhruv on my couch.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you?" he says, as I shake my head as Dhruv gets up from the couch.

"No, you aren't. I was just... leaving." Dhruv answers for me, pulling out his beer can carefully from the side of the couch and walking out. "I don't think we've officially met. I'm Dhruv by the way. Best friend since academy days. I'm sorry I missed your wedding due to a work related emergency." He says, as my husband nods.

"Tejas." He says moving a hand for a firm shake. "The husband." He says, a tad bit possessively as Dhruv shakes his hand and waves me a goodbye before leaving.

Tejas stood before me wearing a light blue shirt with khaki pants and a blue turban, beautiful light but darker than his shirt. He walked to me and handed me the bouquet of red roses and tulips as I look at the arrangement. The contrast print scarf around his neck under his shirt added a look of regal elegance.

"Thank you. But I'm actually allergic to roses." I say trying to not smell them and start a sneeze marathon as he quickly takes them from me, and pulls out a beautiful fire colored Tulip throwing the rest in my bin and hands the single flower to me.

"I'm so sorry. I just... that." He says half confused and half red.

"Why are you here, Tejas?"I say, still not ready to assess the fact that he walked in on the only time I got for myself in what felt like days. I was just starting to de-stress.

I have been stressed since the wedding preparations began and I was finally feeling myself.

"Mom wants me to take you to the salon so you can get ready for the... rituals." He says as his face told a different story. He didn't want the rituals to take place. Maybe it was too soon for him.

"So, you think we can just behave like a normal couple? After the way, I questioned you in that room and you... Just..." I shrug unable to comprehend this.

Now that he was proved 'not guilty' wasn't I the bad person in this marriage for not trusting him but instead dealing with him like I would for any other suspect.

"You are a good cop." He says, as I take the flower and keep it in the pen stand on my desk.

"You don't want time to mourn your... lost friend?" I said correcting myself internally so I don't say the word 'whore' as he looks away for a moment and looks back at me.

"We live in limelight. Public image is everything. I can't be seen mourning for someone who sold bits of her body and soul, no matter if it was for her brother's treatment." He says, as I look up. I had heard him say this before.

"Her brother?"

"Sickle cell anemia." He says as my mouth falls open at the mention of the fatal genetic condition. "I'll be funding it now, and I hope you don't have any issues." He says as I shrug.

"It's your money." I say, as there was some cruel part of me that didn't want him to keep in contact with anything that belonged to that woman.

"And you're my wife. Let's go, everybody is waiting for us. We also have the reception tomorrow." He says as I nod and put the beer can to my mouth finishing it in one swift gulp before picking up my bag.

"Lead the way."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I stood before the mirror in a royal blue muslin saree that I imagined was as soft and elegant as the famous Dhaka muslin, as it felt like melting in my curves. The edges had gold thread woven into the periphery with little patterns. It was paired with a gold and ruby necklace with matching earrings and my red and white ivory bangles. My hair was pulled back in a bun and a pair each of pins and clips of gold attached to the back of my head.

"He's here." The beautician says, as I turn to look at my husband standing in a white bandgala traditional kurta pyjama with a punjabi leather jutti, and a turban the color of my saree. He had a gold kaintha, or a neckpiece for men, worn traditionally in areas of Punjab in both India and Pakistan.

This time he stood there holding a bouquet of tulips and lilies, colors of blue and white as I couldn't help but smile at his gesture.

He did deserve a second chance. The way his eyes beamed with emotion when he saw me, made my heart stir.

"We have a bit of a problem." He says, as I frown. Now what? "I told Raavi about your allergy because finding the ring ritual involves milk and rose petals in an aluminium vessel. She's trying to figure out an alternative, but do you think we need any medication or any epi-pen in case she can't? Or I can convince mom and we can skip it?" he asks as I take the flowers from him.

"A strong anti-histaminic would be amazing." I say with a smile on my lips and hope in my eyes.