Arranged... With Love...

1. Getting Married

" GETTING MARRIED????" Nara and Tanu screamed in unison.

" Can you guys tone it down a bit? "  Cade begged his friends. " I don't plan to invite everyone in this cafe to my wedding! "

Nara and Tanu looked around and realized that their actions had gathered the attention of their fellow customers in the cafe. They profusely apologized to everyone before turning back to their friend.

"You are getting married? That too an arranged one? Seriously, Cade? " Tanu asked in utter disbelief.

"Even I can't believe that I am getting married." Cade clenched his hair in frustration. "Think how I felt when my mom dropped this bomb on me during our dinner yesterday!"

"Let's just calm down first of all." Nara held both her friend's hands and started taking deep breaths. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked at Cade. "Now, tell us. Tell us everything. Every single detail."

Cade let out a heavy breath of helplessness and started explaining. "Two days ago, I got a call from my mom, asking me to go back home for lunch. Since I hadn't met them in a while I agreed to it readily. I got home on time for dinner and there was a lot of food and I was happy.

Everything was fine until my mom brought up the topic of their business partners aka my soon-to-in-laws and asked me if I remembered playing with their sons when we were kids.

I didn't actually have many memories with them but I nodded so that my mom would drop the topic. When I did, she told me, no, informed me, that they wanted to set up an alliance between the families and wanted me to marry their eldest son!"

"Then?" Nara knew there was something more to the story.

"Then what? My mom and dad dragged me over to their house and I met my fiance's parents. Truth be told, I don't even recognise them. But they were over the moon to see me. His mom even started crying seeing me." Cade sniffed in disbelief.

"Maybe it is because they saw you and realised how ugly you are and started regretting putting up the proposal to have you married to their son" Tanu suggested playfully.

Nara smacked Tanu on the back of his head. "Not now, Tanu!"

Tanu secretly made a face at her. It wasn't new for him to get scolded by Nara. She was like the mother hen of the group. She had control over both the boys.

"You already met your in-laws?" She asked.

Cade nodded. "Yeah. They look like people who are easy to get along."

"Then, what is your problem here? Didn't you always want to get married?" Nara knew that her friend was the loyal kind. The kind who wouldn't date casually and want his relationship to either end in marriage or not date at all.

"I do want to get married. But not like this!" Cade was annoyed.

"Not like what? Arranged?" Tanu asked sipping his cold coffee.

"No! I am okay with arranged marriage. But I just feel that everything is so rushed. I mean I wouldn't even be able to meet the groom until the day of my marriage. What kind of sick arrangement is that!?"

"What? You can't meet the groom till the day of the marriage?" Tanu asked in surprise. "Which century are they living in? Even my grandma got to meet my grandpa before the wedding even though they had an arranged marriage."

"My parents as well," Nara commented. "They too had an arranged marriage but they got to know each other after their engagement."

"I know!" Cade groaned as he laid his head on the table. "I too want to meet him and get to know him before the marriage. But there is no time at all!!!" He whined.

"No time at all? What do you mean by 'no time at all'? When are you getting married?" Nara asked.

"This weekend," Cade answered sadly.

"This weekend!?" Both Nara and Tanu were shocked.

"Yes, this weekend. On the coming Sunday," Cade answered in exasperation. "In six day's time, your friend here is going to be a married man. That too to a stranger whom he had met only once or twice  years ago and doesn't even have any memory of."

"You are getting married on Sunday and you are only telling us now?" Nara was furious.

"I myself only got to know of it yesterday okay?" Cade complained. "If anyone has the right to get mad here, it's me!"

"There are so many arrangements to make before the marriage. How are you going do all of that in just six days?" Nara asked.

"I don't have to worry about the preparations. Both sets of parents are the ones arranging everything. All I have to do is be present on the day of the wedding and get married. They have already sent out the invitations to the guests before even letting me know that I am getting married. I don't get to invite my people to the wedding." This was a matter that annoyed Cade very much.

As someone who attached a lot of importance to marriage, he wanted his friends to be there with him for the special occasion.

"Does that mean that both of us aren't part of the guest list as well?" Tanu asked pointing at himself and then at Nara.

Cade hummed. "I really want you guys to be there, na. This is not the kind of marriage I wanted."

Nara and Tanu looked at each other. They understood their friend's predicament. 

Three of them had met each other as interns at the publication company they were working in. Despite being in various departments, they clearly hit it off due to similarities in age and interests.

They initially didn't believe Cade when he told them that he was a fourth-generation heir who wanted an ordinary life. They only believed his words after he brought them to their family mansion.

As the only child of the generation, Cade will have to resign from his job that he had taken out of his passion for books and take on the responsibility of their family business.

It was inevitable that his parents would be the ones deciding who he should marry and whom he should not given his condition. But he had expected more from his parents.

He had expected them to ask for his opinion on the matter as well, as it directly affects his life and future. Yet, his parents had let him down.

Not only did they decide the partner without consulting him, they were even restricting him from inviting the people who matter in his life to his own wedding.

The marriage sounded more forced than an arranged one.

Cade could only swallow the bitter feeling down his throat and mentally prepare himself to live his life along side a stranger.