Love Bites

When Life Happens (1)

Mumbai, 10 PM

Avni had never really believed in forevers! She firmly believed that love was just another hyped up emotion & people who believed in a happily ever after were outright stupid. She was intelligent enough to know that she would never allow herself to feel such strong an emotion that she end up being miserable in her beloved's absence. She was better than that! 

And, that was why she had yet another reason to hate that infuriatingly annoying man who was also her husband of a few hours. For god's sake! She had never wanted to get married in the first place. The more her mother arranged blind dates for her, the more she resisted. But, she couldn't deny her this time because her health had worsened & she was in the ICU when she made her promise her that she would get married to her friend's son. Avni didn't even know which friend was her mother talking about but she just knew for sure that she needed her mother to be alright. If getting her married was what she wanted, she would do it. And, she did! 

Avni was dumbfound when she eventually found out who her husband was.  He was already sitting at the altar when she sat beside him. She hadn't even glanced at him till the wedding ceremony was over. It was after bidding her mother farewell, that she turned to look at him when he touched her mother's feet. 

"Neil, please take care of my daughter!" - her mother said.

Avni thought that she was in sleep & was having the worst dream of her life. How could she be married to her sworn enemy from school. Her academic rival - Neil Khanna! The guy left no chance to annoy the shit out of her back when they were in school. Avni had always been competitive, she liked being first - always, & the fact that he didn't let her be infuriated her - made her want to bang his annoyingly perfect face to the wall. 

 At the moment, Avni was sitting on the edge of the bed in his - well, their bedroom! She had taken off the heavy lehenga & jewelries, and was now in her comfortable clothes. She heard the door of the room open just when she had taken her phone in her hand to check on some work mails. 

Through her peripheral vision, she saw Neil coming in & she didn't really know how she'd react or what she'd say if he decided to talk or do anything else. But thankfully, he just moved to his walk-in closet, came out in five minutes after changing into his track pants & a T-shirt. He walked up to the bed, took a pillow, moved to the window sofa & lied there. 

Woah! That was easy! - she released a long breathe she didn't know she was holding as she too lied on the bed & let sleep take over.  

Neil got no sleep through out the night even though he was completely burnt  out. He just wanted to sleep through the night & act like his life didn't just turned into living hell.

He had been in London for the last eight years & had only returned to India three months ago when he started to serve as an Economics Professor at one of the top colleges of the country. One of Neil's greatest weaknesses were his mother's tears & she had used them quite skillfully when she asked him to get married to her friend's daughter. He had rejected the proposal in a heartbeat but the thing was - his mother could be really persuasive when she wanted to. He eventually had to give in to her demand as he let go of his dream to lead a happy married life! 

The debris of Neil's crushed dream about leading a happy life further shattered into dust when Shweta told him that he was supposed to get married to Avni Mehta. Avni Mehta from school? The girl was too annoying for her own good! 

He was equal parts shocked & surprised when he found out that she was the girl he was getting married to. Shocked on how universe could be so cruel at times, and surprised at how Avni could possibly agree to marry him!