She patted on my chest once letting me know her job's done and turning towards the mirror I confirmed it to be accurate.
"The Best Man takes longer to get ready than the bride herself." She rolled her eyes watching me splash some cologne.
"Got to be so. I'm the Best Man after all. I can ditch you any moment in the aisle, so zip up." I kept buttoning the coat.
"So when are we leaving?" I asked her through the mirror.
"The sooner the better" she smiled nervously playing with the hem of her headpiece lying till her hips.
"Hey that's supposed to be Cabir's line!" I uttered trying to ease her. She smiled faintly and turning towards her, I held both of her elbows.
"Aye Navya, it's absolutely alright to be so knotty right now. Marriage is a life changing thing and so little jitters are complimentary. Don't worry about that. And moreover you're not getting married to some stranger, you both have loved each other since so long. You..both know your positives and negatives and have the love and understanding to make good if anything slips out your sleeves because no matter what, Cabir will never leave your side." I smiled warmly.
"You're right Manik and there are no second thoughts in my head but seeing the person you've loved so long awaiting you as your life partner in that Church is so... the feeling is lovely yet nerve racking." I tried to suppress the pang in my chest because I knew never perhaps I would feel that feeling.
Exhaling through my lips calmly, I tried to conceal my wounds.
"I know I know but... that's the most special thing about this whole wedding drama, isn't it?" I pulled her in a gentle hug and she wrapped her hands around resting her palms on the middle of my back.
"I so love you Manik. Before talking to you, I can't tell you I was almost in the urgency to throw up but now..." she breathed "I feel better and so much happier."
I nodded smiling at her but observed her moony eyes turn gloomy in a jiffy. It was her day and I wanted her to be the happiest come what may.
"Is the flavour of the cake bothering you?" I danced my brows and she lowered her eyes without any reaction to my awful joke.
"I don't want to upset you Manik.... but Nandini would've been so happy seeing me dressed up like this. Since forever she's so excited planning how the day of my wedding's gonna be. I remember how she fought with me once when I joked that Rusha will be my Maid of Honour and she cried for three hours at a stretch until I blurted the truth. I promised her." The corner of her eyes floated a painful tear that she was preventing hard from showing up and I looked down at the Kashmiri carpet underneath.
"And you've kept your promise, Navya. She's your Maid of Honour only." I spoke.
"Yeah but not in the way I wanted her to be. She's so numb to understand anything happening around. I'm so glad Manik, you didn't leave her. She's very very lucky to have got a man like you but unlucky enough to...to not live life with you like she dreamt of." She again rested her head on my chest and I stood indecisive of my actions or words. The pain sliced my soul with its sharp blades.
"Navya.... you know right I suck at moments like this? My words ditch me." I murmured.
She smiled lifting her head off my chest.
"Thank you for all the things you did for Cabir and me, Manik. We'll forever be grateful to you." She exhaled smiling like a princess.
"I never did anything for you because you're Nandini's friend or that asshole's lover but because you're a great person and Cabir and you both deserve each other although the match is a bit unlikely." She chuckled hearing me while dabbing the corner of her eyes with a tissue paper careful enough to not smudge her eye makeup.
Once in a lifetime
Start from the beginning
