Arranged In Love!

DevAkshi Meet

The following morning, neither Dev's nor Sona's parents spoke about the proposal they had put forth before them (DevAkshi) the previous day or rather the previous night. They (DevAkshi's parents) wanted to give their children as much time as both, Dev and Sonakshi wanted.

Both Dev and Sona had been nervous since 'The Talk' with their parents. They had a few things going on, in their minds respectively, which they wanted to let out to one another, before taking the most crucial decision of their lives, but since they were just acquaintances, there had been hesitations from both their sides.

Finally, after mustering all the courage she could, Sona picked up her phone to contact him; thankfully she had his phone number, although she could not recollect how. At first, she thought of calling him, but feeling awkward simply messaged him:

Sona: Good morning, Dev. Sonakshi Bose here. I am sure that your parents must have spoken to you regarding our marriage proposal. But, before we make any decisions, there is something I need to tell you because if we are to get married, I want to come clean regarding things. And I need to tell those you before marriage. So can we please meet and talk? Anytime according to your convenience is cool with me.
She hit the 'send' button and was pacing to and fro in her room, waiting for his reply.

It was during the lunch break that Dev saw Sona's message and was somewhat impressed by her efforts to make a talk (that too with utmost honesty), unlike him, who was a complete chicken. He sent her a reply:
Dev: Good afternoon, Sonakshi. Apologies for not replying sooner...had been caught up with some work. Yes, we can meet. How about tomorrow evening? I will be leaving early from Office at 6.00 pm. Does that time suit you? We can catch up over coffee at CCD halfway down Anjali Maasi's place if that's okay with you.
He immediately got a reply from Sona, saying:
Sona: It's okay, no worries! And yeah, the time and place are okay with me.
And thus ended their small chat.

The next day had passed by in a blur, and it was some time before DevAkshi would meet. Both of them had not informed their respective parents about their meeting because they did not want to give them any false hopes; instead wanted to be assured of their selves.

Even though Sonakshi had initiated the talks with Dev and had put up a brave facade, on the inside, she was anything but. She was a bundle of nerves, and why would she not be, when she was about to meet someone whom her parents had chosen to be her probable groom? It was the very first proposal of marriage for her and she was fearing rejection from Dev, especially after she would tell him whatever she was about to...

On the other hand, Dev too had been a bit nervous. For the first time in his training period, he had let his mind wander off - to his impending catch-up with Sonakshi. After getting ready, Sona left her home, for the cafe; and so did Dev, from the office.

The two of them reached a couple of minutes within each other and settled down. "Hey!", Sona greeted Dev, with a weak smile and Dev mirrored the same. The waiter approached them for their orders. "What would you like to have, Sonakshi?", Dev asked. She smiled (again a feeble one) at him and said, "Ummm...Café Frappe for me, please?" "One Café Frappe for the lady and a Cappuccino for me. Thank you!", Dev said, placing their order.

To say that the atmosphere between the two was awkward would have been an understatement. The waiter had delivered their orders and went off after wishing them a good time.

After an over-prolonged silence, Dev spoke, "Aapko kuch kehna tha?", reminding her of the purpose of their meeting. Sonakshi replied, "Haan. Par isse pehle ki main kuch kahu, main aapse ek request karna chahti hoon", she paused to look at Dev and gauge his reaction, and getting a nod from him and continued, "Please hear me out completely and then give your opinion or whatever, okay?" "Okay," Dev said. Inhaling audibly and closing her eyes, she started with her narration, "It's about my past relationship. Main yeh sab batake aapko awkward nahi feel karana chahti, but agar humari shaadi honi hain toh meri yeh baat aapko batana zaroori hain", she glanced at him and continued, "Sorry...I would not beat around the bush anymore I was 20 when I met this guy, Aditya Roy. We went to the same workplace and hit it off instantly. There would be no prize for guessing that I was head over heels for him. And his actions conveyed the message that he reciprocated my feelings for him. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I happily accepted. One fine day...we were hanging out with our friends...who were completely drunk, and just the two of us were sober. And...somehow...I am not getting into the details...umm...we got pretty intimate.", she completed her narration, and a couple of tears rolled down her cheeks, reminiscing about her past. She raised her head - which she had bent low while telling him about her past life - and looked up at Dev, who sat there dumbfounded.

Dev had listened to her carefully and intently - this was going to be the most important decision of their life, and they had to be honest with each other; which was what exactly Sonakshi had been, and he was taken aback by her honesty. When she had said that she needed to tell him about something important, he had not thought that it would be something like this. He was kind of shocked on hearing what she had to say but had warmed up by the fact that she was truthful to him and had not hidden the fact that she had been 'pretty intimate' with someone. Dev was not a judgmental person. He was not the one to judge someone based on superficial and materialistic stuff, but an honest and genuine person had always won over his heart!
'Perhaps, Maa was right about her.', thought Dev.

"Dev, I know ke yeh sab  ke baad shayad is shaadi ke liye...shayad kya, definitely app iss shaadi ke liye inkar kar doge. Aur main samajh sakti hoon. I am sorry, agar mere yeh baat karne se aap uncomfortable hue ho toh...but I believe ke, shaadi jaisa bada decision lete hue unn do insanon ke beech, jinki shaadi hone wali hai, unke beech transparency aur honesty honi chahiye. Agar aisa ho, toh hi trust badhega aur phir hi unka rishta majboot hoga. Aur issi wajah se, it was important for me to tell you about all of this.", she paused, realizing that she was blabbering all this while, without giving him a chance to put forward his thoughts! "Umm...sorry, woh I kept on blabbering. How silly of me!", Sona apologized to Dev. Dev had been listening to her intently, once again and was blown over by the intensity of her thoughts.
"I admire your honesty and thoughts, Sonakshi. I respect your decision to be truthful to me before taking the plunge. But having said all this, I do not want to rush into deciding getting married. If it is okay with you, I would like to spent enough time getting to know each other and see if it would work out. Or else, it would be of no use if we were not happy with one another, isn't it? What say?", asked Dev.

Sona had been nervous when she heard him say, "But having said all this...", but his next words took her by surprise. His words were so genuine and had warmed up her heart.
'Maa was right about him.', thought Sona.

Sona had begun to respect Dev; a feeling which she did not yet know was mutual. "I do not mind. I was thinking the same.", replied Sona. Now that the awkwardness between them seemed to wane, they talked more openly. Soon after they left, after Dev paid the bill; after a lot of argument with Sona.

"Since you are free these days, we could often meet after I have left work. Is that okay with you?", Dev asked Sona. "Yes.", came the reply. Sona was about to hail an auto and leave, when Dev said, "I will drop you off at your place?", which came off more as a question. "It's fine Dev, I will manage. You stay in the opposite direction and will have to drive back all the way. Don't take the trouble it's fine. I will...", she stopped when she saw Dev opening the passenger door for her and making his way to the driver's side. She made a face and sat in the car, which amused Dev, but he immediately masked his expressions.
There were no words spoken between the duo, except for Sonakshi giving him the directions to her house. However, the silence was not awkward or uncomfortable.

"Thank you, Dev...for everything. Good night!", Sona smiled at Dev, who understood what she meant. "You are welcome, Sonakshi. Good night! And about tomorrow...I will text you.", said Dev smiling back at her. She got out of the car and entered her building, pausing to wave at Dev, who was waiting for her to disappear and then he would leave. Dev waved back at her and left once she was out of sight.