Arranged In Love!

The Decision

Sona had left to meet Dev, telling her mother that she was going to meet her best friend. Thankfully for her, Asha believed in what she said. Sona did not want to lie to her parents, but she did not want to give them false hopes either (by informing them about meeting Dev).

After having a fantastic dinner with her Maa-Baba, she retired to her bedroom. She lay down on her bed and replayed the evening with Dev in her head. "He is such a nice person. A gentleman. He did not judge me, even after knowing about my past. Moreover, he is so chivalrous..." she said to herself dreamily.
Dev's case was nothing different as he too had been replaying their conversation, her opening up to him, her crystal clear thoughts - all of it.

They had decided to meet the next day again and for some more time, before making the decision that would change their lives - probably and hopefully for the best. Both had a few things to take care of, before calling it a day and meeting each other at the same place as the previous day.

Dev had had a very tiresome day till the lunch hour, and it was at that time when he remembered that he had to text Sona about the timings for the evening. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and sent her a message:

Dev: Good afternoon, Sonakshi! I am sorry - I don't think that I can possibly make it today evening. The workload is pretty bad today. I will let you know if I can make it, though. Sorry for letting you down! 😞

He hit the SEND button and was waiting for her reply, which came through in a couple of minutes.

Sona: Good afternoon to you too, Dev! It's completely alright if you can't make it today. No worries, okay? You don't need to over-stress yourself to meet me in the evening. We will manage to meet up tomorrow or whenever you have time. Now, please relax. Okay?

He was expecting her to crib over him ditching her, but instead, he was once again stunned by her understanding nature. He smiled at the phone screen for a couple of seconds and then resumed having lunch. Post lunch, he had drowned himself in training. He had decided to complete his pent-up work so that he could have free time to meet Sona the next day.

Sona did not mind that he could not make it to see her that evening. Over the little time that she had been acquainted with Dev, he had come across as a hardworking person who was completely dedicated to his work. She could easily make out that he was busy because she also knew Dev to be a man of his word and him going back on his own words was just impossible. So instead of sulking or cribbing like most of the females of her age, she picked up her half-finished novel, and within a couple of minutes more, she was engrossed in it.

As he had decided earlier, Dev managed to complete as much of his work as manageable and returned home late. On reaching home, he found his family waiting for him in the living room. "Maa, Dad, Soumya...why are you all awake?", he frowned at them. "We were waiting for you son. Tumhe late kyun hua? Kaam bohot zyada pad raha hain kya? Main toh jaldi nikla...", inquired Anant. Having already thought of an excuse to tackle this question, Dev answered, "Nahi Dad, work has been adequate. It's just that I got carried away a bit today, so I over-worked."
Dev was never the to promote lying, but just like Sonakshi, he too did not want to invoke false hopes in his parents, especially his mother.

Since Dev had taken care of most of his work the previous day, he had quite a little work to do that day. He texted Sona at the usual time, i.e., lunch hour, to ask if they could meet up that evening.

Dev: Are you busy this evening? We could meet if you are free? :)
Sona: Nah, I am free. We can meet. :)

Dev smiled and keeping the phone back, completed his lunch and resumed work. The rest of the day passed away pretty quickly, with Dev submerged in his work and Sona helping Asha with some household stuff.

In the evening, Asha and Bijoy left for some function, leaving Sona behind alone as she complained of a headache. As soon as they left Sona too started getting ready to see Dev.
Sona hated lying to her parents and was feeling completely guilty for having to do so, but she knew that it was for their good. She knew that if she told her parents about meeting Dev and all, they might get their hopes high, and if things would not materialize positively, then they would be left heartbroken, over the fact that the very first proposal for their daughter's marriage had been rejected. The same was the case with Dev. He too did not want his parents to think that he would agree to the marriage, just because he was getting to know the girl.

They met at the same place and ordered the beverages. After a small conversation here and there Dev said, "I am sorry once again for yesterday, Sonakshi. I would never have gone back on my words, but I was bound by work, so..." Cutting him in between, Sona said, "It's okay Dev. Really. Main gussa nahi hoon.", and smiled at him. Chucking the apologies aside, they talked about their studies, likes and dislikes, movies, music, books, and much more. They had managed to strike a good rapport and discovered that they had a lot in common. They engaged in a comfortable and easy-flowing conversation.

This (DevAkshi meeting one another) continued for another couple of weeks. DevAskhi had grown comfortable with each other. Every time they met, which was not regularly, they spoke about vast topics and got to know each other even better, with every meeting of theirs. They had indulged their respective families in their conversations as well; with Sona narrating her parent's funny fights over her (Sona) and Dev telling her about Soumya and his quarrels. It was very easy for Sona to conclude that Dev was extremely fond of Soumya, as he spoke of her, very dearly. After meeting for a long time and getting to know each other better, DevAkshi finally come to a conclusion.

One fine evening, they both called their respective families to Malhotra Mansion, leaving everyone clueless as to why had they been gathered at the Malhotras'. Upon their arrival at Anjali's, both Ishwari and Asha got introduced to each other; and so did their beloved husbands. Both, Dev and Sonakshi's families had gotten along very well, and Anjali could not have been happier than she was, to see the people she loved the most and hoped would get into an official relationship, gel up so quickly.

All of them had been assembled in the Malhotra Mansion's drawing room and were patiently waiting for DevAkshi to arrive and break it to them as to why had they been called.

DevAkshi entered together, sometime later; after a lot of discussion over their impending marriage and finally concluding; surprising them all. "Dev, tu aur Sona ek saath?", inquired a surprised Anjali. "Maasi, woh...hum dono ko aap sabse kuch kehna hain.", replied Dev. "And what are you waiting for Bhai?", asked an impatient Soumya. He gestured for her to calm down. "Maa, Baba...I am sorry, I have been lying to you about meeting up with my friends, whenever I used to step out of the house in the evenings. I-I used to meet Dev. Trust me, I did not want to lie to you, but I did not want to give you false hopes either. I am sorry!", Sonakshi apologized to her parents, her head hung low, and her eyes moist. "The same applies to me as well. I am sorry too, Maa and Dad.", said Dev. "It's okay, we can understand.", Asha said understandingly. "Yes, it's fine.", came the reply from Ishwari. Looking at everybody's eager-to-know-about-DevAkshi's-decision faces, DevAkshi looked and one another and nodded. Clearing his throat, Dev said, "We had been meeting each other all this while cuz we wanted to be sure of ourselves and before arriving at any decision." "During those meets, we got to know each other better.", Sonakshi continued where Dev had stopped. She then continued, "After all this...we have decided that..." "That?", came the reverberation from the others. "We accept this proposal!", said DevAkshi together. "What??", the ladies almost screamed in excitement. "We are ready to get married to each other. We have no qualms about this proposal.", said Sona. No sooner did she say that, than the ladies, including Soumya, kind of pounced on her, congratulating her and their male counterparts patted Dev's back, congratulating him.