Two Birds One Arrow (Completed)

Chapter 7

The arrangements for the engagement goes on in full swing. It is almost five thirty p.m right now and the ceremony will begin by seven p.m.

The entire house gets lively as lots of relatives flood into our house. Most of them have made it their mission to either get me ready on time or tease me endlessly to no end.

I smile as my cousin ,Manisha, helps me with my necklace. She has come here along with her one month old baby girl and she is just the cutest. I procrastinated getting ready as much as I could, so that I could play with her but everyone else had other plans and unfortunately, it was all of their votes against mine, so I had to give up and get ready.

"So I guess my advice had really come handy after all?" She asks me helping Ananya with my hair.

"Yeah, I guess." Her tell with a smile.

"Tell me about Gautham." She asks me.

"Gautham is a really good guy. He is caring and also someone who is very responsible. He believes in destiny and always has time to make for the people he loves." I tell her, quote content with the match I had chosen.

"Does he make you happy?" Manisha asks me.

"Of course, he does." I didn't learn much about him in these ten days but he does make me happy and I have this huge urge to protect him from the judgement of everyone in my family.

The make up process continues for some more time and before I know it, it's already six thirty. More and more family members join me in my room, complimenting me, congratulating me or both.

After some time, Gautham's mother enters my room and I stand upon seeing her. She first greets everyone else in the room and then walks up to me. "You look so much beautiful, dear." She smiles at me. "Here, have this." She gives me a jewelry box.

"Oh no, no need aunty. Have it with you." I tell her, refusing to have it. I already picked out ornaments and they did not have to spend so much for it.

"Why? Do I not have the rights to give my beautiful daughter-in-law what she deserves." Seeing as I did not take it from her hand, she opens the box revealing a necklace. She picks it up and places it around my neck. "Here, look. It makes you look even more beautiful." She smiles at me.

"Thank you, aunty." I tell her, eyeing the necklace which was so beautiful and must have costed them a lot too.

"Do you like it?" She asks me.

"A lot, aunty. It is really beautiful." I inform her.

"Gautham selected it for you." She tells me and suddenly the necklace appears even more beautiful to me than what it did merely seconds ago. "You continue to get ready. I will go out and take care of the formalities to be completed." With that being said, she steps out of the room.

"Wow, the necklace is really beautiful, dude." Ananya tells me.

"I know right." Manisha joins her.

I pick my phone and text Gautham.

Thanks for the necklace. It is beautiful.

I get a reply just after I sent it as if he had been waiting for my text the entire time.

But not as beautiful as you...

I smile at the text. I immediately receive another message from him.

So are you going to accept me as your boyfriend?

I had already decided when I would give him a positive answer, he would have to wait until then.

Is this all the moves that you have got???

I turn off my phone as my mother brings in the photographer and the photo shoot begins. It soon becomes seven and I am called out a little after that. I step out accompanied by my mother, Gautham's mother, Ananya and Manisha.

I sit down there besides Gautham. After I sit next to him, he came close to my ear and whispered, "stealing my breath away every single time."

There were some rituals and formalities and many more things. Almost an hour passed and later the priest told us that we could exchange rings.

It was my turn first. He stretched his fingers in front of me and I carefully slid the ring down his ring finger. There were a lot of cheers at this point of time. Next, it was Gautham's turn.

As soon as he was handed the ring, he did not slide it down my outstretched fingers. Instead, he did something really weird. He placed the ring in his palm and stood up. I looked at him wide-eyed, scared about what he was going to do.

He got down on knee and then asked, "Neha, will you marry me?" There were a lot of 'awwwwws' from the crowd upon seeing this. I was certain that my face grew really red. I covered my face with one hand and told him a 'yes'. He then later placed the ring in my finger.

I swear this boy is all about drama.

The priest then says a few more things which I did not hear at all. All my attention was now on the ring that adored my finger and gave me a whole new feeling.

Soon all the rituals were over. It was decided that we would get married on the fifteenth of May, which was five months away.

A lot of family members come up and congratulate us. A lot of introductions are also exchanged between the two of our families.

The photographers then called the two of us for a private photo shoot. Gautham was more than happy to spend some time in private with me.

The first location was our garden. We had to strike a hand-in-hand pose but the focus was directed on our hands instead of us face. The second shot was the both of us staring into the eyes of each other. We had to look at each other and at that moment, I was scared whether my eyes would betray me and give away the truth to Gautham - the fact that I am starting to fall for him.

I had this huge urge to look away because the intensity of his eyes conveyed too many emotions which were way too much for me to handle. I was scared whether my eyes would replicate the same thing to him.

There was this fear inside me that kept me from telling the truth to Gautham. I was scared whether if I tell him that he is perfect for me and I had already fallen for him, he would stop trying to impress me. I was scared whether that would put an end to the love story we were just getting to experience. I was scared whether this will turn into an 'arranged-by-the-family' custom and it would turn into a normal marriage.

For I did not want this feeling to end. I wanted him to pull various ropes just to see a smile in my face. Call me selfish or whatever you want, but if this was my husband and I wanted him to be the way I had always dreamt of.

I did not want Gautham to give up on Neha or their love story.