The Bachelor

Chapter 11 : The Best Friend's Approval

6:30 pm, 24th February, Galaxy Villa, Madh Island, Mumbai.

Well, shit. I can't believe that I'm actually on the set of 'The Bachelor'!

If you'd told me, a month ago that I'd be sitting in the makeup room of a posh villa in Madh Island, waiting for one of the A.Ds to summon me, on this particular day, I'd have laughed hard in your face.

All through my teen years, I'd made so much fun of this particular show, along with Manik and Cabir.

I mean, the whole premise of it had always been too corny for me to digest. How could one fall in love under the prying eyes of the entire country's population?!

It was outright ridiculous! In my opinion, the only kind of people who took part in such shows were only doing it to gain their fifteen minutes of fame or make a quick buck.

So, imagine my shock when I stumbled upon the name of this year's suitor while casually reading the newspaper, more than a week ago.

It was Manik! My best friend Manik!

The first thought which had popped into my head was that the article was fake. The Manik I knew and loved would never agree to be part of such a superficial and cheesy show!

However, when I looked it up online, I found that all the websites were reporting the same piece of news.

I still remember how frantically I'd called Manik, after that.

"Hi Mukti. What's up?" He'd said casually, but I could already sense the discomfort in his voice.

"What's up? Manik, when were you going to tell me that you're the suitor for this season of 'The Bachelor'?!" I yelled over the phone.

"Relax, Mukti. It's no big deal. I just..." He was about to complete his statement, when I cut him off.

"Are you fucking crazy?! I know you've been a mess since Alya left, but this is a whole new level of self-destruction! I can't believe you're letting her rule you like this." I screamed, without giving my words much thought.

I could hear a deathly silence on the other end. Ever since Alya left, there was an unspoken pact between Cabir and me to never mention her name in front of Manik again.

Manik finally spoke after several moments.

"This has nothing to do with...her. Mr. Malhotra. He wants me to do it. He says he wants me to choose a wife, so that the tabloids stop writing scandalous stories about my antics. And if I don't, then he'll never allow me to start my own music label." He said in a deadpan voice.

I gasped at his words. I knew Mr. Malhotra was very cold and calculating, but I'd never imagined that he would blackmail his own son.

"Manik. You don't have to do this. We'll figure something out. There's no way you can get married like this!" I tried to reason with him.

"No Mukti. I've made my decision. And I'm not going to marry anyone. I have a plan in place." He said, rather determinedly.

"But Manik..." I argued.

"Mukti. Let me handle it. I'm a bit busy now, so I'll speak to you later." He said, before he cut the call.

I knew that there was no use in trying to convince Manik. There was no changing his mind once it was made. Cabir had said the same thing when I eventually shared my worry with him.

And now, however much I hated it, Manik had entered into some sort of a pissing contest with his father!

The whole situation was spiraling out of control. I'd been in the U.S for the last couple of days on a work visit, and I hadn't been able to speak to Manik at all due to the wretched time difference. Besides, I knew Manik wouldn't be too eager to speak with me.