Like the slither of a snake, the whispers started, crawling among the crowd.
I was a statue, unable to think. Every inch of my skin was covered in tattoos. Darshan's eyes traveled over them in fury. Jayanti's were wide with horror. Kunj looked at me through slits, as if pleased.
The music was still playing, but nobody was dancing anymore, and I wished the noise of it would stop. I couldn't think.
The moment seemed to drag on forever as I looked into everyone's big eyes. Then, warmth swept over me as something covered me.
I jumped and looked up into Farhan's face. He didn't look at me, but nodded, as if assuring me everything would be okay, and steered me through the crowd with protective arms around me, holding up my veil.
"Vivaan!" I heard Darshan hiss.
Farhan stopped steering me. A second later, Vivaan seemed to have sprung into action and caught up to me. His arms replaced Farhan's and he continued leading me away.
I avoided everyone's gaze, but I could see it from the corner of my eyes. People were pointing at me. If I couldn't hear the blood rushing through my ears, I would've heard exactly what they were saying. I was glad I couldn't.
Vivaan and I walked into the house where more guests were. The crowd wasn't ending. I picked up the pace, wrapping my veil more tightly around me. I shrugged Vivaan's hands off and rushed upstairs, hearing him follow behind.
Once the door of our room was shut behind us, only then did I start breathing again. I sank onto the edge of the bed as Vivaan began to pace.
"It'll be fine," he said, more to himself. "I-I'm sure it's fine. It's just tattoos, it's not hurting anyone."
I glared at him. Standing up, I ripped the veil off. "Look at me. Does this look like something your family will let go of easily? My own parents don't even know about this."
Vivaan was at a loss for words. Outside, the music was still going, muffled through the walls of the house. The door of the room swung open. I scrambled to cover myself again, but it was Farhan who entered, his face grim.
"Darshan wants me to tell you both to stay in this room until the night is over." He met my eyes. "It'll be okay. I'd stay here, but he wants me downstairs."
I nodded, trying to look certain. On the inside, I was crumbling apart.
The wait was agonizing. Sometimes I would pace around the room, sometimes Vivaan would. I decided it would be a good idea to change at one point, and dressed into a large sweater and pants that covered every inch of my skin.
Vivaan bounced his knees up and down on the bed. I was suddenly fascinated by the lights dancing on our walls from the party outside. My hands traveled to my clothes once more, straightening it, fixing it, making sure nothing could be seen.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Don't be," he murmured.
The sounds of laughter and chatter faded outside. The pauses between the music grew. The sounds of chairs and tables being pulled to the side increased until finally the sangeet was over. No matter how much I rubbed my hands on my pants, they remained sticky. We both stared at the door, waiting, expecting. Still, we both jumped when it opened.
Darshan and Kunj were the first to stride in, their large frames taking up space in the small room and their faces an identical mask of anger. Jayanti followed in a second later, quiet and small, closing the door behind herself.
No one said anything at first. A muscle twitched in Darshan's jaw as he gritted his teeth. When nobody spoke, Kunj stepped forward. "My brother thought he had gotten his son married to a decent girl."
YOU ARE READING
The Arrangement
General Fiction"That's Vivaan Trivedi. His parents are good friends of ours. Aditi," my mom's face was open with regret as she spoke, "we're going to arrange your marriage with him." Aditi Sharma has spent most of her life doing what her parents wanted. She tries...
