Even though the Boubhat had begun a couple hours ago, it didn't feel as dramatic as it did after we stepped out of that room. It seemed like everyone was looking at us. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I still felt their judgemental gaze. I chewed my lower lip and kept my gaze focused ahead. It was clear that we were the center of the attention.
"Good thing, I found you. The Su-" Molly cut herself off when she realised that Ritwik was there as well. "-Mr. Sinha is looking for you and Mr. Sinha."
"Why?"
I swore that if the old man tried to give me that stupid necklace publicly, I was gonna scream. I didn't need that kind of burden. I couldn't afford it.
"He wants to talk to your uncle and aunt." She replied nervously.
I grinned. "Really? Ugh! I wish I had some popcorn. This is gonna get real."
"You could get chips." Ritwik suggested.
I snapped my fingers like it was the greatest idea ever. "Good idea."
I turned to leave but Molly caught my elbow. "Where are you going?"
"Chips." I pointed at the section where the eating area was.
"Come on, you can't do that. That's rude." Molly said nervously.
"Her wedding. Her rules." Naira defended my childish behaviour.
"Sir?" She turned to Ritwik.
He just raised his hands in surrender.
"Do you want to miss it? Do you want to miss Dadu putting them in their place?" Pratyush asked like the logical asshole he was.
I groaned but agreed to just go with Molly. We followed her towards the stage we were just on. It seemed like the guests had doubled in number in just the few minutes we were in that room. The staged area was no longer almost empty like it had been during our feud with Mishti.
Ritwik's grandfather spotted us and beckoned us onto the stage. We looked at each other for a second then stepped onto the stage.
"As you all know, this is my second grandson, Ritwik Sinha. Today, I am here to introduce the newest member of our family. Ritwik's wife, Mrs. Dyutilekha Sinha."
The crowd of people clapped loudly. Even though it was hard to decipher their whispers I could still hear some murmurs about how the previous choice was so much better and that they expected Ritwik's wife to be much more beautiful.
Aah yes, judge my looks while looking like painted old rotten potatoes in blingy rags.
It did make me a little self-conscious. I held my hands in front of my stomach trying to cover it a bit.
"I would like to thank Paritosh Sen and his wife for helping us realise that Dyuti was a much better fit for Ritwik. This marks the beginning of their journey together and my request to everyone attending the reception is to bless them with all your heart."
The shade wasn't missed by anyone as the murmurs got slightly louder. My eyes accidentally met my aunt's and she was seething. "You will pay for this." She mouthed to me. My aunt and uncle faked a smile for a while then quitely snuck out.
Okay, it's settled. He's my favourite character on our show.
My mother glared at me across the room then chased after her sister. My brick of a dad just kept drinking his cup of tea.
They're going to the retirement home. There's no way in hell, I'll take care of those two assholes.
Surprisingly, the rest of the reception went well. More people came up to us to take photos, give gifts and bless us.
By the time midnight rolled in, I was exhausted. I really wanted to sleep. But of course things never went that smoothly in a soap opera.
My mother found me once again and for some reason her expression seemed soft and caring. She had tears in her eyes as she touched my face. I had to resist the urge to cry.
I am so fucking touch starved, it's not even a joke. I just want my parents to love me. Is it too much to ask for?
"This is for your own good. You will understand it later."
The fucking audacity.
"No."
"Dyu-"
"No, it's not for my own good. It's for you. And it's for your shitty family. Not for me."
"You are my family!"
"Am I really?"
She shook her head with an angry smile. "You didn't want to be married but you're already thinking of me as por. I don't understand the need for this act. You're obviously happy but it hurts you to admit it."
"You're the one who threw me away!"
We were attracting attention but it was hard for me to stop. My mother looked panicked. This was the first time in years that I was having a public outburst. The older I got, the more I believed that family issues are personal and are best kept within the four walls. But it was clear that we weren't family.
"Chi. Chi. You're not ashamed at all. I have done everything for you and you are standing here and insulting me. Chi. You have already taken whatever you need, now of course you'll do this."
What. The. Fuck?
I wanted to scream and break something. My mother didn't stop at that.
"Now you're the daughter-in-law of a rich family so you don't need us. I have only done all bad things never anything good." She shook her head with tears in her eyes.
Not wanting to create a scene, I did the next best thing I could to relieve my anger. I put my right hand in my mouth and bit on it. Hard.
"God is keeping account of everything. He will judge you when the day comes."
My eyelids squeezed close causing a few tear drops to escape. I breathed heavily through my nose while biting into my hand.
"Boudi?" Surya's voice caused me to turn around.
"Yeah?" I asked trying to keep my voice level..
"Jemma is looking for you. Go upstairs." Then he turned to my mother. "Kakima, how are you?"
My mother regained her composure and smiled at him. "I'm good. How are you?"
I snuck away as Surya engaged my mother in idle chit chat.
On my way upstairs, I bumped into Naira. "I'm sorry, I couldn't take care of you properly." I apologized.
She looked at me with concern. "Hey, are you okay? Did you talk to your mother?"
I nodded and looked away. I was acting like a cry baby.
Without a word she pulled me into a hug. "Let's go out for dinner tomorrow?" I nodded in her embrace.
"I want to sleep." I croaked out.
"Okay. Don't worry about anything else. I'll take of whatever happens downstairs."
"I know you will." I smiled as I pulled away.
She scrunched her eyebrows together.
"What?"
"One second." She took out a napkin and cleaned something off my face. "It's okay now. Your eyeliner smudged a little."
"I don't care. You got makeup wipes? I don't wanna sleep with make up on."
"You'll take it off now?"
"Yeah, why not? It's just Ritwik. I'm not going back to the party anymore."
She handed me a pack of make-up wipes. I knew I could count on her to think everything through and be prepared. I took it and climbed the rest of the way up.
I was immediately cornered by a group of young women.
"We're going to hide you until he pays up." One of the young women giggled.
"Uh.."
"Yeah, if he wants to meet his wife, he has to pay." Another girl giggled.
"Can I hide in a room?" I asked hopefully.
"Oh yes, of course!" Kaju replied.
I was both shocked and impressed that she was a part of this. From what I had heard about her from Surya or Ritwik, she was a shy person. So, the fact that she was part of such a mischief was quite surprising.
They led me to Ritwik's room. I was pushed inside the room and the door locked behind me.
Have fun I guess. Oh bed, here I-
I couldn't think anything else. The room was mostly dark. A small yellow lamp sat on the bedside table. Next to it was a glass of milk covered with a tea coaster. The bed was decorated with rose petals shaped like a heart in the middle of the white bedsheet. The pillows had red velvet covers. The velvet was ruffled in a way that it made a heart shape in the middle of the pillow.
I looked around and saw several garlands of red and white flowers hanging off the furniture. A beautiful bouquet of red and white roses wrapped in a beautiful orangish red paper and a bow of the similar colour laid on the dressing table near the bed. A match box sat next to it. Out of confusion, I looked around once again. Several heart shaped candles littered the room but they weren't lit. I just knew they'd smell nice.
Whoever decorated it did a wonderful job and my inner monologue isn't doing it justice.
The decor made me picture myself sitting on the bed with my face covered my the ghomta as I patiently waited for my hu- yeah no. Too much.
Let's rewind.
Me sitting on the bed with my ghomta covering my face waiting for my hot boss to come undress me.
Yeah, see now that fantasy is hot.
My mind wandered to the possibility of his brother walking in on us and watching us until it got too much and he felt the need to join.
Hot.
They'd take turns. One in my mouth and the other in my-
Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Somebody come get me, I'm thinking like a hooker. Somebody come get me, I'm thinking like hoooookerr.
I could hear giggling outside. I picked up the match and began to light up the candles while listening to what was happening outside.
"Come on, this is my room. You can't stop me from entering my own room."
"We told you. If you want to go, you'll have to pay."
"That's not fair. It's literally my own room."
"Of course this is fair. It's tradition!"
"I'm going to call Dadasa-"
"I can't help you today. Everyone has to go through this." Ritwik's grandfather's voice rang outside.
I snickered.
Aw poor thing.
I quickly texted Naira the situation obviously leaving out my fantasy and the fact that I was lighting up the candles. I snapped a picture of the room with half the candles lit up and sent it to her.
She texted me back saying that she didn't want to be involved in my sex life and I replied by calling her a bitch and telling her that I just wanted her to see the pretty room decoration. She sent me a selfie with a disappointed expression and then told me that she wasn't ready to be an aunt. After that I sent her the middle finger emoji and stopped replying.
By the time I finished lighting up the rest of the candles, Ritwik seemed to have rescued himself from the pickle and the door handle was being opened. I tiptoed on to the bed and sat on it like a typical married woman.
If I was going to be forced into a marriage, I was going to at least tease the shit out of the hot idiot I was married to.
As the door opened, I could see the women look inside and giggle. Ritwik entered while facing his cousins and telling them that it was unfair for them to make him pay to enter his own room but stopped mid sentence. His cousins giggled and shoved him inside closing the door behind him.
"Fuck. Did I forget my birthday?"
Soft giggles could be heard followed by shushing sounds. They were definitely outside. I never understood that part of the wedding in all those soap operas. It was weird as hell trying to see your own family getting it on with someone.
"Nah, just your wedding. Also, they're outside." I replied.
"I know." His whisper was much closer. I don't know when he got so close. He pulled my veil back revealing my face.
I grinned at him. "Hey."
He grinned back. "Hi."
His grin vanished suddenly and he stared at me intently.
"What?"
"You were crying."
"Whattt? No. Of course not."
"Dyuti."
"Yeah, I know my name."
"What happened? Did Mishti or anyone else say anything to you?"
"No. Mishti didn't say anything. Look, can we not get into this?"
"Okay. Just give me a nod. Is it your family?"
I snorted. Family.
Family my ass.
"I'll take that as a yes. Who was it?"
"Just drop it, pup." The nickname slipped involuntarily. But it seemed to have worked because he shut up.
"Ignore that. I played new bride for long enough. Now, I'm sleepy. So if you'll excuse me. I'm gonna go take a shower." I grumbled and made my way to the attached bathroom.
I'd managed to take off most of the jewellery and even the saree but of course my life being the soap opera that it was, I couldn't unhook all the buttons of my blouse.
I'm going to murder someone.
So begrudgingly, I poked my head out of the bathroom to call for my boss.
"Yo bo-"
You've got to be kidding me.
*********†*****†*********
Por - Not your person.
Chi- A sound used to show disgust. In this case, the person is being shamed.
Jemma- Dad's older brother's wife
Kakima- Dad's younger brother's wife