Akshara woke up to the chilly outside air tickling her nostrils. She smiled, stretching and remembering the beautiful night they spent at the terrace of the ancestral home. She suddenly pulled her left hand out of the blanket to make sure last night was not a dream.
She stared at the vintage ruby ring that adorned her finger, and it made her vision blur. The ring was like no other she had seen in all the years she had been planning weddings. The three rubies that were on the ring would be categorized as mismatched colour by a jeweller, the gold would have been deemed as scratched by an assessor, but for her, the history and the symbol of love the ring served as, made it priceless.
It was perfect…!!
She slowly turned to look at the man who turned everything about her life to beautiful in such a short amount of time. She bent down to gently kiss him without waking him up before grabbing her phone to call Aarohi to tell her everything.
It was still early on a Sunday morning, but she knew her best friend would not mind being shaken awake to hear the news about her engagement. She heard Aarohi’s voice after barely a ring.
“You are up early, too?” Aarohi laughed.
“Yeah, how is the rally going?”
Aarohi let out a sigh.
“This is a lot of work, and we need to plan ahead, Akshara. And these brothers are workaholics like you.”
Akshara laughed.
“Then you don’t miss me at all.”
“Not a bit and guess what, the Goenka’s family home here is a beautiful location for—” Aarohi’s voice was lost when a rooster crowed in the background.
“Akshara, where the heck are you? Did you bring us a pet rooster?”
“No.” She laughed and saw Abhimanyu had woken up to the rooster’s call and was shooing it away.
“I’m out for the weekend.”
“Out? Where?”
“I’m at Abhimanyu’s ancestral home?”
“What are you doing there? Checking it out for an event?” Aarohi asked innocently, making Akshara feel guilty.
“I… I’ve kept something from you for a while now, and I didn’t tell you only because I didn’t know where this would go and—”
Aarohi interjected letting out a squeal of joy.
“Who is the guy?
Someone I know?”
“Yes, you do know him.”
She blushed looking at Abhimanyu who had fallen asleep with the sheets pulled over his head.
“Oh my God. Is it Brozilla?”
Akshara let out a laugh.
“Brozilla is also your best friend’s fiancé now.”
“Shut the front door. You are kidding me,” Aarohi was screaming into the phone. “One weekend I am out of town and all this happens? Unbelievable.”
“I’m still processing everything.”
Aarohi laughed.
“I should have known by the way he was looking at you. I told you he wasn’t looking at you to ensure the quality of the tasks. That was the look. I knew it, and we have a lot to talk about.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work.” Akshara smiled to herself.
“No. I’ll be home tonight,” Aarohi said and immediately started laughing. “Oh, right. You are saying you are not coming home?”
“Yes, Aarohi, and we also need to talk because he asked me to move in with him, but I didn’t want to say anything without asking you.”
“You are mad, my friend. If you have agreed to marry him, you love him, and why would you be anywhere else.”
Akshara let out a sigh.
“Let’s talk tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
*****
“Why do you look so nervous?” Abhimanyu asked later that evening after returning from his grandfather’s village.
“I just told my mom and dad, and they are ecstatic.”
Akshara smiled. “I think I should tell Anisha.”
“Really?” he teased.
“I don’t know, you should call her.” She shook her head with confusion.
Abhimanyu thought for a moment.
“I have an idea. Why don’t we video call her? That way you get to tell her, too.”
Akshara nodded, but something was not sitting well.
“We should have shared the news in person with friends and family. Anisha is such a firm believer in face-to-face communication. I feel like we should tell her in person.”
“You’ve studied her way too well.” He laughed.
Akshara blushed.
“She has been so kind to me. Even though you are the brother, I want to be the one to tell her.”
Abhimanyu shrugged and put his phone away.
“I told my parents not to tell her, and we can meet her for lunch or dinner tomorrow and tell her.”
Akshara nodded. “I think—”
Abhimanyu let out a laugh when he saw his sister was video calling him.
“Speak of the devil.”
“Anisha, what’s happening?” Abhimanyu held the phone in such a way they could see only him on the screen.
“I don’t know, brother. I just happened to stop by Mom’s, and they are all bursting with excitement, and I can’t squeeze a drop out of them.
“What did you do?” Akshara laughed.
“What do you think?”
“Based on their expressions, you told them the mystery woman is the one you want to be with.”
Abhimanyu chuckled.
“Really? You don’t think any of my professional accomplishments would make them so happy?”
“Did you get another award? Another 30 under 30…award?” She laughed and added, “I doubt it. No award or reward will make them bounce off the walls like this. It’s got to be very personal.”
“I’m impressed, little sis.”
She nodded, rubbing her chin. “Based on Granny’s expression, I get the feeling you have the family engagement ring out of the box.”
“Anisha Deepak Holmes. You are on to something.” Abhimanyu laughed. Anisha let out a squeal of joy, enjoying her accomplishment of being able to guess the reason.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I am so happy for you. Who is she? Do I know her?”
“C’mon, I know how much you love playing these guessing games. You got this,” he encouraged looking at Akshara who had been blushing all along, her heart overflowing with love for him.
How did she get so lucky?
“Yes. Wait. I need to remember. Oh, is it the woman who you shared the dessert that Mom made? The one who liked my wall at your place?”
“I like the way you think Anisha. Yes. That’s her.”
“So, you’ve been dating her since then?”
He shook his head.
“Let’s just say I was single even three days after your wedding.”
“Wow, you fell in love in three weeks?” Anisha gasped.
Abhimanyu slowly looked at Akshara who had her eyes on him.
“I think I had fallen for her a while back and just didn’t know it. I knew she was the one, the night of the Sangeet.”
“This is uncanny. Remember when I told you I liked this guy, who is now my sweet husband? That was at my best friend’s Sangeet.”
“Yes. I remember.” He smirked.
“I have never seen you like this. You are so in love.”
Abhimanyu looked at Akshara. “I love her.”
Anisha let out an endearment. “That is so sweet. I’m so happy you found love.”
Abhimanyu kept his eyes on Akshara. “Yeah, I knew it was her, but she is such a toughie. She made me work for her love.”
Akshara blushed looking away from him.
“Abhimanyu, she is there with you, isn’t she? Please? Can I say hi?”
Anisha pleaded.
“Anisha, you know the rules of the game.”
“Fine!!Fine!! Give me something else. Another clue maybe…???”
Abhimanyu looked at Akshara for a long moment.
“All I can tell you is the woman I love has a beautiful heart, caring as hell, and only knows how to give but has never taken anything in return. I want to give her everything she ever wished for and more.”
“Don’t make me cry now. I had no idea you were such a stupid romantic.” Anisha let out a laugh as she wiped off the moisture at the edge of her eyes.
“I didn’t know either until I met her, or the first time I couldn’t care less for her, but now, she rules my freaking heart.” He locked his eyes with Akshara’s making her heart somersault in her chest.
“Akshara. Are you in love with Akshara? It has to be her.” Anisha let out a cry of joy.
“You have gotten really good at this, little sis.”
“Oh my God. It is Akshara.”
There was a loud scream of joy and the sound of the phone being dropped on the floor before Anisha came back.
“I am so happy for you. I want to hug you two, kiss you. I want you guys to have a dozen babies and be happy forever.”
Abhimanyu laughed. “Thank you, Anisha.”
“You owe me big time, brother, for bringing the woman of your dream into your life,” Anisha teased.
“I guess so.”
“Now, get off my screen because I want to talk to my future sister in- law, and if she agrees, potentially my business partner,” Anisha cheered, and Akshara smiled sending silent prayers to the heavens for her blessings.
Later that night, she lay in Abhimanyu’s arms enjoying the sound of his beating heart against her cheek. She still could not believe how life changed in a matter of a month. Everything she had hoped for in her life was in front of her. It was as if everything was bundled into one gift and left for her to discover.
“I just can’t believe where I am right now,” she whispered.
He pulled her closer to him.
“How did I get so lucky?”
She snuggled closer to him.
“Silly man. I will miss you when you go out of town tomorrow.”
He moved, nuzzling her neck.
“You have no idea, but I need to make this one last trip, so I can get everything set up in Malaysia. Then, I will come back home to you after a boring day at work to get my butt kicked at the games.”
“I’ll miss you, but it will give me time to spend with Aarohi. She is pissed you are taking away her roommate.”
“Baby, you have no idea what it feels to find the missing piece of the puzzle, and I don’t just mean figuratively.” He laughed and added, “We need to compete with puzzle-making as well while you are beating me at every game.”
She smiled. “I can say you are my missing piece, a boulder-sized one that makes me whole. The first time we kissed, I knew I was home, and I didn’t need to look for a family that I probably don’t have.”
He kissed the top of her head. “If you want to look, you should.”
“I haven’t checked on the research in weeks. I just—” She pulled back to look at him. “You are my everything, and I don’t know what else would make me happier.”
He smiled, his lips brushing over hers.
“You complete me, Akshara.”
Love
Janus