"Could end in burning flames or paradise,"
Advait's POV
If my to-be wife wasn't just the prettiest woman I've met in my entire life, then I don't know what she was. She has a sweet voice, like the one you can fall asleep listening to. And, her hair— the way it fell on her ears, just so beautiful.
But, she didn't have to leave that early, did she? I mean, I skipped my best friend proposing to his girl today. Couldn't she too? Why was everyone proposing today? I went back home with Bhai Sa and Bhabhi Sa.
Bhabhi Sa questioned why she left. I tried to explain her situation as best as I could and Bhai Sa understood and asked Bhabhi Sa to calm down a little. I then asked for her number from them and they surprisingly gave it to me. Somehow, I just didn't want to ask her name. They'd think I'm a loser. The dashing Prince can't even get a girl's name on the first date? Such a shame. Tch, tch, tch.
I sent her a message and she replied to me within a minute. Was I too early to call her 'hone wali biwi'? Maybe, but who cares? It's what she is. In the end, she left my message on seen. She probably felt uncomfortable. Give her some space, Adi.
I woke up at 7 and went for a walk in the garden. When I was in the garden I decided to check my phone and apparently Ms. No Name had sent me a message. I replied to her messages immediately. She replied around 11:30 A.M. We talked and decided to meet at The Botanical at 1:30. I reached at 1:20 and sent her a message just around then. I decided that I'll go talk to the manager to act a little chill before she arrives. She was coming at 1:45, even better. At least I can properly explain my situation to him.
I talked to him and came out. I had my left hand in my pocket and my right hand brushed through my hair one last time. That's when I caught her eyes' attention. She looked beautiful. Blue really suited her. She waved at me and I naturally waved at her too. She started walking towards me. A smile grew on my face.
"Hello, mystery man. Sorry for arriving late." She shook my hand and made a little frown.
"Mystery man, huh? Nice one. Yeah, it's fine. I booked a table. Let's go inside?" I smiled and then we entered the Café. We sat on the table with the most beautiful outside view.
"Let's order first and then talk, huh?" She spoke and scanned the Menu. She started looking for something to order.
"Yeah, you're right." I scanned the Menu too. Just tell me your name already.
We called the waiter and got what we wanted after discussing a little. We ordered a Thin Crust Farmhouse Pizza, two Virgin Mojitos and, a serving of Pink Sauce pasta, for now. She smiled at the puppy outside and waved at it. She has cute dimples.
"So, that guy out there, he was your brother? It's not that I want to know every single guy you're around but it's just that it would be pretty awkward if a guy was staring at us in such a way that we couldn't properly see him and neither of us knew him." I asked, trying my best not to sound awkward or overly possessive.
"Yeah, he's my cousin. He wanted to meet you but I thought it's better if he meets you when he'll come to pick me up." She smiled at me and started tapping her nails on the table. They had cute designs on them.
"So, why don't we get to know each other a little before we know each other's names, huh?" I said and sighed internally. I want to know her so badly, but if I had to wait, she does too.
"Yeah, for sure. What school did you study in?" She curiously asked as I gave her hands that were resting on the table a look.
"I went to MMPS. What about you?" She tucked her hair beneath her ears and her eyes widened as I spoke.
"No way!" She smiled at me and her voice sounded like she was excited. "I went to MMPS too. What batch were you in?" Before I could say anything, the waiter came along with the virgin Mojitos. She took it, mouthed a thanks and gave one to me.
"I was in the batch of 2013, what about you?" I said and took a sip from the Mojito.
"Oh, so that's where I thought I saw you yesterday." She said with that one look people have when they realize something and started laughing. "I'm from the same batch, if you didn't get it." She stopped laughing and took a sip of her mojito. I did get it.
"Oh," I smiled "Now that I can't really ask your name right now, why don't you tell me, what stream did you choose?" The waiter gave us the pizza by then. I put one slice onto my plate and gave her one.
"I took Group A. Tumne kya liya tha?" She put some oregano on her pizza and took a bite. I took a bite of mine too. I didn't know anyone from that class except— nevermind. She might know her. She might know what went down.
(What did you take?)
"Oh, a friend of mine was in Group A. I took commerce with math." I tried to hide to not think of that person as I spoke. She smiled, and I calmed down a little. Her smile is familiar.
"Oh, almost all my friends were in that class. Who's that friend of yours tho?" She spoke with an excited tone.
"Uh, was." I took another sip of my mojito, and the atmosphere became silent. We both became awkward and to avoid that, I started eating.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She frowned a little. She probably thinks that person is dead. "So, what did you study in Cambridge?" She rested her face on her left palm. Don't do that, that's too cute.
"I did my BBA and MBA there. What did you do in Mumbai?" My eyes weren't moving off of her. I took another piece of the pizza and started eating.
"I actually did a lot there," She chuckled a little and helped herself with another piece of pizza. "I did my B. Sc in Chemistry, and alongside it I did my B. Ed and then I did my M. Sc." She spoke out of interest.
"Accha, toh tum padhati ho? What grade do you teach?" My eyes saw her beautiful earrings.
(Oh, so you teach?)
"Mhm, actually funny thing, I teach at MMPS now." She chuckled a little and her earrings moved as she moved her head, in sync. Beautiful. "What about you, what do you do?" Her hair fell perfectly on her face.
"I kinda am the CFO of my family businesses and I do modeling gigs alongside that too." I smiled a little and our eyes met for a little moment. She blinked and looked outside the window for a bit.
"Daddy's little boy, huh?" She chuckled.
"No, I actually had to gain experience before I got that job. Not quite close to what you thought." I looked outside the window too for a second.
"That's good," She smiled. "Here comes the pasta." She had a huge smile on her face now. She probably likes it a lot.
"You really like pasta, huh?" I chuckled a little and she nodded. "There's actually 3 things I love the most in food: pasta, Dal Bati and anything related to strawberries." She smiled and took a sip of the mojito and ate some of that pasta.
"So, who did you use to hang out with back in school, huh?" I asked.
"Well, I used to hang out with just my brother, my best friend and his best friend really, I wasn't really around many popular kids. Who did you use to hang out with?"
"Ah, I was around like everyone if I'm not kidding. You wouldn't find me at the same place for more than 5 minutes." I chuckled a little and took a bite of the pasta.
"Oh, so you were one of the extroverted kids, huh? That's nice. I was a little introverted back then, but with my job I've learnt to be extroverted." She said and focused on her food.
"Being a workplace extrovert really helps, believe me." I chuckled and focused on my food too.
We were almost done with our food before I became restless and wanted to know her so badly. It was like I was a curious kid and my mind wasn't letting me think about anything else.
"Well—" We spoke together and laughed for a moment. I nodded at her and asked her to go on.
"I was saying that don't you think it's time to know each other's names already?" She spoke and wiped her face with a tissue.
"I was about to say just that. Well then, I'm Advait Singh Mewar and it's nice to meet you—?" I paused expecting her to tell me her name too. But all I saw was the smile on her face disappear. What did I do? She looked like she was 5 and someone has just told her Santa isn't real.
"I'm In— Inayat Sharma." She stuttered and for a second I wasn't able to comprehend what she actually said. She didn't say that. There's no way. I saw her eyes get a little teary and she immediately looked away. I sighed. What was Bhabhi Sa thinking?
I asked the waiter for the bill and she immediately snatched it from my hands when he gave it to me. What's her problem? It's not like I arranged this shit. She paid the bill and started walking out of the cafe. She sighed and closed her eyes for a minute or so before calling someone. She acts like she was the only one who got hurt. She most definitely was not, she didn't even lose anything.
I walked closer to her and she started walking away. She walked away until we reached my car. What does she even want to do?
"Bhaag ke kahaan hi chali jaogi tum?" I said, being extremely irritated by her.
(Where would you even go by running?)
"Tumse matlab? Apne bhai ka intezar karne bhi nahi ruk sakti ab mai?" She crossed her arms around her chest and looked in the opposite direction. She was standing in front of my car and I leaned on its door. She rolled her eyes on me. The audacity!
(Why do you care? I can't even wait here to wait for my brother now?)
Before I could say anything to her, I got a call from my mother— Vaidehi, I mean. Before I could even say a hi or hello, a scolding voice greeted me.
"Advait Singh Mewar, reach the Sharmas' place right now. I will kill you if you're not here in half an hour and if you think your excuse is going to work this time, it isn't. She isn't even here right now, even if she was I'm not letting you miss my Roka. So get your fucking act together and reach the house." She demanded and cut the call before I could even say anything else. I sighed and moved a little. I opened the car door and eyed the one last time.
I sat in the car and started it. She tried to call whoever she wanted to call once again but they weren't picking up. Tears formed in her eyes again. I changed my mind and got out of the car immediately. I grabbed her right wrist and dragged her and made her sit on the passenger seat.
"What are you doing? Are you out of—" She tried to oppose it. I shushed her and she finally shut up.
"Chup chaap gaadi mein baithi raho. Tumhare hi ghar ja rahe hai. Zyada tamasha kiya toh dekh lena kya karta hu mai." I said in a commanding voice and increased the volume of the music.
(Sit quietly in the car. We're going to your house only. If you do any other drama you'll have to see what I do.)
She huffed and started looking outside the window. I tried my best to scare her by taking some rough turns but nothing seemed to budge her.
We reached her place in half an hour and luckily, Vaidehi wasn't here yet, so she wouldn't kill me. I parked my car in the available space and got out of the car and started walking away. I walked behind her and she turned back just to find me. She raised her eyebrows at me.
"Who invited you?" She turned back and started walking again. She's probably rolling her eyes. I caught pace and stood next to her as she was taking off her footwear. I leaned closer to her so much that only a few centimeters of difference was left between her ears and my face.
"Your brother's to-be wife did." I whispered into her ears and she pushed me away with all the strength she had. I almost fell but took help from the door. She opened the door with the key in her bag.
I entered to find both our families already sitting in the living room. Vaidehi called me for this? No way. She placed the keys in the keyholder with the most noise she could make. She acts like she owns the damn world. It's really annoying.
She entered the living room and passed a smile to everyone present. She touched my parents' feet and took their blessings. Kya acting karti hai! She then went to my niece and made her sit in her lap and kissed her cheek.
(What acting she does!)
She was whispering something in my niece's ears and my niece kept giggling and telling her something in her ears. Everyone was dressed in traditionals, except me. Kabir entered the room wearing a Grey kurta and a cotton pant below it. He came and sat next to me. He gave a look and she ignored him brutally.
"Tu leke aaya isey?" Kabir leaned towards me and whispered in my ears. I nodded. He chuckled a little. "Aayi sahi woh tere saath?" He covered his mouth so no one understood he was laughing.
(You brought her?)
(She came with you?)
"Mat pooch, bhai." I rolled my eyes and glared at her, which she again ignored.
(Don't ask, brother.)
Kabir's mother got a text from the Bansals saying that they were here. Kabir's parents and Bhabhi Sa's parents went to receive the Bansals and a huge smile crept on Kabir's face.
All of them came inside and greeted my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Vaidehi went and sat next to her friend. She looked at me and gave me a sarcastic smile.
Panditji started with reading both of their names and then said some shlokas. Then, the couple were made to sit together. They were explained a few things by the Pandit. A plate was then given to Vaidehi with certain gifts in it, the same was done with my boy, Kabir.
Everything and everyone went hand in hand except for someone's presence there. Someone's presence today for the whole day. They say, the soul never forgets and I'll make sure mine never will. She did wrong to me and she'll have to face wrong too now. That is at least what I hope happens.
After the ritual was over and everyone started talking with each other. Kabir and Vaidehi were flirting with each other and trying their best not to blush. My niece was now giving her Mausi high-fives.
"Oh, Advait and Inayat," Bhabhi Sa spoke, trying to grab everyone's attention. "You heard what Panditji said, right? Take that in your mind, yeah? It'll come handy for Wednesday." She chuckled a little and passed a smile to Maa Sa. I looked towards her with confusion.
What's on Wednesday? What does she mean that it will come handy on Wednesday?
"Well," Maa Sa spoke and cleared her throat. "Before you children arrived, us elders talked and decided that it's best if you both's Roka is held on this Wednesday." And it struck me. I tried to hide the horror on my face and failed miserably. I looked over at her. She's nervous. She was playing with the ring on her middle finger and looking over in Vaidehi's direction, who was looking back at her with confusion.
I can't say no to this but that doesn't mean she couldn't, right?
She didn't say anything, just sat quietly as everyone in the room congratulated the both of us. She passed them all fake smiles. I was talking to Kabir's father about something and I saw someone looking at me. It was her, she was staring at me. She had a look of horror on her face, as if everything in her life that could've gone wrong, went wrong.
She excused herself from the place and went to her own room. Vaidehi followed behind her. Something wasn't right. Something? No, everything. I could feel my heart beating faster and telling me to go after her and ask her about it and comfort her, but I just couldn't. I can't risk everything I've done to heal myself just in the heat of the moment.
"Fade into view, it's been a while since I have even heard from you."