The next morning, Aadya woke up a little too late and felt somewhat groggy.
"What do you want to eat?" she mumbled sleepily.
"First of all, get up and freshen up," Tanay chuckled. "We'll have Maggi or something. We have a party to attend in four hours."
"Huh?" That snapped her awake.
"Wake up," he said. "I'll go make Maggi."
It was 2 pm. The party was in four hours, and she hadn't even chosen an outfit.
In the next hour, Aadya got up, showered, and still hadn't found the right outfit.
"Are you done?" Tanay asked, stepping in with two plates of Maggi. "Oh my..."
Sarees were scattered everywhere.
"Sorry, I'll clean this up in a bit," she apologized, pushing a few sarees aside to make space for him on the bed.
"Why don't you eat first? It's going to get cold," Tanay suggested.
"Okay," she sighed and sat in front of him. Tanay surveyed the piles of sarees, contemplating how he could help her.
"What about that one?" he pointed. He heard a slurpy noise from her.
"Which one?" She looked where he was pointing. It was an ivory-colored, shimmery saree, but there was one problem. "It has a spaghetti-strapped blouse."
"Try it on," Tanay said. He didn't know what spaghetti straps meant. "I want to see."
"Okay," Aadya was happy. She didn't think he would be interested in what she was going to wear. As she got up, he stopped her.
"After eating, I mean."
After they finished eating, Aadya wore the saree.
She then turned around to show him.
Tanay was awestruck. "Wow," the words slipped from his mouth before he could think.
Aadya couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. "Is it good?"
"Yes. You look beautiful," Tanay smiled. "You're wearing that."
"Okay!" She grinned cheekily.
Aadya and Tanay reached the designated venue. There was a stage on one side of the large yard, adorned with flowers. On either side of the stage were two large screens projecting pictures of the bride and groom. A buffet was set up on one side, and chairs were arranged on the other.
Aadya and Tanay had brought a small gift for the couple on their way.
Aadya had left her hair loose down her back; her naturally wavy hair framed her face perfectly. She wore gold earrings and silver bangles, matching the color of her saree, and, of course, sindoor and mangalsutra.
Beside her, Tanay was in a brown suit with his hair gelled to perfection and his beard properly trimmed.
"It's all so beautiful," Aadya murmured in awe, looking around herself.
Their wedding wasn't as fancy as this party. It leaned more towards the traditional side. They didn't have a reception, just Sangeet, mehndi, and haldi one day, and the wedding the next.
"Yeah. Let's go meet them," Tanay said, pulling her towards the stage.
He let her climb the stairs first, helping a little with the pallu that caressed the floor whenever she walked.
"Aadya, this is Akhil, my colleague. We are in the same department, and his fiancée, Kriti, works in the legal department," Tanay introduced. He softly placed a hand on Aadya's lower back. "My wife, Aadya."
"Wow, you introduced her so soon to us, eh?" Kriti rolled her eyes at him sarcastically. "Hi, Aadya, nice to meet you."
"You too! Congratulations," Aadya smiled at them.
They clicked a couple of pictures, handed the gift, and congratulated them again. Kriti and Aadya talked a little and were getting along.
Tanay smiled at her from afar.
"Bhai, after all this ends, let's go on a trip. The four of us." Akhil groaned in irritation.
"We'll see, man. I can't say anything for sure right now."
A couple of minutes later, Aadya and Tanay moved to the buffet. They grabbed their plates, served themselves, and then sat at the large table side by side.
Aadya noticed something next to the stage.
It was a selfie point.
A huge circle decorated with flowers, just like the stage, where couples and friends were getting their pictures clicked.
"Tanay," she called out to him. He almost immediately turned and looked at her, humming in response. "Let's take a picture over there?"
Tanay looked where she was pointing and nodded.
"Sure."
"Food is good," she said. "Isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. I think I also saw ice cream over there."
Her ears perked up. "Really?" He chuckled and nodded.
"Eat up."
After eating, they waited for everyone to finish clicking pictures at the selfie point. When they finally got the spot, and Aadya took out her phone to take a selfie, she frowned.
"What's wrong?" Tanay asked.
"Why are you so tall?" She grumbled.
"Are you grumpy because I mistook the kulfi stall for ice cream?" Tanay teased.
"Mm... A lil' bit."
"I thought kulfi counts as ice cream too."
"Not really." She pouted.
She couldn't make Tanay fit in the photograph, no matter what angle she tried.
She finally handed the phone to him. "Can you click it?"
"I'll try. I'm not much into taking pictures." He angled the phone and laughed. "Now, why are you so small, Aadya?"
She glared daggers at him, only making him laugh more.
"Hey, I can click a picture for you," someone said.
They looked in front of them and saw someone Aadya was familiar with.
"That will be helpful, man. Thank you."
The man clicked a few pictures of them, telling them to pose and smile. When he handed his phone back to Tanay, he turned to Aadya and said, "I might sound stupid, but... Are you Aadya?"
Tanay looked at the man, surprised, and turned to his wife.
"Yes," she breathed out. "It's me."
Was it some...lover of hers?
"Oh my god... You've changed so much," the man laughed. "It's good to see you, though. And you're married too?"
"Yeah." Aadya turned to Tanay, taking his hand in hers. "Meet Tanay, my husband. Tanay, this is...um, my friend's brother, Jay. I know him from my school days."
"Oh." Tanay said and shook hands with Jay. "Nice to meet you. What do you do?"
"Nice to meet you too. I'm a web developer. Freelancing at the moment," Jay said. "What about you?"
"I'm in marketing," Tanay said. "It was good to see you. We'll get going now?" He turned to Aadya; she nodded. "It's getting late."
He flashed him one last smile and walked towards the exit.
"Let's book an Uber," Aadya suggested. He agreed and did so.
While they waited for the Uber in silence, Aadya tugged on his hand.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want you to get me wrong," she softly said. "He really is the brother of my friend. Her name is Gauri; we were classmates. I just know him because of the times I would go to Gauri's house."
Tanay placed his other hand over hers. "It's okay. You don't have to explain. I trust you."
"But I have to explain," Aadya placed her hand on top of his. "Sometime before, he asked me out."
Tanay paused. "And...then?"
She smiled, a little sadly. "Then I was married off to you."
Tanay noticed her being sad. What did that mean? Did she want to be with him?
"Y-You like him?"
"No!" Her eyes widened in horror, and she squeezed his hands. She leaned down against their clasped hands and shook her head. "No, I don't like him."
She wasn't sad because she wanted to be with Jay but was forced to marry Tanay. She was sad because... she was forced to marry, forced to bear a child.
Tanay pulled his hands out of her grip and made her look up again with his fingers under her chin. Her one hand held his wrist.
"Tanay, I don't like him," her voice grew a little quieter. "I like...you."