"Cause all of me loves all of you."
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••| Chapter 16 |••
Eleana:
In the morning, all the girls woke up, excited like anything and were pumped up for the decorations. We had decided to decorate the main hall for bridal shower ourselves. Unlike ordinary bridal showers, the boys were also allowed. So after having breakfast together, Khirad and Ashar were sent to separate rooms to enjoy their times alone and the rest of us got to our work. The resort in which we were living was a very beautiful one and it was a perfect wedding location. Khirad was one lucky girl. She was having a dream wedding.
So we started the decorations and stuff. We selected the pink and cream theme. The main hall was big enough for all our planning. Round tables were set all across the hall with white chairs and a pink bow on the head. The bride's chair had a tag Bride to Be. Since it was a Bridal Shower so the groom wasn't in the spot light.
The rest of the hall was decorated with cream and baby pink coloured drapes all across the room like curtains on all four sides. Then, we set a table at one corner where there were lots of intricately designed white iron stands with cupcakes, cookies, sandwiches, chocolates, sweets and some other stuff. The glasses had pink and white stripes and they had to be used for serving the various flavoured Margaritas and the fresh juices.
All of us sat on the floor cross legged blowing the balloons like little kids. We were blowing balloons and Obi and Ricky were busy in pricking them with hidden needles. When Obi was blowing a balloon, he blew it so hard that it burst with a loud sound, scaring Obi himself. He placed his hand on his heart and started his dramas.
Male Drama Queen.
Then, we set a table at the other corner of the room for the gifts and cards. It had white drapes hanging above it with some floral decoration.
In the centre of the hall, in front of the main door, we hung the signs Bride to Be and From Miss to Mrs.
After that we prepared certain props like a moustache, sunglasses, photo frames, smooch, crowns, hats and many other stuff for the photo shoots.
Then we decided on the dress code. The boys were supposed to wear white button down shirts with black pants and coats and a baby pink tie complimenting the look. The girls were supposed to wear white blouses and pink long skirts. Ashar and Khirad had to look different from everyone else, so we sat there deciding their look. For Khirad, we decided a white Christian bridal dress and for Ashar, it was really getting difficult to give him a unique look since boys only had suits to wear all the time.
How sad?
We decided with the same dress except his suit colour was supposed to be charcoal grey. While doing the preparations, Aryan kept bugging me with his occasional sorry's and teasing.
We prepared a tag of bride to be like a sash which Khirad had to wear and an elegant silver tiara for her head. We had decided to play some games as well so I folded some chits and placed them in the big crystal bowl.
After we were done, all of us headed to our respective rooms to change for the bridal shower
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After we all were ready, we made Khirad change into her beautiful white dress. It was an impeccable piece of art. The bottom of the dress had roses embedded all over and it looked even more pretty on Khirad. We did her hairdo and attached some white jasmines in her hair. We applied some light make up according to the occasion. Khirad's mom was welled up seeing her daughter looking at her beautiful best. She had a natural pink blush on her cheeks so we didn't apply it. Then we made her wear the tiara and the sash and finally the doll of a bride was ready to be presented. She wore her heels and settled on one of the comfortable couches. Today was going to be a long day.
"Are you tired?" I asked settling down beside her waiting for other girls to be ready. I was already done. I wore the same dress as all of them and slipped in my white heels. I also had a pink flower head band with me so I wore that too.
"Uhm." She answered tiredly.
I brought her a glass of water. She drank it in a single sip.
"Don't be nervous." I pointed out her nervousness and squeezed her hand.
Finally it was time to leave. Kabir came to take Naina with him whereas Varun took Shraddha. Obi and Ricky went together and so did Alia and Maya. Aryan was waiting for me but I got ahead of him and walked through the corridor, ignoring him. He was walking behind me looking like a Freaking Greek God in his suit and perfectly styled messy hair. His cologne was inviting but I had to get control over myself. He matched his pace with mine and suddenly grabbed my wrist from behind. He took me to the secluded portion of the corridor, still keeping a hand over my mouth.
"What?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow at him and glancing at my watch. "I am getting late. I am supposed to attend a function of my friend."
"Elly, What's your problem?" He asked seriously, searching for an answer in my eyes. For a moment, I felt dazed and drowned in his chocolate pools.
"Nothing!" I replied with a one word answer.
"It's not fair Elly. Everybody is going with their girlfriends and you're ignoring me." He made a puppy face at me.
"Arey, I was just teasing you. Nothing else."
He stepped closer and whispered. "Sure?"
"Su--ree!" I stuttered by the sudden proximity. His face was only a few inches away from mine. He leaned his face towards mine but then tilted it sideways and kissed my cheek instead.
"You look mesmerising today." He whispered in my ear, sending shivers all the way down to my toes.
"You're looking like a freaking Greek God." I thought aloud. He chuckled.
"Oh really?" He asked smirking.
"Hmm!" I answered as I combed his hair with my fingers.
"Let's go?" He extended his hand towards me.
"Let's go!" I said locking my arm in his.
We proceeded towards the main hall together. Osman entered right after us alone and smiling widely. I wondered what was wrong with him now?
Soon, Khirad entered with her parents from the main door. She had both of her arms locked in her parents' arms beside her. Walking delicately on the path of rose petals, she made her way to her chair. It looked like a scene from a fairy tale. The bridal shower started in full swing. Soft instrumental music was playing in the background. Jokes were being passed, chattering and giggling could be heard. Everything felt so lively and perfect. I was looking at Khirad and Ashar who were stealing glances at each other. So cute. Obi came beside me and nudged my shoulder. I gave him a 'what?' look.
H
e smirked and whispered "Seems like someone has patched up with her boyfriend." He said teasingly. I looked towards Aryan and that idiot blew a flying kiss to me from the other end of the hall. And then it struck me. Osman saw us in the corridor.
Sweet Heavens.
I looked at him with a puppy face.
"Don't worry! That's between you and me." He winked and walked towards Maya to tease her now. After a while, we ate the snacks. Then we played some games. We had prepared a hot seat for the bride and groom. We asked them some questions about each other and also their romantic stories. They both were gifted a hamper in the end. Then we played a game. Each person present there had to open a chit and say few lines about the person whose name was written on that. Ashar spoke some romantic poetry for Khirad and all of us awed at the so in love couple. Then it was dance time. We danced like crazy, like there was no tomorrow. Then the huge 3 layered rose cake was brought. Ashar and Khirad cut it together and took blessings from elders. After that, we had a photo session with the props we had made. Couple shots, Friends, Bride and Groom, Selfies, Groupfies and what not.
Aryan even posed with that red lip smooch prop whereas I held the moustache. The bridal shower came to an end. We enjoyed a lot. I was dead tired by the end of night. Still, I was not able to sleep. At exactly 12. I texted Aryan a Happy Birthday message and both of us received the text at the same time. He called me to the beach. I took my gift for him along with me and saw him standing there still dressed in the same suit. Even I hadn't changed yet. The beach was looking so peaceful, calm and beautiful under the moonlight and stars. He took big strides towards me and hugged me tightly singing Happy Birthday in my ear like a melody. He spun me around and I giggled. He kissed me on both my cheeks and forehead.I felt so beautiful and so special all of a sudden. Apparently our friends had forgotten our birthday in all the busy and hectic work of wedding functions. Not that I was complaining. Even I wanted to spend it with Aryan only. I handed him his gift and he handed me mine. I had gifted him his favourite perfume and a wrist watch whereas he gifted me a bracelet, a small pendant and a beautiful silver ring. He kneeled down before me. I was surprised.
"Aryan! What are you doing? Get up!" I whisper yelled at him.
"Chill. It's just a birthday gift. I am not proposing you." He chuckled.
"Happy Birthday darling!" He whispered in the silent night and slid the beautiful silver ring in my ring finger. Then, he made me wear the bracelet. He turned me around and hooked the pendant around my neck.
Involuntarily, a tear cascaded down my cheek. I felt so beautiful, so special as if I was in some fairytale and he was my prince charming.
"Hey!" He said as he saw me crying. "Awe! Sometimes you act so girly." He teased me for being a little bit tomboy and pulled me into a hug. It felt so warm there, like I was home.
"Hey Elly, Come on dude." He said eyeing my face. I was sniffing. I tiptoed on my feet and kissed his cheek. Then he laid on the beach mat and pulled me down along with him. We laid there side by side watching the stars and the moon. He stared at me and I stared at him for a long time. His face looked so beautiful under the moonlight. He leaned forward so that he was hovering over me, keeping his weight on his elbows.
"I want to kiss you so bad. Everytime, when I am all set someone interrupts." He said and I giggled.
"Me too!" And that was enough to grant him the permission and claim my lips without any interruption this time. He slid his hands behind my neck and turned us over so that I was above him. I cupped his face in my hands but they kept moving to the back of his head. He traced my lips with his forefinger and with his thumb, he caressed my cheek. It started out with a slow and beautiful kiss, just a delicate peck. He moved his head a little bit up and stared into my eyes.
"That was-" He said.
"Perfect!" I completed. He nodded agreeing with me.
Then he pecked me thrice before turning it into a heated, passionate and rough one. He was digging deeper and deeper in my soul and I was drowning into him. He was the sun and I was his ray. I was his star but he was my whole damn sky. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled away.
"I think I will fall in love with you, madly." He whispered.
"The feelings are mutual!" I spoked in a hushed voice not ready to break the beautiful silence of the night. I was just rejoicing the moment. My first kiss was on my 18th birthday.
Could it get any better? I was in heaven. We just laid there for some more time and I listened to his soothing heartbeat. His hand caressed my cheeks and hair.
"Do you remember what I called you when you were younger?" He smiled.
"Yeah, And I even remember what I called you! Do you?" I asked teasingly.
"No, I don't remember." He pretended although I knew he remembered.
"Maindak." [Frog] I giggled and he tickled me causing me to laugh out loud.
Aryan:
I was tickling her and she was busy in laughing. Her melodious laughter was echoing with the sound of water waves.
"And do you remember that "The Princess and the Frog" story?" She asked playing with my fingers and looking up from my chest to meet my eyes.
"You mean that one where the princess kissed the frog and then he turned into a prince. So I am a Prince!" I smirked.
"No, Stupid. It simply means that I am the princess and you're the frog." She said.
"But the frog was basically a prince." I argued.
"But that she came to know after the kiss." She said.
"What you mean to say is that, you thought I was a frog all throughout your life but today you realised that I was a Prince always?" I questioned her "Right? Because you kissed me just now." I smiled and she blushed. "And you know what? I won't change even a single thing."
"Oh, Oh, Oh, Look who's blushing?" I spoke in a sing song voice and she smacked my chest.
Afterwards, we proceeded back to our rooms. We were still in separate rooms. We would soon work out a solution because it was too boring to spend even a single night split into two halves. As she stood by her door, I quickly pecked her cheeks and said goodbye. She opened the door and I saw Osman shuffling through some of his stuff in the cupboard, like he was in a hurry. He was behaving like that for a few days. I wondered what was wrong with him. I shrugged it off and went to my room. I thought about this night. Something changed inside me. It was a beautiful night. I was in a bliss. I pulled my comforter over my head. I checked my social media profiles and changed my status from single to In a Relationship.
It felt so weird. Eleana liked that status and I quickly added her name with the status. Her smiling face came in front of my eyes as I closed them and then I was in a bliss.
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"What the hell? Why are you dragging me along with you? I don't want to go to some boring Museum." I argued with my friends who were busy in convincing me to join them on their trip to the Museum. I wanted to spend the day with Eleana because none of them remembered our day. So we had decided to spend it together, away from every disturbance but these idiots were always ruining my plans. So, I finally gave in.
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Eleana:
"Why National Museum? Can't we go to some beach? I seriously have no interest in history." I tried to reason with my friends.
"No, No, No. We are going to the museum. That's it!" They all said in unison. Even Ashar and Khirad were with us. So we finally went to the Maldives National Museum. We spent some time there. I was so bored and kept yawning. Aryan gave me a pleading look, "Take me out of this hell." He mouthed and I shrugged. I wondered how so suddenly my friends had become so much interested in history and ancient stuff and that too of a foreign land. We went back and when I reached there, we weren't back to the resort but somewhere else. Everybody ran inside as if they had lived their entire life here and knew every single place.
Aryan and I went inside the door and our breaths stopped midway. The lights suddenly went off and when they turned on they all yelled in unison.
"SURPRISE."
Sweet Mother of Brownie Cookies!
We were in an underwater hotel.
"Are you kidding me?" I squealed loudly.
We were in a freaking under water hotel. Besides that, the hall was decorated with balloons, ribbons and drapes. There was a board in the middle of the hall with a big writing.
Happy birthday to the new love birds. Eleana & Aryan.
I was blown away and so was Aryan. His face mirrored my expressions. We were dumbstruck. The whole museum thing was a plan. Soon, we were engulfed in warm bear hug by everyone. They were my life. It was the sweetest gesture I had ever received on my birthday. They moved aside and my eyes landed on the two beautiful cakes present in the middle of the hall.
We cut the cake together as it was our ritual. First we cut my cake together as I was born 5 minutes before Aryan. Everybody sang in chorus and the confetti was poured on us. I fed the first piece to Aryan and kissed his cheek. And then I fed everybody else. Then, it was Aryan's time. We held the knife together and cut the cake. Same procedure was followed again. He fed me the first piece and kissed my cheek and then he fed everybody else. We had made wishes before cutting the cake. After everybody was done eating the cake and still some of that was left so we had a cake fight. Mine and Aryan's face was totally covered with chocolate and cream. The rest of them had a little. All of them gave us presents and we thanked them.
"Guys this has been the best birthday ever. Thankyou so much!" We spoke in unison. We were so much surprised. I couldn't even believe it for a second.
"The surprise has not ended yet." Obi smirked.
They led us to a corner and asked us to open the door. Obi hadn't given me any gift yet and I doubted it was even inside that door.
"I promise you that I will give you a gift the day we return from here. This is not from my side but all of us." Obi vowed and cleared my confusion.
All of them encouraged us to open the door.
1..2..3...and Holy Mother of Nutella! What on Earth!
In front of us stood the most beautiful bedroom I had ever seen in my life. Surrounded by water and miraculously beautiful and colourful marine life, it seemed like a dream.
But why would they book us a bedroom?
I soon understood as I heard some whispering and giggling from behind. I looked towards Aryan and he was already standing like a statue with his mouth hanging open.
"You guys are so dead!" I muttered under my breath. "Whose idea was that?" I asked.
Everybody pretended to look mesmerised by the beauty around us as if I was talking to the fishes there.
"Bye Aryan and Elly." They said and went out closing the door.
The fuck is wrong with them.
We were locked. Aryan was busy in observing the fishes around us and capturing them in his handy-cam. I too joined him because it was not something to be missed. We sat there talking for sometime. Our friends had their rooms booked as well. Naina and Kabir, Varun and Shraddha, Ashar, Osman and Ricky, Alia, Maya and Khirad.
"Aru, What if a shark or whale attacks us in the middle of the night. This glass wall can easily be broken by them!" I spoke out my fear. He gave me an Are-you-dumb? look.
"We are not on the ocean bed. The sharks and whales don't come to the surface."
He answered and I sighed in relief. We talked for some more time, our usual bickering. And then slept. We just slept beside each other, nothing else.
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NAINA:
My boyfriend was in a very naughty mood today. He was hovering over me on the bed.
"Bunny, stop it! The fishes are seeing us!" I spoke giggling
"Are you kidding me Chashmish [Nerdy]?" He asked.
"NO. I am serious. They have eyes too. They'll see us." I continued to tease him.
"By the way, isn't this beautiful. Just you and me. Under this beautiful roof." He said and I nodded as I glanced around. It truly was a dream place. He pecked my lips twice and then kissed me lovingly for a long time. After that, we just slept cuddling with each other.
Shraddha:
"Varun, Do you remember when we first met Eleana and Aryan?" I asked as we laid there together with my head on his shoulder.
"Hmm!" He hummed tightening his hold around me.
"I told you na, they like each other." I asked.
"Shraddha baba ki Jai Ho. [All hail Shraddha]" He spoke and I giggled. "What are you? A crystal gazer?" He asked.
"Nope. They were so fond of each other. They had feelings from the start but realised them later. I am so happy for them. They look so adorable together." I squealed.
"And so do we!" He said as he kissed my forehead and closed his eyes. I snuggled closer to him and slept.
Ashar:
Osman, Ricky and I were bored like hell. We were sitting there just staring at each other when suddenly Ricky proposed. "Let's play Ludo."
"Where will that come from?" I asked and he grabbed his bag.
"You are crazy. You carry a freaking Ludo board everywhere?" I asked him in disbelief and he proudly nodded. Anyway, something was better than nothing, so we just sat there playing ludo all night. Osman was cheating the most and everybody became too personal while playing. We enjoyed like hell.
Khirad:
Maya, Alia and I sat there playing "UNO" with the cards that Maya had brought with her. We talked for sometime. They asked me questions about how I was feeling. Just one word was enough "Surreal".
Eleana:
I woke up like a tangled mess. I was hugging Aryan in my sleep as I mistook him for a pillow. My legs were tangled in his and my arms were wrapped around his torso. The feeling of warmth was undeniable too. Aryan woke up.
"It was the best night of my life!" He said smiling goofily. We went out and all of them were already waiting for us in the lounge. We checked out and then went to our resort. Tomorrow was Dholki and Maiyon Function. [Traditional Functions in an Indian wedding.]
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