23 days later
Mumbai
kabir's pov.
It was one day away. The big question. I really wanted everything to go as planned. aisha and I were throwing a party as I suggested it, and she had accepted the idea. The party was at a farmhouse we rented for the night and a few close ones were there including our families, our friends and some from the cricket team.
From the food to the drinks, the lights to the flowers, we had done up everything according to our liking. It was cute. But then I would drop the question in front of everybody anddddd cue to the nervousness.
Fuck man.
I got up from the bed and walked to the cabinet where I stored the ring. I had gotten the ring customised. Dadi's ring and this ring could fit together perfectly. It was a tear drop shaped diamond ring I had decided upon. It was a unique shape.
She could know she'll have tears only in the form of diamonds.
Oh ew.
Cringey.
And the fact I have to say it's cringe, is more cringe.
Urgh.
Swiftly moving on.....and forgetting I ever said that;
Mama, papa, bhaiya and veer bhai were the only people who knew about the proposal. I wanted no one else to know. It could slip out of bhabhi's mouth anytime since she was always a talkative one! And telling others would just increase the chances of spoiling the surprise for aish.
I entered the washroom with mixed feelings. I was really excited but at the same time, really fucking nervous. What if she said no? That one word could be really scary and this I figured only now. I needed to calm myself down and so I kept my hand on my chest and took a breathe.
"It's fine. It's fine. You can do this. You'll be okay. You're going to get married to the love of your life. It will be perfect. Don't worry."
I said this to myself. Looking into the mirror. Suddenly I looked at myself in the mirror, analysing. Me? Will she choose me? She is gorgeous. This beautiful person and I? I...don't know.
THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO SELF DOUBT. SHH. SHE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WITH YOU FOR TWO YEARS IF SHE DIDN'T THINK OF YOU AS 'okay'.
I washed my face with water and went out of the washroom to wait for aish, who was out for some script something something. I don't understand.
....
Aisha's pov
It was two years to us. Wow. Not very long, but time passed so quickly with him. Maybe because our relationship had so much drama in the middle.
Ab thodi Shanti hai.
I woke up listening to Kabir's heart beat. As cliche it sounds, it was it. And I loved the feeling. I went into the washroom to freshen up and make us breakfast. Probably some bacon. I'm craving some.
I came out to see kabir still sleeping so I sneaked into the kitchen, put my headphones on, played 'girls like to swing' and danced along as I heated up bacon and scrambled some eggs.
In the middle of this process, two hands Wrapped around my waist and I smiled as I took my headphone off. I leaned back and said, "do saal. Do saal kaise hee maine tumhe jhela?"
"Tumne Mujhe jhela ya was it the other way around as I seem to remember it?" he nuzzled into my neck and placed soft kisses on my shoulder.
"Move, move hatto. Don't distract me. Khaana jal jaeyga. Bye bye"
"aishhhh...It's our anniversary bro. Be nice to me aaj." He whined.
"Bro I'm always nice to you. So Shhh."
"Bro-zoned! Dil tutta."
"Acha". I turned after placing the breakfast on our plates and giving myself more bacon cause.. why not. I made it. I deserve it. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me towards himself.
"Hmm."
"Hmm?"
We just smiled at each other and then lightly moved forward to kiss. He kissed me lightly and held my waist from his hand and placed the other on my cheek as I dug mine in his hair. He caressed my cheeks and slowly slid his hand under my T-shirt. He continued to make circles on my exposed waist. we broke the kiss shortly and I scrunched up my nose taking in the bacons smell.
I love him so much.
Wow
It's weird.
I may love him a little more than bacon too.
WOW
THAT IS WEIRD AF.
I kissed his nose pulled his cheeks and said, "I love you, cutie"
"And I, you, cutie" he imitated me.
.....
We lazed around doing nothing but stuffing our faces with food and binge-watching shows together the whole day. It was evening now and we were getting ready for the party we organised at the farm house.
I could sense kabir being nervous but shrugged it off. Maybe it was because it was a special day and he was sharing it with everyone this time. Being a reserved person, he had his insecurities. So I let him handle himself this time.
I slipped into my outfit. It wasn't too dressy not too simple. Kinda perfect for the gathering. Keeping in mind our families would be there, I wore a indo-western outfit and keeshu wore a casual white T-shirt with jeans.
I saw kabir gelling his hair, smiled at this man in front of me and hugged him from the back.
"Kya hua? Aaj tumhara mood kuch zyada hee acha hai?"
"Nahi hona chahiye?"
"Hmm" he smiled and turned around to hold my waist. He then pecked me lips lightly and said," na. It's generally me with all the mushy-ness na. Toh confuse ho Gaya."
"Shut up!" I laughed. "Acha challo. We're laaaaatteeeee."
"And that's you're fault by the way"
"Haww! Kaise? I was ready before you."
"Exactly. I couldn't keep my eyes off you."
" you know what, you really are the mushy one here"
I teased him as he laughed.
.....
kabir's pov.
I knew I was sweating due to the proposal. Fucking hell dude. Stop panicking. Calm down
Fuck it. Don't. After she says yes, you'll just laugh about your state right now.
Deep breathe in
Deep breathe out.
Mummyyyyyy
We entered the house and met our families as they were already present. I kept patting my side pocket to check on the rings. My eyes met maa's and bhaiya's and they understood my dilemma. Maa lightly patted my cheek and my brother gave me a bear hug.
"Ab toh Teri shaadi pe mein Aur Teri cricket team wo tere jo certified pranksters hai, hum saath mein milke kuch toh gadbad karenge" Bhai joked.
HE WAS SO LOUD.
Kisi Aur be Suna toh nahi?
I frantically looked around and then my heart kind of stopped.
"Shaadi?" Anushka asked amused.
"I ..I mean. Jab bhee hogi. You guys are pretty serious so ..." Bhai answered and my heart just kept palpating.
"Oh ..acha" She interlaced her fingers with mine and kissed my cheek.
"aisha, you look so pretty tonight"
"Thank you bhaiya. Bhabhi kahan hai?"
"Must have..."
I just zoned out. I almost died right now. Geez bhaiya.
I looked around to see all our friends gathering around slowly. I went to look for aisha and finally, waited for a good time to do it. To ask her.
I saw the Bollywood posse and went to them with aisha on my side.
"Ohooo. The couple of the day is here guys" Ranveer chirped.
"Of course Of course. Two years ho bhee Gaye. Wow." Khushi teased.
Alia chirped along. "also, sameer apologised for not making it....late night unavoidable shooting."
"That's okay, we understand. We will just make him a little jealous by spamming him with our pictures" Aish gushed.
After a while I dragged her away from her best friends to meet mine.
"Ayush" Aisha hugged him and hazel. And greeted everyone else with the same intensity. She still had that fascinated look whenever she greeted them like it was the first time she ever saw them.
It was cute.
"Aur Phir! Do saal kaat liye iss insaan ke saath?" ayush asked
"Kya bataoon. It was a difficult task if you ask me" aisha faked
"Acha?" I asked aisha as she smiled at me
"Aur kya. I'll tell you guys. Itna messi hai yeh. The wet towel, on the bed. The movie popcorn, on the couch. His phone, stuck to his eyes and my food, always in his stomach. He is so mean!" aisha said making everyone around laugh leaving me with eyes open and staring at this unique piece of creation in front of me.
"Mooh toh band Karle bhai. Ho gayee bezzati Ab kya bolna hai!" aryan teased.
.....
The evening was passing, and then it was time. What time? ITS THE TIME TO DISCO..
oh SHUTUP.
The time to ask aisha.
I picked up a glass and called for a toast...which really, wasn't a toast...idk what Im saying anymore.
"Can I have your attention please. aisha? Be by my side? "
She looked at me with questioning eyes but still made her way to me and gave her hand to me as I held it firmly in my rough ones.
" Two years ago, today, was an interesting day. None of us really knew what was going to happen. I had planned to ask aisha out,officially, after thousand years of just...having a "thing" with her.aisha madam, like any other self respecting woman, was annoyed with me. She came home and screamed at me for not having asked her out without knowing that I had finally gathered courage to do that anyways that night. We laugh about it now, but knowing her then for only about 5 months, I was still scared of losing her and now, words don't describe what I could be if I lose her."
I looked at her as she smiled me. Parth bhaiya nodded at me telling me to go on.
"aish, you mean the gaddamn world to me and today, two years later, I promise you all my love. I promise I'll not leave the wet towel on the bed, I'll chuck it at you instead. I promise the popcorn won't be on the couch, I'll drop it on the floor. I promise my phone won't be attached to my eyes. I promise I'll eat your food only when you're not around." She laughed at my empty promises and pulled my cheeks.
"Tabhi, I'm giving you this promise ring to remind you of all the promises I'm making! Nothing less, but a lot more." I slipped Dadi's ring into her left ring finger. She looked shocked. But happy shocked. She widely grinned at me before her eyes gave away and a tear slipped it.
"I love it" she said in trance. I knew she would love it. It's simple and beautiful. Just like her. But before she could say anything I continued, "But most importantly, I promise to give you all of me. But the thing is, I'm really bored being called you're boyfriend, so.."
I took the ring box, sat on my knees and looked at her. I heard the air fill with "oh my god" "fuck, is he proposing" "asshole didn't tell me anything about this!" (The last one I'm guessing is aisha's brother. Oops) and a thousand surprised sounds. But then I looked at aisha, not being able to read what's going on in her mind. I opened the box to reveal the ring and asked her, "so will you allow me to have a little upgrade?" Those ten seconds seemed so long when she with an open mouth looked around at everyone else. And then back at me to say lightly, "yes".
I jumped up in joy and hugged aisha as she hugged me back. Don't know why but I felt her hesitate. Maybe it's the nerves and so I brushed it away. I heard everyone else clap as I slipped the second ring into her finger. I smiled at her, brightly and saw her smile too. But her smile didn't reach her eyes. I didn't get time to think about it since we both were pulled by the overwhelmed people at our sides.
....
After everyone left around 3 am, aisha and I decided to not drive and stay at the farmhouse itself. After freshening up, I came out to look at aisha stare at the ring.
Not with happy eyes.
She looked at me and lightly smiled but said something which broke my heart.
"Why did you ask me? I don't think this is a good idea kabir."
"Why did you say yes?" I mumbled with tears forming in my eyes.
"Did you see the amount of people there? I didn't want you to get embarrassed."
"So you lied? You..you don't want this wedding?"
"......no.."