Chapter 13 : Engagement 

Ruhaani tugged at the end of the sleeves of her sweater usinger her fingers to cover her hands. It was best to stay indoors on such chilly nights. But Ruhaani had preferred to take a stroll around the building all by herself.

She needed some space and alone time to process everything in her head. She was tired of hearing her aunt giving her suggestions to be a good wife. Like the first time around was all her fault. Her uncle had been real sweet to her off late. The taunts had almost ceased. He was trying to put ideas into her head about Arti's marriage to Abhi. He wasn't even subtle about it. Arti was annoyed with that too. Every time he bought up the talk which was at least once or twice in a day, there would be an argument between him and Arti.

Ruhaani felt relieved that she didn't have to put up with all these everyday nuances for long. Now that Pari was growing up to understand the world she wanted to be away from them as much as possible.

However she had no clue what awaited her on the other side, at the Sehgal household. Shelly Bua didn't make it a secret that she didn't like her. But overall the siblings were okay. They all seemed to accept Pari. That was all she needed.

About her fiancé, she couldn't comment much. He tried to keep himself away from her as much as possible. At this point, she could bet her colleagues and manager knew her better than the person who was going to marry her. Aadarsh made no attempt to get to know her more. It was almost like he avoided her as much as he could without making it obvious, of course. 

However, his behavior with Pari was different. After the dinner last night, Pari was talking about him— how he helped her make a tower of the blocks, how he taught her how to run the car from a remote, how he carried her so that she could reach up the wind chimes to touch them. From her daughter's narrativ, he seemed like an altogether different person.

She couldn't even complain. He was pretty good with Pari. He was making genuine efforts to know her, to understand her, to get into her trust circle. It was essential if he was going to be her father. And that had been  all she wanted so far.

However, there were zero efforts from him towards getting to know his bride-to-be, her. Ruhaani had a fair share of experience. Last time, Harsh had made efforts to know her. Even if her last engagement and marriage was just as rushed as her present one, there was genuine efforts from Harsh. He took out time and went out with her. He asked her about herself. He tried to get to know what she liked, what she preferred.  Granted that he was on vacation while Aadarsh was the chairman of a big company. Still, even bare minimum was missing.

Or she was expecting too much. She knew he was a logical person. He didn't do promises. He didn't believe in love. Maybe he was not much of a romantic either. She sat on a bench tired, both mentally and physically.

Somewhere deep down in a heart and mind, she still had expectations. Maybe she should tone down her appetite for reading romances. They were giving birth to hopes on life and setting the bar too high.

Aadarsh would have been the standard recipe of a male protagonist, if this was a book. Rich, tall, muscular, handsome and the one in charge. Somewhat like Mr. Darcy. A bit uncaring, turning a blind eye towards the female protagonist, that would be her. However he was better than Darcy at least. He wasn't plainly selfish or self-centered, he was definitely not judgemental or insensitive. 

In every character in a book, there was an element that came out only later in the journey. Her gut told her the same was true for Aadarsh. There was something. . . Something that made him who he was, something that defined him to be what he was. She wondered what that something was.

When one is reading a book, the character arc keeps them going even when everything else falls flat. In reality, one couldn't even run out of patience and flip through the pages to see what the mystery element was. She was never the one to get so intrigued by a mystery so as to skip pages and chapters just to get to the part where all the revelations came, the aha moments! 

Yet, here she was wanting to figure out Aadarsh as soon as she could. The more he kept himself behind walls, the more she wanted to know the real him. Maybe it was apprehension. The fear of the unknown. Or perhaps she was just being the cat whose curiosity was killing her and then the satisfaction of knowing would revive her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone's ringing. She brought it out of her pocket. As soon as her gaze landed on the screen her eyebrows arched up, eyes widened and lips parted sightly in surprise. Aadarsh Sehgal —the name flashed on her screen.

She glanced up at the time on the top of her screen, it was a four minutes past ten. Their engagement was the following day. If this was a romantic movie or book, the moment would be the start of something fluffy, something romantic but this was reality, her reality, and panic was rising in her mind. 

"Hello?" Did he dial my number by mistake? She wondered as she answered the call.

"Hello Ruhaani."

"Hey."

"I hope I didn't disturb you... you weren't asleep, right?"

"No, no.  All good?" She asked trying not to let the unnecessary worry panic her.

"Oh great. I just wanted to ask if everything is in place. I mean no last minute changes, right?"

Ruhaani blinked twice trying to process his words and then figure out what was the actual meaning of asking that was.

"Hello?" Came his voice drawing her out of the mayhem of her mind.

"Yeah. No changes."

"Okay, then."

"Hmm,"

An awkward silence fell, that made it seem like the line had gone dead. Ruhaani found the awkward silence unbearable.

"So you all had dinner?" She ended up asking.

"Yes, yes we did, a while back."

"Hmm,"

He didn't say anything. Ruhaani squeezed her eyes shut. She'd go crazy if their life after marriage was like this call. 

"See you tomorrow then?" He spoke, she took that as a hint that he wanted to end the call.

"Tomorrow!" She repeated. "Good night!" She added quickly.

"Good night!"

And that was it. 

End of the conversation.

It hardly lasted two minutes.

Ruhaani took a deep breath. She found herself comparing him with Harsh. Harsh and her were similarly unfamiliar to each other but they were not this awkward. They had light conversations, they laughed, they talked, they smiled like normal human beings. Suddenly she found herself missing Harsh. It was so easy with him.

She closed her eyes letting out a long exhale. It wasn't right to compare them. It wasn't right to think about Harsh, definitely not after all these years.  Definitely not when she was to be engaged to another man in less than twenty-four hours.

* * *

Aadarsh sat in the silence of his room, while outside there was hustle-bustle. The hall on the third floor had been decorated for the engagement. Badi bua had said she'll invite a few relatives from both his parents side. She had promised it would be a limited number. Ruhaani also had a few close relatives coming as per what her uncle had said.

Ashvi had just left his room after making sure he wore the right tie in the right way. Frankly, he hated the color. Who wore a pink tie? However, he didn't have much of a choice. He didn't want to let down his sister. She was so thrilled about the whole event. He didn't want to dampen her spirits.

"Bro," Abhi barged in his voice hinted there was a complaint coming in. "She's asking me to wear a bow tie..." Abhi abruptly paused taking in the appearance of his brother. Ashvi trailed into the room behind him.

"What the fuck man! You're wearing a pink tie." He exclaimed.

"So?" Aadarsh said looking beyond his brother at his sister, who didn't look that happy.

"It looks weird on you. I mean.. we've only seen you in like black, white, gray, blue...and now suddenly you are wearing a pink tie and a pink pocket square. Please tell me today is the end of the world?"

"You're overreacting Abhimanyu Sehgal!" Ashvi hollered irritated. "Just wear the bow tie."

"Yeah, why don't you get me some cotton candy to go with it?" Abhi muttered glaring at his sister.

"Stop being a fussy boy!" She said clearly annoyed.

"Stop being a fussy girl!"

"Your fashion sense is zero. Just trust mine and..."

"Oh please. Your fashion sense is a negative." Abhi interrupted whatever his sister was saying.

Aadarsh sighed looking at them and then his gaze caught glimpse of his younger siblings standing at the door. He smiled at them, gesturing them to come over. 

"Bhaiya, please knock some sense into your brother!" Ashvi complained while Mukti sat beside Aadarsh, showing him her nails that had been painted with glitter.

Aadarsh looked up at Ashvi pulling Nirvaan to stand between his legs. His fingers ran through the boy's hair that fell loosely on his forehead, setting them behind.

"Bhaiya, you need to tell your spoilt little sister that not everything happens the way she wants. I am not wearing a pink bow tie." Abhi retaliated.

"On the count of three," Aadarsh whispered to his younger siblings, while the other two were still fighting.

"Oh you.."

"Timeout!" Aadarsh announced in unison with the twins. Mukti giggled while he looked at Abhi and Ashvi.

"Really, grow up!" Aadarsh said looking at them. He wondered when would they grow up. They still fought like kids. 

"Bhaiya, please wear the bow tie naa?" Mukti said sweetly. "We will all match then." 

"Yeah, even I don't like pink. But I still wore it!" Nrivan spoke touching his bow tie.

"Me too!" Aadarsh added. "For Ashvi. She's planned all of this with so much effort. Let's do it for her."

"Learn something." Ashvi muttered hitting Abhi on the back.

"Hey, no hitting!" Abhi said.

Aadarsh rolled his eyes. Ashvi was lean and light weighted while Abhi was a muscular man a few inches taller and many pounds heavier than her. There was no way her smack would have even been felt. But the man had to react.

"Yes, hitting is not cool." Nirvaan spoke up.

"That's like my boy!" Abhi smiled at him.

"Fine, go wear whatever you want. I disown you." Ashvi muttered, throwing the bow tie on the floor. She then turned around, and left the room.

"She's upset." Mukti said softly.

"Mukti, Nirvaan go wear you footwear. I will meet you both down." Aadarsh said.

"Why do we have to go down when the event is up?" Mukti asked.

"Because Ruhaani Bhabhi and her family are going to be here and we need to welcome them." Abhi answered.

"No. It's because there is no way from inside to go on third floor. So we have to go down and climb the outer steps or take the outside lift to go up."  Nirvaan explained.

Aadarsh smiled as Nirvaan outwitted Abhi with his answer and made his way out.

"I am so excited to see Bhabhi. Ashvi Didi was saying she will look like a princess." Mukti said excitedly following her twin out.

"That dude just roasted me." Abhi muttered. "They're growing smart by the day. "

"And you need to too," Aadarsh spoke up walking towards him. He picked up the bow tie from the floor. "For once you should be considerate. You know she was excited for this." Aadarsh spoke correcting the bow tie. He then raised it up in his hands to tie it around his brother's collar.

"Yeah she is dumb to be excited about this. I mean look at it..." he looked at the bow tie, " it looks like a dog collar for pomeranian." Abhi deadpanned.

"Just wear it Abhi, for Ashvi."

Abhi sighed and fell silent as his brother put the bow tie around his collar. "We are not letting her do anything for the wedding. I am choosing my own clothes. Period. Am I clear?"

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Aadarsh muttered fixing his collar and then adjusting the bow tie. There was no way Ashvi would be okay with not doing anything for the wedding.

"No– 'we will see' bro. I will disappear on you if you let her design everyone's clothes for the wedding."

"It's not that bad, I mean.."

"Please! Don't. She's an adult now, stop taking her side at least now." 

"Fine, go cheer her up." He said patting his brother's shoulder.

"Yeah of course. You always chose her, when it me or her."

"Stop being a baby, Abhi."

"You stop being biased." Abhi instantly replied back.

Aadarsh's phone beeped. He quickly grabbed it and unlocked the screen to find Ruhaani's message. "Let's go,"

"Who was it?"

"Ruhaani. She's ten minutes away."

"She texted you that?"

"I asked her to." He shrugged.

"How sweet!" Abhi muttered sarcastically pairing it with a sugar-coated smile.

Aadarsh paid no heed and walked past him. "You have the ring, right?" He asked stopping by the door. His sister wanted their engagement to be done like western weddings with Abhi being his Best Man and ring keeper. Arti was doing the same for Ruhaani.

"Close to my heart!" Abhi replied giving his brother a glimpse of his coat's inner pocket.

The Sehgals assembled at the entry waiting for the bride and her family to arrive. His Badi Bua and Phupha Ji had arrived a while before dressed as per the theme — black and white for the men, and pink for the women. 

Aadarsh had been surprised to find both his aunts dressed in pink sarees. Both his sisters wore similar pink dresses. Just like Mukti looked like a smaller mirror image of Ashvi, Nirvaan was dressed exactly like Abhi. Aadarsh was the only one wearing the proper tie, very pink in color. Dai jaan also wore a pink salwar suit too. She never wore anything other than the Indian dress. 

"Looks like a pink day, doesn't it?" Abhi whispered in Aadarsh's ears as Ruhaani's aunt and cousin got off the car. "Remember, in school, once we were asked to wear green  for earth day. The whole place looked like an alien planet. I am getting the same vibes today."

"Shut up," Aadarsh whispered trying to smile at her uncle who decided to throw his arms around him and hug him at the very instant. Abhi had stepped back cautiously. 

Ruhaani got off the car and quickly ran a hand down her dress. She wasn't entirely comfortable in the dress but it seemed like Ashvi had already made up her mind to make her wear that particular one, so she didn't protest much. She was glad she was on the other side of the car away from the prying eyes.

It was a pink gown that hugged her body tightly till the waist then flared as it reached down. Fortunately the sleeves were full. It had taken her ten minutes to get into the car with the flaring material of the gown, with Arti's help. However getting off was much easier. She ran a hand down along the sides. She quickly tried to pull up the neckline that hung low because of all the embroidery. The neckline threatened to expose her cleavage.

Ashvi had suggested her to wear a push-up bra underneath. At that moment, she had felt a bit taken aback but she wasn't much surprised. The Sehgals were really direct people. She was yet to decide of that was a good thing or otherwise. 

Push-up bra was out of the question for Ruhaani. She was anyway well bestowed in that department. Wearing a push up bra wouldn't be a smart choice. The last thing she wanted was to feel conscious about the swells of her breasts on display. She wasn't going to be some regency era lady.

She pulled a curl to the front so that her neckline didn't draw attention. The curl wouldn't stay for long. It was a pleasant change for once. Her hair was naturally straight, so it took a while for the hairdresser and a lot of products to curl her locks. Just as Ashvi had instructed. Ashville had given her pointers on almost everything, from make up to hairstyle.

She turned to find Arti. "All okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, is my hair okay?"  Ruhaani whispered. Under her puffed hair sat a piece of  hair puff accessory that she had been introduced to about an hour ago. And on top of it a tiara like hairband that was a part of her dress set that Ashvi had given her. She was hesitant to even touch it and worried that she would like a buffoon.

"Yep. You look pretty. Come on?" Arti said holding her hand.

Ruhaani plastered a smile on her face and walked around the car. "Wow!" Was the first word she heard and it was from Mukti. She no longer had to hold up the corners of her lip forcefully, her smile was instant and natural.

The girl rushed towards her and hugged her. "You look so pretty, just like a princess." Mukti said in awe. Ruhaani gently placed her hands on the little girl's back, hesitant to bend forward to give a proper hug. 

"You look like one too, dear!" She complimented.

"Ashvi Didi dressed me up," the girl replied with a smile, and "DJ set my hair."

"Your Ashvi didi is the star of the evening!" Ruhaani spoke as Ashvi came forward to greet her. Both the girls looked splendid.

Ruhaani greeted Badi Bua who had also come forward. Her gaze finally reached the man she was about to be officially engaged to, who was currently in her uncle's arm, like a pigeon in the aggressive hold of a man's hands.

She then searched for her daughter and smiled upon seeing her talking to DJ. DJ had crouched so that she could be at her level. 

"Okay, let's head inside, the guests will soon start arriving. It's quite chilly here!" Shelly Bua said aloud.

Aadarsh's gaze finally spotted her. She was dressed in a cute little frock, making vivid hand gestures talking to Dai Jaan. He walked over to her, while Mr. Khatri chose to squeeze Abhi in his arms too. 

There was something about the little girl. Almost everyone in the family had taken a liking towards her. She was like a powerhouse of energy and joy. At first meeting, she had barely spoken but now Herr she was talking to DJ and Phupha Ji like she knew them for years.

"Hi Pari," he said softly. She turned and looked at him. 

"Hi Aadi!" She said with a smile. "You have a pink tie!" 

He smiled at her. "You're wearing a pink frock."

"Yes. Mumma bought it. She went to market with Massi. It's new. Even my shoes are new.  And my hairband also new." 

Aadarsh smiled at her. "You look pretty."

"Mumma looks pretty too, see," she pointed her finger towards where her mother stood. Aadarsh followed her gaze. His eyes landed on the woman whose eyes were already looking towards them. A smile on her lips.

His gaze slowly lowered from her face, inching down her form slowly. Too much pink? A big yes. But she looked nice. It felt like she had reduced an inch or two. Perhaps it was the effect of the dress that clung to her figure.

Ruhaani felt weird at the way his gaze was on her. She couldn't fight the blush appearing on her cheek. He looked so damn good. She quickly walked over to beat the hesitation away. "Hi," she greeted. 

"Hi," he repeated.

"Haaye!" Abhi said approaching them. "You two look like that dancing couple inside a musical glass ball statue."

Ruhaani's smile faltered. Was that sarcasm or a compliment?

"It's his twisted way of complimenting you." Ashvi spoke up, reaching her side. "Let's go. The photographs will be done before the event."

Ruhaani smiled nodding. "Where's Nirvaan?" She asked, looking around. 

"Nirvaan?" Ashvi called looking around. Abhi looked around too. While Aadarsh'gaze remained on Ruhaani. Ashvi did a good job with her attire. She looked ten times better than she looked on any other day.

"He was feeling cold so he went back in." Mukti announced.

"You all go up, I shall get Niru," Dai Jaan spoke up. "And my dear Ruhaani you look fabulous!" She said and ran a finger across her dark eyelid and placed a black dot behind her ear. "May God protect you from evil eyes, always!"

Ruhaani blinked and then had to put efforts into maintaining a smile. No one had ever done that for her in a long time. She didn't remember the last time someone had. It would have probably been her grandmother years back. "Thank you," it came out as an unintended soft whisper.

Dai Jaan smiled and patted her cheek with affection and walked past her. She looked ahead to find Pari holding Aadarsh's hand and walking towards the elevator on the side. She was vividly narrating something. She was a born story teller, that girl.

The lift was big enough for eight people. In the first ride, the kids and the men went up.  As they waited for the lift to come down, Badi Bua and her sister were discussing something in hushed whispers, Ashvi was straightening her dress. Ruhaani smiled running a cautious hand down her own fitness and then caught glimpse of Niravn with Dai Jaan. 

"Hi Nirvaan," Ruhaani said warmly as they reached closer. If there was anyone more mysterious than Aadarsh then it was this little guy.

"Hi," he said softly. He was drastically different from his twin. Never initiating conversation.  Never looking excited. 

"You look handsome." She complimented. He looked like a small clone of Abhi wearing the exact same attire.

"Thank you,"

The lift doors opened and they all moved inside. "Did you finish that three hundred pieces puzzle that you were working on?" Ruhaani asked.

"No. I had homework to finish and then I spent my time playing video game with Abhi Bhaiya."

"You like video games?"

"It depends."

Ruhaani smiled. She remembered the moment when Aadarsh had answered in the same way when she had asked if he liked kids the first time they had met. The doors opened and Ruhaani reached out to hold Nirvaan's hand but he moved away and walked out. She didn't let a frown form on her face. She watched as the boy made his way to Mukti. Just as strange as Aadarsh.

"Bhabhi, the photoshoot. The photographer will reach in five!" Ashvi spoke up. 

"You're the boss!" Ruhaani remarked, glancing at Arti who was looking around. 

Her own gaze went around the hall. It was a very big rectangular shaped hall. At the far end of the hall, a podium had been set up. Beautiful white net drapes adorned all the windows. Strings of white light balls ran across the hall. The stage in the front was adorned with purple, white and blue blooms and purple and white drapes. Suddenly the engagement was anything but a small affair.

"Ashvi, first let's finish with the prayers. Then you can do whatever it is you've planned." Badi Bua spoke up.

"Bua I told you naa that we'll do the engagement like a western wedding. You have literally set up a small temple on the stage." As Ashvi complained, Ruhaani's gaze noticed the elaborate table with the idol of Shiva and Parvati. Fresh flowers, fruits and other required materials for worship were placed there.

"Ashvi, Pandit Ji specifically said that they must take the blessings of Shiva and Parvati before the engagement. It won't take much time. Pandit Ji should be here." 

"Ugh!" Ashvi grunted and walked away. 

Badi Bua turned to Ruhaani with an apologetic smile. "She is just a bit particular about things and gets miffed when they don't go as per her plan."

Ruhaani nodded understandingly and walked along with her towards the stage. 

"Everyone please remove your footwear on that side." Badi Bua said that got sighs and groans from everyone. 

"I just wore them," Abhi said.

Ashvi stood aside with her arms folded against her chest.

"What happened?" Aadarsh asked in a hushed voice stepping beside her.

"Just Badi Bua doing as she pleases. I specifically told everyone that this event is going to be how I planned. But everyone's been annoying... now it's her" she said in a low hostile voice. 

"Hey," Aadarsh placed his hand on her back to comfort her, sensing her hurt. "Everything is going to take place just as you want, okay? Just let the pooja get over."

"Yaa whatever." She said turning around and walking away to one of the windows. 

Aadarsh's gaze followed her and then he turned to the front to find Ruhaani walking towards him. 

"Is she okay?" She asked softly, as she reached him.

"Yes," was clipped response.

She nodded with a small smile gazing towards Ashvi. Aadarsh's gaze moved to his other siblings, who were removing their footwear at the other end of the hall. Abhi was crouched before helping Pari remove her new shoes. He'd make a good uncle no doubt as it was he was freaking with kids.

"You look nice!" He heard her say and his body stiffened a bit and head turned to meet her gaze. Her hazel brown eyes met his. Her words echoing in his mind — you look nice!

• — • — •

Hope you liked the chapter. Looking forward to read your comments and thoughts.

By the way, the chapters of this book are long ~3k, this one is 4.2k words long.

—Anami!♡