Payal

"Are you sure? Give it another thought." I sat opposite Siddharth, in the same cafe that we visited yesterday.

According to me, he had always been weird. A little crack in the head. Okay, I agree I am weird as well, maybe that's why I am here planning on a fake marriage for just a job. I surely have a hard life.

I agree that finding a job is very hard these days and I know it from experience too. I should be prepared for anything and if this helps, I can absolutely give it a try.

He closed his eyes and deeply meditated. "I can hear divine messages that I must accompany you on this journey." His serious voice broke as he started laughing all of a sudden.

"Hey, do you think I am joking here? You have to be serious. I don't want to be selfish or something." I didn't know why but this feeling didn't leave me.

He stopped his laughter and said, "Why do you feel like that? I am sure that I will do this with you. But let's promise something." He leaned over and continued, "We will be professionals here. No personal emotional strings attached."

I looked up to notice him looking straight into my eyes. I was flustered for a second but soon, grasped myself and replied, "That's right. But I will be sure to do anything to pay you back."

He sipped on his tea before answering, "That's alright. As a senior and an old friend, I can at least do this much."

I swear he looked so cool at this point that it made my heart flutter a bit. I decided to focus on my coffee.

"So, what next?"

He took out his phone and showed it to me. "Yesterday, I was making notes and it looks like we have a lot to do." As I saw the note list, my jaws dropped to the floor.

"Is a marriage that big of a deal?" I couldn't lower my voice volume as a result of which I caught a lot of eyes. I sunk back in my seat in embarrassment.

"Yes, it is. I only learned yesterday."

"Anvita Di surely went through a lot," I murmured under my breath.

"But you know what, we don't need to do all of these. We just have to click some pictures in wedding costumes, click some other pictures, photoshop a fake marriage certificate, and..." He suddenly paused.

"And?"

He looked lost for a second as he rubbed his neck and asked, "And what else?"

★★★

According to our plans, we first decided to click our photographs. Pictures are more important and valuable than they might seem. A single picture can make and break trust bonds, and relationships and in our case, build a fake couple, maybe.

"Stand closer." The photographer's grumpy voice reached our ears. He had a look like he was too angry with us as if we took away his alone time.

Maybe yes. We will never know.

I stood in a rented red saree that made me appear as a woman whose marriage is being considered.

My eyes turned to see Siddharth standing in a sherwani, rocking his bridegroom look. As he looked nervous, just about to break into a cold sweat, I whispered to him, "You look nice."

He was evidently flustered as he grinned like a fool, his cheeks turning all red. Somehow, he looked like a baby, impressed to hear a compliment. I couldn't help but smile widely at his innocence. "Thank you. You look pretty."

The heat reached my face as I avoided looking straight into his eyes. As I heard the click of the camera, my attention fell on the camera.

For the next hour, we were posing in different outfits and posing to make a perfect plot because what kind of married couple doesn't have a ton of photos in their phone galleries and a couple of them hanging on their house walls?

"This one is nice." Siddharth checked the photos, widely grinning as he excitedly showed me those pictures.

The man in front of us kept a grim look on his face as he stared at us. "Why are you taking these pictures though?" His questioning glance fell over us as we became stiff. It was not normal for two people to come and click photos of their fake marriage.

"You must be... from a drama company, right? These days young people rarely visit this studio. Well, it's nice to have people like you come around." I never expected he could smile. I didn't imagine it so when he did it, I was kind of in a gaze, wondering how weird and foolish he looked once he flashed his crooked teeth.

"Yeah... we were planning on a husband-wife drama. Full melodrama. Come, watch it sometime." Before I could even stop Siddharth from uttering all the crap, he already took the photographs and bid goodbye to the photographer, pulling me along with him.

I pulled at his hand to stop him. "Why did you lie that way?" I whispered as low as possible, enough for him to hear me.

"I just didn't want to tell him all the unnecessary details. Let him think whatever suits his taste."

I couldn't disagree there. I just shrugged.

★★★

"How did it go?" My sister video-called me as I sat quietly inside Siddharth's car. I always knew he was rich. Yes, he was rich enough to afford a car and even a chauffeur, if he pleased.

He looked like a man who would have a lot of money like some young millionaire. How nice to have green notes sticking out of the pockets!

"Well, it went nicely," I recalled the long day of renting wedding costumes, clicking pictures, and returning the costumes.

"That's good enough. Did you eat something?" My stomach groaned at the mention of food.

"Hmm."

I heard her sigh from the other end. "Come home fast. And what about the dinner?"

My eyes turned to see Siddharth standing outside and talking over the phone. "I will have my dinner outside. Don't prepare anything for me." I hung up the call after bidding her goodbye.

"You are hungry, aren't you?" Siddharth asked, as soon as he hopped on his seat. I wanted to ask that first but he was quicker than me. "Let's go to a nice restaurant nearby."

I rested my head on the seat. "Will that fake certificate be ready by tomorrow?"

He kept his eyes on the road as he nodded. "Yes, he is pretty good with photoshopping. Don't worry." He flashed a quick smile, before looking back on the road.

"Will you be free tomorrow? Just in case."

"I am sorry, I may not make it tomorrow. Why? Is it important?"

I shook my head vigorously. "No, nothing. I was just wondering. It's okay." I shook my palm to imply that it is completely fine that he is not free. It wasn't even a very important thing. I thought he must be curious to know where I am working so he might want to see for himself. But that can happen sometime later.

"If it is important, just give me a call, I will be there."

★★★

Siddharth

If only I didn't have to go and meet that manager of Pegasus Market, I wouldn't have had to say no to Payal.

Ugh, I don't want to work in that market.

I sighed, twisting the car key in between my fingers as I entered the restaurant after Payal. On entering, I noticed her sitting at the corner table, waving at me with a wide smile.

Her smile strung the strings of my heart. It raced so fast on staring at her face. I gave some thought to forgetting the past and starting fresh as a good friend only. But it didn't help.

Those feelings are hard to get rid of.

Although I told her that there will be no personal strings attached, it feels as if I can't even convince myself of my decision.

All I want is to help her now, not minding what my heart wants. I have decided that I am going to help her and be the best support.

"Should we order chicken chowmein?" Payal excitedly pointed at the menu card.

In the next few minutes, our orders came. While we sat digging at our plates, I noticed Payal staring at me.

"Thank you." I looked up to see her grateful face. "Thank you, Siddharth. I never thought we could come back to good terms."

"Now don't be like this. That was all past anyway. We are not college-goers anymore, we are more mature now." I spoke low, looking down at my dish. I didn't want to talk about those times.

It's right to not think about it. My rejection didn't hurt as much when I realized that it ruined our sweet friendship bond. People say that it is easier to just talk about your feelings but you can risk sabotaging a relationship.

That's why I think it would've been much better for me if only I never confessed my love for her. It was never her fault. No way it was her fault when it was only my one-sided feelings.

What if I had kept those feelings concealed inside me? Would it have changed our fate?

My phone buzzed next to me, breaking through my thoughts. I excused myself to pick up the call.

"Hello sir, I am Manager Arnav from Pegasus Plaza." I heard loud machine noises and screams from the other side.

"Ah yeah... my father told me. I was supposed to call you but I didn't get time. But what is that noise?" I asked as the loud noise cut through our conversation.

"Sorry sir, there is some construction work going on in front of our market. It's so annoying."

"Are you still in the market? It's late enough." I heard him giggle.

"I just came to take my house key. I left it in the office drawer." I had heard stories about his great memory skills. Gourabh even dared to compare his memory with mine but well, I never imagined this level of talent.

"Sir, are you coming tomorrow?" He asked to which I sighed.

"Yeah, sure."

"We are so happy and excited. We are waiting for you." His excited voice reached my ear and it almost seemed as if he was jumping. "I never got to see you. Every time, whenever I went to the headquarters I wished to meet you but I am glad to finally get to meet you."

But I am not glad. As much as I heard from my brother about Pegasus Plaza, it is a place with a bunch of crackheads. When the headquarters are reluctant to throw away any employee, they just want to put them in Pegasus Plaza. Of course, only those who are married.

It is that kind of a place. And as I was the most useless brother among all, my family totally wants to put me in that place. It's weird to say this about myself but well, that's what they think about me.

That's the very reason my brother is not even marrying, afraid that our father might end up giving him that place instead of me.

"Let's meet tomorrow then." I faked a little excitement before hanging up the call.

I expected this to end in a few days but who knew then that I would soon get badly fixed and tangled in a mess.

~•~

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