"Dekho dekho kaisi baatein yaha ki,"

Inayat's POV

Here I am, standing in front of the mirror as Vaidehi uses a curler to wave my hair. The door opened and a few people entered the room. I didn't turn around to see who it was but I could recognise them by their voices because they were having a conversation. It was Kabir, Yashvi, and Pranay. These two were finally here, I'm meeting them after six months.

These two being here was a relief. For I had just been going from school to home, home to Vaidehi's studio for fittings since the last two days. Before that, on Sunday, I slept in just to absorb everything that occurred in the two days before that.

Yashvi came and stood next to me and passed me a smile. She gestured to Pranay to come there, but he didn't. As Vaidehi was finally done with whatever the hell she was doing with my hair, I turned around. I found Kabir and Pranay sitting on the bed.

"Why are you even here if you just want to sit down?" I asked and my anger was clearly visible. I swear I wasn't angry with them, it was just that the last few days had made me go crazy and these were just the side effects.

"Woah, chill," Pranay commented, "Mai yaha baithu nahi toh kya tujhe ghuru? Batana toh hai nahi kis se shadi kar rahi hai aur kyu kar rahi hai aur chahti hai ki mai tujhse phir bhi baat karu." He said irritably as he rolled his eyes.

(Should I stare at you if I'm not sitting here? You don't want to tell who you're getting married to and why you're getting married and then expect me to talk to you.)

"I'm sorry, okay? I swear I'll tell you everything once these morning rituals are done with." I looked at him with puppy eyes and sighed.

Before I could choose to say something else, Didi came inside the room to call us all down. Everyone started walking ahead of me and I walked slowly behind because of the saree. Maa and Chachi were waiting for us by the stairs. We started walking towards the doorway to the garden and then out of it.

I looked at the two chairs positioned right in front which faced all the other chairs. One of those was occupied by the man I was getting married to, the goddamned prince of Udaipur. As I started walking towards him, my heart started beating faster for some reason. Some reason? It's anxiety. Our eyes met for a second and I blinked immediately and so did he, apparently.

I went and sat down next to him after adjusting my saree. I looked around for a little bit. But then, Kabir came and stood right behind me. He put one hand of his on my shoulder to calm me down and believe me, that helped.

A few minutes later, his mother, Badi Rani Sa came towards me and applied a Tilak with some rice grains on my forehead as the Pandit instructed her. She then gave me a basket full of gifts and on top of it was a one rupee coin and a dried coconut with a dot of Kumkum on it too. She then made me eat a piece of the halwa too.

The coconut and coin signified that I was officially to be the younger daughter-in-law of their family, it was more or less like a token. The gifts with it just showed their love and affection for me. My father did the same with him and also put a token on him being the younger son-in-law of this family.

Funny how I couldn't have even possibly imagined this would be happening today even a week ago.

The Pandit said some shlokas and explained something to the two of us about marriage and responsibilities, that's funny considering my conditions. I nodded, acting like I was understanding what he was saying completely.

It was now time for all the guests to congratulate one by one and give us gifts and blessings, it's also called Thaka. This also meant I had to plaster a fake smile on my face. I knew he would know very well to do the same, he's been PR trained, goddamnit.

Some of both our relatives, uncles and aunts came and blessed us to stay a happy couple. Yashvi and Pranay too came ahead to congratulate us. Pranay gave me a gift-wrapped box and passed me a wide smile. But Yashvi, she just leaned in a little and spoke in a whispering tone.

"My gift for you will be a Friday night once you're done and have dealt with this wedding." She whispered and winked at me as I chuckled a little while covering my face. I looked at him and he looked confused as hell, but he didn't say anything. Why would he, wouldn't his ego be hurt? Who cares, anyways.

Everyone was done with giving us blessings, even our parents and siblings had done that now. Everyone was talking to each other while me and him were just awkwardly sitting next to each other. Why should I start a conversation? If he's feeling awkward, he will.

A few minutes later, Badi Rani Sa brought out a Chunni, red in color with intricate golden embroidery on it. While walking behind her, was my elder sister with another decorated gift hamper thing in her hands.

All the women of his family, aunts and cousins gathered around me as his mother opened the folded Chunni and placed it on my head. His paternal aunt then proceeded to rotate a five-hundred note around my head and gave it to her brother, Bade Rana Sa to give to someone needy.

Then, my sister, as the elder daughter in law of the house gave me that gift hamper thing, this time it had a saree, which was red too and bangles in it. She then also applied a Tilak on my forehead, again. I gave them all a wide smile. They all started giving me blessings, all related to my forthcoming married life obviously when I felt the Chunni on my head move a little.

I realized it was sliding down though it wouldn't fall on the ground because it would slide down to the side that he was sitting on. I couldn't do anything about it because I still had the gift hamper thing in my hand and all the women in front of me had their eyes on me.

He was sitting very close to me, so I slightly moved my leg to touch his leg to grab his attention. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I glanced at the imbalanced Chunni and then at all the women around me. It would cause a problem if it fell down right now. I hate asking him for help. He won't help me, he'll probably just make it worse.

I felt the Chunni falling more and he still hadn't done anything, it wasn't anything like he hadn't understood what I was trying to tell him. He is well aware and I could also feel him looking at me. I clenched my fists round the handles of the hamper, bracing myself to face the embarrassment of the Chunni falling from one side.

But then, I suddenly felt someone's touch on my hair, around where the Chunni had almost fallen. My eyes immediately went in his direction, it was him. He was fixing the Chunni. He properly adjusted the Chunni on my head and he went back after slightly touching my ear and it made me shiver. What are the chemicals in my body doing?

All his aunts, his mother, and his very dear Bhabhi Sa, started pretty much staring at him and so did everyone else who was sitting.

"Dekho, dekho, humara Advait kaisa heere jaisa hai. Abhi se apni mangetar ka kitna dhyaan rakh raha hai, shaadi ke baad toh kitna rakhega." One of his aunts stated, chuckling.

(See, see, pur Advait is like a diamond. He's taking so much care of fiancé since right now, how much care will he take after the marriage!)

"Arre Bua Sa, usme heero ki baat kaha se aayi? Yeh toh zimmedari hai meri." He said in a very sweet and cheeky tone and then looked at me.

(Oh, dear Aunt! What is the matter of diamonds in this? It is my duty only.)

They all chuckled a little, maybe even blushed. I faked a little shyness too and then all of them started walking away. When all of them were gone, I looked around to make sure no one else was around either.

"Thought I'd thank you, so thanks. Waise, acting acchi kar lete ho." I whispered sarcastically, looking at the grass.

(By the way, your acting is good.)

"Yeah, I know." He replied nonchalantly and started tapping his legs. He's trying to annoy me.

I was gonna say something else but then my father came and asked us to come to the living room for sometime. Maa, Chacha, Chachi, Jiju, Didi, his parents, Kabir, Meera, and the Pandit were already there when the three of us entered. The Pandit was reading something from two different booklets. They're probably our Janmpatrikas.

(Janmpatrika— a sheet including the impact of movement of planets in one's life according to the time of their birth.)

"Panditji, inn dono ke vivah ke liye iss saal sabse uchit tareekh kaunsi hogi?" Badi Rani Sa enquired.

(What would be the most appropriate date for their marriage this year, respected Pandit.)

"Inn dono ki janmpatrika dekh ke toh iss saal ki Margashrish ki Shuklpaksh Chaudashi yane ki December ko hi uchit rahegi." The Pandit announced and the color on my face faded. I looked at Kabir and he gestured to me to take deep breaths.

(Looking at both of their Janmpatrikas, it seems that the fourteenth day of the darker fortnight of the Margashirsh month, that is the fourteenth of December would be appropriate.)

That's— that's too early. That's just— just fifty-two days from now.

Everyone around me started becoming happy, except him and Kabir, of course. I tried my best to hide the horror on my face as my parents hugged his parents. I kept breathing deeply as Kabir suggested but it wasn't helping.

My grip around the end of my Saree tightened and it felt like the room was suffocating me. I had little tears in my eyes, but luckily they hadn't fallen off yet. And luckily, time was right and Vaidehi called me right at that moment and I excused myself immediately. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked out of the door. It felt like a lot of weight was off of me.

After lunch, the so-called royals and their guests were back to the premises of their palace for the evening's event. I had changed into my favorite pair of clothes, a loose baggy t-shirt and a black pair of shorts. I had been in the living room for two or three hours now, all alone and munching on a Snickers bar. Snickers bars always help with tensions, I've never tried it with stuff like weddings before but let's just hope.

Everyone else was in their respective rooms and Vaidehi had gone back home. Pranay and Yashvi had also left to meet Pranay's parents who lived next door. They were surprising them. I was surfing on social media while munching on the Snickers bar so I had no clue if any one had entered the room.

But then, I heard the sound of a foot tapping and my eyes went there. It was Yashvi, she was standing right in front of me with crossed arms, probably expecting an answer to all the questions I left unanswered in the past few days. I gestured to her to sit down and Pranay walked in just then. I did the same with him.

"Why him, Inayat? Didn't you say you cared about your post-work Friday night fun?" Yashvi enquired.

"I have my reasons, Yashvi. I swear it's not because of anything stupid. Give me a chance to explain." I tried to elaborate.

"Yeah, the reasons, that's what we're asking for. Give those to us." Pranay added in a concerned tone.

I sighed and explained the whole situation to them, leaving no detail. Both of them listened attentively and tried to interrupt a few times in between to put some reasonings, but they weren't really given the chance by me.

"So, what will you do when you'll have to spend every single night in the same room as him? Because, from all the stories I've heard from you till now, most of them suggest that you kind of hate him." Yashvi said. I didn't reply for a second because I didn't really have any answers for this one.

"I'll ignore his existence." I answered being very proud of myself.

"Well, good luck then." Pranay spoke, sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at him. He threw it back. This cycle went on for a few minutes before my mother came inside the room and stared at us.

"Inayat, your make-up artist will be here any second, atleast go get dressed. Yashvi, beta tum iske saath jao and dhyaan rakhna ki iss se kapde phat-vat na jaye. Pranay, you go to Kabir's room and wake him up if he's asleep, please." My mother ordered and all three of us started moving after nodding.

(Yashvi, child, you go with her and take care that she doesn't tear the clothes.)

We headed to my room and turned on the AC. We sat on different ends of the bed for a few minutes and then I got up to get ready. I went to the restroom with the blouse and Lehenga. I wore the lehenga and hadn't hooked the blouse close properly, Yashvi has always done that for me and I've done the same for her back where we lived in Mumbai.

I walked out to right where Yashvi was sitting and she understood immediately. She started closing the hooks of my blouse. She had closed all the hooks and now we were laughing about how we still remember such little details. When I suddenly decided to break the laughter.

"You know, I'm getting married almost two months later?" I spoke as I walked towards where the Dupatta was. I put it on my left shoulder after plaiting it. I pinned the Dupatta to my blouse.

"What!?" Yashvi asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it's official. the fourteenth of December, 2024 would be a date to remember then, I guess." I chuckled dryly and turned around. She looked at me with a look of pity and then walked up to me and hugged me.

A few minutes later, my make-up artist arrived and Yashvi went to get ready too. I was all ready to go get my life upside down and officialise it in front of almost one-fifty people, few of them were my friends.

I walked downstairs to find everyone else ready to go. We walked out of our home and got all ready to go there. Chachi went with Pranay, Yashvi, and his parents while me, my parents, Chachu, and Kabir went in one of our cars.

We reached the palace sometime later and Jiju and Didi were there to welcome us. We walked inside with them. Not many people were there yet but the place still made me nervous. The hall looked so beautiful with all the flowers. His parents hugged my parents and then my uncle and aunt. He and I stood in front of each other, I had to look up a little to look him in the eye. It was funny because I was as tall as him back in school.

"You look good in blue," He complimented, sarcastically. "You know, I never lie." He added.

"Oh, is it? What was it today in the morning there? All that 'it's my responsibility' thing? What was it then?" I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes.

"That's what I call impressing the aunties." He said and winked to irritate me. I walked away to go and stand with Yashvi. I went there and started talking to Yashvi and gave him a few glances in between, he gave me a sarcastic smile every single time.

Everyone started arriving and most of them greeted me as I plastered a fake smile on my face. Him and I were greeting everyone together, trying to act like a perfect lovely couple.

Everyone had almost arrived and we were about to go to the stage and sit there when someone came up to greet us. My smile immediately turned into a frown when I realized who she was. She hugged him and her parents stood behind and congratulated us. Get away from him.

I couldn't simply care about who he's around most of the time but when it comes to her, I want her to stay away from any guy I'm seeing, let alone the guy I'm getting married to and I have a valid reason for it.

"Oh, Inayat, it's so nice to meet you again," Ruhani spoke in her overly sweet tone. "You know, dad? She went to school with us." She turned to her dad and spoke. I gave both of them a smile.

I saw Jiju walk up to me and internally sighed. He came to us and told us to go sit on the chairs at the stage immediately. We did as he told us to. I could understand that he was going to say something, probably sarcastic, but I looked away and started walking a little away from him.

But, the most cliché thing happened, an open thread from my Dupatta got stuck on one of the buttons of his Sherwani. I got back really close to him, I bent my head down and tried to get my Dupatta out of it. We were so close that I could feel his breath on my hair. My hands shivered a little but I got it out and walked towards the stage acting like nothing had happened.

We were on the stage, Didi had my ring box in her hands and Kabir had his in his hand. Kabir handed the box to me and Didi handed it to him. He looked at me for a second, then looked around at everyone else and then at the ring box.

A second later, he bent down on knee and Didi passed him a mic. He started to speak. What the hell is going on? What is he gonna do?

"Hai saath par hai saath na bhi"