"You went there to meet Jaanu Aunty and now you are telling me that your marriage is fixed with her son?" Bhavya asked in disbelief over the call.

Gauri rolled her eyes.

"You sure this is an arranged marriage and not love?" Bhavya asked with a teasing smile.

"Seriously, Bhavya? We just met a few days back and how do you expect us to fall in love with that time?" Gauri asked in exasperation.

"Oh please! If your marriage can be fixed within that much time then this is also possible." Bhavya said.

"There is nothing like that. It was our parents' decision. Omkara and I talked to each other and realised it was a nice idea. So we decided to go ahead with it." Gauri said as she explained everything in detail to her cousin.

"Hmmm. He is good looking but what about his character? How is he?" Bhavya asked.

"How do you know he looks good? Have you seen him before?" Gauri asked in confusion.

"I just checked his social media profile in my laptop. But I must say, he seems to be a private person. Not even a single post in his profile. Thankfully there is a profile picture." Bhavya said as she send a friend request to him.

"You already started your investigation?" Gauri asked with a chuckle.

"Why shouldn't I? He is my jeeju."

Gauri rolled her eyes as she blushed a little.

"So how is my jeeju? Is he an arrogant, rude and workaholic businessman like in those fictional stories?" Bhavya asked.

"No, Bhavya. He is a really nice guy. And yeah he is also a workaholic. But he is very sweet, calm and also a very good listener." Gauri said with a smile.

"Aaaha!"

"When I talked to him about Yadav, he listened to me patiently and then made me understand that whatever happened was not mine but Yadav's fault. He made me get rid off the insecurity feeling I had which I was not even aware of. I don't know how he managed to do it but I'm really thankful to him for that."

"And you are telling me you are not in love with him?" Bhavya asked with a smile.

"You back to that? It's so soon for love, Bhavya. I don't know.... But he is special, that I admit." Gauri said as she thought about Omkara.

"Ooooh!" Bhavya said in a teasing tone.

Gauri rolled her eyes hearing her teasing tone.

"Okay then bye, good night." Gauri declared.

"Hey! Don't cut the call."

"Then stop your teasing."

"Fine!"

After talking for a while, they hanged up the call.

Gauri sighed as she stared at the stars. She thought about all the moments that she had spent with Omkara. She smiled remembering how they had met for the first time after coming here. Never had she thought that things would end up like this.

"Thinking about me?" Omkara asked as he sat beside her on the swing.

Gauri turned to him surprised and then blushed realising she was actually thinking about him.

"Ah! That blush again." Omkara cheekily grinned at her.

Gauri chuckled looking away.

Omkara smiled and then asked, "You are happy, right?"

"You have any doubts?" Gauri asked with a smile.

Seeing the happy smile on her face, he smiled happily.

"I heard your mother and Mom talking about our engagement." He told her.

"Really?" She asked him in shock.

Omkara nodded.

"But Papa and your father is not here."

"Dad is coming tomorrow. That means even your father is coming." Omkara said.

"No one told me anything." Gauri pouted.

Omkara chuckled.

"Did you call him today?" He asked.

"No, the last time I talked to him was when you all were there." Gauri said realising.

"That's why! Dad had called me few minutes back. He told me then." Omkara told her.

"Hmm."

Seeing her thinking, he asked with a frown, "What is it?"

Gauri looked at him contemplating.

Omkara lifted his eyebrows silently asking her again.

"You were not ready for marriage so soon and now our family is planning everything so fast. Are you okay with it?" Gauri asked a little worried.

"Gauri, I agree I was not ready to get married soon. But we both decided to share our lives together. We decided to get married. So what if our marriage happens soon? I believe we can work it out anyway." Omkara said.

Gauri smiled in relief hearing that.

"Omkara, today morning at the temple thank you for listening to me. After seeing him there, all those bad memories that I was trying to forget came back to me with a force. I really needed someone to hear me out. Bhavya is not here and Avanthi, no matter how much matured she is for her age she is still a child. There is a limit to what I could depend upon her. I couldn't tell Papa and Mumma too. And then it was you who not only listened to me but also gave me a great amount of relief. I don't how will I thank you for it." Gauri said with a grateful smile.

"You don't have to thank me, Gauri. We are going to be life partners. Understanding each other and being there for your partner is a part of it." Omkara said with an assuring smile.

"But that time we didn't know about this marriage talk." She pointed out.

"Then maybe I am a very nice human." Omkara said grinning.

"That you are." She said smiling at him.

He chuckled.

Nervously, Gauri asked him, "You don't have any problem with my past, right?"

"Why will I have a problem?" Omkara asked frowning.

"Urmm....."

"Gauri, everyone has to go through different kind of phases in their life. That was just one sad phase of your life. There are many phases that is yet to come. If you keep on holding onto your past, your present as well as your future will get affected. Past is past. No one can change it. But our present and future, both are in our hands. Just let it go and live your life. There are many good things coming your way. And now it's not just your and my life. It's our life. We are in this together." Omkara assured her.

Gauri smiled as her eyes became glassy. How could someone be this nice? So understanding? So supportive?

"But yeah, I'm sad about one thing." He said.

Gauri looked at him worried.

"My wish of cuddling a chubby girl will remain a wish only now." Omkara said faking sadness.

Gauri gasped in outrage.

"Can't believe you just said that."

"It's okay, Gauri. I will adjust." Omkara said cheekily.

Gauri blushed and hit his leg lightly.

Omkara chuckled and then smiled realising he was successful in distracting her.

They remained silent for a few minutes.

Noticing her hand resting on the swing, he gently took it in his hand and placed it on his other hand, holding it.

Gauri looked at him surprised and saw him smiling at her. She smiled happily and intertwined their fingers.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Next day morning, Gauri was sitting with others in the living room when she noticed her's and Omkara's father enter the house.

"Papa!" Gauri called out happily as she hurried to him.

Vishaal smiled when his daughter hugged him, and hugged her back.

Omkara walked to his father and hugged him happily.

"Om, how are you my son?" Tej asked smiling.

"I'm fine, Dad. How was the conference?"

"Get ready for a huge project, Om. We cracked the deal." Vishaal answered proudly.

Omkara turned to Vishaal and saw him smiling at him. He smiled walking towards him and then bend down to take his blessings.

Vishaal stopped him and then hugged him.

"Don't make me feel so old, young man." Vishaal said.

Omkara chuckled parting from the hug.

"Congratulations on your success, uncle."

"Shouldn't I be the one congratulating you? The way Tej was stressing about you not interested in getting married, I had almost lost hope. Never thought my daughter would be the one to relieve him from that stress." Vishaal said keeping his hand around his daughter's shoulder.

Omkara smiled as he looked at Gauri and saw her looking down shyly.

"Now please, let me properly see my daughter-in-law." Tej said coming towards them.

Gauri quickly bend down to take his blessings before he stopped her.

"I studied with your father, my dear. Even I'm young." Tej said.

Everyone laughed as he hugged her gently and patted her head.

Soon, the pandit reached and he was asked to look for a good date for the engagement and wedding.

"There is a good muhurat for the wedding in 6 months. And for engagement, there are good dates two months from now as well as 5 months from now." The pandit said.

"5 months is too long." Jhanvi said.

"And we will not be able to prepare well for the wedding since there is only one month gap." Anjali added.

"Shall we conduct the engagement within 2 months and wedding 6 months from now?" Tej asked Vishaal.

"Let the children say." Vishaal said turning towards them.

Gauri turned to look at Omkara and saw him already staring at her. She saw the silent question in his eyes. You okay with the dates?

Gauri softly nodded her head at him.

Omkara turned to their parents and said, "I'm fine with it."

"Gauri, what about you?"

"Me too, Papa." She told.

The dates were finalised. Feeling someone's gaze on her, Gauri turned and saw him softly smiling at her. She happily smiled back at him but stopped in shock when he winked at her. Omkara softly chuckled when she blushed looking away.

Later everyone sat in the living room, except Omkara.

Omkara came down the stairs all ready to go for work.

"Are you going to office?" Jhanvi asked her son.

"Yes, Mom."

"Should I accompany you, Om?" Tej asked.

"No, Dad. You take rest for today. And uncle, I'm so sorry. You all are here and I'm going to office. Everything has just slowly started settling down in our company here and I have to be there most of the time." Omkara said apologetically.

"You don't have to apologise, Om. I'm a businessman too. I can understand. Work is important and it should not be left undone." Vishaal said smiling.

Anjali cleared her throat as she scowled at her husband.

"Not more than family, ofcourse." Vishaal said rolling his eyes at his wife's antics.

Omkara chuckled seeing that and looked at Gauri. She turned to look at him and cheekily grinned. He remembered the conversation when she told him how her father used to pacify her mother whenever she was angry with him.

"And yeah, we might not be here when you come back. We will be leaving shortly." Vishaal said.

Omkara and Gauri looked at each other hearing that.

"What do you mean? You just came few hours back and now you are telling me that you all are leaving? Seriously?" Jhanvi said frowning.

"Jhanvi, your dear friend and my daughters were staying here for the last few days and there is no one at our home other than servants. And how long are we going to stay here itself?"

"No excuses, you are staying with us for a few days and that's final." Jhanvi said.

"Tej, please make your wife understand." Vishaal said sighing.

"She is right, man. Just stay for a few days. Our children's marriage got fixed today. We should celebrate it." Tej said.

Vishaal turned to look at his wife and saw her nod her head. He sighed.

"Fine. We will stay for today but we will be leaving tomorrow."

Seeing Jhanvi about to open her mouth, Vishaal said "Now don't argue. Engagement is within two months and we have to start preparing now itself. Or else at the last moment we will get tensed."

Jhanvi agreed begrudgingly.

Later, Gauri was talking with Rahul, her father's personal assistant who was to look after the construction of her boutique, in her room.

Vishaal knocked on the door and slightly opened it to see her busy with the call. He was about to leave when she gestured him to enter. He came inside and sat on the bed.

"Okay, Rahul. I will be coming there tomorrow. Will check it then." Gauri said ending the call.

"Busy?" Vishaal asked.

"No. Rahul was asking some doubts regarding the interior works. I'm planning to go there tomorrow." Gauri said sitting beside him.

Vishaal nodded.

"So what is it?" Gauri asked her father without beating around the bush.

Vishaal smiled before he started, "Yesterday, before everything got finalised I wanted to talk to you personally and then make the final decision. I didn't think that your dear mother would put the call on speaker." He said shaking his head.

"You know her better than me, Papa. You should have guessed." Gauri grinned.

"Right!" He smiled.

Gauri chuckled.

Vishaal said, " Omkara is a very nice boy, Gauri. Whatever he has become today, then it is only because of his hardwork and self confidence. I had trained him during the initial days and honestly I'm so so proud of what he has become today. He had started his own business from the scratch and achieved great heights. Inorder to curb down Tej's worries, they had merged both their companies. But even then he didn't leave behind his dreams. He kept on working and achieving."

Vishaal chuckled as he said, "Jhanvi always says first her husband and now her son has become a workaholic. I agree he might be a workaholic. But being a businessman, I can understand why he is like that. If you want to achieve something in life, at times you will have to make some compromises as well as sacrifices."

Vishaal looked at his daughter as she patiently listened to him.

"But besides being a workaholic, he loves and cares for his family a lot. He respects people no matter whoever it is. He understands people and their dreams, and I'm sure he will be there with you on your new venture because he perfectly knows the value of someone's goals. Not that I will not be there for you, but getting a partner who values you along with your dreams is a blessing and I want that for you."

Gauri smiled hearing that. She was very sure he would support her with her dreams no matter what.

"In my opinion Omkara is a very good guy. But you don't have to choose him just because of that. You have the sole right to choose your partner and we just suggested someone to you, whom we like a lot. You still have the right to say whether you really want him to be your life partner or not. It's not late and I can speak to Tej and Jhanvi if you want. It's your life and only what you say matters to us." He said.

Gauri smiled at her father. She was not at all surprised. Her father has always been like this and she was blessed to have a Papa like him.

"Don't worry, Papa. I had said yes to this proposal after thinking about it deeply. I really like him and his character a lot. Not only him, but his family too. Except Jaanu Aunty, I didn't know anything much about other family members. But coming here, I never felt that I just met them few days back. These few days here with them was pure joy." Gauri said with a happy smile.

Vishaal smiled at his daughter. He was happy that his daughter would be in safe hands. He trusted his best friend and his family. He knew his daughter would only be happy with them. They will only love her like their own daughter.

"If you are happy, then I'm happy too." He said.

"I love you, Papa and I missed you so much." Gauri said hugging her father.

"Love you too, baccha."

"Papa, what were you going to do if I had said I didn't want this marriage to happen?" Gauri asked curiously parting from the hug.

"Can I answer it honestly?" Vishaal asked her.

Gauri nodded with a small frown.

"I knew you would say you were okay with it."

"How?" She asked surprised.

"I saw how you and your supposed fiance were looking at each other when the engagement and wedding dates were fixed." Vishaal said with a teasing smile.

Gauri turned pink hearing that. Great!

Vishaal chuckled patting her cheek and left the room.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Sorry for making you all wait for so long.

My results came one and a half month back, and we did good:) thanks to my well-wishers and those who checked upon me<3

My school has also reopened, I was busy with that too.

The response I get here is very poor, that's why I'm too lazy in updating. I'm updating this only for my loving supporters, but I might end this story soon. Let's wait and see what the future holds for this story. Your response and my state of mind is going to decide the future of this story.

Wait for the next update
With love
Devu💗