The engagement ceremony was to take place tomorrow and the relatives started to arrive. The house has become so noisy that communicating required a lot of energy. This was just the starting as many of them were yet to come. I was literally ordered to stay at home as I had to look 'beautiful' for tomorrow. However, ironically none of them noticed when I sneaked out of home and headed to office. I left my team unattended for almost 4 days and I also had to report to Mr.Subbu. I thought I will take the second half of the day off to take some rest.

I had to still invite my friends for the engagement. Then there was this appointment with the beautician that my mom had taken. I also had to collect the dress( one of the dresses to be precise)that I would be wearing tomorrow. I was also planning on getting Viren an engagement gift but I had no clue what I should get him. So much to do yet so less time. All this last minute cramping was owing to my stupid last minute trip. I was now cursing myself for not considering all this before. Now all that I can do is run around in this scorching heat finishing one task after another.

"Ah!Welcome back bride-to-be", Mr Subbu stood up as soon as I entered the cabin. How did he know? Viren! I was relieved as my mind worked the last moment and I thought of purchasing a box of sweets, just in case. I quickly opened the box and offered him and he heartily took four pieces out of it. " So, Viren and you eh?That sure was a surprise. Did you guys get together during the interview?", he asked relishing the kaju katli. " No sir, this was arranged by our parents. It is just a co-incidence", I said hoping he will at-least ask me to sit down. " Is that so? Very strange! Destiny has its own little games", he guffawed. Right! now please stop playing with me and get to the topic,I mentally pleaded.

" Please sit down Ms. Payal", he finally said and I took a seat opposite to him. I wasted no time in getting to business not leaving him space to ask any more questions. " The office is great sir. It is no less than this one. They have a very energetic and motivated team. I don't see any reason to panic. They will make it big",I said as his face lit up with my words. Chennai was his home town and he was hoping to shift there and take charge of that branch in the near future. He had been taking extra interest in it, vising there often and getting into the good books of the Rao brothers. I should admit he was talented and dedicated. He could easily be considered after the Raos. There was no doubt he would be the only one Raos would choose to head that branch, when the time comes. He was unofficially heading it anyways. If that was to happen then I would be replacing him at the head branch. "Anything else that we can do? Any suggestions come to your mind?", his voice snapped me out." Well, I felt organizing some talks by roping in some bigwigs once in a while will keep them going. May be we could also invite them here once, they will talk to people here", I said. "Yes yes.We could do that. I will talk to the Vikram Rao and arrange for it", he said excitedly rubbing his palms. " So how is work progressing?", he asked and the next half an hour I updated him on the work and the issues the team was facing.

"Thank you for the suggestions Ms.Payal", he said as I got up to leave." No problem sir. I have a request. We are getting engaged tomorrow and I will have to be away for the day ", I said. " That is wonderful. Apply for the leave. Not an issue. Take the remaining day off too. You are the bride", he chuckled." So are we invited?", he asked hopefully. " Actually sir, It is a closed family affair so-" , I left the sentence midway leaving the rest to him. " I can understand. My wishes are always with you two", he said and I thanked him and got back to my cabin.

I decided to leave after lunch, it will give me a chance to meet Priya. I was worried it might be awkward and that was one of the reason I did not barge into her cabin as soon as I reached the office. I pushed that meeting to lunch and having no interest to work I opened a e-commerce website  and started browsing for a gift. I thought a shirt and a watch would be a good idea. Other than that nothing was coming to my mind. It is comparatively so easy to shop for girls, I sighed.

One particular shirt caught my eye, it looked really good, at-least on the model. Of-course there was no way they would deliver it by tomorrow, yet to get an idea and to wile away time, I opened it for a better view. While I was looking at it from all angles, I felt someone enter my room. I turned back to look at that one person I was dreading to meet today, Priya.

She took a seat and was now looking at me to say something. Like I expected, my mind was not able to find anything suitable to say in this awkward situation. Her gaze shifted to the shirt displayed on the screen," Shopping?",she asked and I was relieved the silence was broken. I took the opportunity and blabbered," Yes, for Viren. Planning to gift him", I said. " But, he doesn't like that color", she said and realized the next moment what she said.And like that her response pushed us back into the awkward silence. The fact that I did not know what colors he preferred for a shirt made me feel so little in front of her relationship with him. No matter how much I liked what he told me yesterday, I knew such things will keep popping up showing me time and again where I stand.

After what seemed like an hour,she gave me an apologetic smile," Of-course you know him better now", she said. Really? I don't think so. I just know him for two months and that was nothing when compared to the time they spent together.I kept quiet and she continued, " He is not Jain anymore. He is Viren. Your Viren. He is a changed man", The expressions on my face were probably giving away my emotions. From pain to disbelief to surprise. she was reading all. What she just said surprised me. My Viren? why did she think so. "Why are you surprised? Payal,do you trust me?", she asked placing her hand on mine. " Priya. Of-course I trust you", I said and I meant it. She had been nothing but a great friend since the time we knew each other. " Then listen. The Jain that I knew would not have stood up strongly against his parents. This guy fought with your parents and his to get them to agree on splitting the wedding expenses. Which guy would achieve that? No, which guy would even think like that?", she said with a pleased expression and a smile. I chose to stay silent and she did not complain about it.

" I met him a few days back. He was worried for you, I could say from his expressions. He came to me to find out about you and believe me that is all he spoke. YOU", she said stressing on the word a bit. I could see she was genuinely happy telling me all this and I was amazed at how much she cared for the both of us. " I tried telling him how lucky he was and stuff like that but he cut me short. He already knew all that, all he wanted was to know you were fine" , whatever she was saying was sounding so good that I hoped she was not making it all up."When I told him you knew about us, I could see he was hurt. Had I not told you about it, he would have. May be on that very day. Once he realized I did not know where you were, he just left having nothing else to talk to me", she said, herself surprised. I was looking at her with a blank expression but my insides were melting. He was so worried. I was an idiot for running away like that. I had the urge to call him immediately but I refrained. " That was when I realized he moved on. Not just that I also think he started falling for you. He admitted to liking you but I am sure it will change to love" she winked. I was trying all means to control myself from blushing but she caught me. " Its ok. You can blush",she said and I grinned. I stoop up and gave her a warm hug to show how much what she just did, meant to me. I don't know if everything she told me was like she saw it but whatever it was, it gave me a closure.

I finished my lunch in a hurry and rushed out. Priya offered her car for the evening after listening to the list of tasks I had in hand. She would call her personal driver, a.k.a Kailash to pick her up from the office. My first stop was the Tissot showroom. I have decided to drop the idea of getting him a shirt after understanding how little I know of his selection. I fixed on buying a watch and looked through the 100+ varieties displayed in the showroom.With each of them I imagined it on the toned arms of Viren but none of it was enticing enough. After almost an hour I found one that had a black round dial to a steel bracelet . It looked like it was made to suit Viren. I got it gift wrapped and asked the showroom executive if it could be delivered to a specific address, luckily they said they would do it. I quickly wrote a note asking him to wear it tomorrow for the ceremony and gave the guy his address. Task 1 accomplished.

I headed next to the boutique where I gave my lehanga-choli for stitching. I was so happy how it turned out to be when the designer showed me the final look. It was a teal color lehanga with an orange sleeveless choli. It had contrast stone work on the lehenga and the dupatta. It looked beautiful and I hoped it would look good on me. The next stop was at the parlor  which almost ate three hours of my time. I had to drive so could not get my mehendi done. I requested her to come home by evening so I could peacefully sit with it. Finally I went personally to all my friends and spent some time in inviting them. By the time I reached home it was almost 6 and I was totally exhausted.

I was lectured for some time for not listening to my mom in the morning , I escaped that and soothed myself taking a warm bath. My life was going to change starting tomorrow. I was anxious and tensed. I had no clue how it was to be committed to someone. After a lot of confusion and disturbances my story was coming to an end. We will be tied together forever and I had mixed feelings about it. If some one told me two months back that I would be getting engaged and that I would be crazy about the guy, I would have laughed on their face. But, it was happening. I wondered what Viren was feeling right now. After Priya spoke to me in the morning I considered calling him but did not get time for it. I picked my phone and contemplated what to write.

Ready? I composed and sent it to him.

I wish you were here to hear my heat beat.  He replied and that made me chuckle. So I was doing a little better than him.

Liked the watch? I asked hoping for a positive answer.

Loved it. You will see that tomorrow. He said and I could not wait.

See you tomorrow :) I sent

Yesss! the reply read and I pushed my phone away to go to get my mehendi done.

I was literally fed and pushed into my room to get some sleep earlier than usual as I had to get up early tomorrow. But, sleep was far away from me as I tossed in bed with my heart fluttering every second. I can't wait for the sun to rise tomorrow.

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