How to Wed A Devil

Chapter 7

Ananya Prasad

The rest of the week went by fast. Nothing out of ordinary. Saturday came. Today is the day Golu and his family are coming for dinner.

I am still deciding whether to attend or not. It's my first time seeing him and his family after almost 15 years. I am ashamed of myself to face them. Whenever I remember that incident I feel very guilty. Had Amit Dadu not told me what wrong I had done, I would have probably still hated him. At least I am thankful that I apologized to him and patched things with him. But, I don't want to face them now.

I heard that his parents, sister and his grandparents are coming. It seems they already decided on the engagement and marriage dates. Engagement is after 2 weeks. It will be a small gathering just family and some close relatives and friends. Marriage is also going to be a private affair with a maximum of 100 people.

Apparently, Golu's family owns Care Hospitals which is one of the most famous private hospitals in India and they have almost 25-30 branches in India. They have 5 branches alone in Delhi and I am working in one branch. They also have medical colleges in Delhi, Lucknow, and Hyderabad. Care Medical College is the number one college in India.

My mom said that Golu is also working as a doctor in one of the Care Hospital branches in Delhi. The media has no idea that the heir to the Care Hospitals is working as a doctor as he did not want any attention when he was training. So, the marriage is going to be a very private affair with no media. Even my father's company is somewhat big, but not big enough to attract media.

When I asked my mother which branch of Care Hospitals is Golu working she told me that she did not ask his mom as they were talking about marriage arrangements. I am curious about Golu. He and I promised each other that we will be doctors. He actually became a doctor. But I am also scared to go.

I know for sure that my sister, Sharanya would not want me there as she thinks that I will steal her happiness. It is an important day for her. So, I do not want to spoil it. But, I also want to see Amit Dadu and others. I don't know what to do.

I went back to studying. I have a surgery scheduled in three hours along with the devil and Prof. Acharya. It is going to be a long surgery, so I don't want to get distracted. I will decide after that. Hopefully, some urgent case comes and keeps me here. What the hell I am thinking?

An urgent case means somebody in serious condition. God. I became so selfish that I prayed for a person to be in some serious condition. I feel pathetic. I should call Sid and go have some food.

I felt a lot better after talking with Sid. He said that if I want to go to my house, I should go and that I don't have to be wary of others. It's easy for him to say. So I decided that I will skip the gathering. Either way, I can see all of them during the engagement and marriage. So I texted my mom saying that I can't come because of my shift. And then left for the surgery.

In fact, today is the devil's week off. But, he came because another chief resident has some family emergency and changed his week off to tomorrow. The surgery went well. When I checked my phone after the surgery, there are three missed calls from my mother. I called her reluctantly as she will take a lecture.

"Hey Mom!", I chirped to ease her anger.

"I thought your shift ends at 8 PM and you have a week off tomorrow. Why can't you come?" she fumed at me.

"Mom, it's almost a one-and-half-hour drive from hospital to Noida. I just came from the surgery. I can't drive as I am tired." I tried to pacify her.

"You think I don't know why you are not coming. Sharanya is a grown-up. She will be fine. I don't want you to be wary of her and stop doing things that you like. I want you here by 9 PM. No arguments." She told and hung up.

Looks like I don't have a choice but to go. It's 6 PM now. Dhruv Sir is in shift now, so I called him for permission. He told me that he is running a bit late and the devil is still there. So I should inform the devil and leave. God. Why are you making it so difficult for me?

I went to the devil who is in the residents' room.

"Sir" he looked up from his computer and turned his chair towards me and asked, "Is there any emergency?"

"No Sir. I...need one-hour permission to leave early." I told him hesitatingly.

"Why?" he asked as if I am asking him to transfer his property to me.

"I have some personal work, sir. I will hand over the shift to Nidhi. She will come early today" I told him.

"Did you inform Dhruv too because I can leave anytime now?" he asked.

"Yes Sir."

He nodded and went back to his work.

The devil must be in good mood. He hasn't even said anything.

After 20 minutes, Natasha mam came from the surgery and told the devil that he can leave and that she will cover for him until Dhruv Sir came and he left. He was in a hurry to leave.

After some time Nidhi came. I handed over her the shift and left for home dreading. I am scared that Sharanya will reprimand me for coming. But I don't have a choice.

I reached home at quarter past nine. They all must be having dinner. I rang the doorbell and my mom opened it with a smile and hugged me and said, "Thanks for coming".

I smiled at her. it's been almost 1 month since I visited home. I missed my mom's hugs.

"Where is everyone?" I asked my mom.

"All are in the dining room."

"Okay. I will go freshen up and come" I told my mom.

"Yeah. Come fast" she went to the dining room.

When I entered, my mom announced that I came and everyone turned towards me. I smiled awkwardly and looked at Amit Dadu who is exactly opposite to me and greeted him.

"Namaste Dadu. How are you?"

Amit dadu smiled at me lovingly, "Anu beta, you grew up. I thought you will be still the girl with the pigtails."

Everyone laughed at that. I then turned to greet Lakshmi Aunty and Varun Uncle but I froze instantly.

10 points for guessing why.

There next to them is the person that I least expected to see in my house.

The devil AKA Arjun Kashyap.

*********

Hi, my devils,

We now know the name of our devil. Are you excited about what happens next?

I will update the next part in 2 days.

In the meantime, please do vote and comment. 

Thank you.