The Replacement

Chapter 4: The Vow

The engagement ceremony started late by half an hour. The guests were all in, and having too good a time to complain. There was ample food and drink, great company since everyone formed their own small group, and the ambience was fantastic.

By the time word came down that the bride was ready and heading to the stage set in one corner of the garden, Arnav was itching to get away. He'd agreed to marry Lavanya mostly due to pressure from his family. He didn't really have any complaints against her. She was good-looking enough that they looked good together, well-educated, from a well-known, good family and his family liked her. He had noticed her nervousness around him, but since that was the reaction of pretty much everyone around him all the time, it didn't faze him. It took some time for him to thaw into being Arnav from ASR, and he knew how to put people at ease if he wanted. In the meantime, until he got to know them better, he preferred for them to be intimidated by him. He'd put her at ease soon enough, and then hopefully, they'd get along to make a comfortable marriage.

At a sign from his mom, he walked up to the stage and stood on it with his mom, dad and Di. There was a disturbance in the crowd at one end, and then they parted and the bride with her family and close friends walked towards him. Arnav looked up at the group, and his eyes clashed with the last person he had expected to see. His heartbeat picked up again. That girl!!! What was she doing here, dammit!

He glared at her as she walked all the way to the stage and stopped right at the edge. She had changed into another outfit, likely because of her fall in the dirt earlier, and he had to admit she looked gorgeous. He pulled his glance off her with an effort, and tried very hard not to let his eyes drift back to her, as they seemed to want to do. He focused instead on Lavanya as she walked up to the stage. She looked beautiful, he observed clinically. She didn't make him as annoyed as that other girl, so he breathed a sigh of relief that he was being engaged to her.

A smile crept up on his face, as from the edge of his vision, he noted the shocked face of the girl standing at the edge of the stage as she finally glanced up and noted his presence. Ha! Now you know who you tangled with! He was actually enjoying the shock on her face. He grinned as he thought about the color that crept up her face as she recognized who she'd been clashing with earlier. He turned completely with the smile still on his face and looked at his would-be bride, who had yet to meet his eyes.

Ratna looked at her son, and was surprised to see a faint smile on his face. He'd been very stoic and very detached through this entire process, but the smug look on his face right now, made her feel a little better about this wedding and their choice of bride. Chote looked animated enough for his engagement that it put her mother's heart at rest. She felt Anjali squeeze her shoulder and noted that her daughter had also noticed Chote's smile. They could rest assured that they had made the right decision for him by choosing Lavanya for his bride.

Khushi, in the meantime, was still in a state of shock. She'd walked up to the stage, almost losing all feeling in her fingers with the tight grip that Lavanya had on her hand, spending the entire time trying to reassure Lavu that she'd make everything all right. At the end of the stage, as she'd looked up at the group standing there, she'd recognized Anjali and Mrs. Raizada and smiled at them. Then she'd glanced at the esteemed ASR, and gotten the shock of her life. Him!!!

This was the obnoxious, arrogant git who'd made her behave like a stupid juvenile earlier, completely unlike herself. Lavanya was right, he was handsome... and very rude. And she'd been rude right back. Oh god! He was Lavanya's fiancé? The great ASR? What if he said something about their encounter to his family? Her face turned red as she replayed their conversation – ok, argument – earlier.

She noticed the smug look on his face as he turned to look at Lavanya, and just knew that that look was meant for her. That smug look brought her to her senses. Now she was getting riled up. He was the one who started that skirmish, so he had no right to smirk at her. She smirked right back and decided to ignore him as much as possible. If all goes well, he would not be related to Lavanya, and then she'd never have to see him again.