The Great Indian Wedding Romance

5. Connect

"Are you trying to get me in more trouble than I already am?" Chetna whispered as Siddharth walked up the staircase to the roof. 

"How much worse could it get?" he said giving her a smile over his shoulder. 

"Oh, you have no idea," she shook her head. 

Siddharth chose to ignore that comment and walked on till they were at the doors that led to the rooftop area. Faint music filtered through and Chetna stared at the door tentatively. 

"Come on, we'll get a drink and leave soon after."

"You haven't even told me where you are taking me. Who is in here?" she whisper-yelled. 

"You can speak normally. No one can hear us," he laughed, "Veer and his friends are up here partying. He invited me and I am inviting you." 

Chetna began to say something but Siddharth pushed the door open and started walking ahead giving her no other option but to follow him. 

He saw a group of people at the farthest end of the rooftop and beckoned Chetna. She came to a halt. 

"What is it?" he asked.

"There isn't a single girl here," she said. 

Siddharth looked back at the crowd and sure enough, it was a sausage fest. 

"Alright, I am going back," she said.

"Oh come on nobody is even going to notice you. They're all probably too drunk to remember any of this." 

"You don't seem to understand you're not in Delhi or New York anymore. Here, people expect women to follow certain rules," Chetna said in a frustrated tone. 

"And do you buy into that bullshit?" he asked with a piercing look. 

Chetna did not look away. 

"I don't." she said, "That's why my family despises me."

"I don't think they despise you," Siddharth tried to comfort her. 

"Oh no they do," she laughed bitterly, "And I'm trying not to give them any more reasons to justify that hate." 

 Siddharth paused. The way Chetna had said made him question the glibness with which he had been handling all of this. 

"Okay, wait here. I'll be right back," he said.

"Where are you going?" 

"I am getting us a drink and then you can tell me all about why your family hates you."

With that, he quickly walked towards the bar temporarily set up for the convenience of Veer and his groomsmen. 

"Siddharth you made it!" Veer exclaimed, slurring his words. 

He seemed surprised to see Siddharth but that was probably not out of the ordinary since he hadn't said yes to his invite. 

"I just wanted to drop by and wish you luck. Happy for you, brother. I am really sleepy though so I am going to head out after this." 

"Wait, let me introduce you to my friends." Veer said excitedly and dragged him to the centre of the party. 

"Friends, this is my cousin Siddharth," he announced and then told him their names individually. After the fifth name, it became a blur and despite his best efforts, he couldn't remember their names. 

"You are Siddharth Kashyap from Red Wagon right?" one of Veer's friends asked. 

"Yes," Siddharth said at the time Veer said,