The Great Indian Wedding Romance

13. Distract

Siddharth laid his traditional outfit for the night on the armchair next to his bed before stuffing his feet into his formal shoes. He was headed out for a meeting with Red Wagon's manager, organizer and a bunch of important people at the new venue and he knew he would be late for the Sangeet function in the evening. 

He was torn about attending it because, on the one hand, he had promised Chetna he would be there and he knew she would be miserable without him but on the other hand, he would have to sing for his family. 

He despised the idea of performing at his cousin's wedding. Someone who had been a virtual stranger to him all his life. Yet, if the tables were turned and Chetna was to be absent from a function he was forced to attend, he would hate that. 

What posed a challenge here was convincing his friends to let him off early. He was sure they had a day full of debauchery planned and if he expressed his decision to go back they would instantly join the dots and bring Chetna up again. 

He had managed to keep this speculation out of the conversation on the drive to their hotel. Yug had tried hard to breach the subject but Siddharth was quicker on his feet with a distraction.

Chetna had insisted on sitting in the car he was driving much to Sagar Bhaiya's chagrin. She cited the reason that she'd be better able to navigate if they got lost. 

His friends were tactful enough to not outright ask him an untoward question in front of Chetna so he was able to escape their scrutiny. They were also tired and sleepy, so that helped. 

His victory was short-lived though. He knew they would grill him to no end today before their meeting. And if he said he wanted to leave early to go to a wedding festivity, he would not hear the end of it. 

His mother was in the shower still and he debated on whether or not he should wait for her to come out or just leave. He felt a little guilty about abandoning her. Not that she was complaining. She seemed to blend right into the happy family picture that the Rajputs were painting for the world. 

He had been spending most of his time with Chetna and moving forward it would be his bandmates. His mother was spending most of her time with his Taiji and the group of other women who clumped together during wedding ceremonies. 

This was not how Siddharth had pictured this wedding would proceed. He had envisioned his mother and him against the world. 

Sure, he felt relieved that so far nothing too dramatic had happened, but he also felt betrayed at how easily everyone was willing to forget what they had done and let happen to his mother and him. 

Each time he saw his mother laugh along with his relatives he quashed his urge to confront them. He was also keeping all of these feelings from his mother. He knew one of these days inevitably he was going to burst and let it all out. 

Today, however, was not that day. So he quietly crept out of the room before his mother came out. 

Out in the lobby, he caught himself looking for Chetna and then abruptly walked out. They hung out more than enough as it is. He would see her in the evening. His priority was getting prepared for the concert. 

As he entered the manicured gardens of the hotel he saw Chetna standing ramrod straight with her arms crossed right at the ends of the flower beds. He furrowed his brows and stared at her trying to guess why she would be standing in the garden all alone in the morning. 

Before he realized his feet were taking him in her direction. 

As he approached her, he could gauge her expression and she seemed annoyed. She still hadn't seen him so he called out her name.