Accidental Love

V I I

Aparna

"For fuck's sake Aparna... wake up!" Antara's distant voice made way to my ears, ruining my precious sleep. Instead of acknowledging her, I snuggled more into my pillow, hoping she would fall to her death for daring to disturb me. Not really though, I wouldn't want that to happen to her.

Who would cook food for me if she died?

Anyways, I was on the verge of continuing my dream in which Gabbar had finally retired and I was promoted to Branch Head when ice cold water was dumped on my head.

I knew this would happen but that didn't mean I was any less annoyed. 

Nadia stood in front of me, holding a now empty glass of water while her other hand rested on her hip as she glared daggers at me.

"It is your engagement today. Show at least a little excitement for the sake of god!" She said, placing the glass on the window sill and pulling the covers off me. I let out an inhumanly groan but woke up anyways.

Finishing my daily business, I walked out to the sofa with my usual bowl of cornflakes and milk and settled myself down, watching my two bestfriends run around the cramped up apartment, getting ready for my engagement.

Yeah, they are even more excited than me.

Once I was done with my breakfast, they made me wear the silvery blue lehenga Vartika had brought yesterday. It fitted on me perfectly and complemented my dusky complexion pretty well. 

While I sat on the chair in front of the mirror, completing the designs Gabbar had mailed me on my laptop; Nadia styled my hair in a sleek bun, leaving a few strands to frame my face. Antara on the other hand, kept scolding me to keep the laptop  aside so that she could do my nails and make-up. After a lot of pestering, I finally gave up and let her do her thing.

As they dolled me up, I had a sudden sense of déjà vu back to my engagement with Mohit. 

My purple saree, his off-white sherwani, the banquet hall decorated with white carnations, his simple gold-plated engagement band similar to mine...

My thoughts were disrupted when Nadia asked me to open my eyes and assess their work. 

I looked absolutely gorgeous. The dress fitted me like a glove and accentuated my curves as predicted and my dark hair complemented its light color. My makeup- though not caked- was absolutely flawless. The oxide jewellery went perfectly with the lehenga. Again, like I said before, I looked absolutely gorgeous.

We still had three hours before the muhurat, so while I went back to completing my work, both of them started getting ready themselves. The two of them had bought a lavender and pastel pink lehenga respectively and were gushing about it since day one.

To be pretty honest, I was gushing about mine too, so I can't really blame them.

Mamu and mami, though not exactly ecstatic about my decision at first, had agreed on it when I convinced them that I am totally and madly in love with my ex-jiju and so is he. Yeah, it was pretty hard. 

Anyways, they were directly coming to the engagement instead of coming with me since their house was quite far from mine but nearer to the venue.

Finally, after all of us were ready, we left for Oberoi mansion. Yes, the engagement was in their own house because my soon to be mother-in-law said so. 

Speaking of my in-laws, they are the sweetest people I've ever met. Mrs. Oberoi, who insisted that I call her Ma when I last visited, is the literally the older version of Nadia (of course, minus the cussing) and Mr. Oberoi, or Papa, is a literal softy though he looks anything but.

Vartika, my sister-in-law to be, is on the verge of becoming my third bestfriend. She is probably the most sarcastic person I've met in my life, and trust me, there are a lot of them. Even though two years younger than us, she had even managed to befriend Nadia and Antara. She cleared her CA last year and is doing her articleship training under Adarsh Rawat, a very famous CA in Mumbai.

Mr. Oberoi's brother and the youngest of the Oberoi siblings, Ved Oberoi, though seemingly extrovert and mischievous at first, is a very dedicated doctor-in-making. He gave his twelfth board exam last year and ranked first in his school is what I have been hearing. I haven't talked to him a lot but the little conversations here and there have told me enough about him.

This leads us to the last and youngest member of the Oberoi family- my Junior Oberoi, Megh. He just gets cuter and cuter everyday and I can't get enough of him. He calls me every night before going to bed just to tell me about his day in his own broken mix of hindi and english. Every call ends with a 'I uv yu" from him and a 'love you too' from me. It has become our thing now.

I didn't realize when we reached Oberoi mansion amidst all my thoughts. It was only when Antara had shaken me was I pulled out to reality. 

The mansion was decorated with beautiful pink flowers and golden lights. The whole set-up screamed rich and I couldn't help but stand there with my mouth wide open. Of course I closed it immediately, not wanting to make a fool of myself.

All the media and reporters were gonna be there at the engagement is what Mr. Oberoi told me. Though I was very much against it at first, I eventually accepted it, given that he is the youngest most successful businessman in India. He is practically celebrity. Not to mention that he has been the most eligible man of India since Shriparna's death. Of course the news of our engagement is making it to the headlines.

Ma was standing near the mandap, instructing the ladies who were decorating the stage with flowers. She walked towards us as soon as she spotted us, a big smile gracing her pink painted lips. She was wearing a beautiful pink saree which complemented her light complexion.

"Oh my god! You are looking so beautiful, beta. Meri hi najar na lage tumhe." She said, applying some kajal from her eye behind my ear and kissing my forehead. 

She then ushered all three of us inside the house to sit down till the panditji arrived. 

"I don't want my daughter in law to sit there while everyone stares holes into her now, do I?", Was her excuse.

She guided us to Vartika's room, who was all ready in her pastel green lehenga and was clicking selfies with Megh.

As soon as Megh saw me, he ran towards me and hugged my legs, squealing like a fangirl. Everyone laughed at his antics and he hid his face in my legs even more, embarrased.

I held him by his shoulders and bent down to his height, placing a kiss on both his cheeks. His flustered pout turned into a full-blown smile as he kissed my cheeks in return.

My Junior Oberoi was looking absolutely adorable in the sky blue sherwani and his black hair were swiped to the side. He looked like an angel missing only a pair of wings.

All of us were sitting on the bed and talking and laughing about anything and everything when a throat clearing voice disturbed us. I turned towards the door to see who it was only to be shocked to the core. Something I thought I wouldn't be capable of doing anymore.

"Hello dear daughter."

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Word count: 1289 words

Next update: 10 January

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