Arnav- Khushi SS: Vivaah- An Arranged Marriage

Chapter 3- Denial

The eventful morning rolled into the afternoon quietly and fortunately and Khushi found herself stuffed with an array of dresses to choose from for her Mukh-dikhai, after a tiresome morning. She didn't see much of Arnav except on the breakfast table with the family. It was her first rasoi, and as per tradition she had made some scrumptious poori-aloo for everyone along with kheer. Of course, she had been made well aware by the servants and the ladies in the family that her husband was a diabetic and so she had been asked to prepare sugar-free kheer for him separately, a task that she hadn't wanted to indulge in after her tete-a-tete with Arnav, but had to do so nevertheless.

But the bigger challenge was to find him stubbornly sitting at the dining table along with the rest of the family while she served them breakfast. Because when it was her turn to serve him, neither had he had made an effort to move to give her space to serve him, nor had he extended the plate towards her. And with the entire family's eyes on them it had been a bit tedious to go through the affair.

Her first thought had been to either place the bowl next to him or to request him to move aside. However, when he hadn't budged for even a moment, and because of the bitterness that was still fresh in her mind owing to his rude behavior, she quietly placed the bowls of kheer and subzi next to his plate. She stood there waiting for him to serve himself or push the food away, aware that everyone's gaze was now on Arnav who was to taste whatever she had prepared and give his verdict, along with a gift which she was sure would be omitted owing to their equation.

It didn't matter to her what he felt or said about her cooking, because she just wanted to get over and done with the ritual and not hover around him for as much as possible. But for the sake of pretense she stayed put next to him, neither taking a step away from him, nor making a move to serve him or reach out to him. She didn't want to ruffle his feathers and was well aware about his immense but unanticipated hate for her. Anyway, the ball was clearly in his court now.

"Khushi bitiya, please sit down and eat with us. I am sure you must be starved right now," she heard the matriarch of the family and smiled brightly back at the congenial old lady. After a quick glance at the still untouched bowls she made a move to take a place near Anjali, but was stopped by her sister-in-law immediately.

"Khushiji, you have to sit next to Arnav. On that vacant chair," she groaned inwardly at her luck. Looked like this family wouldn't let her eat in peace, not that she was hungry after the humiliation she had experienced in the morning, but sitting next to the man who hated her for reasons unknown was bizarre in her humble opinion.

Even though she knew that there wouldn't be any respite for her so soon, not when her said husband was around. So she softly padded towards the vacant chair, aware of his eyes on her when his shoulders went stiff with unsaid tension at their proximity, and slipped into the chair beside him making sure to not allow herself or her saree to touch him at all.

She let out a breath she had been holding and looked at her empty plate, the heat from his body making her aware of his presence around her. She didn't know what to do at that moment other than bringing her long tresses on her right shoulder, and blocking herself away from his sight, for the time being.

"How is the food, Arnav?," Mamaji and Mamiji who were sitting across the table asked in unison but for different reasons altogether. While Mamaji was a simple man and had genuinely wanted to know Arnav's opinion about her cooking, Mamiji had done so in order to seek an opportunity to taunt her some more.

For some odd reason while her husband's family had welcomed her with open arms, his aunt had been very unsupportive and resentful with the nuptials. Initially, she had thought that it was because of the way the marriage had been fixed and carried out, but it didn't take her much time to figure out that Mamiji was vying for her husband's ex-girlfriend to be married into the family. However, the way things had panned out had left Mamiji aggrieved and perhaps, vengeful towards her.