His Aratrika (On Going)

44. Reception Party

Author's pov

"Aru,"

Aratrika heard her mother's voice followed by a knock on her door.

She wiped her tears away and said, "Yes, Maa…come inside."

Binita walked in with a packet in her hand.
"Are you sleeping?" She asked her daughter as she saw her face as it was swollen a bit.

"Yes, yes. I just slept a bit." Aratrika replied to her with a small smile.

It was a big lie.  She was crying in her room as she remembered she had to face Saptarshi tonight in the function . She had to hurt him as well as herself by ignoring him. The thought itself was painful .

Saptarshi is not only someone for whom Aratrika has started to develop a romantic feelings but also he is someone who is her friend, saviour, motivator — in a word an angel in disguise. So the thought of hurting him is very painful as if she is betraying her own self along with him. Though it is for his own which she has been telling her heart, still her heart is not accepting it a bit.

"That's good..you need rest as well. Always running here and there. There should be a limit . From now you won't do any extra work …no laundry, no dusting our house…you will only cook..infact I will help you in cooking as well. I can't let your health affected like this anymore." Binita said, patting her cheeks.

Aratrika smiled seeing her mother's affection which she always craved for. She hugged her mother being overwhelmed.

"Now listen, today is Kanika's reception. You have to look the prettiest." Binita said ,breaking the hug.

Handing Aratrika the packet, she said ,"Here, this is the saree. You will wear it today. There is a pair of earrings as well which will look good with it. Wear it as well."

With a huge smile and teary eyes , an emotional but happy Aratrika took the packet and caressed it affectionately. It's been years since her mother had gifted her something.

"I will wear it. Thank you Maa." She said, wiping her eyes.

"Now start to get ready. It's already 5 pm. We need to start within 6 pm. At Least that's the deadline. You know right, if you set the deadline  by 6 pm , we can start at 6:30 pm. We are late as always  ..no matter what." Binita said and the mother daughter duo shared a laughter.

"Now go..get ready. I want my daughter to be the prettiest." Binita said to her. Aratrika nodded with a smile.

Binita smiled. Patting her head, she left from her room ,leaving a huge grin on Aratrika's face.

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"Are you guys done?" Saptarshi said as he climbed down the stairs.

"We are done…it's you who are late today." Piyali said with a chuckle. Sanchita laughed.
Saptarshi rubbed his nape as his ears turned red due to embarrassment. Sanonda laughed, seeing him all shy.

"Okay Okay…Don't need to be shy anymore…can we leave now? We are already late." Siddhartha said as he looked at the watch.

"Yes yes …Let's go.. Priyansh and Akash have been calling me for a long time. You people come..I am taking the car out." Saptarshi said and rushed outside.

Parking his car in front of their entrance, he took his phone out and typed a message in WhatsApp.

Saptarshi : "Kone jatri ese6e ekhono? "
                  (Did the Bride's family arrive till now?)

He kept the phone on his lap and blew the horn to call his family .

His phone vibrated and he immediately checked it.