Evading Love

15. #AkShi wedding

As soon as we reach the venue, Ram comes to greet us.

Ram: "Hi!"

"Hi!"

Ram: "You didn't face any troubles in reaching here, did you?"

"You sent cars to fetch us even when we refused multiple times, yet you're asking me if we faced any problems reaching here?"

Twinkle: "Don't mind her. We didn't face any problems."

Bhavya: "Thank you for the gesture."

Ram: "My pleasure. Are you guys comfortable? Do you need something? Have you had the refreshments?—"

"Stop acting like a typical bride's brother. We're fine, and we can take care of ourselves. I'm sure you have a lot on your plate, so focus on that."

Ram: "Plate bharne ka hi to time nahi mila hai ab tak. Tarun? Kya kar raha hai yaar! Paneer tikka shikka kuch laa!"

"I said we're fine. Go, eat something instead of worrying about us. Poof. Disappear."

"But I need to check on the mandap. If even a flower is placed wrong, Shivi will get angry." Ram shudders, "I need to leave."

Janhvi fake coughs.

Bhavya: "Did anyone—"

"Don't."

Gaurav mimics me, "Go, eat something instead of worrying about us. Poof. Disappear."

A****les. I smack his head hard.

Gaurav: "Ow. Why are you so violent?"

I ignore him and look around. I'll never understand why everything wedding-related has to be so extra. The endless rasms, the outfits and makeup, the fake smiles for judgemental guests - doesn't it make enjoying your own wedding hard? It reminds me of how different we are. Will they be able to make it work? Or is this a disaster waiting to unfold? Only time will tell. For now, focus on enjoying this, Sia. It's beautiful, and you won't experience this again.

A server falls out of nowhere, and glasses shatter on the ground with a crash, making everyone gasp in shock. Thankfully, no one gets hurt. As everyone recovers, Shivi's mami starts shouting, "If you don't know how to work, why bother? Pata nahi kahaan kahaan se muh uthaakar chale aate hain! That reminds me, we don't know about the groom's family either, do we? Who are Akshay's parents? Why are they not present at his wedding? And his sisters! Who is their father? Pata nahi kis khoon ki paidaaish hain! Why don't they use a surname? I'm sure they're hiding something—"

I want to protest. I want to say something. But I can't utter a word, as if my body is frozen. Thankfully, Ram intervenes, but his words don't reach my ears. My body starts trembling, and my heartbeat picks up. Unable to deal with all this, I retreat in a daze. I step into a deserted corridor to calm myself down, but my breath picks up. Breathe, Sia. Breathe. I dig my nails into my palm to ground myself, but nothing seems to work. 

Voice: "Sia? Sia? Are you okay?"

Ram: "Sia? Look at me."

He takes my hand in his and unclenches my fist. "It's okay. Breathe with me. Breathe in, breathe out."

Tears well down my face as I try to follow his directions.

Anya holds me and massages my back, "It's okay. Let it all out. We're here."

After what seems like forever, my breath returns to normal, and the tears stop.