Rehnuma

6. The Wedding

Wedding. It's supposed to be a foundation for the new relationship in two peoples lives. It's not just a ceremony, it's the binding of two souls who promise to spend their lives together. To take care of each other, to cherish each other, to love each other.

This is the crap Amaira fed me. I don't blame her. Her parents have a successful marriage, her brother treats his wife with so much care and love. Her own marriage is a classic rendition of a fairy tale. My brother is whipped for her. She might have had her doubts about her marriage but she has never seen the ugly side of it.

I have. I have seen my father raise his hand at my mother. I've seen her loathe him for all her life. I've seen my in-laws fall apart. I've seen them live in two separate cities so they don't even accidentally run into each other. I've seen my own relationship break with the man I imagined to be the wife of.

So it's safe to say I don't believe a word of what Amaira told me. I believe in love. But I don't think it's made for me. I promised my husband fidelity and I stand by it. For however long I shall be his wife, I belong to him. And that's the end of it. My past with his brother would never come in between our marriage. The marriage that is now exactly what it was supposed to be.

Arranged.

I will have to start from scratch, trying to know the man I'll be married to. But surprisingly, I don't mind it. Vivaan is.....something I didn't expect. I don't know what I perseved him to be. A man who doesn't do social gatherings, who isolates himself. A man like that isn't supposed to be what Vivaan is.

He is charming. But not the sweet charm people are usually attracted to. He is sarcastic, his humor dry, his attitude nonchalant. And his smile is worth a billion dollars. It's rare and I've been lucky enough to see it.

I don't know his stand on relationships, on how he sees our marriage or what he expects from it. I just went to him and gave him my stance, my condition and he didn't say anything but agreed to them. He is devastatingly handsome and talented and he looks at me with challenging eyes. What the challenge is? I don't know yet. But I am intrigued. Intrigued to know what marriage with him would look like. If it would be better than the low expectations I have from it? Or if it would be a total disaster.

Amaira pins my hair back into a half up, half down style and finishes it by sticking some flowers into my hair. She puts the veil over my head and there it is. The bride everyone wishes to see. Gold is everywhere. On my necklace, my bangles, my rings, my earrings and even on the hairband sort of thing in my hair. I look the part of being a Malhotra and a Rathore.

Amaira squeezes my shoulder in comfort and it really helps. A knock on the door make us both turn. It opens and my brothers step in.

I refused to be handed over by my father, he is still an asshole and I hate him, so my brothers will walk me to my fiance. They both stand there and stare. Two tall, lean and built men, staring at me with vulnerability. It's cute. I've never seen them this way. I smile lightly. "I knew you two would cry when I got married and went away."