AADHYA REHAN✓

22| Yellow ✓

AADHYA

"PIZZAAA!" I laugh as my friends yell at the camera as they hug me. We pose for a bunch of photos before my cousins join me to take pictures.

The sun is very bright and so are the smiles on everyone's faces. The yellow decorations, dresses, flowers, and everything is beautiful. I look around as I'm made to sit on the chair. I smile at Di as she comes giggling.

"Jhanvi Sharma," I warn her but she takes a load of yellow turmeric and pastes it on my face. I hug her and press her cheek against mine.

"Never change. Be happy always." She tells me pressing a kiss on my hair.

Jiju follows her but he is kind enough to put a little on my forehead and hug me. I see Dad and he kneels and takes the paste and put it on his hands before pasting it on my cheek. He kisses my forehead and gives me a tight hug.

"You are my everything Diya." He whispers and I close my eyes and hug him back tightly. I cry onto his shoulders and he pats my back as he kisses my hair. He pulls apart and turns around without looking at me.

I don't understand his love but all I can promise to myself is that his type of love ends here. I will never entertain his type of love or the teachings he learnt to my children if I have any.

"DiDi!" Sam screams as she runs to me. I smile as I see her dip her hands full in the turmeric and Bhai lifts her so that she can reach me. I lean in and I laugh as I feel her spread the haldi all over my face.

"Please stop," I tell her and I can hear her laugh.

"No!" She yells and I open my eyes to see Bhai pull her back. I'm going to miss her so much that I can feel the tears beginning to make an entrance

.

"Sammy!" I call her opening my arms and she jumps out of his arms. I cry as I hug her. "I will miss you."

"Don't get married." She tells me and everyone chuckles at her response. I'm sure the videographer got that too.

The rest of the family comes one by one and they all decorate my face, arms and feet however they want. I enjoyed the function wholeheartedly. Hey, I'm getting married only once.

I smile at myself in the mirror as I look at my beautiful yellow lehenga. Even though there are more than hundreds of photos of me in this dress, I take a couple of selfies and mirror selfies and I can feel the heat of my body as I send them to Rehan. My phone buzzes within a minute and it's his reply.

"One lakh seventy-two thousand and eight hundred seconds more!"

I smile as I text him back, "to call you mine?"

The butterflies and all the goosebumps are running up and down my body reading his reply.

"Baby, I'm already yours. Always and forever."

REHAN

I feel the bed move. I clutch the pillow closer and bury my face in it.

I feel like I'm on air.

I'm flying.

I am flying!

I am flying!

I cannot catch my breath and my eyes open involuntarily and I swim my way up and look around. I'm in the fucking pool. I see my friends standing around the pool and laughing as they all look at me.

"You fuckers!" I say hitting the water. "Stop recording!" I tell Kiaan, Sanjay's videographer.

"Is the water cold?" Farhan, my friend asks me.