Brave and Beautiful

Chapter 12

Aarush

   I stood at the entrance of my room, bickering with Diya to let me in. "Pay me first. Or else, you can spend the night outside."

   "5000 Rupees. Nothing more," I offer. "8000." Rolling my eyes, I hand her the money and she leaves, laughing at the money in her hands. It's my first night with Ria and surprisingly, I feel nervous. Taking in a deep breath, turn the doorknob and let me in. A gust of cold air welcomed me. The decorations were really romantic that I could feel my ears warming up. Then, I looked at the bed. I see my bride. Covered in her translucent veil, teasing me, not to mention the flower curtains swaying to the wind from the air-conditioning. Her red lehenga skirt arranged in a circle around her as she sat on my bed. The soft noises made by her jewellery even by the slightest movement just made me feel fuzzy.

   I push the flower curtains and took a seat at the edge of the bed, facing her. She was looking at me. I could tell she was really tired and wanted to get rid of all those heavy jewellery and lehenga. I lifted her veil above her head. Damn...she was so beautiful. She looks into my eyes with her big hazel ones, making me forget myself. We probably would have stared at each other for about 2-3 minutes straight. "Hi," I greet her as I lean forward and kiss her cheek. "Hi," she waves back. "You look absolutely breathtaking but I bet your lehenga is very heavy. You can go change in the washroom. Your suitcase is here already. Although, if you want to wear my clothes, I'm fine with it as well." I think most of the things I said was because of nervousness.

  "You have to find your name first," she says as she extends her palms covered in henna for me to see. The henna was a very dark brown colour. The darker the colour, the more her husband loves her. I grab onto her palm and look at the designs very carefully. I have to find my name anyhow. "Looks like you can't find it," she comments. I smirk as I point at my name. It wasn't easy but I did find it. The look on her face was hilarious. She had obviously not expected me to find my name. "Where is my present?" I ask. She had other plans though. She shrugged at me, got out of the bed, went to grab her clothes for the suitcase and entered the washroom. I had already showered so all I had to do was to change clothes.

Ria
   I entered the washroom with my clothes. I think Aarush is nervous as well. I did not expect it though. Today was such an eventful day. I am so drained. I remove all my jewellery and heavy lehenga except my chura bangles and mangalsutra and go under the warm water. A warm shower after a long day helps every single time. By the time I finished showering, I felt so relaxed that all I wanted to do was to crash onto the bed. I put on my pyjamas; a long sleeve t-shirt and sweatpants. It is not because I'm sharing the room that I'm wearing this. They are my usual sleep attire. Rolling up my sleeves up to my elbows, I exit the washroom. The sight in front of me has me shocked.

   There stands Aarush, in his sleep attire; a cow onesie. A giggle escapes my mouth, catching his attention. "Do you like my onesie?" he twirls around. The tail of the cow swinging and the cow udder dangling. His hood is on his head so the ears flap when he twirls. "What is the world are you wearing?" I laugh. "Isn't it cute? It's so comfy as well. Actually, I bought it in pairs. Do you want to wear it? Can you wear it? Please?" he pleads with his goddamn puppy eyes. If Myra's puppy eyes aren't hard enough to resist, Aarush's are impossible to resist. I find myself nodding to him reluctantly. He rushes to his closet, gets the other onesie out and hands it to me, smiling from ear to ear. I chuckle as I grab it and enter the washroom again.

   Not going to lie, the onesie was indeed really comfortable. The soft fabric against my skin made me feel cosy. When I came out, a flash of light shone on me for a second. I look up and see Aarush on his phone. He must have taken a picture of me. "Why would you take a picture of me wearing this?"