KETHAKI
Both scurried out. Aryan reached out to grab Parth when he was leaving, but he slipped right from his hand. "We will talk later!" He said as he left.
"No, we are talking now!" Aryan said and began following him.
'Oh, hell no!'
I grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "No, we are talking!" I said as I pulled him to me.
"Yeah, talk to your fiancée!" Parth said and started walking away.
"Absolutely not!" Aryan said to me, and then, turned towards Parth. "You come back here, Parth!"
It looked like Parth really wanted to run away, but he was also not a pussy, so he stood there. But whatever it was between them, I didn't give a shit. I just cared about my conversation with him.
"Oh my God, Peasant! Just leave him alone, and talk to me!" I said and pulled at Aryan's hand again.
He turned to me and I saw an expression forming on his face. "For fuck's sake, do you ever stop behaving like a Princess!"
Oh, he did not! "I brought you here to talk to you, and you are running away. Why are you being a coward?"
He took a menacing step towards me, and I looked him in the eyes. If he thought that he was, in any way, scaring me, then he was wrong. "Just because I am not prioritising this conversation, does not mean I am running away." He said and came closer. His breath was hitting my face, and the top of his shoes touched the pointed end of my heels. "And, don't ever, and I mean, ever, call me a coward, again!"
I took a deep breath and covered the remaining distance between us. "Not wanting to own up to your actions and choices, makes you a coward, Peasant."
He smirked. "Remember you were the one who said yes first and then blamed me for this mess before you dragged me out here."
My blood boiled. Who the hell was he? Who the hell did he think he was? "I only said yes, because I had reasons, none of which, by the way, was my will or want to marry you," I said, then pointed at him, and placed my finger on his chest. "You, however, know that Dev Uncle would never jeopardise your career or your business. Not only because he is your father and he loves you, but because he also understands, how important your partnership with the Murthy Group is for the front.
"So, your compulsion or your reasons don't sound grave enough to say yes. Your situation does not sound difficult enough to forgive you for it! I had to say yes because I had no choice, but you didn't! In fact, you were ready to marry, anyone! Just not me! So, why, did you say yes?" I finished.
He took a deep breath and stared at me. The hallway was silent. I could hear our family celebrating in the dining hall, but their voices were muffled by the time they reached us. We were completely alone. Standing close. Far too close.
So close, that the intoxicating scent of his signature perfume surrounded me. So close, that I could see his eyelashes. Why were they denser, blacker and longer than mine? I could even see the pores on his cheeks, which conveniently were made invisible because of his thick beard. I had the perfect mask for them. It would take a few tries, and they would vanish from existence.
His beard was also full and thick. Black, just like his curly hair. I'd always wanted to feel it in my palms. The only way I could have achieved that was by slapping him. But the opportunity never came. Such a shame!
Which brought me to his lips. It was a shame, that they were wasted on someone like him. They didn't look chapped and dry. I refused to believe he used a lip balm. Then how were they so pink and supple and looked so soft? Healthy levels of hydration, maybe?
I gulped. I could hear every breath I was taking and every time I gulped, I could hear it too. My mouth was running dry. Why was it so dry? I licked my lips. He looked.
This man was going to be my husband.
Husband.
"Why did you say yes?" I asked him again.
That brought his attention back to my eyes. "Why do you always assume that things happen to you? Why are you assuming that you are the only one who had reasons which compelled you to say yes? Why did you say yes, anyway? You asked me this question, but I am asking you too. Why?" He asked.
"I asked first!"
He smirked. "Real mature."
I laughed. "Look at you, calling me immature, when you are deflecting. Answering my question with another question."
"What about you," he asked. "Blaming me for something both of us decided to do. That's being immature. Not taking accountability for your own actions and decisions, and not being an adult about it. At least, I tried one last time to break it off."
'What did he mean?'
"How?" I asked, challenging him. This man was lying. There was no way out of it, I was sure!
He smirked. God, I hated, hated his smirks. "Wouldn't you like to know, Princess?"
Oh fuck, the right off! "There is no way! We said yes. It is done!"
He raised his right eyebrow. "So, you are telling me, that you couldn't think of it?" He gloated.
I smiled. "Don't be so smug. Even if you were able to come up with a plan, it didn't work, did it? We are still stuck in this mess."
That wiped the smirk right off his face. It felt good.
"And that's why I wanted to speak with Parth before you dragged me off and stopped me from talking to him," he said and turned to talk to Parth, who was not there anymore.
"I hate everything about this day!" He started walking out of the hallway, and I followed him. Parth and Shivansh lingered at the end of the hallway and both paused after they saw me. "You," Aryan said as he pointed at Parth, "count your last breaths!"
"I paid him, I swear!" He said, as he raised his hands in front of him, and started backing away.
"Paid who?" I asked.
"That Guru Ji. I paid him."
"Paid Rajguru Ji for what?" I asked.
Parth did not reply, and Aryan just glared at him.
"Parth," I warned him. "Start speaking, now!"
"Aryan asked me to bribe him to say that this marriage won't work."
My eyes bulged out of my eyes and I audibly gasped. "You did what?"
"He asked me to do it!" Parth said and pointed at my alleged future husband.
I looked at Aryan, disbelief written all over my face, and my eyes questioning his audacity. "What is wrong with you? Why does your brain work the way it does?"
"I was trying to stop this madness," he said and looked at Parth again.
"You said it would be done. Then why," Aryan asked calmly, "am I getting married to this Princess in a week, on the 9th of July anytime between 11.36 pm to 1.30 am?"
"You answer me first," I told Aryan, and came in front of him, and Parth. Parth tried to leave from behind me, but I blocked his way with my arm, Aryan grabbed his shoulder. "And you," I threatened Parth, "are not going anywhere until you answer all his questions."
Parth turned to look at Shivansh, pleading with him with his eyes, to take him away. Shivansh took a step back and observed silently.
"What made you think that you can bribe Rajguru Pandit Ji with money to lie?" I asked him. Where did he get this audacity from?
"First, I am not answerable to you, so don't ask me questions, expecting an answer," he said, then continued. "But I will answer this one. Because there was one way to get myself out of this mess, and, I took it!"
I was speechless. "By bribing Guru Ji? The man who my Grandparents revere and is respected by the entire family? The man who was responsible for my parent's marriage. The man who is practically a part of the family?" I asked him, finally.
"Yes."
I placed a hand on my chest and scoffed, then continued to stare at him some more. "And what would you have done if he had snitched?" I asked him.
"That's why I sent Parth. He was my scapegoat!"
"You asshole," he said and tried to grab Aryan by going over him. Both these men were tall. Taller than me, at least. And Parth was 6'1, while I was 5'3.
I was instantly pushed by him and ended up crashing into Aryan. He grabbed me, by placing a hand behind my back, as I stuck to his chest, and pushed Parth away with another. "You are crushing her!"
Aryan was holding me. I was in his arms and my head rested on his chest. Too much contact, in one day. Too many times, have we touched each other. I pull away from him, that instant.
"Oh fuck!" Parth said. "I am so sorry Kethaki."
"God, this is a mess," Shiv said and turned to Parth. "You said he took the money. What happened?"
I turn around to face Parth, trying to ignore all the tingles, that took over my body.
"Yes, what happened? Because first of all, he won't take the money. And second of all, even if he did, why didn't he go through with it? Did you, by any chance misunderstand him?" I asked him.
Parth snorted. "Oh, he took the money all right! And promised me that he would do as I told him."
"And what exactly did you ask him to do?" Aryan asked.
His face soured. "That, when he comes here, he needs to read the Kundli's and say that this marriage shouldn't happen. It would be everybody's downfall. I am not stupid, Aryan!"
"Are you sure you paid the man who is sitting in the room?" Aryan confirmed.
"Yes," Parth insisted.
"Then why did he not go through with it?" Shivansh asked.
Silence befell. This was a bloody, gory mess. The day was so chaotic, and the revelations were eye-opening.
"Because not only was it extremely unethical to do," A voice said, and all four of us turned to look at who came.
Rajguru Ji stood there, with a wide-eyed Maithili.
The change was instant. Something about these men of power, being normal and relaxed around family, and instantly turning into the menace that they were when any outsider came, was fascinating. Parth and Aryan were not from our family.
They physically buffed up, and their Aura became bigger.
'What is happening?' Maithili mouthed the question.
I didn't know what to say or do.
"I would have been lying to your family, was reason number second," Guru Ji continued, and began walking towards us, with Maithili.
"And when I looked at your Kundli's," he said, "I knew it was a match made in heaven, blessed by the Gods themselves."
My skin crawled. His words set me on edge.
"So, you lied to me?" Parth asked him. His voice had changed too. He looked like the Mafia man, he was born as, and the Boss, he turned into.
"I remember saying, 'I hear your request, and would do, what's needed to be done'", Guru Ji replied.
Parth's hand clenched in a fist, and he took a step towards him. Shivansh and I instantly stepped forward, ready to stop him from making a big mistake.
"Don't even think about it," Maithili said, as she stood in front of Parth and stopped him by placing a hand on his chest.
Parth smiled, still staring at Guru Ji. "He made a fool of me, Maithili. He took the money, lied through his teeth and deceived me."
"And you asked him to lie to our family," Maithili replied. Someone called her name, and I signalled her to go, that I had everything handled here. She eyed Parth one last time, before she left.
"I asked him to do that," Aryan spoke. "And I paid him a hefty amount for it too."
Rajguru Ji reached into the bag he carried and pulled out an envelope. "Here is your money."
Nobody reached to grab it, so I took it from him.
"You won't understand it now, Parth," Rajguru Ji spoke. "But one day, you will thank me for lying to you!"
Parth's smile was bitter. "I doubt that day would come."
"And Kethaki," he said, and I looked at Guru Ji. "Don't scold your future husband for his diabolical plans, when you made one yourself." With that, he turned around and walked over to the dining room.
I could practically feel Parth and Aryan's glare at my back.
"Care to tell, my future wife," Aryan asked.
"I am not answerable to you, so don't ask me questions expecting an answer," I said looking into his eyes and raising the envelope towards him. "Here is your money, with which, you thought you could bribe that man!"
He took it and did not break eye contact when he said, "Hypocrite."
I was tired.
So tired of all that had happened today, that I just shook my head and decided to head back to the dining room, when Maithili walked out looking extremely pissed off.
"Look, this is the second time they've sent me to call you two for lunch. Shivansh was supposed to bring you two but got stuck with you, but we have to go now," Maithili said, as she neared us. "They are all waiting!"
We silently followed her.
"What did he say after I left?" Maithili asked.
"He just said that we should have gone ahead with Kethaki's plan if we wanted to sabotage," Parth said.
My eyes widened, and I tried to stop Maithili from speaking, but before I could, Maithili was already opening her mouth.
"First of all, I didn't ask you," Maithili said, and I visibly relaxed.
"But yeah, he is right, we should have just," Maithili continued, and I opened my mouth to stop her, but Aryan placed the envelope full of cash in my open mouth, and my face crumpled in disgust, and then I was horrified when Maithili continued to spill all the beans. "Stopped him on the way over, and brought someone who worked for us, pretending to be a priest, saying that Guru Ji was sick and sent him instead.
"But whatever happened, happened. By the way, I can't believe you told them about the plan Di," she said and turned to look at me. I just stood there and stared at her.
"Why do you have that in your mouth?" She asked, and I was made aware of that dirty envelope in my mouth. I threw it on the floor.
"Ew!" I said and glared at Aryan. Then turned towards Maithili. "Why did you have to say all that?"
"Why? It's not like we went ahead with our plans and tried to lie to our family and friends."
I just grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dining room, where every family member looked pissed off.
"Where have you two been for the past half an hour?" Maa asked.
"We were just talking," I replied.
"Well, you two have the rest of your lives to talk to each other, so for now, sit and eat," Tara Aunty said.
"And you two?" Papa asked, Maithili and Shivansh. "We sent you to bring them here a long time ago."
They exchanged glances.
"Just sit," Chachu said.
We took our seats. But there was a problem. There were five empty chairs in total, one between Chachu and Jayveer, one beside Vaidehi Aunty, one beside Maa and two were empty together, parallel to where Papa and Dev Uncle sat.
Maithili instantly took the first chair, Shivansh sat beside Maa, and Parth took the chair which sat empty beside Vaidehi Aunty.
The decision was made for us long before we came here. And yet, I had trouble sitting beside him.
That's when Aryan got a call. He didn't even look at the ID and walked out of the room to attend it. I gingerly sat on one of the seats, hoping it was an emergency and he had to leave. My prayers were answered.
"I have a meeting," he told everyone, "So, I have to leave."
"I cancelled all your meetings for today, two days ago," Dev Uncle said.
Aryan stood there, silently glaring at Parth. "I did not reschedule this one."
"That's on you. You were unprofessional, so deal with it when you are at the office," Dev uncle said, and signalled the Househelp to start serving. "Right now, you sit and have a meal with your fiancée."
There was that word again.
Aryan began texting and then sat beside me. Lunch was served, and the celebration was renewed. But things were far from perfect.
The day's events exhausted me. My situation exhausted me. So, I silently began eating. An hour passed, and not a word was exchanged between us. Everybody noticed but left it alone. Maybe they realised that we were at the peak of our patience with each other.
Questions were asked from us. We replied. There were laughs here and there, but I ignored him. And he ignored me.
What did I get myself into?
I had no clue as to what would happen the next day. Or the day after that. It was obvious I hadn't thought this through. But I knew one thing for sure. There was no way in hell, that we would have a conventional or normal marriage. Our marriage would be chaos. It would be blood, death and a curse. It would be everything but the one thing that the thirteen-year-old Kethaki wanted it to be.
Love.
But I knew love wasn't in my life. It would never be. They managed to suffocate any ounce of trust I had. And where there was no trust, there was no love.
"I have to leave now," Guru Ji stated, as he got up, mid-lunch.
"But you haven't finished lunch yet," Dada Ji said and got up.
Guru Ji raised his hand and asked him to remain seated. "It is time. I am needed at the Ashram, as well," he said and started walking out.
All of us got up instantly and followed him out. The only people to remain seated were Parth and Aryan. I glared at Aryan and Parth, signalling them to follow us and see him out but Parth kept staring at me, chewing his food slowly. Aryan didn't even bother to look at me.
Man, Parth can hold a grudge!
"Aryan and Kethaki beta," Dev Uncle's voice called from the hallway, and I smiled at Aryan, who rolled his eyes and got up.
"Don't you have manners?" Maithili said as she stood at the threshold while staring at Parth.
"Don't you know how to mind your own business?" He replied.
I shook my head and walked out, asking Maithili to come with me, with Aryan in tow.
"Come on," Aryan told Parth, and Parth shook his head.
He didn't push, and we walked over to the main gate. Guru Ji stood there talking to Dada Ji and upon spotting us, he smiled.
"Come on," Dada Ji said, "Take his blessings."
We bent down to touch his feet and he placed his hand on our head. "Khush raho."
We got up, but his hands didn't go anywhere. It remained on our heads. "Remember," he said, staring at us. "No matter how much you try, things that are supposed to happen, will happen. You can't stop them. But, as long as you are with each other, and taking care of each other, you will overcome any hurdle and any problem that you will face. All you have to do is be together."
"I thought them being together in the same place was the source of all problems," Jayveer said.
"Jayveer!" Arti Chachi admonished him.
The fourteen-year-old boy looked genuinely confused at being scolded. "What?"
Arti Chachi shushed him.
"The child isn't wrong," Guru Ji said. "But that would change. With time, everything would be for the better."
He didn't say anything else, and walked over to his Rolls Royce, sat in and his driver drove him off.
"Let's finish lunch," Papa said and we headed inside.
"We have to talk too," Shivansh said, and the men looked at each other.
"Italians?" Maa asked.
Shivansh nodded.
"Are there signs of infiltration?" Arti Chachi asked.
"Not yet, but there have been attacks," Adhrit Chachu replied.
"They found the attacker," Brij Uncle said.
"Then, let's divide and conquer. You all head to Veer's study after lunch, while the rest of us will discuss wedding details," Maa said.
'No. Not the wedding details! Please No!'
"Ekantika would be here any minute," Chachi said.
"Ohh, the wedding planner?" Mohini Aunty asked.
"Yep, that's the one," Chachi replied.
"Oh, I have heard she is the best in India." Vedika Aunty started.
"She is!" Chachi said. "She is not only professional and extremely capable but also is intelligent, kind-hearted and strong enough to sustain in our gathering."
"How?" Vedika Aunty asked.
Chachi smiled. "She is a distant relative of mine."
I zoned out of the conversation.
Lunch was rushed. The men left. The wedding planner came. The rest of us headed to the living room. So many things were discussed. So many decisions were made. Every time I was asked to make a choice, I picked the first option. Whenever my preferences were asked, I said the first thing in my mind. I had no preference. I didn't even have the right mind to think about anything. People were moving around and jewellery was laid out.
I was tired. So, tired.
Deciding that I was done, I got up, made an excuse and locked myself in the room, where I drank a glass of water, and sat on the bed, the burden of my choices weighing me down. I could feel it all in the tingling of my fingertips and toes. The back of my eyes hurt, and so did my pressure points.
The sound of my email notification going off distracted me, and it was an email from an address I didn't recognise. The name was weird and so was the address.
Curious, I opened it, and until then, I was under the impression that my marriage with Aryan would change my life, however, reading the contents of the email, proved it to be wrong.
~*~
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