M A N I K

I return back to the living room, after taking a couple of minutes to soak in what really happened in the past fifteen minutes. She said yes. Fuck. She said yes. The giddiness flows through my veins, my heart beating faster today. I go to sit but my mother pinches my shirt and takes me aside. Mukti and Alya joins us. My mother looks at me first. "Ring. Jewlery set. Some more heavy gifts-- watch, handbag or something." Mumma then turns to the girls. "Eleven outfits heavy and normal. Red Chunri for the roka. Sweets and fruits. Makeup stuff. You have two hours, chop chop." She snaps her finger. The woman snaps her fingers, as if ordering us wasn't enough.

"Aap tyaari karke kyu nahi aaye?" I swipe my eyes around, making sure no one hears us.

"Umeed nahi thi tujh nalayak ko haan kar degi wo." Mukti and Alya snicker at her reply. I narrow my eyes at the woman, I call mother. Ye jitna mujhe insult karti hain, utna toh Cabir bhi nahi karta!

I meet her eyes over my mother's head to see her listening to whatever her mother is saying. Her brother by her side doing the same. She averts her gaze back to her mother nodding in positive.  Then both the siblings turn around and leaves along with the other girl who's had Cabir's attention since we came here.

"Quick!" My mother pinches the back of my hand making me hiss, I rub the spot. "Main police bula lunga." I mutter under my breath. "Bula le. Shaadi nahi karni hai na, toh bula le." She crosses her arms on her chest and smirks at me. I stomp my foot walking past her. No wonder I am so mean, I got it from my Mumma.

•

"Manik, unbutton the first few buttons, not looking good." Dhruv shakes his head behind me in the mirror, I do as he says. I wasn't going to get Roka-fied in wrinkled office clothes, so when I was out getting gifts for her, I managed to get myself an outfit. Currently, we were in Murthy's guest room changing while our parents discussed the Kundali's and date of the marriage accordingly. Nandini's family being south Indian believes into these things a lot and so does my mother, so they were doing their thing.

"Manik. did you ask for her number?" Cabir asks munching on something the house help brought, some minutes ago. I look at him disgusted. He had breakfast, then I'm sure he had something before lunch. Then lunch. Then we came here, and he had snacks in the living room and now this and it's just 7pm. The dinner is impending. "Cabirrr, how much will you eat yaar? Where does the fucking food go?" I groan, he shrugs continuing eating. I shake my head and go back to setting my hairs.

"You tell me, did you ask for her number?" He questions. Again. "No, I haven't. If you stopped eating for a second, you would notice after she said yes, we haven't had a single minute to ourselves." I say clipping my wristwatch and then sitting on the bed's edge to wear shoes.

"Whenever you ask her, also get Navya's number." He gulps down the water. Dhruv and I instantly stop doing whatever we were doing and look at him. Like really look at him. He even knows her name? Cute.

"What did you say?" I ask keeping hands on waist, the smirk widening on my lips almost turning into a smile. He ignores me and burps loudly, pulling out his phone. "I think I like that girl." He murmurs a second later. My eyebrows reach my hairline.

"You always like every girl in your vicinity" I point out, he rolls eyes and finally, finally meets my eyes, keeping the phone aside. "Yeah, but I kinda like-like her." He tries to make me understand, I ignore him. He's a playboy. I'm not letting him try anything here. This girl, Navya, is her friend. I'd rather not have any drama between us because of this idiot. We just met!

My thoughts go back to her. She's so fucking beautiful, I still can't believe it. I mean who blushes these days. Her cheeks turned not pink but red, a deep shade of my favorite color. I was gone the second I noticed that tint on her chubby cheeks. And it's not only her outer beauty that pulled me to her like a magnet, but also the little things. I knew from the picture itself that she's breathtaking. Literally. But when I was talking to her parents, I noticed a few things-- she was listening to my parents really intently, and when Dad suddenly coughed, she beat my mother to reach for water and stood up to rub his back. She doesn't seem to be the talkative, extrovert type and yet when my friends started talking to her-- asking stupid as fuck questions about her job. Cabir asked if she's been ever peed or pooped on while handling a baby on her job-- she replied to them so patiently without growing agitated or anything. She even laughed at their pjs which is something even I don't do. She was nervous, really nervous and her only reassurance was her brother taking her hand in his and lightly rubbing the back of her hand, yet she never let it show on her face. At least to my parents and friends, I knew she was nervous the second I looked at her. I don't know, but I just knew.

I exhale a loud breath, scrolling through my phone when I suddenly remember Mukti is with her, and she can get her number for me. I dial my sister's number. She picks up in the third ring. "Bol." She chuckles from the other side; I bite down on my lower lip trying to hear something in the background.

"Bol toh." My sister screeches, I pull away the phone from my ear. "I will get it." Huh? What?

" What will you get?" I ask, confused.

"Her number idiot." She says from the other side. I imagine her shaking head at me. Rude!

"How do you know I called you for this?"

"Because my sweet brother, we're twins. I know exactly what my brother needs at what moment. Now let me help my Bhabhi get ready, okay?" I smile at my sister's reply. I murmur a soft 'okay' and she cuts the call laughing.

The door knocks and when Dhruv calls out to come, Abhi walks in. "Hey, you ready?" He smiles at me; I nod standing up from the bed. "Come let's go, everything is ready." He says and I walk to him. Dhruv and Cabir follow us.

We enter the living room where it has been now decorated a bit. My parents make way for me, and I sit on the middle couch, her father comes and does my tilak.

"These rings are just a sign of being 'roka-fied', official engagement will be included in the functions of marriage." Mom says and I nod. Knew this already, do you seriously believe I'll give my woman such thin ring for our engagement? What do you take me for?

The girly giggles and murmuring sounds make me turn to the stairs. And for the millionth time today, my breath hitches. Fuck, she's a Goddess! I huff out a deep breath from my parted lips. I feel my heart stop for a beat at the thought of being 'taken' and becoming hers.

She reaches the couch and sits down on my right side. Looking like an absolute angel. As cliche as it may sound, but she looked like an angel--my angel-- and no one can tell me otherwise. Oh! I could spend the rest of my life just gazing at her.

Manan's outfit.

"Manik, close your mouth. You look like a kid at the candy store." Cabir said snapping me out of her. I look at others to see them all looking at me with smiles and teasing smiles on their faces. I close my mouth and clear my throat, feeling my ears heating up at the embarrassment.

Way to ruin the first impression, Malhotra!

Mumma comes ahead and does her tilak and spreads the red chunri over her head. She then starts to put the gifts in her lap and some cash. Mukti puts a handkerchief over my head, her father places a silver coconut in my hand along with some cash. Abhi removes my watch and hands it to Mukti, he then proceeds to fasten the one he got for me on my wrist. Her mother makes me wear a gold bracelet. Navya brings a plate which has our rings and we both pick each other's.

At that moment, she finally meets my eyes and the second that she does, her cheeks starts to turn pink stealing my breath away. I open my palm to her; she puts her hand in mine. I take my time sliding in the ring in her finger. I feel her heave a breath when the ring's finally in her finger. We both look at each other, she looks down a mini second later. She doesn't ask for my hand like I did, she just waits for me to put my hand out for her. I do that and she quickly slides the ring onto my finger. I gulp the lump in my throat, my eyes go from the ring in my finger to hers. She leaves the couch first to take the blessings of all the elders. I touch her parent's feet and hug Abhimanyu and Navya. She's pulled in a group hug by Fab4.

"Dinners almost ready, I'll go check--"

"Aunty, you sit. We'll check up on everything." Mukti stands from her couch and stops Neha Aunty from leaving. "Aap log wedding dates discuss kar lijiye, we'll just come." Alya smiles at Nandini's parents. Nandini starts to follow them, but my mother holds her wrist. "Aapki shaadi hai na, aap hi toh finalise karoge dates. Baitho." Mumma gestures to the couch. She lowers down beside my mother.

"Panditji gave us two dates as per both your charts. The first one is 5th June, three months from now. And the second one is 11th February, next year." I keep myself from whining. Itne door ke dates? Kal ka nahi koi? I shouldn't have left when the Panditji was here. One blank cheque and life would be beautiful!

"Which one do you think, Nandini?" I come out of my head and focus my gaze between my mother and her.

My eyes goes to her fingers, she's digging thumb nail into her middle finger. I look up to my mother. It takes her a moment to notice my gaze on her face. She slightly tips her chin, asking me 'what?'. I jut out my chin towards her, then down to myself and then the stairs. Mumma bites on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling. "Neha. How about we let the kids discuss this? I mean it's them who have to get themselves ready to start sharing their lives." My mother voices out bringing everyone's attention to her. Her mother nods in agreement. "Right, Nyo." She turns to her daughter. "Nandini." She motions her hand slightly towards the stairs.

I wait for her to stand up, when she does, I follow her. This time when she starts taking the stairs, I stay behind her, in case she loses balance in such heavy outfit. We reach her bedroom and I close the door. She turns around facing me, I lean back on the closed door.

"February rakhe?" I mumble lowly, she looks up from her fingers, meeting my eyes.

"Be it June or February, I don't think I'll ever be ready to leave my family behind." Her lips almost curl up in a pout at the end making me smile.

"Aap bolo toh main ghar jamai ban kar aa jaun?" Her cheeks turns red at my teasing words. I take a few steps closer to her. Her eyes back on her hands, fidgeting with the ring. "I never knew someone can blush so much and so beautifully in this century." I touch the ring on her finger, and I feel a spark as our skin brushes together. She gasps, pulling her hand back.

"Aap bologe utna wait karunga main aapke liye." I whisper softly, I see her breath hitch for a second before resuming the normal pace. She gulps down, I don't know why, but I do too. My throat feeling dry all of a sudden. I put my finger under her chin and tilt her face up, she closes her eyes.

"But please say you want to get married to me in three months for my sake. I don't think I can wait these three months, leave almost a year. I swear main aapke ghar ke bahar bas jaunga agar February decide kia toh." Her nervous, sad face disappears as she starts laughing. The smile on my face widens at seeing her laugh at something I said. God! The sound of her laughter makes me want to keep hearing this sound, keep making her laugh. It's such a beautiful thing.

"A girl can never be ready to leave her parents. Be it three months or three years, I'll still cry like a baby when I leave them behind to start a new life." I nod in understanding. "But if the person that I am leaving them behind for is the correct one, it won't hurt that much." Her hopeful gaze... I can yank my heart out of my chest and hold it out for her if that's what she needs.

"I'll spend the rest of our lives making sure you know that you chose the correct one. Each day. Each second." The blush on her face deepens and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. I brush her cheeks with my knuckles and lower down my hand to not overstep my boundaries. And end up making her uncomfortable on the first day itself.

"June?" She asks. "Everything aside, if you want, we can go for the February one. Have destination wedding or something?"

"June." She repeats her words. I don't say anything else, the smile never leaving my face. She sidesteps and walks past me, but I hold her wrist before she can move forward. "Why did you say yes to me?" My voice's barely murmur.

"Jo apni family se itna pyaar karta ho, apne friends se itna pyaar karta ho... wo apni biwi se kitna pyaar karega?" With her other hand, she unwraps my fingers from her wrist, I let her. I hear the sound of her footsteps walking away from me and then the door closing. "Hadd se jyada. Khud ki jaan se jyada." I mumble to myself in the silent room.

I follow her downstairs a minute later. Everyone turns to me as I settle down on the couch. I look back at my mother in confusion. "The date? Which one?" My mother smiles. I turn towards Nandini. "June?" She gives a slight nod. "June." I confirm. My mother chuckles shaking her head.

•

After dinner we all get ready to leave. My mother confirms that her family's joining us for dinner this Sunday. I narrow my eyes at Cabir as he continues whispering something in her ear, she laughs covering her lips and my frown deepens. This fucker's done existing. He wants to die, and he'll get his wish granted because I'm in my wish granting Manik era today. "See! I told you he's a monster underneath all the chocolate boy image he's been portraying to get you say yes to him." That's it. I'll knock his darn teeth off. Mukti pulls down his index finger pointed towards him.

"You want him to unalive you, Cabir?" Mukti like the good twin she is, questions the idiot. My fiancée meanwhile continues laughing at the scene. Fiancée? Fuck that sounds awesome. she notices my gaze on her and bites her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing. The redness that barely left her cheeks, creeps back on. I chuckle softly, shaking head at my blushing bride to be. Fuck, my bride!?

"Please, he can try. I already got Bhabhi in my team." Cabir throws his hand around her shoulder, pulling her close. My eyes zoom in on his hand. Left one, it is. His Bhabhi blushes more at the name. This woman's going to be death of me and she's not even doing anything. I look at her blushing and I'm done for.

"I'm sorry, Cabir, but I don't think Nandini's gonna fight with Manik for you." Abhi comes to her other side, our families laugh at his sentence. "Arey. Aise kaise? I'll fight for you, I promise." She cups Cabir's cheeks and I raise an eyebrow at her reply. Cabir meets my eyes and grins; I turn my eyes to the little thing by his side. She feels my gaze but never turns to look at me. Acha ji?

"Uncle." I clear my throat gaining her father's attention. "Nandini calls me Papa, beta." Her father chuckles, I feel my face heating up at the second hand embarrassment. Of course you buffoon. He's your father-in-law now, what uncle? I try again. "Papa. I'd like to take Nandini out for lunch tomorrow, if that's okay with you?" Her father laughs and opens his arms towards her, she walks to him confused. "I chose you for her, everything's okay for me. If she wants to go out with you or not, wo toh aapko Nandini se hi puchna padega, beta." I look at my fiancée, waiting for her answer. She looks away from her father and to me. Her father drops her hand, and the elders turns to each other, as if giving us a moment. She walks the distance between us, stopping right in front of me.

"I'll be at the hospital during lunch hours. Can we do dinner, if it's okay with you?" She murmurs soft enough for only my ears. I was actually going to ask for dinner only but then I thought she might not be comfortable with spending her evenings with me so soon in the... relationship. "Of course." I nod, unlocking my phone, I hand it to her. She looks up at me confused. "Your number?" I whisper. "Mukti has my--"

"It's gonna cost me two Birkin bag probably. I'd rather you give it to me yourself." I look at where Alya and Mukti stands some steps away from us, she follows my gaze and chuckles when the girls flip me off. "I'd rather they get those bags." She pushes the phone back towards me, I narrow my eyes not taking it. Alya and Mukti walks to us and grins at me standing by her sides. "Undo whatever black magic you two did on her." I snap at my sisters. They continue evilly grinning like the witches they are.

"I'll save you some trouble." Abhi comes from behind and takes my phone from her hands. This time I grin looking at Alya and Mukti's face. "Bhai!" She yells trying to snatch the phone from his hands, he stretches his hand up and quickly types the numbers with one hand. I chuckle looking at her trying to jump and get the phone back. Her brother dials the number and her phone rings in her other hand. She glares at her brother, Abhi chuckles flicking her nose and handing me my phone. "That was so mean." She grumbles at Abhi who says nothing and walks away from us, laughing. Alya and Mukti too leaves stomping their feet.

I look at my parents settling down in the car. I meet her eyes; I take a step closer. "Can I kiss you?" She gasps at my question, her eyes snaps to our parents. "But her--" She didn't say no, her issue is doing it in front of everyone. Thank goodness! Making sure no one's looking at us, I quickly brush my lips against her forehead. Just a small peck that doesn't even last for a second but is enough to create havoc in me as I feel her skin against my lips. I feel her take a deep inhale. "Wait for my call, please." I whisper and walk past her just as her parents turns to us.

I walk to her father and bend down to touch his feet, but he stops me and hugs me instead. Her mother also hugs me, and I let my lips brush against her crown just like I do with my mother, who smiles at me from the car. Abhi and I fist bump and murmur a quick bye. I walk to my car as my parents and fab4 drives away. I put my seatbelt and turn the ignition on, my eyes go to where my fiancée stands with her hand over heart as if it's beating too loud and fast. "Me too, Nandini. Me too." I murmur to myself before driving out of the main threshold, I look at her once again in the rear-view mirror to see her looking at my car.