The Dream

15.

Dhara asked them to get married in the mandir because it was impossible to arrange a wedding in such a short period of time. Raavi agreed and went to put on mehendi. Dhara had already called a mehendi girl, because she knew Raavi would persuade Shiva somehow. Shiva didn't care much about anything. Gaumbi and Dev had gone to buy a sherwani for him.

After Raavi had put on her mehendi, she was waiting for it to dry. After that she would begin getting ready for the wedding. Everyone else scrambled to arrange their own wedding clothes. Raavi had other ideas. She still had one thing to do before the wedding.

She found Shiva sleeping on his cot once again. How could this guy sleep when they were getting married in a few hours? Raavi's hands were covered with mehendi so she bend down and bit his ear.

"Ae maami ke behen ki beti, tu chudail se sidha vampire ban gayi?" Shiva woke up.

"Humari shaadi hone waali aur tu phir se so gaya?" Raavi asked.

"Shaadi hone waali hai isiliye toh so raha hu. Shaadi ke baad tu sone kaha degi? Abhi se aisi harkaate hai teri!"

"Store room mein chal!" Raavi said.

"Kyu?"

"Chal warna main wapas katungi!"

Shiva gave up and followed his chudail to the store room.

"Darwaza lock kar."

"Kyu?"

"Main jo bolti hu kar."

Shiva locked the door. Raavi hugged him carefully so that her mehendi wouldn't get ruined. "Mere hone wale pati, ab mujhe kiss kar. Yeh almost kiss ke baare mein soch soch ke mera dimaag kharab ho gaya hai."

"Mood nahi hain." Shiva said. "Neend kharab karke kaheka kiss?"

"Ae Shiva, teri wajah se meri kitne raaton ki neend kharab ho gayi aur tu chain se bas kharrate markar so raha hai!" Raavi frowned. "Tujhe aaj tak mere baare koi sapna nahi aaya?"

"Aaya na."

"Kya sapna? Bata mujhe." Raavi asked.

"Bata nahi sakta."

"Kyu?"

"Kyuki tu jaake sabke saamne apne muh ka loudspeaker phar degi." Shiva said.

"Kisiko nahi bolungi. Promise." Raavi sweared.

"Achha thik hai." Shiva smiled mischievously. "Mere sapne mein toh har raat hum suhagraat manate hai."

Raavi blushed. She was still stuck on this kiss and this guy had gone leaps ahead of her. Shiva pulled her by her waist and she looked down, still blushing. She hadn't yet registered the fact that tonight would be their suhaagraat.

"Kya hua? Darr gayi?" Shiva asked.

"Main nahi darti." Raavi said still looking down.

Shiva pulled her chin up and kissed her. It was slow and soft at first. The second time, it was with much more force. Raavi stopped caring about her mehendi and kissed him back with equal force. His hand cupped her cheek and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue inside. Raavi had difficulty keeping up with him. The intensity with which he was kissing her made her weak in her knees and she knew if he weren't holding her, she would fall down. Her whole body was on fire. Shiva found himself losing control, and he started kissing her neck with equal fervour.

"Shiva!" She moaned his name which drove Shiva crazy.

"Shiva ruk!" Raavi said, when he tried to unhook her blouse. "Thodi der ruk jaa. Aaj ki puri raat hai humare paas."

Shiva nodded and took a moment to compose himself. Raavi noticed that a little bit of mehendi had smeared on his face and hair. She laughed and pointed it out to him. He wiped it off his face.     

"Ho gaya kiss? Ab main sone jau?" Shiva asked.

"Tujhe sone ke alawa aur kuch nahi sujta kya?" Raavi asked.

"Aaj saari raat jagni hai. Tu bhi ho sake toh so jaa."

Raavi blushed. Then she remembered something he said. "Tu sachhi mein mujhse bachpan se pyaar karta tha? Bataya kyu nahi? Kitna time waste ho gaya Shiva!" Raavi pouted.

He kissed her forehead. "Hum dono hi gadhere hai kya kar sakte hain?"

***

That afternoon Raavi and Shiva took pheras in the mandir, and he filled her hairline with sindoor. They took blessings from everyone. Only Shiva didn't take Maami's blessings. Maami kept crying uncontrollably. Her laadli bachhi had gotten married to this raakshash. The bride, on the other hand, couldn't stop smiling.

When they went home, Raavi insisted that Shiva carry her inside in his arms. He didn't get a chance to say no.

"Aap toh already joru ke gulaam ban gaye ho." Krish laughed. "Kabhi socha nahi tha ki aapko iss haal mein dekhunga."

Shiva hit him on the head.

Dev kept thinking about Shiva and Raavi's wedding. How they literally didn't care about anyone else and decided to take the plunge. In just one day! He had been dating Rishita for two years and was still scared. Shivi should be his inspiration!

"Main aap sab logo se ek baat karna chahta hu." Dev said. "Main Janardhan Seth ki beti se pyaar karta hu aur main usse shaadi karna chahta hu. Uski family toh mujhe accept karne se rahi, par agar aap logo ki permission ho toh main use bhagakar usse shaadi karna chahta hu."

Dhara felt like she was about to faint. There were too many surprises in just one day. Even Gaumbi sighed. He didn't know his brothers as well as he had thought. Krish was shocked and Suman just hit her own head. Raavi was happy and Shiva hit Dev not for telling him earlier.

"Chal teri bhi karwa dete hai shaadi!"