• Second Chances •

23. Hitched

Staying quiet had its share of perks. For starters, one could observe so much more. Like right now, Priya could observe how Shubham was complaining to Nandini in a small voice about the heat and the dirty benches at the marriage registrar's office. It was the seventh time that Shivina had wiped her sweat moustache and reapplied her compact. And the less said about Mr. Kapoor, the better it was. 

Ram's skin had for some odd reason turned red. He was standing under the old, rickety ceiling fan; trying to get some relief from the heat. Brinda stood beside him, desperately fanning him with her dupatta. She didn't look any better. Aditya and the rest of Ram's friends were struggling too.  

Priya wanted to laugh. It wasn't even that hot but well, it seemed like her new to-be-family was caught in the throes of the government-induced heatwave. 

Even then, Priya observed the difference between the body language of Ram and his family. He wasn't being snooty. He was genuinely feeling hot and was just trying to make the situation better for himself. On the contrary, his family were looking at Priya and her family like they had committed huge treason. Priya wanted to tell Nandini and Shubham especially, that the bad fans and the lack of air conditioning in the office weren't her fault.    

She took a steadying breath and told herself that all this will be over soon. They had to go in, sign and it was going to be done. Lest Mr. Kapoor fainted. 

Giggling to herself, she looked at him again. He was now trying to have a pill and Brinda was scolding him. She had latched onto his arm, trying her level best to stop him. 

Without meaning to, Priya's eyes roved towards Shivina. Her eyes remained on her phone's screen. She was oblivious to Ram. Priya then looked around her. Her siblings were around her, smiling, saying random words of encouragement, teasing her. All Ram had were his friends. If they weren't there, he would be standing there alone. 

"Mr. Kapoor!" Priya found herself calling out to him. 

His neck snapped in her direction. Awkwardly looking at her, he asked, "Yeah?" 

Priya beckoned him towards the bench on which she was sitting. "Come and sit here. The breeze is better. You will not feel the heat." 

Ram looked at Brinda for a brief second before looking down and taking the seat beside Priya. Brinda grinned and threw the pill she had managed to snatch from Ram. She then came and stood beside Ram, still trying to fan him with her dupatta. Priya smiled at her with all her heart. Priya knew that Brinda was special. 

"You are right..." whispered Ram. 

Priya's eyes went wide. She questioned, "About?" 

Ram clumsily pointed at the open windows. "Breeze is nice. It's better than the fans." 

"Yes!" Priya nodded.  

"Now for the sake of everyone's sanity, sit here quietly till they call you!" chided Brinda. 

Ram glared at her but didn't retort. Priya found herself thinking of her relationship more. And then, she shook her head. It was her wedding day. She was supposed to think about her own wedding. Not about her husband's friends and the relationship between them. 

That brought back the numb feeling again. This person who was sitting beside her, she didn't harbour any feelings for him. She would never. At some point in time, Priya had harboured a few feelings for Neeraj. Until that fell apart. It was all water under the bridge now. But how was she supposed to teach herself to even have friendly feelings for Ram? Could she learn from Brinda? She was a good friend to him. Maybe she could care for him that way?