Together For-Ever

Chapter Nine

Adrika

After the grihapravesh, Arjun's mother and aunts took me to one of the guest rooms in the house. Because husband and wife don't share a room till the Sathyanarayana vratham is completed. They left after instructing me to take a rest for two hours before the vratham will start.

I know if I sleep now, no one can wake me up that too in a couple of hours. So I decided to take a nice hot shower. I locked the door and started removing the heavy jewelry first. It would've been nice if someone is with me now. Because you know, the things they put in my head are really hard to take them out. 

It took me thirty minutes just to figure out, where they put the pins and another thirty minutes to take them out and remove the Jada. 

After the nice hot shower, I wore a robe which is in the rack and went out of the bathroom. I opened my duffel bag in which I kept my clothes and jewelry for today. All my other luggage is already unpacked and kept in Arjun's closet as I should be living with him from tomorrow. I removed the robe and put on the underskirt and blouse of today's saree and again wore the robe. 

I neatly folded my wedding saree along with its blouse, underskirt and kept the jewelry in the box which my mom gave me. 

Today also I'm wearing a Kanchipuram silk saree. The body is in pastel mauve with floral and styled paisley motifs in pure gold zari all over the body, the bottom border is three-tiered means large with rudraksha motifs in gold zari. It is a really beautiful saree. We only need a single glance at it to know the handwork of the person behind the masterpiece. I paired the saree with a traditional south Indian heavy Kundan necklace, earrings, and vaddannam, and green colored glass bangles. I believe glass bangles give more elegance to the look than gold bangles. The clinking sound is beautiful to listen to. But I don't like to wear them daily. 

I heard my phone ringing in the duffel bag. I kept my phone in the duffel bag before going to the mandapam yesterday evening.

I quickly attended the call after seeing it is my mother.

"Hello, Amma!"

"I called you to wake you up, Ammu!" My mom said on the other side.

"I didn't sleep, Amma," I said.

"Why, Khanna? Is the room not comfortable for you?" She asked.

"No, Amma. The time is not comfortable for me. You know, we came at like 3 AM. And to complete grihapravesh it took one hour. So how can I sleep that late? Instead of sleeping, I took a hot shower. I just now came out of the bathroom. I should start wearing the saree or else I will not be done before seven!" I said looking at the time, now it is 5.55 AM.

"Oh, call Aishwarya to you help you, thalli. It will be hard to drape a silk saree." She said.

"No need, Amma. I can do it on my own." I said. Just then I heard the doorbell. 

"I'm just saying, Ammu. We are going to come in an hour." She said.

"It's okay! Bring Aadhira with you or else he will be lost in his dreamland." I said opening the door without asking who it is.

There I saw Anand standing with a cup of coffee smiling.

"Bye Amma," I said and hung up on her.

"What do you want?" I asked. 

I don't want to deal with him on the first day of my marriage.

"Don't you invite me inside?" He asked smirking.

God!

"No! if you don't have anything to say, you can leave," I said closing the door.

"Now darling, I wouldn't come to you even if you were the last person to be alive. I came because my pedaamma ordered me to give this to you." He said, giving me the cup.

This idiot is really testing my patience. He knows I don't drink coffee, but he still brought me this.

"I'm fasting today!" I said, closing the door on his face.

I'm really hungry right now because my last meal was yesterday afternoon. Just then I remembered I kept a few snacks in the bag. My brother got me those when I'm packing the bag and packed them along with the sarees. 

I first finished eating them in a few minutes and kept wrappers in my bag. I'm not a neat freak but to avoid any encounter with him again I hid them.

After washing my face again, I removed the robe and started draping the heavy saree. I remembered all the pointers which my grandma told me when I first started wearing the saree, i.e, a few years ago. Draping a georgette or chiffon or cotton saree is easier than draping a silk saree. The pleats will slip even before we do them completely. It is really an art to drape a saree. After struggling with the pleats, I completed draping it in thirty minutes. 

I looked at myself in the mirror, the thick yellow threads, and the gold chain, and the black beads around my neck. I look totally different than yesterday. I feel really happy seeing the mangalsutram, I'm never going remove it in my life I vowed to myself. 

When Arjun was tying the mangalsutram, I felt that happiness that feeling was indescribable. I couldn't stop the smile which spread on my face Arjun looked at me like I was his. 

Later when it was time for Appaginthalu or bidai, he totally ignored me. He behaved like I'm a stranger. And I couldn't stop myself from crying. I cried everything Ill miss and will be going to miss in my life. And the most important one is Arjun!

I put on the Vaddannam and necklace first and kept it tight

I gathered the front hairs together and clutched them. And wore the bangles and the anklets. For my face, I went without any foundation, applied nude-colored lipstick and small Bindi. 

Just as I was applying kajal, the door to the room opened. I saw the person who entered the room wearing silk dothi and a shirt.

I ignored him as he ignored me yesterday. I decided to ignore him till he initiates the conversation. Just to let him know I'm ignoring him, I turned around and gave a once-over look and again did the act of doing makeup.

After the acting, I went and sat on the bed. He is still standing in the same place. I can feel my heart rate beating faster for every passing second. I jumped from my place when I heard my phone ringing. I scrambled towards the phone which is on the nightstand and looked at the screen.

Seeing the name brought a smile to my face.

"Hello, Ads!" 

"Hi, Rudra!" I said.

"How was the wedding, baby?" He asked.

"Super, Rudra!" I said.

"That's good! Now Ishika is the one who told me to call you. talk to her."

"What do you mean? So, you don't want to talk to me?" I asked faking my hurt.

"It's not like that, baby! I wanted to but you know," He started to say 

But I cut him off by saying," No! I don't know, And I'll not talk to-" Before I can finish the sentence the phone was snatched away from my hand, I glared at the intruder of brother-sister time. He too glared at me in return. Without saying anything he kept my phone in his pocket and took my hand in his and dragged me along with him.

That's how my first day of being married started.

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