The Bride Trilogy - Part 1 - The Chosen Bride

Chapter 7: Lucky: No Time For Love

The next week passed faster than Khushi expected. She had finally decided to join a small family practice as their newest doctor, but her starting date had been pushed out until after her marriage. In the meantime, she was helping her father in his practice and had taken to visiting Aasra multiple times a week, along with another shelter that also needed her help. Once her routine settled with her new job, she was planning to start helping in her father's practice too, with a view to taking over in the distant future. Or atleast, that is what Babuji was insisting on. The plan worked for Khushi too, so with the impending marriage and a career plan already mapped out, she was flying high.

In this entire week, Arnav and Khushi's nightly phone conversations continued. The topic of marriage was avoided without them having explicitly said that, and they spent the time getting to know each other as friends. Khushi heard all about Arnav's struggle at the beginning of his career, when he'd refused his father's help in setting up his own fashion house, and had arranged for loans and borrowed from friends. The zeal to prove himself, without resorting to his family's name, had made him work 18 hour days.

"My mom was and still is, my main support, Khushi. I still remember... whenever I would come home after working until late at night, she would still be waiting up for me. I'd told her multiple times not to do that, but she didn't listen, not even once. She'd sleep only after ensuring that I'd eaten adequately. She sent me breakfast and lunch every day, and then call and nag me to take a break and eat something during the day. Some days, she'd show up at my office"

Khushi smiled, "She's your mother, Arnav. Of course, she loves you very much"

"Yes, she does! The funny part is, my father, my Chacha-Chachi, Dadi, even Anjali Di, nobody understood why I wouldn't take my family's support and financing to build my company, but she did. She understood why I wanted to get a loan. Even when I wanted to study at Harvard for my MBA, she encouraged me to apply for merit-based scholarships. Dad had already told me that he would pay my way through if needed, but Maa told him that her son was capable of managing without the Raizada money. I worked a campus job to make ends meet when I was there. Dad always kept money in a bank account for me, but I didn't use a single dollar from that. Maa told me that if I wanted to be the CEO of a company, she would like to see me earn the privilege. And now, when I do run my own company, I understand what she means"

Khushi agreed, "Also its your company. The satisfaction that comes from building something from the ground up is always greater than being handed something on a silver platter, right?"

"Yes, that is exactly what she wanted me to understand. And she was instrumental in ensuring that I get that satisfaction. I love my work, and my wins and losses are all mine. I have a name beyond what my parents have bestowed upon me and I have her to thank for it. And so I made a promise to myself that I shall do nothing that would cause her to lose her smile. Family is everything for her, Khushi, and she's so very, very happy, that you would be part of that family"

Khushi blushed, and then the topic digressed to other things, but when she thought back to this conversation, the first niggling of doubt entered her mind.

Was Arnav settling for her just because she was his mother's choice?

Shantivan was decorated like a bride for the engagement ceremony of Khushi Kumari Gupta and Arnav Singh Raizada. The invitations were given only to a select few, so the event was small and cozy with mostly family and a few close friends invited. Since the wedding was in 5 weeks, most out-of-town family members had decided to attend just the wedding, so the venue didn't feel like a squeeze.