The Great Indian Wedding Romance

18. Answers

"Are you sure? Maybe I could say I got into an accident? That was why I was late," Chetna reasoned desperately. 

"No, you psychopath. You have to go now. This is the fifth call you have gotten from your family," Siddharth laughed, steering a pouting Chetna to her car. 

"This is so not fair. You get to have fun here with your friends and I have to go back to that damned hotel and deal with my family."

"We all would love nothing more than to have you here with us but you know how this works," he said. 

This was true enough since all his friends had protested Chetna's departure vehemently. They all wanted to get to know her more and wanted her to deliver on her promise of showing them nice spots around the town. 

Siddharth reluctantly had to be the reasonable one. He felt a sense of responsibility for her and couldn't get her in any more trouble. He was glad he could provide her with a distraction after the terrible morning she had had but he knew they shouldn't push it. 

"Go and get some sleep now. I'll see you later." 

Siddharth said and finally managed to shut the door of the car. 

Chetna huffed playfully but then smiled before driving off. 

Inside the bar they were currently drinking in, everybody was tipsy already. Yug was a lightweight so no surprise there but the others were laughing pretty damn loudly. Siddharth was used to being the responsible one when they got drinks together. 

"Did you kiss her goodbye?" Yug called out loudly. 

"Shut up," Siddharth called back. 

He settled next to him and took a swig from his beer bottle. 

"Siddharth, come on, this is enough! You have to tell us what is going on between you and Chetna," Meera demanded.

Deepani slammed the table with her fist and yelled in agreement,

"Spill, Kashyap."

Siddharth didn't want to talk about it until he had talked to Chetna. They still weren't super clear about where this was headed. In fact, he wasn't sure of what he wanted himself. 

But he knew they all wouldn't shut up till he told them something and maybe that would help him figure it all out himself. 

"Okay, okay. You guys will never shut up otherwise," he sighed. 

"Damn straight!" Yug said firmly. 

"Yes, I do like her. She is--" 

He was cut off by a huge holler that overtook the table. The bar was relatively empty since it was early in the evening on a weekday. The people who were present turned to look at them. 

"Will you let me finish?" he tried to get their attention over the ruckus.

They all zipped their mouths and he began again,

"Yes I do like her a lot," he admitted. It felt surprisingly really good to say out loud. His face broke into a smile. 

"'A lot' did you hear that," Yug whispered to Meera who shushed him. 

"I mean it's very different from anything I have ever felt for a girl before. It was all so unexpected. I came here with expectations of, at best, a boring wedding. That changed when I met her. She kind of hated me because, well that is a long story, but let's just say it was not an amiable starting. We still managed to overcome our differences and I am glad I did because that place would have been unbearable otherwise. Can you truly get to know someone this well in a few short days? Maybe we feel that way because we are so similar. It is so unreal how alike we are..."