Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 01

The wedding invitations have arrived.

"The wedding cards are here!"

"Oh my God!"

"Call Mom!"

"MAA"

"And Navya!"

"NIVI"

I hear the nuisance in the living room and rush outside, throwing aside my hairbrush.

"Show me, show me, show me", I squeal, tossing my tangled hair back.

I've been waiting to hold the wedding invitations in my hand for almost an eternity, and when it settles on my palms, I honestly cannot put it into words about how I feel. It feels like a dream. I mean, everything about our wedding feels nothing less than a beautiful dream.

God. I wonder how the layout has turned out. Did we mix the perfect colours, choose the perfect design and pick the most suitable text? What if something is out of its space? Shit. What if? What if they missed an 'a' in my name, or a 'k' in his? How much would it cost for us to fix the mistakes? In over two-thousand cards!

"What are you thinking about, di? Open it!", Rani - actually, Aniruddha - my younger sister sways me out of my world of endless thoughts. Oh, on a side note : we nick-named her Rani, because her original name is simply too outdated for the modern world and she's too embarrassed about it. I mean, I know that Rani doesn't make it any better, but the bossy one in the block gets that name!

"I'm so scared", I giggle and bite the corner of my lower lip. "Quick!", Tia - my youngest sister - exclaims. Evidently, my parents have learnt from their mistakes when it comes to naming children.

"How long will you take, beta? The rotis are burning", Maa's attachment to her chores is a love story on its own.

Carefully, I open an envelope and the invitation slides out.

Navya weds Advik

Centered, bolded and embedded in royal blue and golden, and it's exactly how I wanted it to be. I skim throughout the card and make a secret prayer, hoping I wouldn't catch a mistake.

I don't. Thank God. I really cannot imagine going through the hassle of fixing an error.

"How is it, Maa?", I look up at her and she smiles, teary-eyed. It speaks a thousand words for me.

"You guys love it?", I look at my sisters, whose lips are stretched into such magnanimous smiles, as if they're the ones getting married.

They scream out compliments in unison; it's hard to figure out what they're saying.

"Enough, both of you. Off to your classes", Maa chases them away and they groan, stomping their feet in annoyance.

"Maa, I'll take around 70 to my office", I inform and start counting out the cards.

"And I'll take 40!"

"Maa, I need 50!", the others announce, back to back.

"What for?", Maa doesn't sound too impressed.

"I told my friends and I obviously need to invite them", Rani answers.

"Did you forget the deal? We have space for only 2000 people; a 1000 from their side, and a 1000 from ours. We cannot fill it with useless people", Maa states.

"They're my friends!", Tia is offended. "And 1000 is a huge number", Rani argues.

"For your information, darling, the list is almost full. We have space for another 200 people, out of which 70 will come from Nivi's office, and I have to add on more", Maa informs. "So, you two get 10 cards each and you get to invite 10 close friends. Nothing more".

"Maa!", Rani whines, throwing her head behind.

"10? It's a wedding. The first wedding in our family. We cannot be counting everything on our fingers!", Tia says.

"10 is perfect, guys! How do you all have 50 and 60 friends? That's insane", I answer back.

"Di, please", they make their typical puppy face.

"Okay. 15", I bend the deal.

"20?", Tia negotiates.

"You know what, take all 2000", Maa scolds.

"Okay. 20", I agree.

"Nivi, stop spoiling them!", Maa gets angrier.

"It's okay, Maa. They're right in a way; we don't hold weddings every day, do we?", I let them get away with it.

"They should understand our financial constraints. They're not kids!", Maa walks away.

"Not more than 20, okay? That's the deal", I whisper and the smile in glee.

"Okay, count out 70 cards for me and keep it aside. I'll get dressed up and come", I order them some chores, and they start making faces.

"I'll be gone in a few days, babies, and you're not willing to do this for me?", I utilize the sister-getting-married emotional blackmail on them and you know the best part? It always works!

"Nivi", Maa calls from the kitchen.

"Hmm?", I lean against the messy counter, anticipating for her to say something. "Don't! Your clothes will get dirty", she scolds lightly. "Don't be so worked up all the time!", I narrow my eyes and she smiles.

"On your way to work...uhm...I want you to drop an invitation at your father's place", she tells me, out of nowhere, and I simply fall silent.

I forgot he existed for a moment.

"Don't look at me that way. Say yes!", Maa signs. "You could've told me to jump off a bridge", I utter plainly and she doesn't look too impressed.

"You're too dramatic at times", Maa rolls her eyes and we remain silent for an entire minute.

"Does he even know I'm getting married?", I question. "Of course, darling! He asked me about it", Maa informs.

"Did he offer to help?", I question back. "We're better off without his help", Maa justifies. "Well, then, we're better off without him either!", I snap back.

"Navya!", she calls out, sternly, and I breathe out, calming myself down. "Whatever it is, he is your father and for the love of me - please do what I say", she keeps it short.

"Nivi, look - relationships are complicated; sometimes, they simply die off...when you least expect it to. But that's life and it happens. You cannot help it at times. It won't be nice if you don't call him; it's up to him to come or not, but you do your duties. Please. For me. Just because our relationship ended, you don't have to cut ties. Maybe he wasn't a good husband, but he was a great father. And I don't want you to mix up the two", she takes a pause.

"Please visit him. I told him you're coming over", she ends the conversation and I have no other choice, but to agree.

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[hi, cuties! here's the first chapter. I'm guessing this story builds slowly, so hang on for a while and swipe to the next chapter :) ]