Prem Vivah

• Aashiq Hoon •

• The wedding of the year began with loud music and full enthusiasm shown by the women who were sitting there, making the atmosphere jovial. Aryan and Shivangi will be present at all the wedding events together, and this was more fun. It was a Ganesh Poojan early morning, then Mehendi ceremony in the afternoon, and Sangeet at night. The entire venue was occupied by a large amount of crowd. Naina was wearing a simple ethnic dark green suit and lime yellow dupatta on her shoulder which had embroidery of mirrors. She looked pretty with a simple open hairstyle but her smile was enough to captivate the audience.

She loved Mehendi and its strong smell and since it was her cousin brother's wedding she was going to apply henna to her arms, and also on legs. She gleefully sat down on the plush white mattress, extending her soft palm to the Mehendi Artist. The young girl grinned at Naina's excitement, and politely asked her - "Kaunsi type ki design chahiye hai aapko?"

"Intricate and something attractive, kuch bhi banao." Naina giggled, watching the artist opening the book to show her designs. The young girl kept flipping the pages back to back, and Naina selected one heavy beautiful pattern of Mehendi after rejecting a few of them, and told her - "This one looks nice...yahi bana lo."

"Ok sure." The girl agreed, quickly starting her job of applying henna on this milky white palm.

Naina could hear loud Marathi songs being played in the background to double everyone's enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Sameer was taking care of the guests to make sure they don't find a chance to demean his mother or taunt her. He was dressed elegantly in a silk purple kurta with white dots printed on the fabric. The wet patches of sweat appeared on his skin as he kept running from here to there to check the arrangements, and suddenly his work was interrupted by a feminine voice of a girl - "Hi."

Sameer quickly turned back to look at the soft-spoken girl and recognized her personality in a fraction of a second. She was Shivangi's sister-in-law and Naina's most unfavorite enemy.

"Hi, do you want something?" Sameer asked her as respectfully as he could.

"No, actually main subah se dekh rahi hoon aapko yaha se waha bhaage jaa rahe hai aap," Tripti replied to him in a meek tone, showing sympathy for the young hardworking boy.

Sameer just gave a kind smile and said - "Behen ki shadi me toh bhaiyon ka kaam hi yahi hota hain."

"Phir bhi, main kuch madad kar sakti hoon aapki?" Tripti asked him in worry.

"No, everything is done." He said politely.

"Ok, good." She smiled and spotted a waiter delivering the juice to the guests. She called him towards her, and said - "Sir ke liye ek fresh lime juice le aao abhi ke abhi."

"Tripti, iski koi zarurat nahi hai." Sameer tried to refuse her offer.

"Sameer, please...you should keep yourself hydrated." Tripti placed her palm on his wrist, looking at him gently.

"Ok." He quickly withdrew his hand and placed it on his back, and she felt quite embarrassed.

"By the way, we met so many times, but kabhi sahi se interaction nahi hua," Tripti said with a sweet smile, making him nod.

"Yeah, but I have seen you helping aunty and gossiping with my sister," Sameer replied to her in a soft voice, looking here and there to avoid awkwardness between them.

"Really? I am shocked, mostly tum apne phone me lage rehte the ya fir mere bhai se baat karte the, but anyway. I am happy you noticed me." Tripti said with a benign smile and bowed her head while laughing.