His Dusk, Her Dawn

Chapter 31. Nest

Life can be bitter and sweet at the same time. Some find love and are successful in it while some lives are spent waiting for their true love. I am one of those lucky people who didn't only have my first love with me but also her family's love too.

Sandhya's parents treated me as their son and were supportive of our relationship since the start. I couldn't believe I had gathered the courage to finally ask Sandhya to be my girlfriend on Veer's birthday. Since then my life had been nothing but an amazing adventure with Sandhya as my partner in crime.

We visited a lot of places from our childhood. We went to meet my late mother's parents who lived abroad; they were thrilled to meet Sandhya. After that, there were trips to our relatives' places, some destinations on our bucket lists, a few pilgrimages, and a lot of adventures.

Time flew by like a blur, and after four years of stabilizing myself in my career, I gathered the strength to ask Sandhya's hand in marriage. I had always imagined and dreamt of that moment ever since I realised that I was in love with my monkey.

Sandhya's parents had already shown their approval, but going the traditional way was always on my mind.

So today, in remembrance of me and Sandhya being in a steady relationship for 12 years, I prepared something special for her. In the morning, as usual, we celebrated with our family, and Sandhya and I got busy with our work for the day.

We were 30 years old and still Sandhya never bothered me with the marriage talk. She would always discuss about how our marriage would be like and etc. but never pressurized me on that. She knew I needed time as I was fully focused on making my mother's unfinished works come into fruition.

Sandhya, you are the best blessing in my life.

In my office, I finished off my work early and left the office. The clock ticked 6:14 p.m. when I sat down in my car. I gripped the stearing wheel tightly and closed my eyes.

Okay, Ved, don't mess up and carry out the plan smoothly.

After reaching my house, I called Sandhya's mother and asked her about the progress. Aunty told me that she had told Sandhya to get ready for a family dinner. I thanked her and prepared to get ready myself.

It was foolish to think of Sandhya rejecting me, but I needed to keep that in option. We loved each other, but in no way I was going to force her into marrying me if she didn't want to.

That thought kind of seemed stupid since Sandhya herself talked about our marriage, but she might have wanted to delay it for some reason. I wanted to keep all the options available for her.

Just don't leave me, monkey. Please.

I took my time and got ready. My heartbeat kept rising with each passing second. Even though I was busy getting ready, I could sense two people outside my room. Their anxieties were matching mine.

Once I finished getting ready, I opened my room's door; Veer's and Dad's tensed faces greeted me.

"Do your best, okay?" Dad encouraged.

"Better not mess up, bhaiyya," Veer said anxiously.

At 18 years of age, Veer stood an inch taller than me. As a kid, he was a spitting image of me, but now, he had a mix of Kritika Mom and our father. His curly hair were thicker than mine though.

"Chill, Veer. All the things are going according to the plan," I said.

"Make sure Sandhya Didi doesn't get disappointed."

I rolled my eyes. Veer and Dad had been bugging me about my plan since I told them about it. Before they could interrogate me more, I called Mom and bailed myself out of the situation. All of them wished me best, and I left to pick up Sandhya.