Fortuitously Yours (Previously known as Accidentally Yours)

6.a. The Unexpected Proposal (Part - 1)

Two days passed by briskly, and in these two days, Mohit had already settled his side of the story. He had finally told his dad about the love of his life, and his father was very happy with his choice. Rohit also met his would-be bhabhi, and shared a lot of Mohit's childhood secrets with her. 

Sneha, who was around 4 years older to Mohit, was a very intelligent and sensible girl. After completing her masters in Physics, she is now pursuing PhD. She was quite friendly in nature, and got gelled with the entire Malhotra family very quickly. 

Rohit was very happy for his brother. At least his brother could marry the love of his life. But, the more he thought of it, the more he got sad, as in these two days, he had not received a single call or text from Alex. In fact, he got a call from Tina yesterday, who was inquiring about Alex, as he had not returned home for three days. 

It was Wednesday evening, and Rohit was still searching for an answer. Though his father had told him clearly that he need not worry about marriage, Rohit wanted to fulfill his father's wish. He knew how much it mattered to his dad, and he also saw the joy in his dad's eyes when Mohit had introduced him to Sneha. 

Rohit wanted to give the same happiness to his dad, but he also wanted to be honest with him. He did not want to enter into an arranged marriage and ruin the life of an innocent girl. That is why he had requested his dad not to look for his bride. He would tell him whom he wanted to marry. 

But how? After a lot of deliberations, he had mustered the courage to tell his dad about his sexual orientation. But, how would he marry a man who has not even picked up his call for the last two days? Moreover, he still has not got a clarification from the male friend of Alex with whom he was 'busy' the other day. 

Rohit was strolling through the beach, thinking all of these, when his vision lazily traveled to the stone bench a bit away from him. And, as usual, he found Priya sitting alone there, again! 

In the past two days, he had not seen Priya. And somewhere deep within, he had somewhat started to miss her a bit. Especially because Rohit did not have many friends since childhood. It's not that he was alone all this time, in fact, he was surrounded by a lot of people. But, when it comes to friendship, Rohit had a distinct taste. He wanted to make friends with people of similar mental caliber. He wanted to make friends with intelligent people, who can engage in meaningful conversations. 

In his lifetime, he had got only one such friend, Ashmit, his best friend and business partner. And now, he was feeling as if he could make a good friendship with Priya too!

Rohit's chain of thoughts was broken by a faint coughing sound, and when he looked at the source of it, he saw Priya standing in front of him. 

Priya smiled a bit and said Hi

Rohit also smiled and replied with a hello.

After a formal exchange of greetings, Priya started slowly walking towards the stone bench where she was sitting before, and signaled Rohit to follow her. 

They both came to the stone bench and sat down. 

Today, Priya was the one who spoke first. 

Priya: So, how's Malhotra uncle now? 

Rohit: Better.. But he will be operated on next week. 

Priya: Ohh… (after a pause) What's the doctor saying? 

Rohit: That it can go both ways… 

In that faint smile that Rohit gave while answering, Priya heard a thousand words. She could feel his pain, and sense his worries. Unintentionally, she had placed her hand on Rohit's, but took off abruptly when she realized it.