A Suitable Husband

Hello, hero!

Even though she was in the middle of a serious discussion about her future, Pragya's attention was drawn to the door as the whole family turned to watch the visitor enter the house.

Pragya was startled to see that the newcomer was a tall and very handsome man, with perfectly chiselled features and fine, dark hair. He was powerfully built with wide shoulders and a broad back, and his well-fitted tshirt and jeans showed off a muscular body. Even more impressive than his looks, he had a sort of unnameable quality of presence - he was clearly the kind of man who was used to being the centre of attention, and enjoyed it.

When he took off his sunglasses, Pragya was even further shocked to realize that she actually recognized him. She had seen him on countless episodes of Bulbul's favourite serial a few years ago, as well as in award show specials and some reality contests. She knew he was a popular tv actor, and his name was somewhere just on the edge of her memory. But she couldn't quite remember it as she adjusted to the surprise of seeing him in person.

She guessed that maybe he was Abhi's friend, perhaps visiting from out of town. It was too bad that he'd walked in on a family argument, but probably Abhi would be able to explain it away.

Pragya started to think of what refreshments she could have Robin offer the new visitor. She might be leaving the house soon, but for now she was still Abhi's wife, and entertaining his guests was part of her duty.

Before this train of thoughts could get very far, Pragya was in for another surprise. It was not Abhi but Indu Daasi who rushed to meet the man at the door.

"Angad, beta!" Indu Daasi said delightedly, greeting him with a hug. "You're here!"

The man called Angad bent forward to return the hug. "Ji, Daadi. If you called, how could I not come?" He flashed Indu Daasi a wide grin. And even from across the room, Pragya felt her knees tremble at the pure masculine perfection of that smile.

Indu Daasi stepped back and set her hands on her hips. "But you were due tomorrow! Beta, if we knew -"

Angad lifted his hands and held his ears in a gesture of apology. "Kya hai naa Daadi, the ticket dates just happened to work out. Sorry I couldn't tell you."

Indu Daasi laughed and took hold of his hand. "Koi baat nahin beta, I'm glad you're here anyway. Now come and meet everyone!" She led him to the rest of the family, all of whom had been watching their reunion in amazed silence.

Indu Daasi brought Angad to Daadi, and he immediately bent to take her blessings.

"Jeete raho beta, jeete raho," Daadi said smiling fondly as Angad straightened. "It is good to finally meet you."

"Thank you for inviting me, Daljit Daadi," Angad said, and his respectful tone reflected such good manners that Pragya was immediately impressed. "It will be my pleasure to help you as much as I can."

At this point, Abhi finally approached Angad. Pragya was relieved to see that the furious expression had vanished from his face. He even looked happy as he greeted the other man.

"Hey, boss!" Abhi said cheerfully, giving Angad a quick a hug. "It's been ages! How are you? What brings you here?"

Angad returned Abhi's hug and shook his hand in a friendly way. "Hi, Abhi. I know, I've had these crazy filming schedules and I haven't been in Mumbai for a while. But my pyaari Indu Daadi called me here, so I made time."

Pragya was just wondering about how he and Abhi might be related, when Abhi spoke up with the same question.

Abhi looked between Angad and Indu Daasi in confusion and asked, "My daasi is your daadi? But how can that be? Does that make us cousins?"

"No, beta," Indu Daasi clarified quickly. "You are related only by marriage, and that too quite distantly. Angad is my husband's sister's grandson. My husband was Angad's father's favourite uncle, so Angad spent a lot of time with us growing up."

Angad reached out to give Indu Daasi a one-armed hug. "Yes, and so my Indu Daadi is just like my own Daadi. And when she asks me to come, I show up!"

That was the fourth time Angad had referred to being invited to Mehra mansion, and Pragya was growing curious as to why Indu Daasi had called him. Then she recalled what Daasi had started to say just before Angad arrived -

Come with me and let me tell you about my grand-nephew.

- and  realized with a jolt what that meant.

They wanted her to marry Angad Rathore!

The idea shocked her so much, she couldn't help actually staggering on her feet. Before she even realized she needed it, someone rushed forward to help her. She was carefully guided to the sofa, and a large, warm hand settled on her shoulder to steady her.

"Are you ok?"

She looked up and found that it was Angad himself who had come to her aid. A strange but not unpleasant awareness started to race under her skin as she realized his hand was still on her shoulder.

From this close, he was unbelievably handsome. Pragya thought maybe she was dazed just by being in such close proximity to so much hotness. And of course it didn't help that the rich timbre of his voice was sparking a restless electricity along her nerves.

"I - I'm fine," she managed to say, and Angad gave her a soft smile and stepped back.

She was so focused on Angad, it took her a moment to clear her head and look at the rest of the room.

And then she finally noticed that Abhi's face was black as thunder.

***

Angad repressed an urge to chuckle as he noticed Pragya's glazed response to his retreat. He could already tell that she was very sweet, and he found her openness rather appealing. He was also happy to see that she was quite pretty, too.

If somehow things went really incredibly wrong and he actually had to marry her, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He already knew that his Indu Daadi adored her for her personality and her character, and that made him sure that he would be able to get along well with Pragya. Add in the factor of attraction, and all things considered this tricky favour that he'd agreed to do could turn out just fine for him in the end.

For now, though, he needed to get settled after his journey, and get his bearings in Rockstar Abhi's house. There would be time enough to get to know Pragya later.

He turned to face his hostess. "Daljit Daadi, main abhi settle ho jaati hoon, phir sab se mil longa. Theek hai?" ("Daljit Daadi, I'll just get settled in now, and then I'll meet everyone later. Is that ok?")

Abhi's Daadi rose from her chair. She waved a hand at a young man in uniform and said, "Hanh, theek hai beta. Robin will show you to the guest room."

Robin had already gathered his luggage, and at Daadi's gesture he stepped forward to lead him to the guest room.

"Hanh, aur mujhe tujhse kuch baat karni thi." ("Yes, and I wanted to talk to you about something.")His Indu Daadi also stepped forward.

"Hang on," Abhi snapped. "Just what's going on here? My Daadi invited you here Angad? Or Indu Daasi did?"

Abhi's Daadi answered before Angad could say anything. "Arre beta, ek hi baat hai na! ("My dear, it's the same either way isn't it!") And I have some things to explain to you too. So you come with me while Angad gets comfortable in his room. And Pragya puttar, you go upstairs and rest for now, you are looking quite flushed. And the rest of you, go back to whatever you were doing!"

Daadi spoke in such a commanding tone, no one could think of denying her. Angad was pleased to see such strength in his Indu Daadi's cousin. He was sure he was in for an interesting week ahead.

Resisting the urge to glance back at his prospective bride-to-be, Angad quietly followed Robin to get to his room. Mentally he made a list of questions to ask his Indu Daadi as soon as they were alone.

He knew the outline of the plan, but now that he was here it was definitely time for details.