His Solace ✅

3. The Proposal

Happy Reading Guys!💛

***

Sometimes life take a sharp turn in it's journey and leads us to a destination, we had never expected to come across. Abhimanyu's proposal to get Nandini and Manik hitched was that sharp turn for the bride in question.

She was sitting with her family. Mukti and Aryaman were sitting on either side of her and their parents on opposite side. While Abhimanyu was sitting on a couch to Mukti's left.

It's been more than three months of Abhimanyu and Mukti's wedding. As things resolved between them, they immediately decided to marry. And now they were living a happy marital life, and were expecting their first child which was a result of two week long honeymoon to Honolulu Islands.

"Nandini, what do you think about this proposal?" Her Bade Papa, Vasudev Kashyap, asked.

She could see how nervous her father was. He was zoning out again and again during their conversation. His hands were getting sweaty. And he visibly looked pale.

"Dad, are you feeling alright?" She asked worried for him and everyone's eyes turned towards Kishore Kashyap.

He breathed before replying, "Yes, Beta. I'm alright. It's just a mild fever, I guess." He tried to smile.

And she saw her uncle holding her father's hand tightly, as if reassuring him about something. Her uncle and father were bestfriends and not just stepbrothers.

"He gives me bad vibes." It was Aryaman.

"But you can't judge a person on his vibes, Arya," said Mukti.

"Aryaman, he is a reserved person. And.... he had a traumatic childhood. You can't expect him to pretend to be happy all the time." Abhimanyu defended his cousin.

"But then how can we expect him to keep Nandini happy?" Aryaman asked.

Nandini was visibly surprised to see Aryaman acting so protective about her. She never knew a day will come, when he will genuinely act like her brother rather than her sworn enemy.

"Marriage is not all about keeping your partner happy, Aryaman." His mother, Sandhya, told him.

"I want to meet him once before taking my decision." Nandini announced before getting up and going upstairs.

***

Two Days Later-

Nandini entered a posh restaurant where she was supposed to meet Manik. She looked around and saw him sitting on a corner table, away from the eyes of keen onlookers. She walked to the table and mumbled a 'Hi' before taking her seat opposite him.

"Hey." Manik put his phone down on the table and passed her a welcoming smile.

"How's life going?" She asked casually with a small smile.

"Smooth." He reciprocated her smile.

Too much smile:)

Silence fell in the air. They couldn't decide what to talk about. And it felt awkward pretending to be friends when they knew nothing about each other.

"Can I take your order please?" A young waiter came to their table with a small notepad and a pen in his hand, greeting them with a smile.

"Yeah, please," Manik continued, "a lasagna for me. Nandini, what would you like to eat?" He asked her.

"Chicken barbeque." She ordered the first thing she saw in the menu.

The waiter noted down their orders before saying, "Your orders will be served in fifteen minutes. Enjoy your time till the food arrives." And he left with a professional smile.