Rehnuma

5. The Hero

Being a hero has it's drawbacks. For one, you are expected to sacrifice alot. It doesn't matter what you lose. Your sanity, your bride or your own life. You have to do it. Because it's expected of you.

And today, it's expected of me. To dress up nicely, mingle with people and smile as my brother marries the woman I've always thought would be mine. Another drawback to being a hero? You can't speak up. If I go and stand up to Veera's father, telling him to shove his business deal up his ass and let his daughter be with me, what will happen?

Nothing. Nothing would happen. He wouldn't change his decision. Because he knows who I am. I am the hero. The golden boy. The good guy. I am incapable of ruining him to get to his daughter. Or atleast that's what he thinks.

I asked myself, why I even cared? Do I love the girl? No. Not yet anyway. But I care. I care more than enough. When we thought we were to marry, we dated. Made the decision ourselves. Tried to know one another, like one another. We were satisfied because even though our fathers orchestrated the plan. We were the masterminds.

And now? Now I am the side piece. And Veera is nothing but a pawn in the game her father played. I am not an appraiser of death but his demise would definitely be satisfying.

I knock on the door that was once supposed to hold my fate. The palace Veera's father booked for the wedding is filled with flowers. They're literally everywhere. You walk a step ahead they will be under your feet, accidentally bump into a wall, oh, it's made of flowers!

The door opens and Amaira Malhotra stares at me. I know her through the same way I knew Veera at first. Through our families. But unlike Veera, Amaira is a softer person. She is quieter, nicer, with more pleasantries in her dictionary while Veera's is filled with cuss words.

"How are you Amaira?" She doesn't respond. She stares at me like she understands.

No, you don't little one. You don't.

"I am fine." She smiles politely and then turns to look back into the room. She sees nothing. Neither do I. She turn back to me, nodding her head in greeting and walking away. "Don't take too long Lakshay." With that she is gone.

And I am here, standing infront of the door of my former lover. I walk in and shut the door behind me. Veera sits infront of her vanity in her maroon lehenga. Her hair still open, her body bare of any jewelry. She has light makeup on. I know by the lipstick in the same shade of her attire.

I walk over, standing just behind her in the sherwani my mother made we wear. We would've made a great couple. That's a fact. "Veera." She has been staring into the mirror for a while. But it's now, that she finally sees me.