Arranged Love

16. A Friendly Encounter?

Disclaimer: All the characters written below are imaginary and a work of pure fiction. There is no resemblance to any incident or situation and is written as a work of fiction.

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Smriti's POV -

"Smriti, you're back at the right time. Come, let's have dinner together." Mumma exclaimed as she saw me entering the house.

In times like these, I always wished for a direct secret entrance to my room, but it's just too good to be true.

"𝘜𝘳𝘳𝘳...𝘔𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢...𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱." I said sheepishly.

"You've literally stopped eating with your family." She frowned a little, but anyways let me go to my room.

I sometimes feel Mumma is the least complicated in comparison to my father, siblings and Bhabhi. At least she tries to mend our relationship even though her actions have adverse reactions, but at least she tries! I have lost hope in other young members of this family.

"Mumma, let me go to my room too! You always let di have her meals in her room. Then why cannot I, especially when I have so much to study?" I heard a hushed conversation between my sister and mother as I climbed the stairs to reach my room.

Honestly, this is not new, but I do feel bad that I make it tough for my mother to hold the family together. I, as an elder sister, will always be an example for my little sister, but now this selfish desire to stay happy, which is very alien to me, is coming in the way. I have this sudden urge to protect myself from those who have birthed and nurtured me. This is the Smriti I should be scared of, but I'm not because she's keeping me happy.

I sigh at my thoughts as I switch on the lights in my room and make myself comfortable on my bed. Slowly, the events of the day play in my mind and a dreamy smile creeps on my face. I cannot help but think how romantic our lives are going to be once we are married. The novels of the lover boys that I had read secretly are not helping in this situation.

My eyes suddenly fall on the wall-mounted mirror, opposite to my bed, and there I find a reflection of a young girl with braided hair and flushed cheeks. I also notice the name of the man who is the reason for this petite girl's happiness on her neck. My hand involuntarily reaches that spot and caresses it, deepening the redness on the cheeks of the girl in front of me.

Not able to handle seeing a flushed self in the mirror, I cover my face with my palms and fall back on my bed, smiling profusely, heart beating fast.

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"𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘢, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 6 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵..." I quickly glance at the call time on my phone screen, " 23 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 7 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦." I complete my sentence.

"Smriti, I would have come to pick you up but I've just got an urgent case to deal with and by the time I complete that and come to pick you up we will get late. I've already booked a table for us at Zaffran and..." Vivek continued blabbering the information yet again but stopped when I sighed loudly.