Anurāgaḥ

Chapter 3

~ Subha ~

A date...

He asked me out on a date.

And now I've been stuck in my closet for the past hour and half trying to figure out what to wear while Pooja Vadina is sitting on my bed laughing at me. I've tried on at least 25 outfits and I'm still unsure. On top of that my future husband still hasn't revealed the place of the date.

Ughhhh. What if a kurta is too simple. Should I wear jeans? What if thats too informal? Okay a cute dress then? It's the middle of winter at night, stupid Subha.

"Why don't you just wear this?" Vadina broke my mental monologue, holding up a baby pink chiffon saree with small flowers scattered along the fabric.

Perfect.

"Vadinaaaa, you're the best!" I hugged her careful not to squish her pregnant belly.

"I know," she said while laughing, "But you never told me how Arjun asked you out on a date in the first place. It's only been 2 days since his family came to see you, how did he manage to ask in this short amount of time already?"

I blushed as I thought back to the day he came to see me.

~ Flashback ~

They asked me to take him into the backyard so we can get to know each other a bit better before we say yes or no to this marriage.

"Hi, I'm Arjun," he started off.

"I know," I replied looking at the flowers, "I know you're 27 years old, the DCP of this district, and I also know you're 6'0 ft."

He looked at me a little confused.

"Oh, they told me your basic information when they let me know that you were coming with your family," I said, avoiding eye contact.

"Ahh right, that makes sense" he said nodding his head, "but I'm sorry I don't know anything about you. They actually brought me here without telling me."

Oh. Sooo, did he not like me? Does he not want to get married or something?

I didn't know what to say so I just introduced myself, "My name is Subha, I'm 24 and I'm a dancer."

I was about ask him whether he was okay with this alliance or not when he suddenly says,
"I like you, a lot actually," he looked at me, "would you like to go out on a date with me, this weekend?"

I was shocked. I had no idea how to respond. Lucky for me he saw that I was struggling to come up with an adequate response. 

"How about your phone number?" He said, "That way we can talk for a bit before the date."

I nodded, "Sure," I told him my number and as we were walking back into the living room to join the rest of the family I turned to him. 

"Sorry you caught me a bit off guard earlier, but yes I would love to go out on a date with you this weekend," 

He looked relieved and was about to say something in response when I cut him off and said,  "I also think I like you." and rushed into the living room to join everyone else. 

I sneaked a look at him as he was sitting down again. He looked a bit starstruck. 

I stifled in a laugh and turned to my dad as he asked "So, what have you two decided?" 

I opened my mouth to answer but before I could say anything his response came in, "It's a yes from my side." 

Everyone turned to him. I looked him in the eyes and just like that I also responded, "Me too."