Unwanted Arrangement

6.

Ishika Ahuja

You would think I ordered him to run his dog over.

"Hello?" I snapped my fingers in his face when he zoned out, staring at me as if I was a ghost.

Daksh Kulkarni flinched, snapping out of his trance and putting that too-cool-to
-care smirk back on.

"I know I'm desirable but marriage?" He dismissed my proposition with a click of his tongue, calling for a waiter.

"Please get me a chocolate and strawberry pastry along with a soda. Thank you." He smiled at the waiter, dismissing him as he turned back to me again.

"Do you realize what you're asking?"

I rolled my eyes, wondering if all the Kulkarni's were dramatic.

"You seem to assume I do a lot of things without thinking through them."

"Look," Daksh leaned closer, as if he wasn't already close enough. If he leaned a couple inches closer, our knees would be touching. "I'm sorry. But I don't understand this proposition and it makes no sense."

"It would if you just gave me a chance to explain before running your brain into haywire and blubbering."

With a glare, I began to explain and his anxious expression eased little by little. It seemed he had a fatal fear of marriage.

I would have thought he's commitment phobic if he didn't have a fiance up until a few months ago.

"So, let me get this straight." Daksh holds his palms out, "You want us to get married to  unite our families? Because you think they'll set aside their differences for our supposed love?"

I knew it sounded unbelievable, but I didn't think they would resist much after seeing the consequences of their resistance in the past.

"Your family knew what it was like when grandfather didn't accept their marriage, and my family would seek to correct their mistakes of the past." Daksh concluded before the waiter came back to serve him his order.

Daksh dug into his pastry, deep in thought.

"Why go to these lengths?" He suddenly asked, and I sighed against my palm under my chin.

"Do you believe they would be satisfied with one meeting?" I asked, "They have a sea of love, hatred and emotions between them. One meeting would solve neither the longing of their heart nor agony of soul."

"So we need to create a situation where they're forced to face each other frequently. If they believed we loved each other, I think they would be at the forefront in discussions." I paused, "unless, you think your grandfather would throw a fit."

Daksh gave me a humorless chuckle, "Throw a fit? He would be delighted if you marry into the Kulkarni household." Surprise coloured my face, and Daksh continued, "Don't look surprised. You'll learn soon enough."

"Why are you doing this, Ishika?" Suspicion dripped from his tone, but unasked questions reflected in his eyes.

"You shouldn't play with something as sacred as marriage."

I have given up so much for my maa to be happy. And marriage to a guy I barely know wasn't even a sacrifice on my part. It meant nothing to me.

"Do you believe in its sacred power, Daksh?" I asked instead, wondering if I put forward the wrong deal in front of the wrong guy.

"I do."

I probably hurt his beliefs by suggesting this farce of a marriage.

"But," He intervened my thoughts, "I never believed it was for me."