The Great Indian Wedding Romance

36. Finale Part 1

Chetna's chest felt like someone had placed a huge boulder on it. She thought it was the result of spending too much time in her room all cooped up.

The moment Siddharth's mother had left the room she had closed the door with shaky fingers. Her hands had not stopped trembling since then. The heat was getting to her now. She was very used to the summer heat in her room but it felt stifling at the moment. Sweat droplets formed on her forehead and upper lip.

When her situation had not changed in the minutes that followed she knew she had to get out there. She had stumbled out of her room blindly searching for fresh air and some relief. The back door led her to the garden behind her house near the garage. She collapsed behind the garage wall and grabbed at the planted grass, pulling at it desperately while trying to regulate her breathing.

The sun was barely up and the Haldar household was asleep at this hour. They would not be asleep for long though. Soon the kitchen will come alive with the bustle of the elaborate preparation for the day's menu. Her mother would inevitably come to her room in a few hours and they would proceed onto the rituals.

Bharat would be landing in New Delhi sometime tonight and his connecting flight to Jaipur would bring him here in less than 24 hours. Within the next 48 hours, she would be engaged to him.

She tried not to hyperventilate at the thought of him slipping a ring on her finger. The ring that she had barely glanced at when he had sent her a picture some weeks ago when he bought it. It was expectedly very expensive.

She tried to quash all those thoughts down so as not to think about it but a fresh onslaught brought her even more pain. Flashes of her conversation with Siddharth's mother, moments she had shared with Siddharth all those months ago in that hotel, and moments they had had in the past week assaulted her senses.

They had never said 'I love you' out loud to each other but even from the beginning they knew that what they had was special. She remembered how Siddharth had put it after Veer and Chaarvi's wedding.

She remembered his soft brown eyes and how nothing but sincerity was reflected in them. In one breath he had said, 

"This is all very new to me. You know I have been with other girls in my life but what you and I have is entirely different. That is what leaves me baffled. Technically we have known each other less than a week and yet this connection we have seems more than that. You amuse me, you surprise me and more importantly, you understand me like no one has. There is no doubt that you are an amazing woman and you drive me crazy. Like even now I can't stop thinking about grabbing you and kissing you senseless. I really, really like you."

Chetna had never felt so loved as she did when she was with him. 

She had let this man slip from her fingers. Not just once but over and over again she had said no to the promise of happiness that he had offered her.

He had come all the way to Jaipur to convince her to choose her happiness. Eight months of no contact from her. He had no hope, no indication from her side and yet he believed. He saw through her lies and stayed till the last possible minute. But she had driven him away despite all his efforts. 

The visceral pain of the realisation was disorienting. How could she have been so blind? The universe had, quite literally, plopped the man of her dreams on her lap and she had let him go.

She buried her face against her thighs and heaved. When she could finally breathe better she clutched her hair and lay her back against the wall of the garage. She sat there numbly, recalling all those moments.

She knew what she had to do. She knew that if she did not act now she would not be able to forgive herself, worse, Siddharth would never forgive her. As she got up on shaky legs she mentally started formulating a plan to get to him as soon as possible.