His Arranged Wife

First Meeting

The cold breeze entered through the window making my soft hair sway in its rhythm. I looked at my reflection in the mirror while putting my right ear's ring. I took out a small and shiny bindi and placed it between my eyebrows. The last thing I did was to apply the peach color lipstick which matches the anarkali dress I was wearing. 

" Chini, they are here. " My elder sister Vidhi said the moment she opened the door. I looked at her through the mirror and she had an amusing expression. 

" I always knew that my sister is no less than those actresses but you look stunning today. " She said and I chuckled at her before standing on my feet and turning towards her. 

" This is all I could do and now after receiving your compliment I feel that it is worth it. " I said while winking and we both chuckled. It's not everyday when I doll up like this. It's special today. It's one of the special days because I am going to meet the third groom. 

It's always been my father's wish to arrange our marriage. My sister got married two years back and now it's my turn. We have already met two men and for some reason either I didn't like them or they didn't like me. 

" Shreedha, Vidhi, what are you people doing here? " My mother entered the room and looked at me. 

" Don't mess it up. " She said and we siblings exchanged a glance while controlling our laughter. Two years back when guys approached my sister I would chase them away indirectly making them curse us and my mother used to give earfuls to us. 

" Let's go. " She said and my sister held me for formality and we walked through the hallway down towards the living room. 

I drew a breath while mother handed me a tray with fruit salad in it. I calmed myself down before entering the room. I didn't look up at anyone and placed the tray gently on the glass table. 

" Here is my daughter, Shridha." My father said with a tone of proudness in his voice. I took a plate of salad and handed it to a man around my father's age. 

" He is Mr. Kapoor. " My father said and I looked at the elder man. 

" Namaste uncle. " I greeted and he smiled at me, giving me his blessing. Same I did with Mrs. Kapoor. 

" He is Rudra Kapoor. " The third plate was for him. I looked up and my heart stopped beating. He was already staring at those brown orbs and that made me gulp down. He took the plate from my hand and I took a seat beside my father. For a while my parents talked about business and that's how I got to know that the family members of the groom are interested in business. I got to know that Mr. Kapoor owns a construction company. They burst into laughter when Mr. Kapoor said 

" My own son is not interested in the business owned by me. " to which Rudra replied 

" It's nothing like that. I just don't want to snatch your piece of the bread " in a mocking tone. I too pressed my lips in order to control my giggle. I lifted my lids and looked up at Rudra who shook his head while looking at me. My heart escaped a beat and his gaze caught mine. 

" Shridha, dear, get up and show Rudra our house. " My mom said and I averted my gaze while nodding my head. 

After 10 minutes.... 

We were walking in the garden while waiting for each other to break the silence. I was playing with my dupatta while he stopped walking. I too stopped and looked back at him. He laughed and that made me smile too. 

" So finally the silence broke between us. " He said while closing the gaps and I nodded with the same smile. 

" Let's sit there. " I said while walking towards the chair and he followed me. We sat there for a while and then he said,