escapades (18+)

0. The Weeding.

Ring..ring...

Monika sighs frustrated. 'Where the fuck are you Aarya?' Monika mumbles, hanging up and dialing again. She paces around the corridor for the third time, the mansion is huge whole bride's family are spread out searching for bride. Monika as the bride's friend was given task to call her.

Monika enters the bride chamber, that looks as extravagant as anyone would have expected after seeing the mansion. 'Would my parents do it for me?' she thinks 'How pathetic..' for people who abandoned her, she awfully thinks a lot about them.

"What shall we do now?"

Aarya's parents enter the room, too distressed to notice her. "Uncle, Auntie." she stands up, being respectful as usual. They look at her and smile.

Werid.

She thinks, it's not the first time they are meeting, and Monika is very clear about how Aarya and her family thinks about her. A orphan. Nothing more, nothing less. For them Monika is even worth thinking of. To think why is she here when her friend and her family looks down on her is really so funny.

Pathetic.

Monika is pathetic. Growing up as orphan, she never expected anything from the world. Aarya came crashing down, sleepless studying let her study in top schools with scholarships, friendship with Aarya wasn't best friend forever types but so toxic type.
They don't know everything about each other but Aarya often crashes at Monika's single room, and that sleepover would always just have single conversation about Aarya showing off her hickeys given by her boyfriend.

Monika is sure that Aarya did run away with her boyfriend, but she is also sure that her stupid boyfriend doesn't have anything to take care of her, they are used live on Aarya's parents money, if they did really run away Monika bets in less than 2 weeks they both will come back begging.

"Oh dear Monika."

Aarya's mom calls her, maybe too lost in thoughts she didn't notice them move towards her. "Huh?"
"Apply mehendi to her hands! Fast!" She orders, things happened so quickly Monika as already dressed in some more than 5 kg lehenga, with her hair and makeup all done.

"What about this...?" the stylist trails off, looking at a lace piece of cloth, colour so similar to her lehenga. Monika thinks why is there a lace here, and remembers how Aarya made up a story about how her would be husband is a pervert and asked her to tie a lace inside wedding dress. It was all bullshit, since Aarya and him never even met. Monika wasn't sure what she was thinking but she takes the cloth and ties it up at the upper part of her thigh, a place where she usually pinches herself when nervous or anxious, so now the tight knot of lace help her nerves, though it doesn't make any sense.

She looks at herself in mirror, her light brown skin seems to be glowing, the big jhumkas, and the heavy choker around her neck compliment her face and makeup so well. Hair tied up in traditional bun with jasmines. The red shade of lehenga seems to be made perfectly for only her. 'So beautiful, just as a bride.' her eyes filled with gold eyeshadow, lips colored red, the blush and highlighters did wonders, her un-understandable mood isn't even seen a speck with how amazing the make up is making her face shine. She looks down to her hands, the hastily applied mehendi, wasn't so bad and the bangles were just as heavy as they looked. She takes a deep breath as the ghoonghat is slowly adorned over her head, covering her face.

Monika walks slowly, her head, heart, body everything feels so heavy. Was it her lehenga or jewellery or her bangles, she's isn't sure which made her feel so heavy.

"Who the fuck is she?!" Someone roars as soon as the gungat is lift for sindoor. The groom looks calm, Monika wonders if he even knows that his bride is actually replaced. Monika hears Aarya parents begging the groom's family, yet the ceremony never paused. Marriage that she was supposed to attend somehow ended up being her own, so, her marriage did happen very luxuriously in mandap that costs her whole life, at a mansion that she couldn't dare to dream.