STOLEN HEARTS

CHAPTER 5 -THE WEDDING PLANS

It was the turn of the moon to shine brightly and light up the mansion, the surrounding lawn, and the owl sitting on a tree near the mansion's gate.

The large Audi drove up and stopped at the gate and the owl hooted. The security guard opened the gate and Sonia walked in, waving at the car. He saluted Sonia but she did not give him a glance as she hurried back into the mansion, a stern and purposeful look on her face adding to her beauty. The owl hooted at Sonia too, like an admirer whistling at a hot girl. But she dismissed it, like she dismissed most guys.

As Sonia walked purposefully inside, the air hung heavy and it seemed something ominous was afoot, something sinister was about to happen.

The Colonel and Secretary were at dinner when Sonia walked in. Clearly she was in a rage and shot out even before she had come to a standstill, "Papa why did you go to meet Rocky?"

The Colonel decided to ignore her, he addressed the Secretary, "Very tasty, no?"

"Yes Colonel Sir, the vegetable is from our garden."

"Bloody good! This is so healthy..."

"Papa I'm talking to you," interrupted Sonia.

The Colonel continued to talk, "I can feel the freshness in the vegetables, not like the fertiliser laden vegetables we get nowadays. I remember my young days when we used to..."

"Papa... Papa...," shouted Sonia. But still it had no effect on the Colonel, so Sonia sat down on the table, opened her purse, took out a cigarette and lit it up right in front of everyone. The staff was shocked at this blatant show of disrespect. Sonia went further and poured a drink for herself from her hip flask. She sipped and puffed with a loud 'Ahh' that accompanied her perfect smoke rings.

The Colonel finally turned to her in utter shock, "What are you doing. Throw that burning stick away."

"Will you listen to me? Can we talk?" Sonia asked.

The Colonel nodded, "Have dinner. Eat something, and throw all this away."

The Secretary gestured and James came and took the lit cigarette and the drink away. The Colonel ordered the waiting staff to give them some privacy. Only the Secretary remained. James took a puff of Sonia's cigarette and took a swig of the drink as he hurried outside to the window, to overhear what was being said inside. The rest of the household staff, too, took their positions at the doors, windows and keyholes.

In the room Sonia glared at her father as she began to speak. "I know what you're up to. You're trying to scare poor Rocky away, but let me tell you, nothing can scare him or me. Nothing at all. We will get married and we will be happy. In fact, because of your threat, we have preponed the wedding date. We are getting married on the 15th now, that's just two weeks away. Everything is being planned and taken care of. We will get engaged as we skydive, after which we will have a ceremony at the Taj Mahal. I will give you spare invitation cards, and if you want you can invite your own guests to the event."

The Colonel who was drinking some water coughed it all out. The Secretary rushed to pat him on the back.

His lower jaw dropped an inch and his eyes popped out. He gave a nervous tug at his moustache, "Two weeks? Glug...glug? And you will invite me? My daughter inviting me to her own wedding? Taj Mahal, skydiving?"

The Secretary too was shaken as he asked, "You will be engaged while doing what? Skydiving?"

"Yes uncle, we will exchange rings while skydiving and say our marriage vows at the Taj Mahal. Not the hotel Taj Mahal but the monument Taj Mahal."

"But you can't get married at the Taj Mahal, I don't think having a wedding ceremony is allowed at the historical monument!"

"We are having a modern wedding, we want to proclaim our love in the skies, so that it is eternal. And at the Taj Mahal, we will have just a small ceremony where we will say our vows. The actual marriage will happen at some other venue."