𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐨𝐰𝐬

8

BHAGYASHREE.

"Bhagya are you ready???"
Maithili asked, entering the room while holding some boxes, followed by Trishita. She walked towards my closet and kept the boxes which must be having some jewellery I guess.

I turned my attention towards the mirror, taking a deep breath and I started fixing my hair. Trishita walked towards me and took the comb from my hand and started combing my hair.

"You're looking so pretty." Maithili took her palms around my head, bringing it to her own and then folding her palms around her head as if waving off the evil sights from around me.

"Kisi ki nazar na lage tujhe." She said to make me smile but I don't think that smile reached my eyes.
(Let no evil eye spoil it.)

Trishita kept her hands on my shoulder, grabbing my attention towards her. "Don't overthink much. Everything is fine. They're just coming to see you. End decision will be yours... you remember that right???"
I simply nodded as a yes.

Two days back when I returned from Raj bhai's place I could sense the tension between my parents. Throughout the dinner they kept exchanging glances with each other. And when I asked they simply said it's nothing and asked me to eat quietly.

Later in the night while I was still working with certain files Baba came into my room with two cups of hot chocolate.

And while he and I sat together on the balcony, enjoying the hot chocolate while watching the stars, he dropped the bomb... that a guy, along with his family, was coming to see me because they had asked my hand for marriage.

At first I thought Baba was pulling some prank for me but when he actually confirmed that he was serious I got nervous.

I felt my anxiety kicking in and before I could react anyhow Baba hugged me, assuring me that they were just coming to visit us and nothing would go against my will.

I suddenly started having flashbacks of the past. I am not ready. I don't think I ever will be. And that night I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried. The fear of having another nightmare kept me awake the whole night.

"Gudu, are you ready?" Maa asked entering into the room. "Kitni pyari lag rahi hai tu." Maa said, putting some kohl from her eyes behind my ears.
(You're looking so beautiful.)

Smiling at her, I stood up fixing my dupatta. I was wearing a simple white anarkali suit. White is not my favourite colour but every time I'm nervous or anxious about anything, white helps me calm down my nerves.

"Achyut and Upadhyay's family must be arriving soon. I'll be downstairs. Get ready fast girls and come downstairs. Okaay girls??" Maa asked while walking around the room, cleaning the little mess I made while finding my favourite jhumkas.

"Aye,aye, captain." Both of them replied in unison. As soon as she was out of my room, I took a deep breath and took a sip of water that Trishita was holding for me.

Upadhyays and us have been family friends for as long as I can remember. Started with the senior Upadhyay, Ashwant Singh Upadhyay and my nanu, being best friends. And luckily it turned out my father and Anant uncle, Dadu's elder son were college friends and from that the bond between two families has grown a lot stronger.

Achyut, their eldest son and I used to be friends in childhood. My Nanu has a beautiful house in manali. I used to call it my vacation house. Every summer they used to visit our vacation house and my whole summer vacation was spent with them.

The last summer we spent together was when I was just 9 years old. And since Achyut's birthday comes in the month of May, we always celebrated together.