SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 6

His father laughed, feeling slightly relieved and taking it as a good sign that his son was
cracking jokes; to him, it meant that at least some of his earlier anger and defiance had
subsided, "You look great, son. I know you'll do well," he beamed, picking up the Rolex
which was lying on the glass coffee table before handing it to Abhishek.

Abhishek was about to protest but stopped himself when he realised that there was literally no point in wasting his breath, so he just took it wordlessly and fastened it on his wrist. He grabbed his wallet and car keys and looked at his father one last time before he left the house.

A small part of him was still foolishly hoping that his father would stop him from going,
would stop him from sacrificing the rest of his life. It hoped that his father would put him first, but that small part of him died when his father placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and smiled brightly at him as if nothing was wrong and everything was perfectly okay.

A/D:-"Thank you for doing this, abhi beta...I'm so proud of you."
And with that, Abhishek stepped out of the house and headed towards his car, promising himself to never let the seed of hope grow in his heart ever again because he was left disappointed every single time.
His father had made a reservation at a five star restaurant downtown that was a
twenty minute drive away from his house, and as he drove to his destination and the time ticked on, Abhishek felt himself growing increasingly anxious.

He had convinced himself that he didn't care about this meeting and was only doing it to get his father off his back, but it was still playing on his nerves for some unimaginable reason.

He didn't understand why this marriage was even needed when there were so many other ways to make a contract binding.
Besides, he knew absolutely nothing about her other than the fact that she was the JDB Chairman's daughter, an heiress  who had denounced her throne before even
claiming it and selflessly passed it over to her cousin brother. Despite his reluctance and opposition, he couldn't help but wonder what she look like,what she actually thought about this entire situation.

It dawned on him that he wasn't the only one being thrown into this whole arranged marriage fiasco. She was being thrown in it as well, and he felt this weird, instant connection to her just at that thought.

As he pulled up into the  parking lane and tossed his car keys to the attendant, he
wondered what the chances of her being a typical bratty, self-obsessed rich princess were;

God, he'd bolt out of here faster than the speed of light if she is.

As he strode through the corridor lit with twinkling chandeliers and lined with the softest velvet carpet, he cursed his heart for betraying him and instinctively beating fast in anticipation.

As he stopped at the entrance and waited to be directed to the table, he took a deep breath and foolishly hoped that he could leave the restaurant with no burdens and no regrets.

And no arranged marriage.

Abhishek was restlessly sitting at the table in the private room, waiting for her to arrive. His father had insisted that he should reach the restaurant early since that would be 'good manners expected from a gentleman' and he'd ended up arriving a whopping fifteen minutes before the agreed time of 7:30 p.m. Fifteen extra minutes to really amp up his nerves.

He fiddled around with his phone and scrolled mindlessly through a few apps, but he was finding it impossible to actually concentrate on anything so he eventually gave up. He even made a trip to the overly fancy bathroom just so he'd have something to do. When he got
back to the table, he resumed the waiting game, where each second feeling more like a year. He just wanted to get this over and done with but every time he glanced at his watch, only a minute seemed to have gone by and he felt like he was slowly going insane.

It was 7:46 p.m - thirty minutes and nerves absolutely fried - and you still hadn't come,
making Abhishek wonder whether he had been stood up. That would definitely be a first for him. Maybe she is as vehemently against this whole situation as he was, and maybe she'd decided to outright reject the proposal by not even bothering to turn up.
He had honestly been curious about Manisha, and perhaps a tiny part of him even wanted to meet her, but he guessed that it wasn't going to happen.

Did he have a problem with that though? No, not at all. He was just about to push his chair back and leave when the sliding door to the room crashed open abruptly and startled him. Manisha tumbled into the booth like a hurricane, not forgetting to
bow her head a little gratefully thanking to the waitress who had led her here before she rushed inside. She sat down quickly, perching her jewelled clutch on the table before looking up and meeting his surprised eyes.

Wow. She is gorgeous.
Abhishek coughed and averted his gaze, shaking away the crazy thought in his head.

Mani:-"Hi there, gosh, I'm really sorry I'm late. The traffic was so much worse today than it normally is," he heard her say as he took the liberty to pour water into her glass, after which he refilled his own. He guessed that she could do with something to drink, and now that this was actually happening, he certainly could too.

Abhi:-"Hi, um, it's okay...I wasn't exactly on time either," he lied, all logic and reason escaping him and his plan started to fall apart already.

He'd come to this meeting strongly determined to be even more cold and quiet than he normally was, but he was already finding that to be a little difficult. She sincerity had rapidly disarmed him.