SEAL THE DEAL

chapter 15

Manisha looked up into the mirror in front of her at the sound of the gentle knock on the open door.

Mani:-"I can see that you've delivered on your promise," her lips curved into a smile at the sight of abhishek's reflection. She quickly hooked the sparkling earring in her ear before you turned around to face him.
Today was the day she would be getting her engagement pictures taken. It was merely an unrequired formality given her current situation, but she figured that the parents wanted to introduce a sense of normalcy and soften the 'arranged' part of this union as much as possible.

Neither of them had been asked for her opinion on the matter, and it's not like either of she had any prior experience of getting married so Manisha was just following the directions beingngiven to her.

Abhishek had just joined her at the hotel suite where she'd spent the past hour getting ready. He was smartly dressed in a pair of sleek black trousers, a black silk shirt that was neatly tucked in and a black studded blazer. A red handkerchief that happened to perfectly match her red dress was popping out of his pocket and his hair was gelled and neatly parted
to the side.

Abhi:-"And you have too," Abhishek replied as he stepped into the suite, "You look lovely, manisha" he added softly, drinking in the sight of you.

Although he had been instructed by his father to hand out compliments to her, this one had come naturally and completely on his own accord. He was a guy and he had eyes and he'd been left a little awestruck every time he'd seen her; and today was no exception. She was wearing a red saree and her lips were painted crimson and she looked like an absolute dream.

The compliment made her cheeks flush and her heart skip and she was just about to thank him when vishal waltzed into the room, totally unaware that he might be interrupting something.

Vishal:-"Manisha yarr, the photographer's finished setting up and - oh, hello," he faltered in the middle, slightly surprised to see a third person in the room.

Manisha stood up from the chair in front of the dressing table, "I know you guys have met before, but I believe a formal introduction is due," she headed towards the two boys and parked Herself in the middle of them, "Abhishek, this is my cousin brother, vishal. Vishal, this is
Abhishek..." She paused for a second before adding a relationship title next to his name, her following words feeling very foreign and very personal on her tongue, "My fiancé,"

Abhishek glanced at manisha as the words left her lips, a strange feeling spreading throughout his body when she voiced out her newfound reality. Vishal wanted to scoff at the extension that nobody asked for, but he decided to go easy on her because she is a ball of nerves and it was too early to make fun of her in front of Abhishek.

Instead, he reached out his arm and shook hands with Abhishek, his grip firm but welcoming,

Vishal:-"I look forward to being partners with you. And friends too,"

Abhishek reciprocated with a faint smile, "Likewise," After they'd exchanged pleasantries, vishal remembered the reason he'd initially walked into the room and glanced at his watch, "Right, we can talk more later. The photographer's
waiting downstairs and he's running on a really tight schedule," he explained, after which the three of them descended down the regal stairs and made her way to the room where the photoshoot had been arranged to take place.

Manisha was greeted by a young man who appeared to be a couple of years older than her, a purple beret perched on the crown of his head and a camera hanging from his neck.

"Hi, I'm sidharth singh, expert wedding photographer at your service," he introduced himself emphatically as handshakes were exchanged throughout the room, "And this is my lighting
assistant, Amit Kumar," he gestured to the boy next to him who was tinkering with the
lamps. Amit looked up at the sound of his name and bowed his head, "I understand that you just want a few engagement portraits taken?" he questioned, earning a nod from manisha as vishal took a step back and moved to stand audience on the other side of the camera.

Sidharth clapped his hands together excitedly, "That shouldn't take too long then. And you both look great together so my job is already half done," he said gleefully, causing Manisha and
Abhishek to shyly cast their eyes away from each other, "amit, adjust the lighting, it's too
much light...make it a little more mellow,"

He directed the two of the  to stand in front of the lights before he stepped back and studied the shot to see if it was okay. Once he was satisfied, he sent amit a thumbs up signal and brought the camera to his eyes, getting started without further ado.

Sidharth:-"You've got the ring, right?" he asked Abhishek, "Take it out and put it on her finger," The sound of the shutter and the bright flashes and the rest of the world melted away in that moment as Abhishek took a step closer to manisha in more ways than one. Suddenly, it was just the two of them and the butterflies that were fluttering around her.

Abhishek gulped unnoticeably and fished out the small velvet box from his pocket, the navy coloured box feeling heavier than lead in his hands. Manisha held out her hand and gazed at him with anticipation, a tinge of excitement and a racing heart. He opened the box and plucked out the ring, gingerly taking hold of her outstretched hand.

It dawned on him that this was the first of many fleeting touches and gentle caresses that the two of them would share from now onwards, and the intimacy of the situation made him feel slightly overwhelmed.

He licked his lips before gliding the ring onto Manisha finger, looking up to gage her reaction,

Abhi:-"Do you like it?" he asked nervously, his tone low because for some reason, he didn't want to share this moment with anyone else but her.

Manisha looked at the diamonds that now decorated her ring finger, feeling a surge of various emotions rush through her at a speed so fast that it made her stomach fall and her mind reel, "It's beautiful," Manisha whispered, the most radiant smile invading her face, "I love it, thank you,"

She lifted her head and her eyes met Abhishek's, her eyes shining even brighter when they fell on the rare, dazzling smile that had settled on his lips. In that moment, everything felt so terrifyingly real, so overwhelmingly genuine, that she
forgot that it was anything but.

Vishal felt like an intruder that wasn't supposed to be there as he watched the interaction between Manisha and Abhishek, but relief flooded him and his previous worries dissolved as he saw how the two of them had adjusted much better than he had hoped with each other. More
than anything, he was thankful that his full-on concern mode could be temporarily disabled for now. His mobile buzzed in his pocket and he sighed, stepping out of the room to attend to the phone call.

Sidharth coughed, almost feeling bad for how he was about to rudely barge in on what was clearly a meaningful moment for the two of them and cut it short, "Now you've got a ring for him too, right?" he asked, having to repeat his words again when Manisha whipped her head up
and looked at him like she'd completely forgotten about his existence, entirely missing what he'd just said.

Manisha noticed that vishal wasn't in the room anymore and informed sidharth that the ring box was actually in the pocket of his blazer that was lying on one of the chairs. Manisha almost dropped the box that amit retrieved and tossed towards her, and the ring would have gone clattering against the floor had it not been for abhishek's quick reflexes. Abhishek
handed the box to her with an amused expression on his face and she accepted it gratefully, fumbling to get the box open.

"Put it on him," sidharth said, his finger spastically pressing the capture button when Manisha shyly took hold of Abhishek's larger hand and slipped the platinum band on his finger. He was extremely satisfied with the superior quality of shots he was getting. He absolutely loved couples like the two of them who made his work so much easier.

"Now put your arms around her waist," sidharth instructed, signalling to amit to dim the lights a bit and change their positioning. The photographer raised his eyebrow when he saw the two of them looking at him like deer caught in headlights, embarrassment apparent on both
of their faces, "God, there's no need to look so shy, you're acting like it's your first time doing it," he scoffed with a dismissive wave of the hand.

Manisha looked up at Abhishek and couldn't help but laugh at the truth those words unexpectedly held, and abhishek couldn't help but grin back at her.