Pickle Perfect

Prologue Teaser - Older the Spicier

Author's POV:

The entire resort was decked up with expensive flowers, beautiful lanterns and lavish decorations. To add onto the scenic beauty of the Goan Calangute Beach backdrop was the evening sky which looked partly cloudy, slightly a hue of a mixed orange and yellow slowly fading away to absorb the night.

Goan beaches were always beautiful but this evening it looked breathtakingly exquisite and beautiful.

A pair of eyes silently kept looking at the sea as she suddenly felt nervous and scared. Until yesterday she didn't care who she was going to get married to. She had carelessly said a 'Yes' to Aunt Maria when she had asked her to marry the man she had chosen for her piece of heart.

Erica was always a strong independent girl. After losing her mother at the age of 11 in a car accident. Her father's family called her a curse. Her father never really liked her, after all she was a girl and having a girl child was considered a curse. Her mother although endured the toxic marriage finally Jesus relieved her from all the pain although abandoning little Erica. Her father left her to fate only to marry another woman. And after the birth of his 'heir' the man of the house, Erica was completely washed off from his family and his life. Although it hurt Erica, she always knew her father didn't care one bit. But it hurt her as he called her a burden.

When everyone abandoned her..her mother's little sister Aunt Maria accepted her. Aunt Maria was her everything. Her mother, her father and her friend. She had not only taken care of a young Erica but had brought her up like a queen. She was only 19 when Erica's responsibility came over her but the strong woman had sacrificed everything for bringing up her little sister's daughter. Aunt Maria had even declined multiple proposals for fulfilling her duties and responsibilities.

But when her first boyfriend Duncan had proposed to her again for marriage after he lost his wife during child birth, Erica thought life was giving Aunt Maria another chance. Duncan truly loved her. He had only married Jessica after Aunt Maria had denied his proposal. He was truly heartbroken after Aunt Maria gave her reasons and although Duncan was ready to bore both their responsibilities, Aunt Maria didn't want to be a burden on someone else. She was an independent woman and considered Erica as her and only her responsibility. When Erica realised that her aunt would never agree to marry the man she loved only because she loved her niece a little more and wanted to see her niece settle down, she decided to quit the idea of staying single and agreed to get married.

After all!!! She didn't believe in the concept of love and marriage after seeing the way her father treated her mother or how he abandoned her. She knew she could never really depend on a man. She was one strong independent woman and all she cared was if the man ever interfered into her career decisions. Because other than being the finest chef in Dubai's seven star hotel, nothing else made her happy.

She wasn't ready to waste her time swiping left, right and corner and would rather give it a straight nod and get settled down in an arranged setup. However now when there was only an hour left to the wedding ceremony. It made her extremely nervous. She regreted not meeting the guy. She regreted taking the last flight from Dubai to India as she reached Goa this afternoon and she didn't even care to enquire about the man she was going to put a ring upon.

Was she really doing the right thing?

All she cared about was that the man had no qualms and no issues with her working in Dubai when he lived in London. She had never accepted a man to agree to a bizzare choice like that. He was fine with a long distance relationship. She had her own suspicions about this guy. Maybe he is a Playboy!!! Or maybe he has an affair!!! A girlfriend??? Or maybe a boyfriend???

She gulped as she slowly kept playing with the loose end of her wedding gown. She kept looking at the decorated alter. It was going to be a lavish wedding.