Pickle Perfect

Chapter 1

HER
✨

I held onto my gown, lifted it a little and started running towards the hotel. I heard whispers and gasps. I heard my aunt's voice calling my name but my legs weren't listening to me anymore. I wanted to run away from here.

This...This wedding.

It was a mess.

I...I must have taken some time. I should have at least asked his name, looked at his photograph... spoken to him. But back then I wasn't even interested in this puppet show called marriage. All I cared for was that Duncan had again proposed to Aunt Maria.

Duncan the love of her Aunt Maria's love. Aunt Maria who was my life. My only family. After Mumma's death Aunt Maria took my responsibility. She sacrificed her own happiness because she wanted to take care of a little girl who's father had also abandoned her only because she cannot be his heir and he wanted a son, and to have one he opted a second marriage and abandoned his daughter forever.

When I had no one, Aunt Maria accepted me, took care of me. She sacrificed her life to provide me with one. So much so that at the verge of it, she destroyed her love story too. Duncan was the love of her life, yet she decided to choose taking care of me over him. Now that life's giving her another chance with Duncan, I didn't want to be an obstacle again.

Although I'm 30 now, a well known chef at a five star hotel in Dubai where I own my house, car and have also made enough money so I could live a decent life but Aunt Maria thinks I'm still a kid and I needed someone to take care of me, thereby what better than a jail called marriage. She doesn't understand the fact that I don't believe in marriages. I didn't bring happiness to my mother. The man who called himself my father once upon a time brought her pain, agony and nothing else. He evidently moved on without even waiting so much for a year as soon as my mother passed away.

Such was marriage. A place where you hopelessly depend on a certain someone blindly and NO!!! I didn't want to be dependent on a random someone who could leave me in the middle of nowhere and walk away when I start getting comfortable. It's better I never got comfortable, never become emotionally viable, nor would I depend upon someone. The reason I avoided marriage all these years but when Aunt Maria denied Duncan's proposal again just because I was single and she would only think of a marriage once I settle down was the only reason I decided to get into this wrestling wring of a wedding.

But not even in my wildest dreams did I expect that Road Romeo to be waiting at that wedding alter for me. What was he even doing there? Didn't he like make fun me? I remember his friends and he made my life miserable back in California. He was a flirt, a rascal, a disast-

Knock Knock

My thoughts were all over the place when I heard the knock at the door. I was about to open the door when I once again realised I had run away from the wedding alter amongst a crowd of hundreds of them who kept staring at me.

Oh my God!!! Was there like press, media? Will this news reach my boss? Will I be fired? That man already hates my guts and wants a male chef in his team and is tolerating me only because his father thinks I'm the best. If it was upto him, the man would have replaced me long ago. If not for my dream restaurant where I wanted to promote Konkani food hailing from Goa and Mangalore, especially the pickles that both the places served, I wouldn't have tolerated him either.

Why was it that everyone was testing my patience.

Knock Knock

It was the second time. Aunt Maria got no chills.

'Coming Moushi' saying I started lifting the heavy gown and was about to open the door when I suddenly heard a voice that wasn't Aunt Maria's and was instead of the man's from whom I was desperately running away right now.