The Arranged Marriage

In the PAST: Beautiful DISAPPOINTMENT

Sahil POV
I drove towards the coastal beach. About 10 minutes later, I took the exit and headed towards the beach. A few feet away, I could see people loitering around their cars by the fencing. I passed all of that and headed towards my spot. The spot I hadn't shown anyone else to. This girl was different and I didn't mean to sound like a sappy romantic, but I could feel it. I looked over to the object of my musing and I saw that she had her head leaned peacefully against the window. Just being content in looking at the stars that seemed to glow brighter tonight. "Where are we going Sahil?", she interrupted my thoughts. "To the most beautiful place in this city", I replied. I couldn't see her face but I thought I saw a hint of a smile in the reflecting mirror. A couple seconds later, we were at the clearing. From here, we had to walk a little bit to my spot but the wait was definitely worth it. Plus, the breeze was calming here and you had a great view of the first few waves. I parked close to the fence and hopped out. I quickly made my way around to the passenger side and opened Aisha's door. I held out my hand to her and the now familiar warmth returned. She took off her shoes and left them in the car before getting out. Once she was out, I locked the car and tugged her towards the shoreline. "Just a little longer", I reassured her. "Mhm", came her reply. At the shoreline, she let go of my hand and ran down the beach like a little girl. Aisha was always so rigid and uptight that I never saw her enjoying herself. Always having her head buried in a book and declining her friends' offers to go out on the weekends, she focused on her studies more. From just the gossip that spouted from Dami's mouth, I knew that Aisha was a straight A student who never got into any sort of trouble. But in this moment, I saw her truly being carefree. I saw her not worrying about anything in the world. I saw her being happy and it strangely meant a lot to me that I was able to be the one that brought that joy and that smile to her face. I raced after Aisha and in no time, caught up with her. What she wasn't expecting though was what I was about to do next. I picked her up from the back and threw her over my shoulder. She squealed and starred laughing. "Put me down Sahil", she managed to choke out between laughter. "Not anytime soon", I replied. She tried for a little while longer but eventually gave up. I let her down then and grabbed her hand and tugged her forward gently. "Let's play 20 questions", she suggested. "Lets", I said back. "What are your parents like?", she questioned. "That's not 20 questions but fine, I'll answer it nonetheless. My mother can be very inquisitive and judge-mental if she tries and my dad can be very intimidating when you first meet him. After a while though, you'll realize they're both big marshmallows", I answered and she started giggling. "You just said marshmallows", she giggled out. "You find that very funny I see", I said back with a straight face. She stopped laughing but even in the pale moonlight, I could see her trying to hold in her laughter. "My turn. Any siblings?", I questioned. "One yeah. I have a sister. Her name's Rashi", she answered. "That's nice. I'm an only child. If you were wondering", I replied. "Why are you with Damiana?", she replied back. "Not sure if you can ask that but I honestly don't know", I told her. "I've never had a relationship but I know that when you're in one, you should be able to tell why you got into that relationship to begin with. It should be a relationship that you honestly want to be in", she philosophized. "You're sure you've never been in a relationship before?", I asked with a shocked expression. "100%", she shrugged. "Hmm", I mumbled. The spot was a few paces away now. We fired questions at each other back and forth. Sometimes, they were personal and other times, they were plain random. After a few more minutes of the silly game Aisha started, we arrived there.

Aisha POV
This was not at all what I would've expected an evening with Sahil Oberoi to go like. I wouldn't have expected to laugh. I wouldn't have expected not to constantly bicker. I most of all would not have expected to have fun and enjoy his company. Him and I didn't need to have chatter between us. We could settle into a comfortable silence and I didn't feel the need to keep something going on between us. He walked a tad before me now and headed towards what looked like a plain black wall. I just followed him to it. I didn't question him because despite knowing him only for an evening, I felt like I'd known him my entire life. He reached for my hand and a tingle shot through me if that was even possible. He tugged me forward and I sort of fell against him. We walked straight to the black wall and stopped a few feet short of it. He turned to me brought up his finger against my lips. "You cannot talk about this place to anyone else. Ever", he told me. "Is this the part where you kill me and toss my body into the ocean?", I speak against his fingers. "Ha ha very funny. I'm cracking up. But you can't ever tell anyone about this place because it's my spot", he says with a straight face. "My lips are sealed. Literally at the moment. Metaphorically later", I reassure him. He takes a long look at my face and is obviously please with what he sees. Then, he turns around and pulls me towards one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Beyond the wall, lay a lagoon. There were beautiful fairy lights hung from the plants that hung from the archway. There was a cozy looking seat that hung from the ceiling in one corner and a small wooden table beside it. There was a rug on the flooring under the couch. All the furniture in the lagoon, gave it a very homey feeling. I had absolutely no words for the sparkling water. It was a lovely blue-green. It lay there peacefully now but looking at the rocks close to it, I could tell that the water in here, reflected its mood according to the ocean outside. "It's beautiful Sahil. Why would you bring me here? Aren't I disrupting the beauty of it all?", I asked him. "So are you", he murmured back. I was never more thankful for the dim lighting in places. This time, I hoped it covered my obviously reddening blush. "Come here", he said while holding out his hand. I placed mine in it and wondered if he felt the shock too. If he did, he never let on. He brought me around to the Bubble Chair and took a seat on one end of it. I carefully made my way onto it and scooted close to him. I wound my arms around one of his and lay my head on his chest. The alcohol from tonight was making me brave. Though I direly hoped the noise from the waves crashing outside masked my obviously wild and thumping heart. A second later, music started playing from somewhere. I tilted my head up to him and smiled. He smiled back at me. I settled into him and closed my eyes. "Goodnight Sahil", I whispered. "Goodnight Aisha", he whispered back.
A few hours later...
I woke up to someone talking rapidly on the phone. I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed was that Sahil wasn't there. That made me jolt up immediately. I scanned my eyes around the lagoon and saw him sitting at the water's edge. He looked disheveled. His hair looked like he ran his hands through it a million times. He looked like whatever the other person was saying on the phone was absolutely killing him. A few minutes later, they seemed to reach an agreement and he got off the phone and threw it away and rested his head in his palms. Never before had I seen a boy look more broken. I got off and went to him and sat beside him. I wrapped my arms around him and just held him for a while. A little later, he turned to me and said, "Damiana is pregnant". No. No this could not be happening right now. With just three words, he crushed my heart. "I have to go", he said as he got up and left me there with a tear rolling down my face that I didn't notice slipped out. "Oh", was all I could say as I saw him walk away from me.

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