Learning to Love

Chapter 6

      After the announcement of their marriage, the rest of the night passed by in a blur.  Neither Aman nor Priya spoke to each other or anyone else.  They pretended to mingle with the crowd, though they both only had one thing on their mind: marriage.  They didn’t want to marry each other, but neither of them was in any position to refuse their fathers. 

        The next week passed by quickly.  Wedding preparations were nearly finished.  Aman and Priya were to be married in two days.  Aman stood at the wide window in his bedroom.  He stared off into the sunset.  A mixture of reds and yellows painted the sky.  It was beautiful.  Usually the sight of sunsets calmed Aman, but right now he felt trapped.  He was trapped in his father’s web, and there was no way out.

         “Hey! What the hell is going on? You call me out of the blue, demanding I come to India…what’s this about?” Aman’s best friend, Hiten barges into the room without so much as even a knock. 

          “I’m getting married.” Answered Aman, his eyes still fixed on the sun setting outside. 

          “What the hell?!” Hiten was shocked. 

          “Dad is forcing me. He’ll cut me off otherwise. I don’t have a choice.” Aman said coldly. 

         “This is messed up.” Hiten replied.  He stood there for a moment, contemplating the situation.   “Have you met her?”

        “Yeah. She’s nice. A little traditional though.” Aman answered.  He obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk. 

        “Hey!” Hiten suddenly got excited.  “If you’re getting married, then you have to have a bachelor party!” he exclaimed. 

         Aman smirked.  Tonight was his last night of freedom.  The thought hadn’t occurred to him.  He deserved to have some fun tonight.  He turned around to face his best friend. 

          “Damn right I do.” He said with a sly grin. 

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            Priya glanced over all of the saris lying on her bed.  She dreamed of her perfect wedding ever since she was child. Every girl had such high hopes for her wedding.  Over the past week, however, Priya had distanced herself from the wedding preparations.  Anything having to do with the wedding reminded her of her father’s harsh ultimatum.  She carefully picked up each of the saris and took them to another room, unable to bear looking at the anymore. 

         Priya thought about Aman.  She realized she knew absolutely nothing about him.  He was sweet when they had first met.  He had a caring nature about him.  And he was really attractive.   Other than that, she didn’t know anything else about her future husband.  Such a thought was unsettling. 

         “Ready to be married tomorrow?” Payal poked her head in the doorway. 

         Priya gave a small smile.

        “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She answered.  Payal knew nothing about the business deal disguised as a wedding.  Priya intended to keep it that way.  She didn’t want her sister’s opinion of their father to be marred as hers had been. 

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    “Party time!!” Hiten yelled as they entered a high class bar in the outskirts of Mumbai.

     Aman smiled as Hiten pulled him into the bar.  A bunch of his friends flew down from New York.  They cheered as Hiten poured Aman his first of many drinks.  Aman gulped it down quickly and demanded another one.