Parivara: Story of a Family

3 : First Sight, Again

Divya dressed in her finery for the small party that evening, fastening a gold and pearl necklace around her small throat. Her hands were adorned in gold rings attached to her bracelets, and she wore her most diamond studded nose ring. She decided to let her hair down for the evening. Since it was in a bun all day, when she let it out, the tresses fell in long, wavy locks around her shoulders. She brushed it out, then placed a jeweled turban onto her head, completing her golden outfit. After glancing in the mirror one last time, she exited her room, nervous for the party ahead.

She couldn't quite place her finger on where all her nerves were coming from; perhaps because she was excited to be back home. But this excitement was of a more anxious nature, creating whirls in her stomach that made her uneasy.

As she walked to the dining hall, she ran into her sisters. Payal dawned a golden outfit, more studded and more gold than Divya's whose was kind of brown, while Aditi wore a blush pink outfit.

"Wow, you look amazing!" Aditi exclaimed, twirling a lock of her hair. Payal simply looked Divya up and down, and once she decided she looked better she turned her nose up and continued walking. Aditi giggled at Divya and the two of them followed the middle sister.

The three sisters entered the hall, filled with special guests who all exclaimed at the beauties. Divya nodded and smiled at old friends and some of her father's advisors whom she hadn't seen in years. Everyone smiled brightly, happy at the sight of their perfect princess being back home. The three made their way to their parents, who also smiled brightly and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

"Look at my beautiful girls!" Papa exclaimed loudly, waving his arms to show them off. "Divya, my dear, we're so glad to see you back home. Please, everyone, enjoy the food and drink!" And so the party began.

The three sisters went around greeting all the guests, Divya being the center of attention. She smiled and met with many of her father's advisors and colleagues, giggled with girls who she used to call friends, and chatted with the mothers and wives. She made her rounds dutifully, being the proper princess who entertained the guests.

As she was making her way across the room to meet with more advisors and their wives, she glanced up and caught a certain pair of eyes. His eyes. Rakesh.

Divya stopped in her tracks; it was as if her entire body lost all function, and her mind went completely and totally blank. She couldn't move a muscle, couldn't muster a coherent thought, couldn't even take a breath. It had been a long time since she'd looked into those eyes.

Rakesh looked as he had the day she'd left her home to move to her husband's palace. His ruffled, dark hair framed his handsomely angular face, a light shadow of a beard covering the bottom half of his face. His eyes met hers and he didn't move either, watching and waiting to see what she did. Would she ignore him? Turn away as she had her wedding day?

Divya slowly found her breath again, her mind finally creaking back into her work, her muscles following. She slowly raised a hand and bowed her head, sending him a sign of greeting. Rakesh sucked in a breath, not expecting her greeting. His surprise made him chuckle before he raised a hand and saluted her back.

"Divya!" Divya's reverie was cut short, the sound of her mother's voice making its way into her slowly reviving mind. "Come meet Papa's advisor Choudhary."

Divya took one last, long look at Rakesh, holding his gaze as she turned to go to her mother until her head had to snap forward to put her back to him. Her body was in shivers, and she had to take deep breaths before she was able to greet Choudhary and his wife. Even then, she wasn't the same as before, her words and gestures not as graceful as before. She had to force herself to pay attention to the conversation, even then not catching most of it. After a few minutes with them, she politely excused herself and made her way out of the dining hall. Divya exited the hall into the night, the air crisp and refreshing, hitting her face and calming her. She leaned against a pillar and closed her eyes, breathing in the cool night.