For Better or For Worse

CHAPTER 1 - Home Sweet home?

As soon as she checked out of the airport, Nandini switched on her phone. Several messages and voicemails kept pouring in. She wanted to update her Facebook status typing in the words “Home Sweet Home” to let her friends know that she was back in town safe and in one piece. Gently tapping the Facebook icon on her phone she waited till the page was displayed on her phone, while her chauffer carefully placed her luggage in the back of the car.

She got inside the car and made herself comfortable before turning her attention to the social networking page, but before she could make a move one tiny red box at the top left corner of the page caught her eyes. She was a regular social networker, and kept in touch with everyone through posts and comments. She hardly had anyone leaving her a message in the inbox. That was something strictly oriented to her university’s official email or her personal email. She gently tapped the message box and then turned cold.

“Call me ASAP – Adi”

Aditya Chauhan, her beloved friend Adi never actually bothered to get in touch with her for three months ever since her wedding with him had been arranged. The arrangement was done by the two families, and though she never spoke to Adi after it was settled, she knew that just like her Adi too opposed the entire arrangement. They had been best friends, their fathers had been best friends, but surely that was not reason enough for them to be married. Nandini loved her career in London more than anything, and marrying Adi meant she would have to give up everything she earned to move in with him and keep moving from one post to another. After all the life of an air force official was not exactly a very settled one, most of the times it would be in the middle of nowhere. And besides, didn’t Adi have a girlfriend? Ah but with Adi’s generic good looks and charming nature, she could never be too sure. However, Nandini never rebelled against the decision made by her father three months back. She had more pressing matters to take care of than rebel from across the continents with an international phone and internet as the only means of communications, although she did expect Adi to call her up.

Adi, her best friend and confidant, who never once failed to call her at least once a week, in the past three years that she completed her Masters degree in London and then went on to pursue her PhD, never bothered to get in touch with her ever since the marriage arrangement was announced. It was almost as if Adi ignored and avoided her completely. She was a Rajput too, with old royal blood in her veins, she too ignored. Initially she thought he was just getting to terms with the arrangement, and was perhaps too busy to call, but over the period of a month, her better understanding was eventually replaced by her pride. She vowed to herself that if her best friend was not bothered enough to call her to discuss how to get out of this situation unscathed, then she would quietly go through it herself. After all going against her father’s will and fighting all by herself with no one to support her was something she was tired of, she had done it far too many times to stand it once more all by herself. Had Adi been equally eager to get rid of the arrangement, then it would have been a different issue. She would have got a partner in crime to share the joys of victory or wraths of loss, but not by herself, no more.

Nandini shifted a little in her seat feeling utterly unsettled. What she failed to understand above all was that why Adi after three months of the declaration, just weeks from their wedding would ask her to call him up, that too almost secretively? She shifted a little more, before finally coming to a decision. She relaxed and scrolled her contact list to find out Adi’s number before dialling.

“Goodmorning” said a sleepy male voice, “Good afternoon for you. Seems like you have become rather lazy now that you are back home with your parents, waking up at half past one in the afternoon is something you do not usually do I believe. ” replied Nandini.

“No, I don’t do I? How have you been Nandu?” How she loved to hear her friends call her that. It was something that made her feel special and wanted in a world of people who always treated her with an alien title Rajkumari, and never quite gathered the courage to look into her eyes while speaking. Even after so many years of losing sovereignty over their estate to the government of the country and being a royal family that was royal in name only, her father’s employees always addressed her as princess. She hated it; it was cold, more so compared to what her friends called her. A surge of anger rushed through her veins, anger at him for letting her down as a friend.

“Busy” was her curt reply.

Adi understood the snicker in her voice and was well aware of her annoyance and anger towards him. He wanted to say everything to her that would appease her, but his senses told him to be patient. He had been patient for three months trying to arrange things his ways, so that neither he nor his dear Nandu has to suffer on a long term. So he clipped out what was unnecessary and said “I gather you are on your way back home from the airport, which means you are still jet lagged. Go back home and take good rest and tomorrow evening Yosuf will pick you up and bring you over to my Southern Avenue apartment. We have something very important to talk about. And before you try uttering a word let me tell you that nobody knows that I know you are back in town. I came down to Kolkata instead of being in Rajasthan on the pretext of getting some peace and gathering courage before I plunge into a new life, so just make sure that nobody comes to know that I know you are back or else the chances of speculations are so high that we may never get the chance of explaining why our marriage is not suitable. Take care and Relax!”

With that he disconnected the call before she could even utter a word. It was as if he did not stop to breathe as long as he spoke. It was almost spooky. Then again whenever Adi said something in such a manner, she knew that the success rate of scheme was very high. She decided, she would not worry and relax and sleep as he had asked her and would only hear what he has to say from him the next evening in his apartment.