His Wife | Grooms #1 | Slow Updates

III. Her Proposal

Aditya Seal as Rahul Mehta

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"Marry me."

Arjun stopped mid-way from eating and his eyes snapped up to her. He looked a mixture of shock and wanting to laugh. It was as if he couldn't decide how serious she was. Then, he put the burger back in the plate and looked back up at her.

"Give me one good reason."

Well, that wasn't an answer Sanam had expected. She had figured he would call her crazy, laugh, and then move on. But, she had been thinking of the idea since they pulled the card of pretending to be married at the front desk a week ago. 

Today was her last day at the conference and out of generosity for letting her stay in his suite, when he asked if she wanted to grab lunch before her flight in the evening, she hadn't denied. And now, sitting across from him the past ten minutes and her empty mind a devil's workshop, she didn't realize when she blurted out the words until she had. 

The fact that her mother had been on her back, nagging her ever since Neha had decided to get married.

She knew it would only be a matter of time.

Last night when her mother had raised the topic again, trying to get her to meet a guy, she had snapped in response to not start again and that she had to get going so she'd talk to her later. It had worked for today, but in the next coming months, who knew? She had to do something herself before her parents would take it upon themselves. She felt it better to be proactive than be miserable when her parents would eventually spring this on her.

"My parents are not going to stop pressing me till I am married. They don't want me to be a doctor. They say it makes me highly qualified and then they won't be able to find a guy for me. Utter rubbish. Who thinks like that in today's age? But anyway, what I want is a career. That's what I want to focus on; not a guy who is going to stop me, put limitations on how I can live my life, expect me to be a housewife and take care of the family. You don't seem like the type to put restrictions on your wife."

He nods, taking it all in. "So, I should marry you so you can get out of that situation? Aren't you exaggerating a little? I mean what parent would...?"

Aware of his line of thought, she interrupted him blatantly before he'd have the chance to verbalize his thought. "You don't know my parents, Arjun."

He kept a composed face, but he was certainly getting a vibe that her parents were a sore topic for her. He deemed it best to not challenge her on it even if he felt she was taking this out of proportion. "Why me?"

She bobbed her head to the side, relaxing a bit as they moved away from talking about her parents. "Come on, Arjun. No offense, but you yourself said it. You have flings, and those are not serious relationships. Plus, I've noticed this week. You're too much of a workaholic, just like I am. We'll just get my parents off my back, you keep doing what you do at your office; I'll be at the hospital and we'll break it off then after a while - tell our parents it wasn't working out, or whenever one of us find someone we actually like."

There was a temptation to point out exactly what he had said their first day in Manchester: he had flings. Past tense. He had long since moved on from that. And serious relationships? If only she knew his past, she wouldn't have so easily dismissed it. Inhaling to keep his thoughts in the present, he answered. "It's not going to be as easy as you make it sound."

She challenged, "Why not? We have our goals in life. Just because the society puts a social clock on marriage? That shouldn't be getting in the way of what I want."