Hope

Surprise or Shock?

Ananya was seemingly excited as well as nervous for meeting the boy. She had envisioned many things about how her groom will be, what qualities will he have, what ambitions, passions he might possess, but most importantly she always wanted her groom to be like her father. A self made man, who was a lawyer at the State Court. 

She had learned many things from both her parents. Her mother taught her all the household chores which included knitting, sewing, cooking, handicrafts, etc., whereas her father taught her everything about the outside world such as being disciplined, following her principles, never bowing down to anybody and always believing in herself. 

She had never fallen in love because she never had the opportunity. The best school in the town was a girls-only school, and she didn't had any guy friend almost her whole life, but she had no regrets because no guy around her was sensible enough to be even treated as an acquaintance, yet alone a friend, or worse, a boyfriend.

She remembered how her neighbour's son once asked her if he could borrow her notebook to copy her notes and when he returned it, it had a letter in it. And that too, a love letter. She was fuming with anger, and couldn't believe the boy's audacity. She was generous enough to help him with her handmade notes, even when they didn't study together yet, he dare do this? She went straight to her father and her father had a very similar reaction. Long story short, he got beaten by both, Ananya's and his own father, and was never seen around her house again.

But even so, she was a fan of romantic novels, she would always imagine her prince charming as the protagonist, and that was a major reason why in real life, no boy appealed to her or could meet her expectations.

And now, that it was her turn to get married, she couldn't help but think about how the guy would be like. "Rahul", she wondered, a great name with a great background. He must be very well to do, and he'll make sure she'll be way more happy in his house than she ever was at her parent's. And she wasn't fantasising about him because she was a fan of literature but because Rahul's aunt had praised him so much, that it definitely created attraction and curiosity in Ananya's mind.

According to Rahul's aunt, despite having 5 other siblings, he was the most loved amongst them. As he was the eldest son, he had many responsibilities, but he was also the immediate heir to the throne, or most of the family property. The family apparently had a lot of land, where they had been farming since generations, and since his father was partially settled in abroad, the family was very well to do. She told them that Ananya wouldn't have any type of discomfort ever, and there will absolutely be no financial issue either. 

Ananya's parents were hyped. The family and Rahul sounded like everything they always imagined, Ananya's groom would be. They immediately agreed to meet the family and Rahul's aunt called up his father. She told him that there is a family emergency and he must come to help. So without any second thought or delay, he went down to his brother's house, where to his surprise, no emergency was to be found.

Demon Lord (my grandfather, whom I must address like this from now on), was informed by his brother's wife that they had found a suitable match for Rahul. But he must fix things right now because the family is so good that if they don't hurry, then they might find someone else. Demon Lord never really did well under pressure so he agreed. He met Ananya's family, loved how she looked like, and told them that he'll bring Rahul soon, and if he says yes, then they'll all consider it done.

Ananya was not only impressed by Rahul's background but also with his father's qualifications. She had never met a man with such knowledge and wisdom. She had always aspired to go for higher studies, preferably abroad, but that was a far fetched dream. With her father's salary, she couldn't even think of something so absurd and out of reach like that. But this man, had actually managed to realise his dreams by himself. She thought that if she could marry into this family, there is a high possibility that they will let her achieve her dreams as well and it will be easy to do so since Demon Lord was already settled in abroad for the time-being.

After a week, it was finally time when she was going to meet Rahul. She wanted to put her best foot forward. She wanted to look beautiful and charm him so that he wouldn't think twice before saying yes. She was already so impressed by the family and their back story that she couldn't wait to meet the man of her dreams in reality. As she was always studious, she never really invested her time in going to the salon like other girls, she had never experienced waxing before and the thought of doing her eyebrows would send chills down her spine, but she was ready to become a woman, she wanted to look as perfect as possible so she gathered some guts, swallowed the pain, and took her first step towards womanhood.

The evening finally arrived, everyone was well-dressed, the table was set, the tea was hot, and now it was Rahul's turn to arrive. As soon as the doorbell rang, Ananya's heart bursted out of her chest. Her father greeted Rahul and his father, who told them that her mother couldn't come with them for some reason. While in reality, the stepmother had no idea about this conspiracy, and Demon Lord had planned to announce the engagement as soon as they went back home.

Ananya carefully noticed Rahul. He was skinny but not much, had a moustache, his hair would come till his forehead, but over all he wasn't bad to look at. She thought what mattered most was what's inside, so she waited to get an opportunity to be able to talk to him alone. When the parents finally asked them if they both would like to have a chat alone, to Ananya's surprise, Rahul declined. He said that he is fine with this arrangement if she is, and Ananya couldn't say anything at that moment. Mistaking her silence for her shyness, the parents shook hands and the wedding was fixed.

Ananya was confused, but she thought that maybe it wasn't the right time for them to talk. She'll get plenty of opportunities to meet him as long as they were still in town, so she waited, until the right time. Meanwhile, Ananya's picture was sent home for his stepmother to see, which to everyone's surprise, she took the news really well. She said that the girl definitely has a lot of flaws, but she'll do.

And now, it was Rahul's turn to get married.