The festivities then soon began. with the entire family finally coming together for ketu's happiness. kunal still refused to talk to kuhu. he was too disturbed to know what monstrosity his wife was truly capable of pulling. he even refused to acknowledge her, which made Kuhu furious and helpless. Abir also had no time to think about Kuhu given the responsibilities of the wedding and of course Mishti and the baby. No one in the house except kunal still knew about the baby.
It was finally the day of the wedding and there was complete hustle and bustle everywhere.
Abir though, was feeling extra mischievous. Mishti and him had decided to colour coordinate for all the functions and their colour for the wedding was a bright yellow. Abir had noticed that after the incident the colour red made Mishti anxious. The entire house was dressed in a colour with a combination of red. Masi was in red and blue, Meenakshi in red and orange, nidhi mami and mamu were in red and red and white, kunal was in red and yellow and Kuhu was in red and grey. So they would all have red in common with Ketu, as her wedding lehenga would be a deep red. Kuhu had tried to make a big deal about mishti going pale at the idea of wearing red and tried her best to aggravate the situation till Abir gave an ultimatum. The words still rang in kuhu's ears.
"Kuhu, shaadi ka ghar hain. There are a million better things to do right now so stop wasting everyone's time over such trivial matters. Agar Mishti red nahi pehenna chahti, toh what's the big deal about it? Woh chahti hai ke ketu ke shaadi ke din, saari spotlight ketu par hi rahe aur isliye woh red avoid karna chahti hain. And I don't see a problem with that. Mishti joh chahti hain, wohi hoga. Agar usse yellow pehenna hoga toh tum yello pehenenge. Now can we all get back to work. Please?" Abir had said firmly. The entire family agreed with Abir's logic, on the wedding day, the bride must look unique and sharing a colour with her wasn't a smart decision but kuhu's tears melted mami and ketu's heart who decided to go ahead with the colour scheme. Only on Meenakshi's insistence, kunal agreed to wear red but only at the condition of having a little yellow in the outfit.
Mishti frowned at the memory of that day. Currently, she was standing and tying a turban for her husband who refused to sit straight as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kept hitting on Mishti with the cheesiest and the lamest pick up lines ever.
"Mishteee, now I know why it's so grey and gloomy today." Abir said. Against her better judgement Mishti asked, "why?" Abir grinned and said, "because the sunshine is right here." Abir said with a smug grin. Mishti shook her head and laughed and pulled his nose and said, "it's a good thing you're good looking Ajeeb Rajvansh, warna agar tum aise try karte toh humari shaadi kabhi nahi hoti." Mishti teased as she pinned the brooch on his turban.
"Oh hello? Mere jaisa hot, dashing, caramel eyes, silky hair waala ladka na tumhe kabhi nahi milta!" He teased back as saw his reflection in the mirror. The turban was a soft gold. Mishti rolled her eyes and said, "Ab accha, aankhein bandh karo. I have a gift for you." She said. Abir smiled at that. "Ab yeh hui na kuch baat. Jaldi do!" He said and closed his eyes. Mishti laughed at his excitement. The moment he closed his eyes, she got a small table and climbed on top of it and put her hands on his shoulder and kissed his forehead and slipped an origami bird in his pocket on his chest. Abir smiled at the feeling. It had been months since Mishti had done that. And it warmed his heart to see his wife genuinely happy.
Mishti was about to step down and run away when Abir pulled her back by her waist and whispered with closed eyes, "not so fast angry chorni." He said and opened his eyes. Mishti blushed at the intensity in them as he continued, "last time Ketu ki shaadi par toh tumne mujh jaise bechare bhole bhaale ladke ko chup kara diya tha, lekin aaj tumhe bhaagne nahi doonga angry chorni!" He said with a mischievous grin. Mishti blushed as she recollected the incident. She rolled her eyes and said, "Woh sab toh meine ketu ko bachane ke liye kiya tha! Tum kuch zyaada hi soch rahe ho abir! Ab chhodo mujhe, let me go check on Ketu!" She said and tried to get out of Abir's hold but Abir didn't let her go and said, "accha? Ketu ko bachane ke liye, mujhe aise wall par pin karke, table per chhadke chup karwana zaroori tha?" He teased. Mishti blushed and tried to get out of his hold again. He laughed at her antics, cupped her forehead and pulled her down and kissed her forehead and said, "jokes apart, Mishti, you don't have to push yourself okay? I'll try and be around you always but agar by chance I'm not around, go to Nanko. And don't put up with anything you're not comfortable with. No matter who asks you to do it okay?" Abir asked. Mishti's heart melted at Abir's love and concern for her. She nodded her head and cupped his face and said, "I'll be okay, mother hen! I promise." She teased. Abir smiled in relief. Happy to see Mishti in such high spirits after what felt like ages. But he would be around her like a hawk and won't let anyone mess with Mishti. He nodded and loosened his hold on her and said, "I have to go check the decor. You take care okay?" He asked. She nodded her head. And abir left the room with one last look at Mishti.
Once Abir was out of the room, Mishti looked at her reflection and said, "Mishti? I know aaj ka din difficult hoga, bohot saare log red mein honge, but you have to be strong. For abir. Aaj tu tootegi nahi. Aaj abir bohot khush hain, and kuch bhi ho jaaye, aaj abir ke chehre se smile hatni nahi chahiye. You can do this Mishti. Relax and breathe, bilkul jaise abir ne sikhaya tha. Aur tu akeli kahan hai, abir hain na tere saath!" She gave herself a pep talk and grabbed the rope of hope and hid it in her fist. It was a bittersweet moment as Abir overheard Mishti giving herself a pep talk. While a part of him was glad that she trusted him enough to know that he'd always be around, it also pained him to see the lengths mishti had to go through to keep him happy. He sighed and hid behind a pillar as he saw Mishti exit the room. He wouldn't let her efforts go in vain, he vowed to himself.
Mishti entered ketu's room. Ketu was almost ready. Her make up done perfectly, and her hair in a neat bun. Her jewellery made her look nothing short of a queen. She was still in her bathrobe. Mishti entered the room and complimented Ketu. Kuhu then asked Ketu to go and change into her lehenga as varun's family would arrive soon. Both the families had decided to keep the wedding a small and private affair. The atmosphere was chilly in between Mishti and Kuhu.
Ketu then stepped outside the bathroom, in her red wedding lehenga. Mishti sucked in a deep breath at the sight of the colour as she tightened her hold on the rope.
"#WOW! So beautiful Ketu. Iss designer ki na baat hi kuch aur hain! He excels in making the best blood red lehengas. Yeh colour tujhe kitna suit kar raha hain yeh blood red colour!" Kuhu said. Mishti's ears started ringing.
"Thank you bhabhs! Mein na bindi ka packet bhool gayi hoon, toh mein Ma ko yeh lehenga bhi dekha deti hoon aur bindi bhi lagake aati hoon. Phir hum bohot saare pics lenge. Okay?" Ketu asked. Kuhu nodded with a grin and Mishti nodded mindlessly. Trying her best to focus on her breathing. Ketu exited the room and Mishti was about to leave and find Abir when Kuhu pulled her back and said, "khush hain tu ab? Mujhe tere saath sab share karna padta hain, toh theek hain. Lekin, aaj tune ketu ko bhi nahi chhoda. Yeh yellow colour pehenke saara attention tu khud par rakhna chahti hain na, #AttentionChor! Ek din red pehen leti toh kya ho jaata? Pura ghar red mein hai, except for you and abir bro. Tujhe toh family ki value pata nahi hain, lekin teri wajah se aaj Abir bro bhi alag ho gaye hain. Aaj family photos mein teri wajah se woh bhi #Outsider dikhenge! Sab teri wajah se ho raha hain Mishti!" Kuhu removed all her pent up frustration on Mishti.
The red colour, the mention of blood red and kuhu's allegations and taunts were a lethal combination. Mishti's vision started getting blurry as her ears ringed. Kuhu kept talking but Mishti couldn't hear a thing. All she could see was red. The same haunting red she had been trying to run away from. She started swaying on her feet but Kuhu kept talking and taunting Mishti.
Mishti's breathing became shallow as the ringing increased and her body finally gave in as she fell on the carpet, unconscious.
"MISHTI BHABHI!" Came ketu's scream which finally drew kuhu's attention to Mishti as she dropped her taunt session and found Mishti unconscious on the carpet.
