Rukmini

Chapter 3: After The Wedding - The Dinner Reception

'Mrs. Rukmini Abhimanyu Deshmukh, you're finally mine. Let's go for dinner', Abhi said as I blushed.

'Such a beautiful, blushing bride Abhi's got !', I heard someone say as I passed by.

'Not only is she beautiful, she's also very intelligent. Do you know, she's got second rank in the whole Maharashtra (one of the largest states in India) for those university board exams ? Her all India rank was 5.', said the next lady to the first one.

'A true beauty with brains, I must say. But she's a very talented girl ... She's completed all the levels of Bharatnatyam (one of the most difficult regional dances in India) and so many other things like that.', the third lady said.

As we walked into the hall for dinner, everyone clapped loudly. We were made to sit in the center of the room. We were just going to start eating, when my maasi, Sharwari walked up to us and stopped us.

'Stop ! Don't eat, both of you !', she shouted

'Why ?', we both asked her at the same time.

'Abhimanyu, take this jalebi.', she said

(Jalebi = a round spiralled sweet that is fried in sugar syrup to make it more sweet)

He almost bit it.

'STOP ! Don't eat it !', she screamed, 'Don't break it ! Rukmini beta, you break it and eat the other half'

I put my fingers ahead to break it while the other half was still held by his teeth.

'STOP !!!!', she screamed again 'Uff, do I have to explain everything to you ? Rukmini, break it with your teeth !'

With that, the whole room began looking at us intently, even the people who weren't looking at us earlier.

'Awwwww, how sweet !', cried out some people.

I looked away from Abhimanyu in shyness.

'Maasi, please, this is all nonsense. Can we start eating ?', I said.

'But darling, it's not. Till the time you both don't begin eating, no one else can. That's the custom. And, I'm not going to let you eat till you don't bite off this jalebi. Go ahead. Come on,  don't keep people waiting, they're hungry.', she said.

Abhi stood up, making it even harder for me.

'I'm waiting.', he said softly in my ears as he stood up.

How does he expect me, a girl of 5'4" to go up to his face when he's a freaking 6'2" ? That's like a small hut in front of BurjKhalifa.

'I can't reach you, you're too tall. ', I said standing straight.

I had an idea. I stood on tip-toes. He looked down at me, and I tried to bite it as far as possible from his lips, but my aunt was even smarter. She had outsmarted us, by giving us the smallest jalebi ever. So my attempts failed, and we both ended up giving each other a kiss. That was our first kiss. I could feel him grasping my waist. My eyes were closed, but I could hear everyone clapping and whistling in the background while my aunt declared that everyone could start eating. Unfortunately, the kiss ended. My fault. But you can't blame me, my toes were aching from standing for so long.

Anyways, everyone enjoyed the dinner. I have to admit the food was delicious.

Time was passing really fast .... and it was time for the bidaai.

Now, I couldn't stop myself from crying, it was really piercing my heart that I would have to leave my family and go, at the same time,  I had the tension whether my in-laws would be good to me.

What I would miss the most, was Arjun. That idiot. Now, no one would be there to take care of me and be protective about me.

Before leaving, I saw papa, my father-in-law and Rajnish dada, Abhi's elder brother staring at me. I guess they were talking about me, because while talking to each other, they were pointing towards me a lot.

(Dada = elder brother)

Something made me feel really, really, weird. I don't know what. I had a cocktail of feelings all bottled up inside me.

Just as I was going to go to the car, Arjun came upto me, he was going to tell me something. It looked like he had just come running from somewhere.

'What is it, Arjun ? Why are you so ....', I said as he cut me off.

'Listen, Rukmini.  Don't go with these people.'

'Are you mad ? You're forgetting, that I'm married. I have to go. What's wrong with you ?', I asked getting worried.

'Shut up. Don't cut me off in the middle. I'm alright, but you don't have time. Don't go with them. I have to tell you something about Abhimanyu.'

'What ?'

'Abhimanyu and his family ...', he began

'Rukmini !! Come on. We have to leave, we're getting late.', I heard mummy, my mom-in-law, say.

I gave Arjun a big hug, and mummy came there. I saw her giving Arjun a look that would have shut anyone up. He was about to say something when she pulled me away from him.

What did Arjun want to tell me ?????

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Yayyy !!!! Cliffhanger.

What do you think Arjun wants to tell Rukmini ?

Please do comment and vote for the story. Thanks readers,

I love you.

Radhika :*