1. The Meet

Every girl dreams of the perfect wedding with the love of their life. I did too but then I realised that I could get my dream wedding which would basically be a four-day festival with loads of gold, music, dance, guests and my loved ones. But what about a marriage? a husband who I actually love and not a total stranger my parents arranged me with? I understand that eventually I could get to know him but I do deserve a choice. Right?

My family has always been loaded, there is no question of not being able to afford the wedding in a way I wanted. But with who I wanted? They never thought about that. Like a typical Indian businessman, my father planned to wed me to his business partner's son, you know, to grow the business and earn profit.

I've had a fair share of men in my life. I'm 24 and one of those people who don't give a damn about marriages. Well, I did at some point in life but after dating a few men, I changed my views on marriage. Never in the 10 years of my dating years have I thought about marrying, unlike teenage girls who think their boyfriend will marry them in the future. And now, look at me getting married to a person who I don't even know properly. Life fucks you in so many ways but I never thought it would get me like this.

Now this guy who I was supposed to get married to, was going to arrive at our house in about 10 minutes and here I was, sitting on my bed, wearing a red saree, makeup which feels like its a hundred layers deep, huge gold earrings and a necklace; thinking about the ways that I could escape this palace like mansion with guards on each exit. I know it's a bit too much but my dad loves to boast.

I got up and walked towards the balcony of my room. From a distance, I saw the huge gates open and 2 black BMWs moved towards the front doors of our house. I sigh, thinking that I lost any opportunity of running away.

"Naina!" I heard a voice call from behind me. Sanjana, my best friend since forever, was standing near my dresser.

"Hey." I said, trying to sound as normal as possible but Sanjana being Sanjana and my best friend, caught the tension in my voice.

"Oh God! You're stressing over it again. I mean, I know it's difficult for you and I know it's not what you want but stressing over it wouldn't change a thing and you know that. It will work out in the end, I promise. And it's not like you're getting married right away. You still have time to plot an escape." She said with a smile and engulfed me in a tight hug.

"I know Sanj, I love you." I said, hugging her tighter.

"I love you too. Oh! And by the way, the guy is really hot. I just saw them enter the house." She pulled away and winked at me.

.

I carefully walked downstairs, trying to handle my saree and heels and not to tumble and embarrass myself. Sanjana was by my side. I turned my head towards her and she nodded her head to reassure me, a look that said "it will be fine."

I reach the bottom of the stairs and my father smiled at me.

"There she is!" My mother exclaimed. She stood up and came near me. "Our beautiful daughter!" She chirped and I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. I smiled shyly and sat beside my father and my mother sat down on my other side.

I lifted my eyes up and looked at the two guys sitting in front of me. Which one is he? I looked at my mother with confusion in my eyes.

"This is Ashwin." She pointed towards the guy in a crisp, navy blue suit, his black eyes looking at me, then I noticed he is smiling so I smiled back at him. "And this is Shiv, Ashwin's friend." She pointed towards the guy sitting beside Ashwin. He was wearing a black dress shirt and pants, his hazel eyes shining, and his perfect lips turned in a small smile. He was hotter than Ashwin, who I was supposed to get married to. Probably a thought I shouldn't be having but if I had the choice, I'd go for him instead of Ashwin.

"This is Naina, our lovely daughter. She completed her master's degree in English a few years ago and is working at British Vogue in London as an editor. We are very proud of her." My father says with a wide smile on his face. Moments like this make me happy, like seeing my parents proud of me which is one of the reasons I agreed to get married.

Then our parents got further into conversation and I suddenly got more interested in the  patterns on the carpet, trying to avoid eye contact with him. I don't want to rush in a staring contest with him right away. Who am I kidding, I just didn't want to because my mom was watching my every move like a predator does to its prey.

"We should let the kids get to know each other." Ashwin's father said and my father nodded in agreement.

"Naina, show Ashwin the backyard. Will you?" My father said. I nodded and he kissed my forehead before I got up and Ashwin followed.

Sanjana smiled at me widely when I passed her and I rolled my eyes at her. I walked through the hallways of my childhood home and Ashwin gave me a small smile which I returned.

I've been home rarely after high school graduation, I went to college in London for English literature and then got a job there two years ago. I've had a taste of freedom and I didn't want to come back to this huge palace like house where only four of us lived, my brother left too but he planned on coming back home, I didn't. I never really liked it here, it was a huge place still I felt suffocated, but back in London it felt good in my small apartment with Sanjana.

We reached the backyard and sat on the metal benches.

"So..." I say, not knowing what to talk about after a few awkward glances.

"Hey, I heard your voice for the first time!" He exclaims, gaining a small laugh from me.

"I was told to act all shy." I say with a smile. "So, tell me about you, what are your passions?"

"I'm usually in my office most of the time and when I'm free,I prefer to rest. So I don't really have time to 'follow my passions'" he said in a flat tone.

We didn't talk much but I got to know one thing about him, he is fucking boring.

His phone rang and he went off away from me towards the edge of our large backyard. I sat there waiting for him to come back so we could resume our conversation.

"I hope you aren't bored." I heard a voice and turned around to see Shiv.

"No, it's fine. There isn't much to talk about anyways." I said and motioned my hand to tell him to sit down.

"Ashwin is always working so much, he never even has time for me nowadays. He comes home late from work and goes to work early." He said and then continued after a pause. "Please tell me that I didn't sound gay." That made me laugh.

"A little. But it's fine actually. It would give me a reason to not get married." I said, my voice saddened and he caught up on it.

"You don't really want to get married? I mean, I kind of get it. It's an arranged marriage."

"Yeah, It was my dad's decision. Anyway, I don't want to talk about it." I tried to turn the topic away. I knew I can't get out of this. Thinking about it made it scarier that it already was.

"So what do you want to talk about?" He said while stealing a glance at Ashwin who was still talking on the phone. Shiv knew that Ashwin wasn't leaving the phone anytime soon so he tried to maintain a conversation.

"So, you live with him?" I ask him.

"Yeah, we share an apartment. We've been friends since we were 4. He is such a disciplined man, I don't get it sometimes. I'm a slob and I wonder how we manage to live in the same house." He says.

"Don't worry, I'm a slob too." I smile. "You manage to live in the same house mostly because he is always working. Right?" He laughed. I've never been more turned on by a laugh before.

I should not be because he was my future husband's best friend. But I couldn't help it, he was just too hot.

"I came out here because I got tired of listening to them go on about you two and your lives. Both pairs boasting about their kids and money and what not." He said when I asked him how he got here.

"I'm glad you did. I would've had to sit here alone for God knows how long." I said.

Ashwin finally came back from his eternally long phone call.

"I need to go. There's some problem in the office." He said sternly. "Take mom and dad home." And he marched away without even looking at me. Kind of rude if you ask me. Right?

My life was going to get boring, that's for sure.