Chapter 6

After the announcement of their marriage, the rest of the night passed by in a blur.  Neither Aman nor Priya spoke to each other or anyone else.  They pretended to mingle with the crowd, though they both only had one thing on their mind: marriage.  They didn’t want to marry each other, but neither of them was in any position to refuse their fathers.

The next week passed by quickly.  Wedding preparations were nearly finished.  Aman and Priya were to be married in two days.  Aman stood at the wide window in his bedroom.  He stared off into the sunset.  A mixture of reds and yellows painted the sky.  It was beautiful.  Usually the sight of sunsets calmed Aman, but right now he felt trapped.  He was trapped in his father’s web, and there was no way out.

“Hey! What the hell is going on? You call me out of the blue, demanding I come to India…what’s this about?” Aman’s best friend, Hiten barges into the room without so much as even a knock.

“I’m getting married.” Answered Aman, his eyes still fixed on the sun setting outside.

“What the hell?!” Hiten was shocked.

“Dad is forcing me. He’ll cut me off otherwise. I don’t have a choice.” Aman said coldly.

“This is messed up.” Hiten replied.  He stood there for a moment, contemplating the situation.   “Have you met her?”

“Yeah. She’s nice. A little traditional though.” Aman answered.  He obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk.

“Hey!” Hiten suddenly got excited.  “If you’re getting married, then you have to have a bachelor party!” he exclaimed.

Aman smirked.  Tonight was his last night of freedom.  The thought hadn’t occurred to him.  He deserved to have some fun tonight.  He turned around to face his best friend.

“Damn right I do.” He said with a sly grin.

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Priya glanced over all of the saris lying on her bed.  She dreamed of her perfect wedding ever since she was child. Every girl had such high hopes for her wedding.  Over the past week, however, Priya had distanced herself from the wedding preparations.  Anything having to do with the wedding reminded her of her father’s harsh ultimatum.  She carefully picked up each of the saris and took them to another room, unable to bear looking at the anymore.

Priya thought about Aman.  She realized she knew absolutely nothing about him.  He was sweet when they had first met.  He had a caring nature about him.  And he was really attractive.   Other than that, she didn’t know anything else about her future husband.  Such a thought was unsettling.

“Ready to be married tomorrow?” Payal poked her head in the doorway.

Priya gave a small smile.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She answered.  Payal knew nothing about the business deal disguised as a wedding.  Priya intended to keep it that way.  She didn’t want her sister’s opinion of their father to be marred as hers had been.

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“Party time!!” Hiten yelled as they entered a high class bar in the outskirts of Mumbai.

Aman smiled as Hiten pulled him into the bar.  A bunch of his friends flew down from New York.  They cheered as Hiten poured Aman his first of many drinks.  Aman gulped it down quickly and demanded another one.

“Okay, so the plan for tonight.  Get drunk off our asses, hit the clubs and dance with the sexiest women we can find, then back to the hotel…with hookers.” Hiten declared.  He was already tipsy even though the night was young.

Aman’s friends roared with laughter and approval.  Aman shook his head.  He grabbed Hiten’s arm to get his attention.

“No hookers.” He asserted.

“Strippers it is!” proclaimed Hiten in response.  Aman laughed.  It would be impossible to convince his friend to throw him an innocent bachelor party, if one even existed.  Aman decided to leave it alone and go along with whatever plans Hiten made, no matter how crazy they were.

After hours upon hours of carefree drinking, the boys found Mumbai’s hottest nightclub.  They entered in a drunken stupor, not fully aware of what was happening around them.  Hiten quickly found himself a raven haired beauty as excused himself to the dance floor.  Aman chose to stick close to the wall, not really in the mood to dance.

“Hey there.” A female’s voice shouted over the loud music.

“Hey,” Aman glimpsed at her.  She was wearing a tight, black halter neck dress that stopped mid thigh.  She wore strappy heels that looked too high to be comfortable.  The woman sashayed over to Aman and placed a hand on his chest.  She pushed him against the wall and brought her lips to his ear.

“Why don’t you let me make your night a whole hell of a lot more interesting?” she said quietly into his ear.

Aman smirked.  He preferred outgoing women, and this woman was as outgoing as any he had ever met.  She was downright bold.

“I’m Aman.” He shouted in her direction.  The music was booming even louder.  Even though they were close in proximity, it was difficult for them to hear each other.

“Natasha.” She replied with a wink.  She grabbed Aman’s hand and led him out onto the dance floor.

She placed Aman’s hands on her waist, her back turned towards him.  She leaned further against him as she began to move her hips to the rhythm of the music.  Aman let his hands roam her body.  He too felt the rhythm of the music and began to sway to the beat.  As an engaged man to be married tomorrow, Aman knew that the way he was dancing was…dirty to say the least, but he wasn’t in love with Priya.  They were practically strangers, and they weren’t married yet.  He wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“So Aman, you’re married?” Natasha asked after they finished dancing to their sixth song.

“No.” Aman replied.

Natasha’s eyes grew wide.  She pointed to his left hand.  He looked down to see his engagement ring.

“Engaged.” He said simply.

Natasha closed the distance between them.  She leaned up against Aman.

“Engaged isn’t married.” She smirked before brushing her lips against his.

Aman took a step back.  He thought about Priya.  He didn’t love Priya. This wasn’t wrong.  He stepped forward and planted a soft kiss on Natasha’s lips, not daring to deepen the kiss.  He pulled away as he heard Hiten’s voice calling through the crowd.

“Aman! Where are you?” He shouted.

Aman lifted an arm and waved, attempting to draw Hiten’s attention to the corner of the club where he and Natasha were.  Hiten noticed him and walked over.

“Hey there gorgeous.” He smiled, walked straight past Aman to Natasha.  Hiten would never change.

“Hi.” She replied, uninterested in his advances.

“Aman! Time to go back to the hotel.” Hiten said.

“Sure.” Aman replied.

He turned back to Natasha.

“It’s been fun.” He said.

“Sure has been.” She replied with a sexy smile.

Aman wished his father had found him a girl like Natasha rather than a girl like Priya.   Priya was shy and traditional.  She wasn’t fun or exciting.  Natasha was sexy and confident, two things he adored in a woman.  He sighed as he accepted the reality in front of him.  Tomorrow, he would marry Priya and forget about Natasha.

Natasha leaned forward and gave Aman a kiss on the cheek.  “Bye,” she said with a wink before walking away, her hips swaying sensually from side to side.  Aman watched her until she disappeared.

“Damn.” He whispered under his breath.

Hiten came out of nowhere and practically dragged him out of the club.  Aman and his friend reached the hotel at around three o’clock in the morning.  Aman was tired from all the drinking and dancing, but he wasn’t quite ready to call it a night, knowing that Hiten was the type to end the night on a high note.

The boys entered the hotel suite.  Suddenly, the lights dimmed and slow, sensual music started blaring from speakers that were strategically placed throughout the room.   A curtain was set up where the bed should have been.  A delicate hand emerged from behind the curtain and pulled the curtain back a tiny bit.

The curtains were pulled all the way back to reveal eight gorgeous women clad in traditional Indian outfits. They danced to the music, making their way toward the group of stunned men.

Aman’s mouth hung open in shock as the lead dancer stripped off her veil before leaning in towards him.  He looked over to Hiten, who hungrily watched the dancing women.

“What? You said no hookers, not no strippers.” Hiten said innocently once he noticed Aman giving him a death glare.

So this is kinda a filler chapter before they actually get married.  Just thought I’d remind everyone that Aman is a player. He’s caring and hot, but he’s a player.  Sorry there wasn’t much Priya in this chapter.  Promise they’ll be married in the next chapter.  Comment and tell me if you liked it.  Don’t forget to VOTE!!!!