6. Destiny

Jai

As we got back home and I settled him into his room, I knew I had to find a way to teach that Vinay guy a lesson. I wanted to cut ties with Vinay's dad's company. They would lose a lot of fame and money but Vinay deserved that.  After taking the necessary actions, I decided to talk to Dad about it.

Fortunately, he was awake, so I didn't have to wait till morning. I explained everything to him, even though it meant losing some money.

But it didn't matter; I was doing it for her.

Next day, I tried calling her, but she didn't pick up. I wondered why.

At some point, it hit me – I knew who I wanted to marry. It was her. I found her quirks endearing, her humour infectious, and her sarcastic retorts oddly charming. I could tolerate being around her for more than a few minutes without feeling drained.

Plus, she had to get married eventually, right? So, I thought I'd make things easier for both of us.

But before I approached her, I decided to talk to Mom and get her input. Mom was in the living room watching TV when I approached her.

"Hi, Maa."

"Hi, beta."

"What are you up to?"

"Caught up on my serials. Missed it yesterday, so catching up now," she grinned.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I said with seriousness.

"Wait, let me go first. I've found a girl for you, beta. I think she'd be perfect. You should marry her, and I'd love her like my own daughter."

"But Mom—"

"Just look at her pictures before you say no," she urged, scrolling through images. She didn't give me a chance to respond.

When she finally showed me a picture, I was taken aback, shocked, and surprised all at once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anika

I was caught up in calling vendors and arranging all the details for the upcoming anniversary party. Things were proceeding smoothly, and I was nearly finished with my tasks.

The arrangements were falling into place just as I had envisioned. I hoped that the family would appreciate my efforts. I shared a photo of the stage setup I had selected with them.

As I was winding up my work, my phone rang with a call from my dad. His tone sounded urgent. "Come home once you're done with work today," he said.

"Is there something important, Papa?" I inquired.

"Not really, beta, but be here when you're done," he replied.

"Alright," I agreed. Usually, my dad likes to chat a bit before getting to the point, so I found it odd that he was so direct this time. I headed to my parents' place directly from the office.

A couple of hours later, after finishing my work, I reached my parents' house. Inside, I found my mom and dad engaged in casual conversation. I couldn't understand why they insisted on me being here today.

"You're here," my mom greeted me with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I am," I responded, a bit puzzled.

My mom's smile widened, and that only heightened my curiosity. What was going on? Were we celebrating some unexpected news, like winning a lottery?

"Okay, Mom, what's up?" I asked, growing impatient.

"I've found the perfect match for you, beta," she exclaimed. Seriously? I had to travel for almost two hours to have this discussion in person?

"You could have just told me over the phone, Mom," I retorted, my interest waning.

"Yeah, I know, but I wanted to see your reaction."

"Okay, but who is this person?"

Just then, my sister arrived home from college and chimed in, "Did you tell her yet?"

"Why is she so excited? Am I about to marry her favourite actor or something?" I deadpanned, a hint of sarcasm in my tone.

"You're close" she replied, leaving me utterly confused.

"Am I going to get to see his photo or what?" I demanded.

"Sure, sure," my mom said, retrieving her phone to show me the picture. But as soon as I laid eyes on it, my certainty crumbled. It couldn't be...

"What the hell—"

"Before you say anything, he's accepted you, and his family sent the marriage proposal," my mom explained.

I was rendered speechless. I stared at the photo for what felt like minutes, hoping it would somehow change the person I was looking at.

"Did Jai agree?" I managed to ask.

"Yes, he did, and that's why his mother sent the proposal to us," my mom confirmed.

"But-" wait a minute. He didn't mention anything when we met a couple of days ago. When did all of this happen? And why didn't Aarav inform me about it?

"You're going to marry him, and you won't agree to anyone else," my sister Varsha said.

"And why is that?" I inquired, still surprised with the sudden turn of events.

"Because you went on a date with him. Don't even try to deny it; we've seen the pictures of both of you. You like him, and it's all over your face," Varsha explained, causing heat to rise in my cheeks.

"It wasn't like that. The meet with Vinay was a disaster, and Jai simply rescued me from it," I hurriedly clarified.

"Whatever the reason might be, I noticed you were happy around him, so why not give it a shot? Go out with him a few times and see where it takes you," my dad suggested.

Sure, I'd be up for going out with him, but here's the thing – I'm already kind of attached to him. After spending time with him, I can't imagine getting used to more dates.

"I need to talk to him first, okay?"

"Yeah, take your time, but make it quick" my mom said. They don't know that the reason they're not pushing me harder is that Jai has a rule about getting married by a certain age. Thankfully, they're unaware of that.

Around 7 pm, after having dinner, I hopped into a cab back to my apartment. I was just too tired for the metro today. I know how to drive, but dealing with this traffic every day is a nightmare.

I got home, changed into comfy clothes, and then realized I needed to tell them about it. I texted my girl gang – Nisha and Diya.

They've been my friends since we were kids, and even though they moved to different states, we've kept up our long-distance friendship.

ME: Guys, you won't believe what just happened!!

Diya: Whaaat??

Nisha: Promotion? You've been waiting for it since forever.

ME: I wish it was that...

Diya: Then what is it?

I told them the whole story, and they were just as shocked as I was. Nisha tried to play the "I told you so" card, but she didn't tell me anything concrete. Classic.

Anyway, I decided to call Aarav and chat about this. I Face Timed him, but it seemed like he wasn't awake.

He answered the call, though, and to my surprise, it was Jai's face that popped up.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, wearing a casual black t-shirt – something I'd never seen him in before. He looked good. Scratch that, he looked hot.

"Not much, just wanted to talk to Aarav."

"He left his phone in the living room, give me a sec."

"I've been thinking about talking to you," he said.

"Same here, but let's not do it over the phone. Let's meet up and discuss."

"Yeah, for sure. When are you free?"

"I've got an event the day after tomorrow, so maybe after that? Is that cool?"

"Sounds good with me," he agreed.

"Alright, here's your friend," he teased before I starting to talk to Aarav. I hoped Jai had left the room.

"I'm gonna murder you," I threatened Aarav.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because, seriously, you had one job! To give me a heads up about the proposal."

"I honestly didn't know until a few minutes ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Mom and Jai kinda decided on their own and sent the proposal to your place. What are you gonna do?"

"I told them I'm okay with meeting him a few times," I explained.

"Sure thing, Bhabhi," he replied, grinning. I was going to break his teeth.

"Enough with the teasing. But seriously, you know how different we are, right? I don't think this would work between us, Aarav."

"Still, give him a shot, Ani. You don't know him personally. Just see where it goes, okay?"

"But what if..." he breaks my heart in the process. Obviously, I didn't voice that fear. I never really share those insecurities with anyone.

"You do realize I'll always have your back, right? Even if it's against my own brother."

"And I've got yours," I replied, holding back tears.

"So what's your secret plan?"

"Oh, the younger sibling gets to hear all the juicy details? Absolutely not" I said with a smile.

"We're literally the same age!"

"Doesn't make it any less effective," I laughed.

"Both of you can go to hell," he replied, rolling his eyes. I laughed.

"So, how's work treating you?" I asked, sensing a hint of tension.

"It's alright. I love my job, just a bit stressful," he confessed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, jaaneman," he said, adding a wink. This guy! Both of us burst into laughter. This was how I always felt around him – happy and goofy. We said our goodbyes, and I crawled into bed, absolutely drained.

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❀₊˚⊹♡

Jai can do anything for 'his girl'!!

This is a slow burn romance novel, will they fall in love before their wedding? Let's see where the story takes us<3

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