2. First Meet

NEXT DAY

"Hi" Maitri came rushing trying not to embarrass herself by falling flat on ground due to her lack of stability. Aryaman who was drinking coffee sitting at the window peacefully, looked up to find a girl dressed in baby pink skirt paired with black plain t-shirt, with her hair wrapped in a low messy ponytail.

"Hi, am Maitri, you must be Aryaman?" She sat opposite to him and placed her purse on the ground, near her legs.

"I'm so sorry am late" She didn't give him a chance to speak at all and continued explaining how she got late. She indicated towards a waiter so he could take her order.

"You had lunch?" She asked him but noticed that he had only been drinking coffee so ignored it.

"Veg maharaja and Pudhina naan chalega?" She asked as she gave the waiter her order and then thought she won't be able to finish all of it by herself so sharing wouldn't hurt. He nodded his head looking at her wide-eyed.

"The 2 Veg Maharaja, 2 butter Pudhina naan, you like chaas? Its hot outside, you'll drink?" She again looked at him questioningly but receiving no answer from his shocked self she ordered 2, one for her and one for him.

"Ma'am starters?" The waiter asked politely.

"Umm, some other time, bring main course fast please. Am starving" She said smilingly. The waiter forgot to ask Aryaman's order due to her smile and walked to the kitchen to give the order.

"So?" She turned to him properly.

"I am Maitri Rathore, I am here for vacations otherwise I live in New York, work in one of the branches of Ranawat Enterprises. You can't really say work but ehh, its my last year as an intern there. In case we get married, I am not going to shift to India, I like my lifestyle there more. Here... its fun but I love my independency there more" She started ranting without giving him a single scope of speaking. He simply listened to her waiting for her to take a breathe so he could speak but his turn never came.

"This informal meeting, I know am the one who asked and then turned up late but you can't really blame me, there was so much traffic. I left home like an hour back and then the Rikshaw wale bhaiya was trying to loot me so I had to bargain with him. He thought that just because I look new in the area he could take advantage and charge me more, huh? My money is my heard earned money, aise thodi na kisiko dedungi. So it took more time in that. Main point is, am sorry" Aryaman observed the way her emotions changed with her every sentence. A small smile started forming on his lips watching her talk animatedly with her hands.

"Next point, this informal meeting was because...see am sure you've read my biodata. I was given yours but I threw it away. Think about it, how can I judge you with things that are written on a piece of paper. If we are going to spend life together than I should know what kind of a person you are, what your personality is like. Looks, is just for the outer world, I really don't care if even a Greek God came and sat here asking for my hand in marriage, I want a man who has a personality and is good in nature. Am sure you too must have questions about me, you should have? I've been rejected by 15 guys earlier, so if you reject me, 16th one won't hurt. So you can start with your questions" The waiter brought their lunch and she served him and herself as a reflex. His heart warmed when she served him. It wasn't necessary at all, he could have done it himself but her small action looked cute and heartwarming to him.

"You talk alot" Aryaman noticed with a suprised look in his eyes.

"Exactly. I have 0 control over my mouth. You should downright reject me. I mean which girl asks for a lunch then turns up late and talks so much, so fast. Its pissing off no? Reject me, I don't carry grudges in this case at all. You blame me, I'll take it" Maitri said smiling as she ate her food.

"You don't want to marry?" Aryaman sat upright enjoying that he no longer had to do the hard talk.

"Of course not right now. I'm still 24, there's so much I've got to do before being tied down as someone's MRS." Maitri said looking up at him.

"Such as?"

"Enjoying the life I created for myself" She replied drinking her chaas with her left hand.

"I came here to reject you too, thought we would have issues, where you'll cry and do drama, glad we are on the same page" Aryaman replied eating another morsel of naan and sabzi.

"That's amazing. I've never been this happy as I'm right now. You've made me so happy by saying this" She replied huffing in relief and smiling widely.

"Glad to be the reason of your happiness" He said smiling slightly at her excited self.

"What is your reason for not marrying?" Maitri asked curious about what is stopping him.

"I want love marriage, not an arranged one" Aryaman said shocking Maitri.

"What's the difference? Marriage is marriage, not like in love marriage during the pheras you'll be saying different vows than in arrange marriage?" Maitri questioned him.

"What about comfort being the partners? Have you seen the arrange marriage couples? They sit at 1 meter distance, never seen hugging each other at the very least. I want to be comfortable with my partner doing such things" Aryaman explained her patiently.

"So you want the materialistic things? What about the other things?" Maitri looked at him with a scowl.

"Love and everything would be there but there's something different about love marriage. You'll know when you see such couples in one setting at one time. You'll be able to pick out the differences" Aryaman said shrugging his shoulder. Maitri didn't agree with him but left the conversation.

"How many before me have you convinced to reject you?" Aryaman asked drinking his chaas.

"15" Maitri said mischievously making Aryaman choke on his drink.

"How?" He kept his glass down and looked at her interested in her story.

"Well... some reject me at the very start of the meet because I pull out the same stunt I did with you and some who look past that, reject me after hearing my 3 questions" Maitri said happy to share her story with him.

"What questions?" Aryaman wiped his hands with a tissue and relaxed into the seat.

"Even if there's no love, will he respect me and fight for his wife with anyone who comes in between us?" Maitri asked her first question taking a sip of the chaas.

"Why the question?" He asked confused as to what the basis of the question was.

"I don't want to live with a spineless man who can't stand up for his wife. I need him to take my side in front of the world even when I'm wrong. Once we are in our bedroom, he can scold me for my mistake, but he needs to be my shield first. I'll do the same but for some reason asking this from guys is quite a lot because they refuse to believe that their family could sometimes overindulge in their son's marriage and maybe the wife isn't comfortable with it? Typical olden mentality" He nodded his head hearing her explanation as he tore the piece of naan and dipped it in the curry, starting to eat again. He motioned her to continue to her second question.

"Second question, is he willing to buy a house and create a joint bank account right after the marriage? I'll pay half the money, but the house must be on his and my name only. I know I sound like a gold digger with that question, but my point is financial stability for me. In future if I stop working to take care of his family, our children, I don't want to be living in the fear that he can throw me out of his house. 50% ownership means I have half the right as him to live in the house" Maitri's demeanor changed as she explained her 2nd question to him.

Aryaman rested his both hands on the table and tried to analyze the kind of person she was. From outside she looked fragile, non-serious, fun girl but after hearing her words he was starting to question his judgements about her. He found her as a calculative, mature person who knew what she wanted and knew how to bargain things until it came up to her terms. Hearing her questions, he sensed it in himself that if he was to ever love someone then he too would have similar questions as her. He nodded his head agreeing that he'd never cheat on her.

"And the last question, is he willing to make joint decisions about all finances whether it is regarding someone borrowing money from him or something silly, he would keep me in loop with it. I have a degree in accounts, I can identify when the numbers don't add up, I don't want to question my husband about where all the money is suddenly disappearing to, I just want to be kept in loop that he's spending money where. You know this is the question which most of them have rejected me on. How am I targeting your masculinity by asking you to keep me informed on your financial decisions? I don't want my kid's liking reels about how their bua/chacha stole money from their father. He could pull his whole family into debts, and I want no part of it if I wasn't informed about it from the start" He found her question extremely simple, but it yet made him churn his brain. She asked a question he thought that even he would ask for his sister when she was ready for a marriage. It was one of the greatest insecurities in a girl, losing financial independence.

"If he tells you everything about his finances, wouldn't that make him vulnerable to you? He'll be basically stripped naked?" Aryaman questioned.

"All those questions apply to me too you know. I'll share my financial information with him. Its a marriage, not a business where it is a give and take transaction. I'm willing to share his financial load. Its 50-50 between him and me" Maitri said finishing eating and staring at him.

"Did anyone ask you to explain your questions? Your questions are quite outright dangerous but they make sense but it would bruise a male ego. You asked him to stand between you and his family, next you asked for a house so that means you aren't a joint family person and lastly you asked for control over his finances. This is what it is perceived as normally" Aryaman said as the waiter cleared up the table and got a bowl of warm water with lemon in it.

"Well if they would have asked I would have explained and cleared the perception too. I didn't ask him to seperate between me and his family, I just asked him to not make decisions based on outsiders advices when it comes to our marriage, secondly, I didn't refuse to live in a joint family, I just need a house that's half on my name, we could rent it out after buying it, I mean and lastly, I'm not asking control, I'm asking equality. I'm not a maid he married, I'm his wife, i.e I have the right to know what's going on in his life just as much as he has right on my life" Maitri cleared the cloud of misjudgment in Aryaman's eyes. He was left utterly shocked at how much the questions made sense to him.

"What would you do if we weren't going to reject each other?" Maitri asked rethinking her question choice, wondering if there was ever a man who was going to agree to her conditions.

"I'd probably say yes to you. Your questions do make sense that you don't want to lose yourself with the marriage and you have an identity of your own. Keep up the search of the right man, you'll get one who'll say yes to the questions" Aryaman said wiping his hands on the napkin.

"Thanks" Maitri looked at him surprised at how he didn't judge her like all the ones before.

"What would you ask?" She gave him a nervous laugh and looked down at the napkin.

"No idea" Aryaman said still thinking about her questions. Maitri nodded her head.

"Do you talk all this all the time?" He asked wide eyed.

"Huh?. Umm yeah. I say whatever comes in my mind, just not things that could hurt someone. I do speak the first thing that comes to my mind but am careful with my words. I don't like it when someone feels hurt due to something that left from my lips" She answered him truthfully. He nodded his head and asked another question.

"What's your take on marriage" Aryaman asked suddenly.

"Ma says that in a marriage, two incomplete souls get tied, families join in one bond but you say, don't marriages break? If it is 2 incomplete souls then why do we see divorces being filed every now and then. Some stuff looks good in fairytales, in real life, these kinds of things are meaningless. Am not saying that marriages don't work but why should I get married to someone who I've just met. How do I say yes to someone who I've just seen and met once? One should be given time to at least see the first layer of the person, no? What if he says yes to my questions right now but will change after marriage?" She asked looking at him.

"You really talk a lot" He said calling for the bill.

"I don't fear from expressing what I feel and anyways you can use that to reject me" She replied as the waiter came with their bill.

"What's the bill?" She asked picking her purse from the ground.

"Cash or card?" The waiter asked and both forwarded their cards to him.

"Split" Aryaman said knowing that she would eat his head even if he by mistake said he'll pay. And moreover, he was brought up by 2 women who would do god knows what if he even thought that women were less than men. Having a sister at home, he knew that women felt more respected when the bill was split when out on a date. Shaking off the thoughts, they one by one entered their details and paid.

"Shall we?" He asked, she nodded and stood up. Aryaman opened the restaurant door for her and allowed her to exit first. She looked at him trying to control her giggle.

"What?" He asked in his cold voice.

"No offence but I just imagined how we would be if married. I'd have to wear heels all the time when I'm around you or else I'll have a neck sprain for sure" She said trying to control her giggle. Shaking his head he was to make his way towards his car when she called him out.

"By the way, where do you work? What's your job?" She asked sweetly. He removed his shades from the inside of his blazer and stepped towards her making her instantly take a step back.

"Doll... I don't work. I AM the owner of Ranawat Enterprises. You and your dad are basically my employees" He said bringing his face closer to hers, smirking at her trying her best to maintain enough distance between them.

"Ohh. I didn't read your full name because I was coming just to reject you" She said what came first to her mind and looked at him without blinking. Maitri's eyes widened when she realized what she spoke and quickly looked away embarrassed.

"Good for you then" Smirking at his effect on her, he walked to his car, leaving her with her thoughts. He switched on the car and found her still standing there in that position looking at the world frowning, blinking every now and then, shifting her weight from leg to another. Smiling at her confused state, he drove off to his work.

Once the car roared off, Maitri returned to the real world and saw his car leaving.

"He left without een saying bye, basic courtesy" She cussed him loudly gathering attention from the walkers. Giving them a sweet smile, she ran to find a rickshaw.