3. Weird Plans

Maitri's POV

"Sabse bada wala gadha hai. Suvaar kahi ka" I don't think anyone needs to even ask me the name of the person am cussing. Its 101% Aryaman Ranawat who is the sole owner of these cusses.

"Relax di, what happened at lunch?" Divi was laughing at my expense. After his highness left, I had to find a rickshaw to whom I had to show my house because he hadn't seen our area before, lies!

As soon as I got down from the rickshaw, a football hit my head and when I scolded the kids for playing roughly, another kid splashed mud on my clothes.

What An Amazing Day It Was!

"What happened? I freaking embarrassed myself in front of him"

"How?" Am going to super glue Divi's lips because she's laughing too much.

"None of you told me that he OWNS Ranawat Enterprises and not works there" I looked at mumma and papa who are trying to stifle their laughs.

"Someone could have told me"

"We gave you the biodata for a reason beta" Papa said now fully laughing. Fine, my mistake that I threw it in the dustbin after seeing his picture, but I went there to reject him.

"You all are cheats!!!" Stomping I left for the kitchen. I saw Kitkat lying in the fridge so without much of a thought, I carried mine and Divi's out to the sitting room. Throwing one to her, I sat on my sofa which is only mine, no sharing allowed there.

"Did you like him?" This over excited mum of mine is so eager to get me married. Nai karni hai shaadi mujhe.

"We aren't compatible dad, mum. I enjoyed talking to him but neither he nor me are ready for something as serious as a marriage. Moreover even if there was a chance he belongs from a royal family and we are just a simple middle class, upper middle-class family. There's no comparison. Papa works at their firm as their accountant. We will never be able to match their standards" Okay, I love fairytales and have always wished for a prince on white horse to sweep me off my feet but guys, reality check! Fairytales are good in movies and dreams; in real life you do need to compare your social status.

I'm not ashamed of my social status but I can for sure say that an alliance with royal family is something I can't accept. From what I know of my parents, they'll start doing everything over, trying to match themselves to the Ranawats, by overworking themselves and am not ready for that. I don't want them to impress anyone because of me.I don't want their health to be at risk.

"I don't understand why you guys are so desperate to get me married but this is unacceptable. Just tell me clearly that you don't want me here and I'll book a ticket right away and leave and never return. Am still 24 and life doesn't end at that age. Marriage is not my goal mumma. Mujhe shaadi nahi karni hai, atleast not to someone who doesn't understand me. Yes Aryaman Ranawat looks nice and I would wish to get married to him but our social classes are different and none of us are ready for marriage. He deserves a princess who is like him and not a clumsy self like me, who'll embarrass him at every stage of life. Marriage is supposed to be between two equals and am definitely not his equal. He doesn't even speak much while on the other hand I can't stop speaking. He is A KING and am a simple girl who works at his firm. If he's sky then am ground, we will never have a common ground. I don't understand why all of you are behind marrying me off. If you can't afford my expenses tell me clearly, I am pretty much stable in U.S. I can take care of myself" I yelled at them because it better to cut off all hopes and expectations before they start to rise. Better to get hurt now than later. I stood up and rushed to my room, shutting the door with a bang.

Aryaman'S POV

We were having dinner with everyone pestering me about how was Maitri.

"How was she bhaiyu?" I was to add curry to my plate but before that Aaru pulled away the bowl and asked.

"She was a girl with two hands, two legs, two eyes, two ears, one nose and one mouth. Now pass me sabzi" I know it's a very idiotic answer but am hungry and why should I care of how she is?

"Aryuuu proper answer" Mumma scolded me siding with Aaru. Avi was almost on the table waiting for an answer from me. Aaru and Mumma looked at me with so much hopes and dad...dad was being dad. Sitting in his position eating peacefully but his gaze was on me.

"She was... too talkative. Went on and on and on talking. She looks like a fragile person but from within she's fire. She has her priorities set though from outside she looks like a person who's living life aimlessly. But she speaks too much without taking a break. She was the one who ordered lunch and looked at me to confirm I'll eat the same as her or not. She's too hyper" I replied reminiscing all the moments of the lunch with her. Frankly, she's cute when she talks with her hands and rants unstoppable, but my family doesn't need to know it.

"Its good na Aryu, you are silent, she's talkative. She'll speak on your behalf too. You are boring, she's fun. You know these days such pairs are called Grumpy X Sunshine, right Aaru?" Avi said returning to his seat and looking at Aaru.

"Ssh shh. Its Akshit's phone" Dad said telling everyone to be silent. Switching to speaker, all of us listened keenly to Akshit uncle. Mumma and Avi almost stood up to dance at the call but remained in their seats waiting for uncle to say. He explained us how the social circles weren't matching and how Maitri wasn't ready for a serious commitment which I'm not too. But where did the social class come from? It wasn't there when we talked.

She's this surprise box, every time you open, something new comes out. But its true... my parents will try to play it as cool as possible while her's would overwork themselves to match our status. It seriously doesn't make sense on why they should do this. Marriage is done to join 2 people not social status. Unfortunately, that's the way the world works...hhmph.

"I want to talk to her, what's the address?" I said standing up from the table and going to the kitchen to wash my hands. I've got no idea why I have the urge to tell her that the social class difference doesn't matter. It would be a good reason to say no though. But what about her confidence? What if she never finds someone who'll agree to her questions?

"Why do you want to talk to her?" Dad asked looking at me with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I want to talk" Why is dad asking me questions? Of course, he has the rights, but he has never questioned me like this.

"Rish... We'll inform Akshit that you are going to their place" Mumma said as I wiped my hands and took the bike keys.

Using google maps I reached her society to find her standing in front of the building with a frown on her face and pouting angrily at the garden, with her hands crossed at her chest. Beeping at her, I stood infront of her, removing my helmet.

"What do you want to talk to me?" Ohh Gussaa. But what did I do? She walked upto my bike and glared at me.

"Let's go out, I want to talk to you in private" I said telling her to hop on, I found Divi standing in the balcony laughing at Maitri for some reason.

"Only if you feed me something. I'll pass out with lack of food in my stomach" She said folding her arms at her chest.

"Its past dinner time" I looked at my watch which showed it was 9p.m so that pretty much to a normal person looks like bed time and not dinner time.

"After meeting you, I went home, changed clothes, went out with my friends, did some bitching about other friends, came home, fought with mum and dad, forgot to eat and now I'm hungry" Maitri said looking up in the balcony to see her entire family staring down at us.

"What do you want to eat?" I held out my hand to her, to help her sit on the bike.

"Anything and I'm scared of bikes. They are way too high and drive too fast" Maitri stared at the bike in horror making me chuckle at her pale face.

"I'll drive slow" I assured her.

"No repeated intentional breaks to feel my boobs on your back" Maitri said glaring at me. Which pervert is she riding with?

"Whoever is doing that to you, slap them on my behalf please" I said waving my hand to Divya who stared at us without blinking her eyes and a naughty smile on her lips.

"Never sat on a bike but seen it on movies" Maitri said still looking at my bike.

Holding her by her arm, I pulled her closer.

"Will drive safely, promise" She unsurely sat behind me, holding the sides tightly.

"You might want to hold me, for better safety purposes" I suggested knowing she'd fall due to imbalance and her fear.

"Where should I hold you?" She looked at me doubtfully.

"Better safety" I pulled her hands around my waist, tightening them enough so she wouldn't fall. She sat grudgingly held onto me and kicked start the bike when my eyes again fell on Divi who was discreetly taking a video of us. I waved at her catching the firecracker sitting behind me's attention. She looked up to find Divi standing in balcony. She pushed my hand down and glared at Divi for some reason.

"Stay away from my sister. My sister is my sister, you go say bye to yours" Ohhh, someone's possessive too alongside being a firecracker. Laughing I drove to a McDonalds nearby her colony and asked her to get down.

"What will you have?" I asked as we stared at the menu.

"Large fries with a cup of coffee" Maitri replied smiling, already drooling at her order. I asked her to sit at a nearby table until I get the token.

"Cool" I ordered for both of us and sat at a table waiting for our order.

"What did you order?" Maitri asked turning towards me.

"McAloo Tikki" Aryaman said.

"You wanted to meet. I thought we were both going to reject each other" Maitri said addressing the elephant in the room.

AUTHOR'S POV

"Yeah about that... Let me get the order" Aryaman stood up seeing the token number flash on the screen.

"I'll come with you" Maitri stood up to help him but he stared at her asking her to remain seated.

"Want to walk? If we are going to talk about something serious, let it be outside McDonalds please?" Maitri asked seeing how crowded the area was, filled with college going students. Aryaman nodded and handing her coffee and large fries as they walked to his bike silently.

"Umm... if you like parks, there's one nearby. Should be pretty empty right now. Generally couples on walks after dinner or some kids would be playing badminton, it'd be less crowded than here"

"You walk me through it" Aryaman said smiling as they both walked silently to the park, unsure of what to say. Maitri offered him her chips which he politely refused showing the burger in his hand.

"Isn't coffee bad at night?" Aryaman asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Only if it actually has an effect on you. I drink mild coffee" Maitri said spotting an empty bench and walking there. Both of them finished eating without saying much except a few remarks about the park and the people around.

"So?" Maitri looked at him questioningly.

"I thought about the questions you asked the whole day... rest of the day and something kept making it hard for me to reject you" Aryaman confessed earnestly.

"And that was?" Maitri asked confused by what he meant.

"I liked talking to you, I enjoyed our conversation" Aryaman said looking straight into her eyes.

"I liked it too but I'm really not ready for marriage. I'll be wasting your time if I said yes and furthermore I don't think you would move out of India, which is something I am not going to compromise on" Maitri cleared with him in simple words.

"I don't want to marry right now either. I feel a connection with you and I want to try it out with you. We can be friends and maybe in future if both of us feel something for one another, we can plan a marriage" Aryaman said confidently.

"You want to be friends with me?" She looked at him shocked.

"Is that bad?" Aryaman asked confused at her reaction.

"No... No of course not. I'm just confused on why you'd want us to be friends. Wouldn't your parents force you to meet more people even if we become friends?" Maitri asked tapping her feet nervously.

"Yeah for that... if you agree, we can hold our parents for max of 4 months before they ask us our final decision. We can decide then what we want, for now we can start as friends" Aryaman suggested. Maitri leaned back onto the bench backrest and stared in front at the kids playing badminton.

"You said you want a love marriage but if this works out, it would be an arranged marriage and you'd be compromising" Maitri said looking at him asking him to reconfirm his decision.

"Would it be arrange marriage if we get married only if we fall in love with each other? Frankly speaking, I would have met you through Divi or through your parents and then decided if we wanted to go ahead or not. Does it matter through whom we met?" Aryaman asked playing with the burger wrapper.

"You want us to start as friends?" Maitri asked again to which he nodded.

"Like getting to know each other like 'do you brush your teeth at night?' or getting to know each other as people meeting up for marriage?" Maitri confirmed her suspicion.

"Option A and yes I brush my teeth at night before sleeping, don't you?" Aryaman asked looking horrified at the question.

"Only if I remember to" Maitri said looking elsewhere feeling slightly shy.

"Dental hygiene" Aryaman looked at her shocked.

"You still want to know me?" Maitri asked

"Surprise me" Aryaman said chuckling.

"I asked a question, your turn now" Maitri said standing up with her trash as Aryaman followed her.

"Previous affairs?" Aryaman asked stopping Maitri in her tracks making her look at him with smile.

"No, what about you?" She asked trying to contain her laughter.

"What?" Aryaman asked smiling.

"For some reason this question always seemed weird but it makes so much sense" Maitri complained as they threw the garbage in a dustbin.

"Agreed and yeah one girlfriend during uni days, broke up and no trauma from past" Aryaman said as they walked aimlessly in the park.

"What would be the most extreme excuse you would come up with if you have to break off an engagement?" Aryaman asked curious to know her answer.

"I'm lesbian or bisexual" She said shocking Aryaman.

"Might as well add asexual to the list" IAryaman suggested.

"No way, I love sex. I've not had sex but I do want to have sex in my life" Maitri's reply further shocked Aryaman.

"I thought you'd be the shy type girl, didn't know you were bold and beautiful" Aryaman said looking around for water. Maitri understood what he was looking for and motioned him to walk in the other direction knowing that a late night shop would be open.

"Its a stigma that you can't talk about how you were produced. Everyone does it but want it to be a hush-hush thing. Silly humans" Maitri said showing him the open shop where he could get a water bottle.

"I know right. Like just chill, it's not that huge of deal" Aryaman agreed with her as they approached the shop and he ordered two water bottles. They chatted more about their hobbies and their favorite colors until they reached his bike.

"I think we should be friends" Maitri said feeling confident that their relation would definetely one day be more than just friends.

"Glad we could come up with a favourable conclusion" He said grinning widely.

"You like maize cob?" Maitri suddenly asked Aryaman as he rode onto the bike. He nodded his head unsurely.

"Wait here" She was to sit behind but ran away to the vendor who was selling roasted maize. Aryaman looked at her retreating form like a hawk waiting for her to return safely.

"Here take one. I didn't know which type you'll like so I brought you one with lemon and chilli. I hope its okay" She handed him one cob and ate from one that was in her hands. He took a bite moving the bike stand down.

"Why do you have two cobs?" He asked realizing that she was eating from one and had another one wrapped in the outsides of the maize.

"For Divi" She said focusing on the food. It almost felt as if it was very common of her to think of her sister.

"It will get cold by the time you reach home"

"I know but sometimes its not about hot or cold, its about the fact that you get them something. Everyone likes small surprises" She said wiping her lips with a tissue before again taking a bite.

'If I take this for Avi and Aaru will they be happy?' Aryaman wondered.

Once they were done eating, he dropped her home. Maitri thanked him for the ride and food and ran inside her home while Aryaman went back to the park and bought 3 more cobs to confirm Maitri's theory of surprise with only 1 question in his mind.

Do people really get happy on such small things?

_______________________________

TALK TO ME, ASK ME QUESTIONS?