"Okay. I understand. But who told you that I am not going to allow you to pursue your dreams?" he asked.
"What?!" Laya asked him with a shocked voice.
"Yeah, you can achieve your dreams even after marriage. I don't have any problem with that," He continued.
Laya's shocked face instantly turned into a happy one and she gave him a "Are you serious?" look. He nodded with a smile. Instantly Laya threw her hands around his neck and buried her face in his neck. He stayed still due to shock. But after a minute, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her waist tightly.
"Now stop crying," he consoled her.
"Will your mother agree?" she asked one of her biggest fears.
"I am your husband not her," he replied, making her smile. Even though she smiled and trusted him, she felt like something was going to be wrong. Maybe she was too nostalgic.
"But you do understand that I am not ready to have kids right now? I want to explore myself and my limits, I don't want to sit at home. Will your family accept that?" asked Laya.
"We will see that. Don't worry about the future. I will be with you" he said.
She was somewhat relaxed now. Her heart was asking her to trust him but her brain was instilling few things in her. What should she do about that? She decided to trust him. After all it's not like she has a choice other than trusting him.
But there were still doubts in her mind about this whole marriage thing. Something was off here. How can someone, that too a boy, allow a girl to achieve her dreams without any protest? She shook her head to get rid of this thought. "I should be happy that he allowed this..." Laya said in her mind. But this feeling never left her.
"Is he like this? Or is he playing with my feelings? Oh god! What if he is truly like this?! I can't make a decision!!" Laya said in her mind, all confused. While she was thinking, suddenly he patted her shoulders and motioned her to look up in the sky. When Laya raised her head, she saw gold flickers in the night sky which showed her name.
She stared at it, starstruck by the beauty of the fireworks. When Laya turned towards him, she was amazed to find him kneeling before her. She was speechless. She again looked at him.
"W-what a-are you doing," Laya asked him slightly stuttering.
"Sshhh" he then shushed her.
He removed a tiny box in front of her. Even though Laya could be naive at times, she easily understood what was going to happen, which was making my heart beat faster.
"Laya, do you think this is an arranged marriage? I begged my family to marry you. Everyone knew it was one-sided love. I saw you at your brother's house in chennai, talking and laughing with your friends. I liked you the moment I saw you. When I found out about you… it's said you are still studying. So, I waited until you finished your studies. I waited for you to become mine. I wanted to confess my feelings to you before we got married.
"Everyone loves you in my family because of your character. My parents also know about you. They are very happy about you being my wife. If you want to fly higher than fly, I will be your wing. After our marriage, we can go to any part of the state you want. I want to have a life with you. Will you give me the honor of sharing your life with me, by being my wife?" He proposed.
Laya was surprised, shocked, and whatnot. "Did he just propose to me?! And did he wait for me all these years just for me to complete my studies and accomplish my goals?! Oh my god!! Thank you so much to the Lord, for giving me this wonderful soulmate in my life" Laya said in her mind.
Her heart swelled in happiness. "Yes, I do" these three words escaped from Laya's mouth without her approval. She cursed her stupid heart for being too hasty.
But soon Laya realized what she did. She immediately closed her mouth and tried to run, but in her clumsy state, she stepped on her saree and was about to fall. In her unlucky state, she ended up in the embrace of the person in front of her, who was chuckling at her clumsy behavior.
"So, I will take that as yes," he said, which made Laya's eyes go wide. She bit her lips. But she didn't know that he was looking at her lips. Rahul was directly staring at her lips. Their faces were so close that her every small action could be noticed by Rahul.