' Actually, I really love the surprise. I would have never imagined getting married without my father's presence and involvement in it. He is my everything. So, I would have felt sad, if he wouldn't have been with me, on this day.
But, he is the only one, whom I love and who cares about me. For others, whether I exist or not doesn't make any difference. But again, if my father would have known, then they would have known eventually and the situation would have been more or less the same.
But I am happy that he is here. Thank you so much.' She replied sincerely, since lying would do no good to her, here.
'If you don't mind, then may I know why you don't like others?' Ashutosh asked straightforwardly. Her smile turned grim.
' Because I was different from them.' She explained, to which he raised his eyebrow.
' My father taught me that I am more than enough to live, to survive in this world, to create my name, to earn respect, to earn honor and pride in this World. I kept that ideology saved in my subconscious mind.
But others don't think the same way. They believed that I am just a fragile, little girl who deserved to be protected by a man. They wanted me to be an ideal housewife material, just like my cousins. They wanted me to chase after man or men for that matter, like my friends. They wanted me to not be too intelligent to challenge men, their rules, and their way of living and justifying everything as right, but I did.
Since I wasn't like them, I ended up becoming an outcast to them. Despite being cut from the same cloth, my mindset was positive, my ideas were different, that's where the problem arises. We were bound to clash, be it sooner or later. So, neither they like me nor do I like them.' She explained as patiently and as well as she could.
Ashutosh stared at her and a sweet smile crept on his lips. 'I will keep it in my mind.' He said with a wide grin.
She just gave an embarrassed smile, not knowing how to respond.
' See you tomorrow, Miss Chauhan. Rest well. Good night.' He greeted her and then left her alone in her assigned room.
~~
Vivek, who was trying to act like a spy to hear the conversation behind the closed door, fell flat on the ground, the moment the door opened. Ashutosh just sighed, but didn't say anything and started walking towards the staircase.
'What happened? What were you talking about? Don't tell me you are already falling in love with each other? Or, my goodness, were you already making out inside, with me as your bodyguard?' Vivek kept rambling about whatever came to his mind.
But after he finished his last sentence, Ashutosh froze in his step, causing the nonsense rambling Vivek to bump into him.
'You know, what's going on. Don't you?' Ashutosh simply asked him in a chilly voice, making Vivek finally realize what he just blurted out, accidentally.
' But she will be your wife. You will have every right and power to demand it from her. That's your right. The most basic one. She can't refuse you.' Vivek tries to reason his way out.
Ashutosh didn't say anything, just kept walking toward his room. Once they were inside the closed door, he responded; ' She is marrying me, to save my family's reputation and me from the so-called 'Kundali Dosh'. She is not obliged to do anything that is expected of her or any typical bride. She is free to live her life, the way she wants it to be.
I neither will interfere nor will enforce my rights on her. I hope it's clear to you. Because, I won't repeat myself and you have to keep yourself in check, be it in my presence or absence when it comes to her. Remember that.' Ashutosh simply said, while walking towards the window, where the moonlight welcomed him.
'Alright. I got it Good night, Boss.' Vivek said, then smartly left his boss's room, to let his boss enjoy the night light.
' She is really like you. But her situation is worse than yours. She needs you. She needs us. Come back soon.' Ashutosh said while staring at the moon, then closed the window and went back to sleep.
~~
Next day; Another hectic day for the bride and the bridegroom.
They kept doing ceremonies one after another. Not to mention the soon-to-be bride was wearing heavy lehengas and jewelry, which were literally killing her.
The day was full of ceremonies, it was already evening, when the saptapadi , the seven vows, the tying of mangal sutra, and applying of vermilion took place.
It was in the late evening when her kanyadaan ceremony took place.
The priest finally bestows his blessing upon them and declares them as husband and wife in front of the audience. Then, they took each other's family's blessings.
Then, a grand feast takes place.
After which, they all rested, since they decided to do the post-wedding ritual the next day. Not to mention, this was actually a seven-star hotel and not the home of either of the parties. Thus, after a long discussion between the groom and the bride's family, they came to one conclusion.
Let the bride and bridegroom spend their wedding night together, on the floor which was specially designed and booked for them.
~~
Yuvika was the first one to get escorted in the lavishly, lovingly decorated room. Once she was all alone, she sighed deeply. What a great coincidence? She got married on the 13th of Feb.
Just one day before the day of the love, the day of the lovers, the day dedicated to one's valentine. Just the day before Valentine's day. Ironically, the believer of love ends up in this contractual marriage with her own boss.
Is she really not made for love? Does the word love-hate her so much? She had never expected anything in her life from anyone because always thought there will come a day when she will meet her Mr. Right. The one person who will fill her life with love and harmony, that her past, her sacrifices, everything she bears would feel worth it.
But now, even that hope was lost. No decent person will fall in love with either a married woman or a divorced woman. Not to mention, she isn't even sure what to expect from her boss anymore. After all, two days ago, they discussed every aspect of living a life as a husband and wife, except for the most important one, which she just realized.
Sex.
From a man's perspective, it's a normal thing to do. What if her boss thinks the same? What if she ends up getting pregnant or worse, becomes a mother? All sorts of dreading nightmarish images were revolving around her mind when she heard the sound of the doorknob getting twisted and the door opening.
There he was, standing like a statue, looking like a King in this ethnic attire, her Boss. Or maybe her husband.
He was also staring at the girl standing in front of him, looking like a goddess descending from the heavens, confused, shocked, worried, and nervous.
' You want to say something?' He asked to which she shook her head like a rattlesnake.
'Then, are you planning to stand there, the whole night?' He asked next with a frown, though he wanted to create a light joke, to lighten the heavy, dense atmosphere, his stiff voice and taut nerves made it sound rather serious.
Now, it was her turn to frown.
' Go and change. Or are you really not planning to sleep tonight.' He asked, luckily this time, it did come as a tease. But the more he mentioned the night, the tenser she got.
She nodded, then started walking towards the bathroom, to get some privacy she could, even forgetting to take the necessary things, her clothes to change.
Ashutosh frowned and sighed deeply. He doesn't need to know, she was being absent-minded at the moment. Since it was written all over her face and movements.
He opened her suitcase, which was delivered by the staff, with the hope of finding the gown she was wearing last night, but what greeted his eyes was a completely different view. If he hadn't understood what she meant last night, then it was showcased clearly in the suitcase, where a seductive, exposing two-piece clothing was resting majestically.
He finally understood why the girl was nervous as the realization dawned upon her. They haven't made any rule in the contract regarding that. Since, at that time they were busy dividing their personal, professional, social, economic, political life to care about this topic.
The topic that must need to be mentioned. He closed the bag, opened his own suitcase and luckily found his stuff untouched. He brought a black sports pair of clothes and placed them on top of the bed.
Then, he took the whitish-gray PJs for himself, then closed the suitcase and left the room. Luckily, the entire floor was reserved for them, instead of a single room. He was praying to the heavens to bless the person, who came up with this idea, with longevity and happiness.