The sound of a car being pulled up was heard. Vikram's mother, Hina quickly moved into the kitchen to see the preparations. Meanwhile, his father sent a servant to call Vikram downstairs, as he had retired in his room.

The bell rang, and both the elder Raheja's were standing at the doorstep to welcome their guests, the Mishra's.
Mishra was an old popular name in the lanes of Jaipur. They had their own chain of hotels. Seeing that their son, Vikram, was in the same line, they thought the match would be helpful both economically and socially.

Afterall, an arranged marriage between two business houses never hurt anyone, especially not the pocket.

The daughter of Mishras' , Juhi, was a beautiful woman who would complement their son and that was a cherry on top of this union.

As the Mishras' sat in the living room, talking with the couple. Vikram came downstairs, dressed in his black suit and white shirt, he looked handsome.

Juhi sat there mesmerized by the handsomeness of the man. Before his arrival, she was sitting their making a few comments here and there, allowing the elders to talk. She was confused with the sudden change of plans in her life and just wanted to get through this dinner as fast as possible. It was no different than Vikram's plans for the evening.

Though both the couples were familiar with each other, Hina made the introductions, for the sake of her child. She knew he had his nose deep in business and didn't know about the ties between the two families.

Taking a step forward, Juhi's mother, who was no stranger to her daughter's anxiety asked the children to talk with each other privately, as this was an important decision.

Vikram looked at his parents for some hint. His dad told him, " Vikram, the balcony has a good ambiance in the evening. You should take Juhi there and talk."

Vikram nodded his head and looked at Juhi asking her silently to follow his lead.

Juhi followed Vikram upstairs, looking around the house, which was decorated so tastefully.

Vikram turned left and she followed to enter the balcony.

They stood in the balcony. Mr. Raheja was not kidding, when he talked about the ambiance of the balcony. Only thing was, his estimate of a balcony was different from normal people. It was an open terrace in the name of a balcony.
The balcony was facing the garden. There were various potted plants lining the edges. It had a swing chair placed on the right side and lastly, a round table in the middle with two chairs.

Vikram led her to the table and pulled a chair for her. After settling well she noticed that Vikram looked nervous.

Scratching the back of his head, he said, " Umm, I'm Vikram Raheja. I'm 27 years old and the CEO of Raheja group of hotels. That's about me for now. "

Juhi was equally new to this kind of meetings. Following his example, she said " I'm Juhi Mishra, 24 years old. I am a trainee in my father's company as of now. I aim to handle his business in the future."

" So, you are a businesswoman. Who will you join, once we are married?" , Vikram was himself shocked at his words. Now, how did he even consider being married, when a few minutes ago, he wanted to avoid the meeting as much as possible.

Juhi caught a flicker of emotions on his face. Before she could question, he tilted his head in her direction, waiting for her reply. She said, " Well let's leave that discussion for future.". She wanted to divert the topic to something casual for the first meet. Putting her elbows on the table, she said, " Let's get to know each other first." and gave him a feeble smile.

Vikram gave her a watery smile of his and said, " Yes, good idea." and copied her movements.

They were staring at each other for quite a long time. Awakened from their trance by the sound of dishes falling down in the kitchen followed by rebuking voice of Rekha aunty. They chuckled awkwardly. Juhi being more outspoken suggested, " Let's play 20 questions! Otherwise, we will be staring at each other only."

He nodded.

Seeing, no more reply came from his side. She said, " Okay, I'll ask first. So, What is your favorite color?"

" Really, favorite color?", he asked amusedly.

" Yes, now don't stall and answer."

" Fine, its black."

" Oh, I can see that", she said eyeing his suit.

" Its only fair, I ask you the same, so what is yours?"

" Green!"

He laughed out loud, " Really, green?? You are full of surprises Juhi! I was so expecting a Red or Pink, and here you are saying it is green."

She grinned back at him.

They continued the game, trying to know each other. This meeting turned out to be different than expected.