Marriage Carnival | 11. Love Quintessentials

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🎶 Till Forever Falls Apart by Ashe.

Author •

"I was waiting for you." She was engulfed in his intoxicating cologne as soon as she crossed the hospital lawn to reach her car, parked nearby.

His presence acted as a direction to her disoriented thoughts. Her brain was haywire, so were her thoughts.

"You're here?" Bhavna could barely utter, seeing him smile at her. Her fingers inched towards his now shaved jaw but, her latent guilt ceased her movements.

His fingers clasped around her palm, that had abruptly stopped midway as he leaned to kiss her both palms.

"I never knew my fiancè had a short term memory." He remarked, making her shake her head.

"Didn't I tell you that I would be here to pick you up?" He spoke, grabbing her hand as they crossed the road together to reach his car.

"Kaka, take that black car and leave it at Das Residence. Then, reach back home by a metro or bus or auto, whatever you get." Rihaan categorically explained his old driver, who nodded.

Taking the car keys from Bhavna, Rihaan handed him the responsibility of Bhavna's car along with few currencies to cover his travel back home. The driver was humbled by his gesture as he made his way to the black car, neatly parked at a corner.

"Are you there?" Rihaan playfully nudged Bhavna, who seemed to have drifted off.

"What's up with you? You are behaving a little weird." He posed the questioned, seeing her so distanced.

"Stop the car, Rihaan." The whirlpool of emotions playing with her senses, made Bhavna suffocated.

The car abruptly came to halt with a screech as his feet pressed the breaks, alarmed and concerned. The next moment he heard the car door being banged loudly.

Jumping out of the driver's seat, he glanced at her, sitting on the cemented floor under a voluminous tree. The dry leaves scattered all over symbolised her emotions quite well. Scattered and messy.

"Bhavna, what's wrong with you? Will you tell me something?" A bewildered Rihaan tried his best to tend to her but, he was failing at his every trial.

"Why are doing so much things for me?" She gathered all her strength to ask him.

"You are overwhelming me. We know each other only for a span of two months, but this attachment and attraction is terrifying me. Why if you stop caring for me in future? What if I'm left abandoned? I don't know why, but this thought keeps nagging me. I am afraid, Rihaan." She sighed, rubbing the remnants tears, straining her face as he supported her shivering body.

"What do you want me to do to comfort you?" Rihaan gently questioned her, wiping her face and kissing her eyes.

"Live with me." She croaked out, childishly pressing her face more into his chest.

"Isn't that why we are getting married in two weeks? So that we can live together in a room, eat together and be each other's roommate along with life-mate." Rihaan whispered in her eyes, cooing her like a baby.

"No. Two weeks is long." She complained, grumbling. She sighed.

"Let's spend the next two days together." She proposed with her puppy eyes as she clasped her hand with him. Silence befell them as he leaned into her ears again.

"If you are have some other intentions, you know, you can say it." He pressed his lips in a firm line, trying his best to contain his chortles, seeing her gobsmacked face.

"No" She screamed, hitting him as she proceeded to walk away. But, he yanked her closer to him.

She giggled as soon as his palm rested on her thigh and soon, she swatted his hands away.

"Let's go." Pecking her cheeks, they drove to reach a green cottage, that was silver plated with black bold letters citing: 'Meal House'.

"Our Bhardwaj chain of hotels started with this cottage. When I was 8, Dad used to sit at the reception and count currency notes while, Mom used to cook with my two maternal aunts and a neighbourhood aunt. This place is really special for us." Rihaan put light over the place's significance in his life.

"So, let's have our first date here." He proposed with a sheepish smile clouding his juveline visage. Bhavna smiled, nodding.

"I never thought I would've my first date in my jeans and baggy kurta." Bhavna pouted, hopping out of the car while giving a once-over at her dress.

"Check the backseat." Rihaan prompted as Bhavna peeped at the backseat through the open windows.

"There's a paper bag." She innocently answered, making him facepalm.

"Open the backdoor. Get inside and see what's in that paper bag." Rihaan sighed, saying. He saw Bhavna doing as he directed, rather clumsily. He shook his head, seeing her admiring the baby pink off-shoulder balloon puff split bodycon dress.

"I can't wear this dress." She pouted, hugging the same dress.

"Check the bag, Bhavna." He knew, what she was referring to. She squealed seeing her needed undergarments but, as her thoughts ran upon the fact that he brought them for her, she awkwardly met his eyes.

"Let's go inside. There's a room, where you can change into this dress." Bhavna nodded, hopping out of the car clutching the bag in the hands, tightly.

The ringing chimes in the yellow interiors of the glass green cottage welcomed them, warmly. The red and green triangular papers clipped in a wire, wounded with fairy lights. The green glass vases with neon bulbs on their womb, lightened her mood as she admired the castle of fairy lights like cottage.

"It's so resplendent." She whispered in awe as Rihaan indicated her to a small door, which she supposed to be a tiny spare room. The door was painted parrot green with a little parrots drawn over the ply door. The forest-themed cottage ebbed her frustration, dissembling as the embodiment of a patient calmer and pacifier.

"Go." Rihaan pushed under inside as he settled on a chair, desperately waiting for her to emerge out of the room. Whereas, Bhavna was in a daze gawking at the most artistry room, she ever laid her eyes on. She was floored at the beauty of the room's wooden interiors and the elegance blended in its simplicity. She was astounded at the spacious and sumptous room, which she supposed to be tiny and dingy.

She took her sweet time changing into her chosen attire, she made sure her makeup was immaculate before she stepped out of the room to see him, occupied checking his e-mails.

She huffed at his lack of attention and smacked his tilted head, ogling at the phone.

Caressing the part of his head, where she smacked, his gaze now transfixed on her.

"Rihaan?" Bhavna grumbled, blushing at his undivided focus trained on her.

"You are looking divine. I can't seem to take my eyes off you." He murmured, still gazing at her.

"Thank you." Bhavna grumbled. As she again slipping into her brooding state, Rihaan sighed at her mood swings.

"What's wrong with you again, Bhavna?" Rihaan grunted.

"Tell me." He prodded her.

"Everyone look at their lover this way in the initial phase, but all this love fizzles out as two people get used to each other." Her words made an incredulous reaction sprawl over his countenance.

"And, what are you? A fortune teller." He jested, laughing at her.

"I am just telling the truth. When I get old, you will not even glance at me. Let alone gawk at me." She retorted, her lips twitching in distaste.

"I will still gawk at you when these honey brown tresses turn salt and pepper and these beautiful eyes stare at me underneath a thick black rimmed spectacle as you caress my face with your shivering petite hands on our anniversaries wearing those khadi sarees, my granny used to wear. How can I not love my old woman?", he pecked her nose as he placed two chaste kisses on her sealed eyes.

"I am hungry." Bhavna mumbled, hiding her blush.

"They will serve us, shortly." Before he could finish his sentence, he saw two waiters making their way towards their table with their orders.

"Why there's no other customer today?" She inquired, finding it weird to be in a food place with no customers.

"I've reserved it for two hours. So, there's no one except us." Rihaan answered, patiently as he served her the starters and served dessert for him.

"Let's start." Rihaan exclaimed, rubbing his palms as Bhavna laughed at him.

As Bhavna gobbled down a round cracked dry golgappa with aloo stuffing into her mouth, she saw Rihaan relishing a silver-topped, diamond-shaped Kaju Katli (Cashew Burfi) and then, eyeing gulab jamuns submerged in a bowl of sticky, sweltering sugar syrup.

"Hey, they are mine." She interrupted his tempting glance at the gulab jamuns as he dipped a silver spatula and gulped a sweet, teasing her.

"Eat your food first, then, go for desserts." Bhavna warned him, threatening him with her fork.

"Please, Just two more. Then, I will eat rice." He pouted like a kid, eyeing the sweets. "See, you'll get a stomach ache, if you don't share those sweets with me afterwards." Rihaan innocently blackmailed her.

"I will share with you. Now, eat." Bhavna pushed his plate, more to him as she still saw him gazing at the sweets.

"Who eats desserts before meal, huh?" Bhavna asked, pinching his cheeks as he shrugged.

"I am a slow eater. Whenever we have family dinner, Vansh never leaves a crumb of sweet for me. So, I always eat sweets before I started eating the main course. Hence, this habit of mine was formed." Rihaan elucidated as he ate the first meal of his day.

"What did you eat throughout the day?" Bhavna questioned, chewing her food as she mixed more curry to her rice.

"I ate." Rihaan shrugged, not meeting her eyes as all his devotion went to the food on his plate.

"That is what I asked, Rihaan. What did you eat?" Clearing understanding what he was hiding with his tactics, Bhavna stopped eating to stare at him.

"Nothing." Rihaan scratched his nape, showing her, his pearly white teeth.

"You were eating sweets on an empty stomach? By the way, when did you last eat?" She asked, seeing him shifting on his seat as her doctor mode was scaring him.

"Uhm- Bhavna, don't worry. It's normal for me." He dodged her question as he concentrated on his chickpea salad again.

"When did you have your last meal, Rihaan?" Bhavna's annoyed yet low voice reached his ears as he sighed.

"Last, I had dinner on friday around 12:00 am." Rihaan sighed, waiting for her further yells at him. Just like his mother would do.

"What the hell, Rihaan? It's monday evening. How can you be so ignorant of your health?" Her rebukes reached his ears as pressed his palm on her lips, shutting her chatters.

"Silence. Let's eat." Rihaan announced, making Bhavna snort.

Throughout the dinner, Bhavna kept filling his plate beyond his abilities of eating while, Rihaan desperately tried to finish the food served on his plate to get the chance to get his hands on the sizzling gulab jamuns.

"You shouldn't eat sweets on an empty stomach, it will spike your blood sugar levels." Bhavna ruffled his hair, feeding him a gulab jamun whilst he glared at her for mounting his plate with too much food that his dear sweets had to wait to be in his tummy.

"Do you use facebook?" Bhavna asked him as they walked out of the cottage hand-in-hand and in peace.

"Nope", Rihaan took no time to let her know his distaste for facebook.

"Me neither. I feel, its a boring waste of time." Rihaan hummed as he could match up with her perspective.

"I feel, facebook is the acme of insecurity and a magnet for socially insecure." He input his views, waiting for her to acknowledge his words and she did it with a smile. The dawning silence spread through them; their heartbeats vibrating with the flowing air enveloping their vicinity. Bhavna mustered her courage to clasp his palm in a firm grip and face him.

"I don't want to force you but, I really want to know about your past relationship with Sam." Bhavna uttered, driven by a visceral instinct.

She raised her eyes to see him, glancing at their entwined hands as if weighting the pros and cons, the consequences of the unveil.

"I don't want you to feel like I'm badgering you. I just revealed my curiosity."

"I understand, Bhavna. I'm willing to let you into my past. But, don't judge-" He was intruded by the shrill whimpers of a stray dog, hit by a two-wheeler.

The painful yelps of the lithe beast ringed in their ears as they ran to the injured dog, eyeing them for help and cure from the excruciating pain. Seeing the whimpering dog, Rihaan fetched two towels from his car and displacing the dog to the towels, he carried him as Bhavna drove the car, not before asking a passerby for the address of a vet's clinic and grabbing keys from Rihaan's pocket.

After a five minutes, they were before 'Sweet Shelter', one of the four vet clinic near the area as Rihaan dashed into the cabin, without waiting for Bhavna.

"Doctor, can you please have a look at him?" He requested the familiar pale and lean man in his wee days of late old age as he put on his gloves before inspecting the bleeding limb of the stray dog.

"There's a fracture." The hoarse and breathy whisper bereft of emotions fell on his ear as he walked closer to have a look at the dog.

"Will he be fine soon?" He uttered, his tone smothered with compassion for the injured beast.

The old man had an aura of authority and high esteem as he operated swiftly on the whimpering animal with ease. Though he seemed familiar, he couldn't pin-point where he met him.

"Rihaan, bring me the tweezer, a scissor and a pair of clothes." Rihaan proceeded to do as directed, unmindful of the fact that the old man just called him by his name.

"Here." The old man nodded, getting occupied again, leaving Rihaan to stare at the dog, plaintively.

"Rihaan, it's done." The old man chimed as he stared at him, dubiously.

"Doctor, do I know you?" Rihaan asked, quite politely, leaving the old man shocked.

"Dadu", Rihaan's eyes widened as he saw Bhavna running into the old man's arms and their rapport striked him.

"How's my beta?" Ramakant asked his granddaughter, while throwing a look at her soon-to-be-husband.

"Dadu, namaste." Rihaan touched his feet, after the granddaughter-grandfather duo broke their hug.

"I am fine, Dadu. When did you come here?" Bhavna asked her grandfather as she took in his petite form, and eyes, barred of his usual shine.

"I came here today morning. But, are you sure you want to marry this young man, Bhav?" Ramakant teased his future grandson-in-law, who stood there still sinking in everything.

"Why, Dadu?"

"He forgot his fiancés' grandfather after a mere two weeks work trip to Shanghai. I doubt, he would also forget you if he goes on a month long trip someday." Ramakant's breathy laughs filled the sombre clinic as the dog too stared at them, intently.

"Sorry, Dadu. I was a bit too invested with the dog that I failed to recall you.I assure, it won't happen ever again." Rihaan ranted nervously, seeing Bhavna's glare as Ramakant patted his shoulder and embraced him.

"Young man, we have only met once. It happens. But, in future, we will keep meeting each other more. Won't we?" Rihaan nodded as Ramakant smiled at him.

"Dadu, can you keep this dog here in the stable?" Rihaan questioned, glancing at a herd of dogs playing in the corrider of another room, supposedly a dog stable.

"He is welcome here. Do you want to name him?" Ramakant asked him as Bhavna piped in.

"Jeru"

"Is it male version of 'Jerry'?" Rihaan chuckled, followed by Ramakant as Bhavna pouted.

"Doggie, don't you like the name?" The dog's ears perked up as he saw her attention fixed on him. A low growl left his mouth as if agreeing to something, he never understood.

"See, Jeru likes his name." Bhavna clapped, making Ramakant chortle and Rihaan sigh at her stupidity.

"You still want to marry her?" Whispering, Ramakant tried to pull his leg again.

"Dadu, Is there a way out?" Rihaan mumbled back, basking in the sudden comfort they both were sharing.

"Dadu, come back home soon. Take care of yourself. We are going." Ramakant smiled, patting his granddaughter's forehead.

"Let's go back." Bhavna urged Rihaan as she wound her arns ariund his elbow.

"Congratulations, young man. You are already in the ditch and there's no way out." Ramakant silently laughed as Rihaan pretended to be burdened, making Bhavna look at them suspiciously.

"Go. I have a new patient coming." Ramakant shooed them, before Bhavna could know about their inner-talks, much to Rihaan's pleasure.

"Bye, Dadu." Rihaan bid him a bye and left the cabin, before seeing the limping dog, joining the crowd of dogs.

•~~•~~•

"Where are we going?" Bhavna asked, seeing him driving through an unknown route.

"You will know soon." His clipped answer, gave her a nagging feeling as he drove the car into a lavish grey apartment.

"Whom does this apartment belong?" Bhavna could barely imagine the existence of such a posh apartment in this weird place, far away from the main city.

"It's mine. I used to stay here during my graduation days." Rihaan revealed. Soon enough, Bhavna could connect the dots to know the reason behind their arrival here.

They were yet to go inside, when a familiar voice halted Bhavna's steps. Her brows furrowed as she spotted a few girls playing badminton. But, her sharp gaze converged on a certain girl, about whom she had so much to know about.

"Sam is here?"

"Samaira stays in this apartment." Rihaan's revelation made Bhavna shrink in her place. Samaira staying in his apartment bothered her.

"I will tell you." His assurance calmed her a bit, but her eyes filled with resentment still judged her probable rival.

"She is exceptional in badminton and she is too proud of it. Want to beat her in the game?" Rihaan wrapped his arms around her, trying to pacify her.

She smiled and nodded, meekly. But, she was firm in her stance to beat her for him.

"All the best. Make me proud." Rihaan gushed seeing her smile and encouraged her to win by kissing her cheeks.

"If I win, do I get what I want?" She put forward a deal that was spontaneously accepted by him.

As she walked forth to those girls, Rihaan was left behind as an audience. Being a spectator of a fight, having fledged for him was sort of conflicting, though, it was one-sided.

Seeing her smile at those girls and politely asking Sam for a short match was easy to watch for him but, he was in a turmoil, trying to ponder on ways to pacify Bhavna's endless insecurities. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that he was needed to come out clean, sidelining the prospects of its consequences.

He was so drifted apart that Bhavna's voice fell into deaf ears.

"Are you sulking because I won over your sweetheart?"

"What? You won. Congratulations." He congratulated her, hugging her close as she pressed herself more to his chest like a baby.

"I felt like she deliberately lost." Bhavna complained, hugging him as she saw his eyes looking at her.

"It's okay." He assured, patting her shoulder as they walked into the apartment together.

An elegant woman draped in a white saree with golden border, seeming to be in her early-sixties opened the door for them. Bhavna saw Rihaan touching her feet and followed his actions.

"How are you, my gorgeous Rekha Maa?" The lady giggled as Rihaan hugged her in his arms. She was indeed gorgeous, Bhavna thought.

"Maa, I guess, you know who she is." Rihaan whispered, loud enough for Bhavna to hear.

"Must be your

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