It's fine , we knew you weren't ready.....but you can't just escape the reality...........

Talking with my lawyer

She said,"Where'd you find this guy?"

I said,"Young people fall in love

With the wrong people sometimes "

Somes mistakes get made

That's alright , that's okay

You can think that you're in love

When you're really just in pain

Some mistakes get made

That's alright, that's okay

In the end , it's better for me

That's the moral of the story,babe...........

Next day

Early morning....

6:00 a.m.

Aarna woke up earlier than usual.

Not because she had a morning class to attend...

Not because she had an important assignment to submit

But because of the conversation that had changed everything the day before, every single thing she desired off just vanished lile it didn't matter...

Maybe it never mattered in the first place......

"Marriage"

The word kept replaying in her mind.

She clutched her head , overwhelmed by everything that happened in a while..

She was trying to make sense of it all...

She than got up and sat on the edge of her bed , looking outside at the sunlight entering through the warm colored transparent curtains.

"How did my life go from planning presentations to discussing a wedding for myself?" she whispered to herself....

Meanwhile,

Her phone buzzed with a new notification...

Argh!!! Who's this... I just woke up and now this.....

She checks her phone and to her shock it was her best friend 'Riya'

'Riya' and early morning.... what the hell on Earth is happening

I know my best friend she could never wake up this early in the morning...she’s a night owl in the first place, so how could she…?

Am I dreaming....

No?

Than how....

After a lot of drama

..she finally remembered that she had to check the text....

Riya : Where are you?

Aarna

Aarna aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Behen?

Aarna Kapoor

What the hell is wrong with you?

My girl ! (Crying emoji)

Before she could reply another text popped up ...

Riya : Emergency call.

I need all the details about yesterday.

Aarna replies ,Okay fine ... (Smiling emoji)

Riya texted her early in the morning because she knew something was wrong.

She could always tell if Arana was fine...

Best friend indeed!!..... Aarna whispered

Later that afternoon

'Mumma' Mai bahar Jaa rahi hu ( Mumma I'm going out) Aarna called out while descending the staircase....

Huh?

Aarna itni dhoop mein bahar jaana thik nahi rahe ga beta...

(Arana, it wouldn't be a good idea to go out in this scorching sun, beta...)

Nahi mumma, I'll be okay aur waise b apki dusri beti ke saath cafe jaa rahi hu...

(No, Mumma, I'll be okay; besides, I'm going to a café with your other daughter...)

Aacha, kuch kaam tha kya...ghar pe bula leti !

(Oh, was there some work? You could have just called her over to the house!)

Haan.... I mean nahi mumma , okay bye.... Mai jaa rahi hu

(Yeah... I mean no ,Mumma. Okay, bye... I'm leaving.)

Love you beta, take care

Haan love you too mumma...she said while getting out of the house

____________________________________________________________

Twenty minutes later

Aarna reached the cafe near her college ...

And saw Riya already waiting for her impatiently ...

Her eyes lit up the moment they found Aarna standing outside the cafe...

Ah! My girl is finally here..

So now tell me what is bothering your boring life...

What?

Boring!

My life is boring?(Eye roll emoji)

Ofcourse it's boring, just like my boring girl .

Riya than gave her a playful wink.”

Okay, fine... sowwieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee , myh love!

Muaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Now let's begin our today's session .....

Hmm?

Aarna then started explaining everything.

"So let me get this straight," Riya said, staring at her in disbelief.

"You met a billionaire CEO, and your families decided that you two should get married?"

Aarna sighed.

"When you say it like that, it sounds even crazier."

"Because it is crazy!"

Aarna stirred her cold black coffee.

"I don't even know him."

Riya leaned forward.

Okay fine!

"But what do you think about him?"

Aarna paused, caught completely off guard.

She remembered his calm expression.

His serious eyes.

The way the entire room seemed to change when he entered.

"I think..." she searched for the right words.

" He......He's intimidating."

Riya laughed.

"That's a billionaire language for some handsome fictional man, babe"

Aarna rolled her eyes.

"Not everything is about looks, Riya."

"Okay, okay. But tell me one thing. Did he at least seem like a decent person?"

Aarna became quiet.

She remembered something.

When their families were talking, he had noticed her discomfort.

He hadn't interrupted.

He hadn't pressured her.

"I don't know," she finally said.

But after a second thought she said-

"Maybe."

____________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, at Raichand Group...

Aadhvik Raichand was in the conference room, listening to his executives discuss the latest business reports.

Usually, nothing could distract him.

Or else, one could say there was probably nothing that could disturb him or create distractions .

But ,Today was quite different.

His mind kept returning to that one person.

Aarna Kapoor , whom he had met the day before...

The girl who had calmly said she needed time.

Most people who have accepted his decisions without any further question.

But ,She didn't.

And strangely, that caught his attention...

Impressive...

His younger brother, Aarush who was noticing his brother from the past 5 minutes finally entered the room after the end of the meeting.

"So..." Aarush spoke.

Aadhvik looked at him.

"So what?"

Aarush smiled and said -"The famous cold hearted Aadhvik Raichand is finally getting married."

"No."

Aarush laughed.

"You're getting married, brother."

Aadhvik ignored his comments and spoke "You find everything funny."

" Hmm , that's because my big brother takes everything seriously, like a damn old man"

Old man! Really

Relax , Bhai (brother)

I was just kidding..

I know ... Aadhvik said

Aarush then leaned against the desk.

"What's she like?"

Aadhvik looked away and said , "I barely know her."

"But?"- Aarush spoke up when Aadhvik interrupted "There is no but."

Aarush grinned like a little puppy ...

Oh ! I can see that clearly...

"Quite Interesting."

____________________________________________________________

Later

That evening, both families met again at the Raichand Mansion .

This time,

Aadhvik requested a private conversation with Aarna.

To which Aarna agrees and went away with him towards the Raichand mansion garden.

It was the first time they were alone,

without their families around.

The silence between them was noticeable.

Aarna knew Aadhvik was a man who would never speak a word in the first place so she finally spoke.

"I think we should be honest with each other."

Aadhvik looked at her and hummed

"Neither of us chose this , Arranged Marriage."

He nodded in agreement.

"True."

Aarna sucked in a deep breath.

"So before anything happens, I have some conditions."

A small flicker of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Conditions?"

"Yes."

She looked directly at his eyes.

"First, I want to complete my studies."

" Okay , Accepted."

The quick answer surprised her.

"Second, I don't want to leave my dreams after the marriage."

He replied,"I won't ask you to."

Aarna was taken aback by his reply

She then studied his face.

She was uncertain so she again asked , "You won't?"

"No."

His voice was calm like the gentle sea at midnight , it sound peaceful.

Aadhvik caught the wicked glint in her eyes and assured her, "Your ambitions are yours. Marriage shouldn't erase them."

For the first time, Aarna saw a side of him that wasn't shown in the news it magazines.

A side that she could understand .

"My third condition..."

She hesitated.

"I don't want this marriage to be just a responsibility, which came out of nowhere."

Aadhvik suddenly became quiet.

Because that condition was harder than the others.

After a moment, he replied calmly,

"I can't promise love immediately."

Aarna looked down, because she too knew the truth.

"But I can promise respect."

She looked back at him.

"And honesty."

That was the last conversation they had before they went back to the hallway.

And again the garden became silent.

____________________________________________________________

Later that night,

Aadhvik stood beside the large window of his bedroom and drew the curtains wide open which revealed the breathtaking view of the Mumbai city’s skyscrapers which were illuminated against the midnight sky.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind - he had agreed to a marriage he had never planned for.

But something about Aarna Kapoor was different.

She wasn't impressed by his wealth.

Nor she e was afraid of his reputation.

She just wanted to be herself.

And for some reason...

That made him more curious.

Meanwhile, Aarna looked at the engagement proposal papers lying on her desk.

She didn't know if she was making the right choice.

But she knew one thing.

The man she was about to marry was not as cold as everyone believed.

Maybe there was something hidden behind those unreadable eyes.

Maybe...

There was a story she had yet to discover.

Two strangers.

Making promises they didn't fully understand yet.

To be continued...

Thank You for reading Adys ~Ihreen ....