Angad's
sangeet had left everyone smiling. Now it was Kripa's Mehendi's turn. Everyone
was very excited. Kunal thought he was the luckiest kid in town because he got
to see his parents' wedding! He couldn't think of anything more exciting than
that. He went to sit beside his mother who was dressed in a simple golden
Punjabi choodidar. She looked very much like an angel. But this angel was very
sad because she wanted Angad to love her too and not just their son.
Unfortunately, she thought, she knew better.
Everyone sat there and some were singing and dancing
when Naina went to Kripa with the mehendi and started the application. Angad
looked at Kripa and made a decision. He withheld it for the time being. He
would tell her the truth soon. At least he would give her a chance where he
would explain what had happened. He also realized that he was being the biggest
jerk by being mad at her. It had been his fault.
In no time was the mehendi applied. Kripa sat
there with her head bowed looking at the designs they were applying. When they
stopped applying it, Kripa blinked. She had spaced out to their past. She
remembered when Angad used to tease her that when they would wed, he would
ensure that his name was hidden in her palms with the mehendi. Kripa was still
in the past when she started searching his name in her palms. Her heart stopped
for a moment when she found it. Then the dream crashed and Kripa came back to
reality. This was the Angad who had betrayed her and although they were getting
married, he did not love her. Her heart wept at the realization. This was going
to be a loveless, unwanted marriage.
She looked up at Angad who was staring right back
at her. She blinked away her tears but alas, too late. He saw them. And guilt
knotted in his stomach. He was the reason for her sadness. If only he would
have told her the truth. Hell, if only he hadn't been an idiot and confronted
her instead of staging the drama that had destroyed their lives. He smiled at
her.
Kripa saw Angad smiling and wondered now what
Angad was planning in that big head of his. Surely he was plotting of how to
make her life miserable. Kripa straightened her back and thought she would bear
any torture he would throw her way. This was not only going to be for her son
but for the love that they had once shared.
Aaliya went to her brother and coughed when she
realized that he was not paying any attention to her. Angad turned to his
little sister wondering what the hell she wanted now. He loved her and all but
now she was seriously getting on his nerves. He was just getting married for
goodness' sake. What was such a big deal about that? In reality, he knew she
would bring another embarrassing situation now and he didn't want to start
blushing like a school boy again.
'Bhai, you know what? Your name is written on
Bhabhi's hands. On your wedding night,' she coughed again to hide her giggles,
'try finding your name there.' She saw Angad glaring at her and she immediately
burst into wild, uncontrollable laughter. She laughed so hard that her sides
ached.
Angad looked at Kripa who was trying her best not
to giggle. He smiled at that. At least she was enjoying just a tad bit. It
wouldn't be so bad, he thought. They would definitely get through the difficult
period and be the perfect couple they were before.
Angad started teasing his sister instead, 'Yea,
yea. I know that. But seems like somebody's name is going to be on your hands
as well,' he tried to hide his smile as his sister blushed profusely,' then
we'll know how hard Josh finds it to find that name.'
Josh punched Angad and their teasing continued for
a long time. They all went away and Kripa just sat at her position staring at
her hands. They said that if the color of the mehendi is dark, your husband
will love you at all. Why was this mehendi behaving so treacherously? She knew
Angad didn't love her so why was it turning this dark? Just then she heard the
song ‘Mehendi’ playing from the movie ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’.
Kripa had always loved this song but listening it
this moment made her cry. She wept for all the sadness she was going to
encounter in the future and she wept for the love she was never going to get.
Tomorrow was her wedding and she would be happy. She would be happy, she vowed.
The night was unbearably long for both of them.
They wanted to get married as soon as possible. They were lost in all the
bittersweet memories they had.
Kripa felt butterflies the next evening and Angad
wasn't holding up to well either. They were both as nervous as they could get
and Kunal was making it worse by torturing both of them with questions. He was
alternating to the houses every half hour and driving everyone nuts.
He defended himself that this day was not going to
come everyday and he needed to make the most of it. As soon as he saw Kiran, he
shut up and behaved himself after that.
The time came and Angad went to Kripa's house
wearing a sehra and a gold sherwani. He looked just like a bridegroom;
incredibly handsome. Angad watched Kripa coming to the mandap wearing a red
lehnga with gold embroidery. He could not keep his eyes off her. She looked so
beautiful, so heart breakingly innocent. He vowed he would never hurt her
again. It was time to put all the bad memories behind and lead a happy life
with his wife-to-be. He smiled. He liked the sound of it; a lot.
Kripa felt as if she was in a trance. She wanted
to pinch herself to reassure herself but stopped herself in time. If this was
real, she didn't want to make a fool out of herself. It was all very dreamy.
The pandit read the mantras and Angad put sindoor on her forehead and tied a
mangalsutra around her neck. She was not dreaming. This was real; as real as it
could be.
In no time were they husband and wife. Kunal did
not fail to remind them that it was husband, wife and son.
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