PRESENT DAY

Naina led the way to the flower manager. My mind was a little messed up. I wanted this to be perfect. But looks like everything is going south. And on addition to that, Rahul and Naina were making fun of my misery. The situation is already twisted enough.

Why did mom do this? I should have refused. Damn it.

I took a deep breath and continued to walk, alongside Rahul and Naina. But I was interrupted by Kishan uncle. An old divorced man in his 70's.

'There you are. I have been searching you for so long.' He said.
'What happened, anything wrong?' I looked at him. I don't want any more problem.

'No beta. I just wanted to congratulate you.' He said, showing his red teeth.
'Thanks, Kishan uncle.' I said looking at those red teeth. 'But please, don't eat 'Pan' now.'
'Beta, you are funny.' He continued chewing his 'pan'. It was a disgusting sight.

'Deb.' Naina gave me a look as if to say 'let's go.'

'Ok. Uncle thanks anyway. Enjoy yourself and tell me if you have any inconvenience.' I tried to leave but he grabbed hold of my arm.

'I have no inconvenience. Don't worry. You did a great job.'
'Ok.'
'And you are a lucky guy to get a girl like her.' He said to be polite. He never even met the bride properly.

'Thanks.' I was giving short replies to get out of that situation.
'Let me tell you when I got married, the...'
'Uncle!!' I interrupted him. I didn't have the time to listen to his stories. 'We will talk about this later. I really need to rush now.'

'Sure. You are so busy, just like I was at my wedding. There were...'
'Uncle!!' I looked at him again.
'Sorry, sorry! You go.' He said showing his uneven red teeth.

I released my arm. Stepping away from Kishan uncle, I started looking for Naina and Rahul.
They were standing at a distance with the flower manager along with Abhishek. I went up to them.

'What seems to be the problem?'
'Hello sir. Congratulations on your...'
'Yeah. Ok, thanks. What's the problem?'
'Sir, the order said 25kg of Lilly's. And we did the same thing. We got you 25 kg of Lilies.' The flower manager said. That made me snap.
'What?' I shouted. He took a step back due to my response.
'We said 30kg. Not 25.' I said.

'No sir. The order said 25.' He replied still keeping a little distance from me. I looked at Abhishek. He was in charge of flower arrangements.

'I swear I placed an order of 30 kg.' he said. 'Naina, back me up on this.' He pleaded with Naina.
'No sir. I clearly...' the flower manager tried to speak.
'Ok forget it. Can't you do anything now.' I interrupted him.
'Sorry sir. It's late. We can't arrange it.'
'I will pay you double.'
'Sir, there's nothing in stock.'

I wanted to shout at the top of my voice. It seems like everything is turning negative.

'You can go.' I said to the flower manager.
'I swear Deb, the order was of 30kg.' Abhishek said.
'Yeah whatever.' I said. 'Anyway. How about you two go take a look at the caterers?' I said to Abhishek and Naina.

'Really!' Naina said with a slight frown.
'Sure no problem!' Abhishek declared 'We can take care of that.' He said to Naina. 'Don't worry I understand you don't want to deal with her but together we can manage it.' He continued.

'Okay fine I guess.' She said, reluctantly to Abhishek.
'You are an angel. Let's go.' They both left to go towards the catering area.

I was left with Rahul.
'Don't worry I will fix it. The flowers.' Rahul said seeing me all tensed up.
'How?'
'I don't have any idea now. But I will figure something out. It's a promise of the Best man.' He said. Keeping a hand on my shoulder.
'Ok' I said underneath my breath. My heart was still faster than normal pace.

'By the way, should I go and tell this to Kiara.' He asked.
'What? No!! don't tell her. It's an important day for her too. I don't want to freak her out, especially just before the marriage.' I said.

I looked around. There were few people already present. Busy in their own world.

What if she freaks out. I thought.

That's not going to happen. It's just flowers. I can still make this a perfect day for her.
I took a deep breath.

But it's a perfect day with a flaw. The voice in my head spoke.

My heart beat started to increase. I looked at Rahul. He understood me.
'Relax man. Nothing to worry.' He said.
'Hmm. I guess.' I looked at the arrangement. There were some empty vases. Some decorations felt incomplete. how will she react to this.

'This is really hard to deal with.' I said.
'It's not, you are just overreacting. It's natural.'
'But I don't think I will get over this.'
'What are you saying. You are just stressed out. And you have dealt with much bigger incidents than this.' Rahul said.

'Remember the time when you got to know that Naina is getting married, and the groom wasn't me.' Rahul tried to cheer me up.

'Or the time when we got to know that a guy like Abhishek got a girlfriend.' He said. I smiled.

'Or the time when you almost married....' He stopped, realizing he went too far.
'Why would you bring that up now?' I looked at him.
'Sorry. I got carried away. Anyway, I will take care of the flowers. You just calm down.' He said. 'And Don't worry, she won't find out.'

Hey der my lovely readers!! How you doing?? This note is going to be lengthy so here it goes.

This chapter brings us to 1/4 part of the book. Hope you liked it so far. Any suggestions you got??? feel free to let me know.

Now on to the next thing... What to expect from 2/4??
More chaos, more emotional entanglement and more crazy decisions, and yes few bombs.
Spoiler - you might hate few characters lol. 😂)
But don't worry it's all worth it.
Why???
Coz Who wants the same old perfect & good CLICHÉ's 😉

So stay tuned

Thanks for the incredible support so far. I've been trying to read few more books now. So next chapters might take some time but it will be sooner than later  📚.

Now to close it off. Here's a breathing exercise, since your pressure must be high from that ending sentence of Rahul lol 😆.

You ready???
For the breathing exercise?? Let's start
Take a deep breath in.
Hold it..
Hold it..
And now......