A marriage is a choice, you make over and over again. 

      Certainly it was a choice Vihani chose herself under whatever circumstances it may be. But the choice wasn't made out of love, it was made out of desperation to be saved from a whirlwind of troubles, that surrounded her.

It's funny, how her status changed from Ms. Reddy to Mrs. Rao in less than thirty minutes. It was a very private affair as both of them wanted, with a very few people to witness.

Vihani had chosen her mom's wedding saree for the occasion. A raspberry pink Kanjivaram with golden thread work. She kept her long hair in a bun and a few strings of mogra flowers adorned her hair.

'You look like mom in her wedding pictures.....'
Her Bhai had tears in his eyes as he saw her in mom's saree.
Vihani felt the same too. She looked exactly like her mom on her wedding day minus the happiness and excitement in that pictures, which had lit up her  face.
On the contrary, here she was struggling to have a pleasant look on her face.

Avinesh looked handsome in his casual wear, white shirt and blue chinos and they made a good looking couple for sure.

Except her Bhai and her dad, who maintained a grim expression on his face and kept his distance  from her for the past few days , there wasn't anyone from her side.

Avinesh had his best friend  Arjun and his wife Rithika from his side. It was strictly a closed affair. She had signed the prenuptial agreement the day before and it was a deal between them on every aspect, not a marriage.
And with a signature and a quick exchange of garlands and tying thaali ( mangalsutra) around her neck, it was over.

No ceremonies, no oath were taken, no revolution around sacred fire, yet they were married and Vihani wanted to laugh at the total absurdity of it.
  
The rest of the day went in a blur. By the time she got ready for the reception in the evening, she was tired with a pulsating headache.

'You can do this Vinny.. Smile..' she told  herself looking at the mirror.

Vinny was wearing a navy blue A line gown with bead works. The soft material adorned her slender body like a second skin and she looked radiant in her dress. Her Bhai had chose a wonderful stylist for her and they had done a good job to make her look perfect. They had done a half tie hairdo with her long hair.  It featured a messy bun in the centre  and a cutesy pearl embellished hair clip on one side.
With a minimal make up and simple yet elegant ornaments, from her mom's collection, she was all set to the reception. 

' You are looking stunning Vihani. Your husband is so lucky to have you..' her stylist said with a wide smile.

'Thank you' she replied politely.

There was a soft knock on the door and  Varun entered the room along with Avinesh. 

' Awe...my crappy ninja is looking pretty today ' Varun smiled at her.

'Not today Bhai. Give it a rest' Vihani scoffed in return as she stood up and turned fully towards them.

Varun came forward and thanked the stylist and her team first. Then  he came to her side and hugged her and she let herself relax a bit in his embrace and smiled at him.

'You are looking beautiful Vinny...' there was a crack in his voice.

'I know that Bhai. But it feels nice when it comes from you' she winked and smiled again.

' Yeah yeah, you should be thankful for having such a great brother, who picks the best stylist in India' he said as they pulled back and she rolled her eyes.

' Someone is out of breath here Vinny, go and help your husband to get his senses back..' Varun was actually laughing as she looked at Avinesh. Their gazes met and she smiled a little , unaware what else to do.
It's going to take her sometime to getting used to this new status of hers.
Suddenly she felt awkward and bewildered.

What am I supposed to say now.
Should I just walk to him and talk.
But what is there to talk? 
Vinny looked at him nervously as he slowly walked into the room, not leaving her gaze.

'Hey..' she smiled weakly, trying to cover up the awkwardness.

'You are looking lovely..' his voice was low and husky.

Vihani smiled as she eyed him.
'You are not looking bad either..'  she  said verily.
He was looking dapper in his black tuxedo and Vihani had a hard time not to blush.

They both came to a halt as they faced each other fully. After a long moment, Avi held his hand out.

'Let us go Mrs. Rao. It's show time... '

Vinny took his arm hesitantly. She has been away from this very world of rich and fame for a long time now. Going back there, it was scary for her, and the media attention , she hated it and the whole thing might lead to something else that she was hiding from . Her stomach churned at that thought.

'Hey..you guys.. come down in five minutes. Guests are already here..'
Varun called out as he walked out of the room.

'It's going to be alright Vinny.
We are going there together and I am not going to leave your side not even for a second' he squeezed her hand lightly.

'Thank you..' she whispered as they started to the reception area.

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          By the time the reception ended, Vihani was exhausted. It was a grant reception filled with bigwigs from the business and political world and media was present too.
Avi had kept his word to stay by her side all the time. So Vinny survived the evening, but all she wanted by the end was to sleep.
Her Bhai had booked the honeymoon suite for them for the night in the same hotel, they held the reception. It ringed a bell in her head but they were not a couple , not really. So it's nothing but an arrangement for the day. She reassured herself about the night.

         Arjun's wife Rithika accompanied her to the suite room. It was a large room with plush king size bed. The room was adorned with contemporary style  replete with services of personalized boutique with seperate living area. Rithika took her leave once Vihani got settled in the room.

Vihani took a sigh of relief once she was alone. The best thing about the room was the panoramic view of the surrounding sea. She stood in the balcony for a while , feeling the cool wind in her hair, letting herself relax and simply enjoy the starry sky.
She stood there till her feet ached.

' Let us get out of this Vihani and sleep'
She murmured as she removed the hair clip and  tied her hair in a low bun. Then she removed the make up slowly looking at the big mirror in their room.

'Wah...I am looking like a raccoon now..' she giggled as her dark circles made an appearance under the eyes'

'Okay... that's done. Let us get out of this thing now..'

She tried to reach the zipper pull and she could not touch it.
After a few more try Vihani was irritated.
She twisted, wiggled and stretched, but it still remained unreachable.
She was frustrated and suddenly it felt like an existential crisis.

'What the hell am I going to do with this now!' she was asking herself for an advise now.
'She thought about calling back Rithika.
Then remembered she doesn't have her number.
She felt bad for not having mom or a mom in law for that matter.

She thought about waiting for Avinesh and ask for help in such an inevitable situation.

'No way. I will die in this stupid dress than asking him for help' she shooked her head dismissively.

'What made you to choose death over asking me for help? ' the calm voice echoed in that room and Vihani jumped in horror.

Avinesh was standing near the door and he looked confused at her expression.

'Oh...you scared the hell out of me'
Seriously, she is going to take a lot of time to get used to this new addition to her life.

'Sorry about that. But what were you saying? What happened?'
He said as he took of his jacket and loosened his tie.

'Oh... that's nothing. I was struggling to unzip this dress. It's okay.. I will manage' Vihani grabbed her bag with her night clothes and took a beeline to the washroom cursing herself.
She almost made it to the washroom when Avinesh called her.

'Wait Vihani, that's such a lame reason to die. Come on, it's just a little help, come here...or if you are not confident about yourself, go n die in that stupid dress in the washroom..'

Vihani opened her mouth to refuse him then thought against it.

'Yeah it's just a little help. No big deal and I am really confident about myself' she threw a death glare at him and he grinned.

She walked and turned her back towards him and took a deep breath.

'Don't try to take advantage... okay?' she said in a serious tone.

'Oh please Vihani .. I am really not interested. You are not my type at all..'
He chuckled and she rolled her eyes wondering how long she has to endure him.

Avi took his time to disentangle a curl of her hair from the zipper. She smelled lavender and mist, and he wanted to ask her about the perfume she was using , but thought better of it.

As he pulled the zipper down a bit , his fingers slightly graced her bare skin and she flinched at the contact and stepped away and faced him.

'Thank you. I think I could manage the rest. She walked swiftly towards the washroom without waiting for a reply.

Avi stood there rooted to the spot for a few minutes. He didn't touch her intentionally and he was sure Vihani knew that.

But what made her run away from there was something else.
Avi knew , she had a tattoo of ' om' on her back. He remembered their evening together vividly and he was sure about it.
But today, it was not there. Instead there was an ugly patch of skin, like something has burned her skin and removed the tattoo from there.

She didn't want him to see that, but he did and it unsettled him.
For the nth time he wondered , what happened to the girl who used to smile a lot, what happened to her dream to live her life to the fullest and how did she end up like this.

And the same question kept him awake for a long time even after Vinny had fell asleep. Avi was sure about one thing now, this journey was not going to be easy for both of them.
He was beginning to worry about Vinny as he fell into a restless sleep.