| MEETA |

Angad could be titled as "Sweetest Of The Sweethearts".

I mean, look at how he sat next to me! He surely deserves Meera's comments. He may act like a tough guy, but I know he loves me. He doesn't have to say, "I love you," every time. Little things like these matter as well.

I stepped out of my reverie as Subhadra, my father's beloved liar sister, got up from her spot and stood near the bonfire. She waved her hands at everyone to gain their attention and it happened after a few seconds. She pointed her index fingers first at Angad and then at Naina, and made a heart with her hands.

"What do you mean, Subhadra?" Papa yelled at her as if he understood what she was trying to say but couldn't believe it.

She nodded a yes at him. Then, she pointed her finger at Angad, then at Naina, and her right cheek. And, she planted a kiss on her joined fingers and landed them on her right cheek. She also had her hands joined together as if she was promising while I shot a good frown at her. I was no longer a kid to believe her stories. She might be mute but she is a pro at splitting a family.

Then, Subhadra came towards us, held Angad's hand, and pulled him near the bonfire.

She snapped her fingers at him as if demanding him to reveal the truth to everyone.

"Well, are you asking me to reveal it to everyone?" He asked in a confirming way.

I wanted to scream, "You don't have to prove yourself to everyone, Angad," but decided not to. I had another plan.

"Well... The thing is that, Naina and I--" I could no longer see Angad standing there like guilty, hence I got up from my place.

I stood near Angad, pulled Subhadra to my side, and created a beautiful and everlasting mark on her chubby cheek. While she took time to relieve the stinging pain, a part of me heard Charlotte saying this to Naina.

"Wow! I never knew Meeta could slap a person. For so long, I thought she was a scaredy cat." I looked back at her to see her closing her mouth with her hand.

Subhadra was relieved from the pain temporarily while I chose to serve her right with words stingier than my slap.

"How could you even blatantly blame Angad? He openly proposed his love to me many times. If he had an affair with Naina or anyone else, he wouldn't have taken great care of me for so long. He was always with me. He was the one to be more curious about the wedding than I was. He loves me to the moon and back. And he knows that I love him more than he does." I paused to take a deep breath and noticed Angad hanging his head low.

I could no longer hold the intensity of the situation. Hence I walked away from Subhadra and everyone while everyone else dispersed, not before taunting Subhadra.

I ran to my room, realising that some of the audience were following me as well. As I reached my room on the first floor, I wanted to close the door to avoid the audience, but decided to let them, as it was only Charlotte and my mother.

I let them inside, locked the door, and the first thing I did was throw Papa's car key. Then, I threw the empty pen stand which refused to break as it met the floor. Then came my room key card, followed by my scrunchies, lipstick, and my vacant jewellery box. I landed my hand on my mobile to break them as well, but I didn't want to spend another fifteen thousand rupees on a mobile phone.

Instead, I chose to walk past them, sit on the tri stool, and cover my face with my hands to cry without others seeing my reaction. I felt Ma sitting on the bed behind me and massaging my shoulders while Charlotte sat next to me on the floor, clearing the clutter I had caused.

"Are you okay, Meeta?" Charlotte inquired.

"Yeah, but... It was embarrassing for me. Like, a person from the bride's family was accusing the groom of having an affair. I couldn't stand someone blatantly blaming my fiance and my best friend," I yelled and looked up to see Charlotte pressing my knee.

The way she looked at me was like she was telling me, "Only if you knew."

"Meeta?" I heard Naina's voice from outside, following a knock.

"Shit!" I muttered as I tried hard looking for the key card I threw a few seconds ago. I looked at the bed, at the floor, and at the tri stool, I was sitting on. But, it went in vain.

"Here," Charlotte said from behind, handing over the key card to me. I rushed to open the door and saw Naina standing there with her arms folded.

"Get inside," I called her and led her inside. She locked the door and held my arm. I turned back to see her looking, no, glaring at me in the most confrontational way possible.

"Are you okay?" That was it. I was back to my crybaby mode as I rested my head against her chest and dampened her white dress. "Hey! It's okay, Meeta. You... You handled it well. It's okay."

"I'm sorry," I said in a muffled tone.

"That's okay," she assured me while patting my head. We broke the hug while she held my shoulders and said, "You have your bhajans tomorrow. Get ready."

"Sure." I winked at her, the sunshine of my life.

***

THE NEXT DAY...

It was the Bhajan day, followed by the tour given by our event manager to those who were interested in exploring Agra. My day started at half past seven in the morning. I applied a gram flour face pack and had sliced cucumbers in my eyes (unique ways to refresh eyes, right?), danced to peppy "guilty pleasure" songs for half an hour with my bathrobe on in my bathroom, took a relaxing hot water shower in the scorching April heat (yup, I am that sadist), dolling myself in a mustard yellow embroidered salwar suit and golden jewels, letting my cousins do the makeup for me, and made attendance at the function room.

The preparations were going on and on while I seated myself in a plastic chair close to the entrance. I scanned for familiar faces in that room, and I spotted Naina arranging the picture of the Lords. I waved my hand at her to gain that blind lady's attention but to no avail.

Hence, I walked to her and patted her shoulder to gain her attention. And she did turn back at me with a surprised gasp.

"Hey," she chuckled. "You look like a girl, bro!" She further chuckled while I slapped her elbow. "Okay, jokes apart. You are... You know..." She facepalmed and exclaimed, "You made this chatterbox speechless. How could you?"

"Ah, stop flaunting your wordsmith skills! Just tell me whether I look good or not," I inquired and scrunched my nose.

She took a step behind and commented, "Not good." I clicked my tongue and gritted my teeth while she continued her sentence. "You look hot," whispering the word hot.

I fanned myself with my hand and replied, "Hot is the way I am." There was a sudden silence between us when I heard my mobile ping. I opened and read the message I received from Ruhani, one of my friend's friends and an architect.

Ruhani: Are you coming today?

Me: Yep! I'll text you when we leave Agra.

Ruhani: Come soon.

Me: Duh, I know!

"What's going on?" From the corner of my eye, I spotted Naina pointing her chin at my mobile.

"Well, the best surprise for my best people." I decided to layer the point with a tinge of suspense. "You proceed with your work," I instructed and turned to walk back, only to get my forehead hit in Angad's chest.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my forehead with my hand while I shot a grin at him. "Hi, Angad."

"Hi," he whispered and spared a glance at Naina for a few seconds. Then, as he looked back at me, he smiled at me.

"Hi," I repeated. I bet he would compliment my dress then.

"Hi," he repeated.

Come on, Angad! Just a hi? Not a "You look beautiful"?

"Well, can you please play your game on that side?" No, that wasn't Naina. It was Angad's sister, Renee.

We shot a sheepish grin at Renee as she stood there, holding a plate of flower petals. Naina left the scene already, arranging the pictures with Angad's mother.

"What's up, Angad? Done romancing with Bhabhi?" She pointed her chin at Angad, who had crossed his arms.

"Renee, did you see Meeta anywhere? I searched for her in the room, but she wasn't there." I heard Ma asking behind me while Renee tried to suppress her laughter.

She twirled me to Ma and asked, "Is she the one you're searching for?"

Ma took a second to realise that I was her daughter indeed. She stepped forward and pressed a kiss on my cheek. "Awww! You look so beautiful, beta. This yellow dress makes you look like a cute sunflower."

"At last, you managed to find your daughter, Ma. I'm impressed." I placed my hand on my chest as if to show how impressed I was.

"Anyways, you both go and get seated. We will be ready in a few minutes. Go." Ma pointed at the chairs near the entrance.

"Yeah, sure," I sighed and strolled towards the chairs, seating myself in one of them.

After 3 "All Too Well"s, I noticed the entrance door opening and a familiar tall lady entered the room. Her eyes scanned through the room like I did when I entered that room.

"Miss Charls," Violet called loudly and waved her hand in Charlotte's direction while I was already standing.

"Hi, Violet," I greeted her with a smile.

"Hi, Meeta. You look... Stunning!" She gasped as if she was breathless. Then, our eyes went south as we noticed Charlotte running towards us, no, Violet.

Soon, the two bodies became one as Violet kissed Charlotte and twirled her around, leaving me in a plethora of emotions. A part of me gushed at them, a part of me was jealous since Angad never did that for me, and the rest of them were confused about when they were together.

I looked away from them, only to see the entire people in the room looking only at them as if they were some pole dancers. But, hey! Same-sex love is still a taboo in India. Hence, these people would rather see pole dancers dancing than two girls romancing with each other.

After stepping out from their La La Land by breaking the kiss, they faced the audience who were technically glaring at them as if they were from ISIS. Fortunately, it was only the close ones who witnessed them. If others did, they would convert this event into a great tea-time gossip, which was the last thing I expected to happen at my wedding.

Angad's mother marched towards us with Angad following her, held Violet's hand, and brought her to my side, far away from Charlotte's earshot.

"What is she doing here, Angad?" Angad's mother whisper-yelled at him while he stood there clueless. Charlotte, who caught me looking at her, pointed my chin at us to ask what was going on while I shooed her. "I asked you not to invite her, didn't I? This is not New York, Angad. Kissing girls and attending a Bhajan in this dress."

"What's with this dress, Mrs Sharma?" Violet inquired the same I wanted to. All she wore was a black sleeveless crop top and matching jeans.

"What's with her top, Angad? What do you think our relatives would say? Would they even approve that she is the groom's friend? Does she at least remember that she is a girl?" His mother didn't stop criticizing her and he refused to talk a word to defend his friend. "And... Why should she do PDA at a Bhajan? With a girl?"

"So what if it's a girl, Mrs Sharma?" Violet chose to play defendant for herself. "I fell in love with a person, and it turned out to be a girl. And first of all, who the fuck are they to talk shit about me and my girlfriend?"

"Angad, ask her not to use cuss words. We're here to perform a Bhajan here." Then, his mother took a deep breath and continued, "Listen. I would give her two options. One: Behave, or at least, pretend to be a good girl and attend your wedding. Two: She should not be here. The ball is in your court now. Bye!"

She walked away while Angad followed her, not before warning Violet. "I hope you got it."

As she saw them going out of earshot, Violet yelled, "What the fuck does he even think of himself, Meeta? And what's with his mother? Who the fuck is she to judge and slut-shame me? What's wrong with my crop top? As if everyone here is so cultured." She let out a deep breath and pointed at Sadhna, one of our family friends. "Just look at her dress. Look how she had worn her saree."

The sight made me chuckle as I noticed how her saree awkwardly failed to cover her broad hips and chest.

"Just brush them off, Violet. She will understand you," I consoled in a way that made me regret the next moment.

"Why on Earth should I expect her to understand me? Who is she? My mother-in-law?" She yelled with her eyes redder than her face. After a second of silence, the storm left the sea while saying, "Wait here, Meeta."

I saw the storm approaching Angad and pulling him towards me. I thought she would curse at him the moment they pacify, but instead, she chose to maintain silence.

"What's up with you, Violet?" Angad questioned in a calm tone.

"What's up with you, Angad?" Violet questioned back with a tone contrasting his. "Did you forget what had happened? Who is your mother to judge me?"

"I agree you're mad at her, Vee, but--" He was interrupted right there by her mini monologue.

"Wow! Angad Sharma had finally agreed that his American best friend is mad at his Indian mother who slut-shamed her for wearing a crop top and kissing her girlfriend. I never expected this would happen, Angad. Great job!" She clapped her hands sarcastically while we refused to interrupt her. "Listen. You can't, and you have zero rights to, expect an American to behave Indian overnight. And, first of all, why the fuck didn't you try to defend me?" She stressed the word fuck. "You know me better than your mom does, don't you? You must have tried to speak for me. Why? Where did that feeling go?"

Angad, who finally decided to speak, exhaled and spoke, "Listen. I wish I could help you at that moment. But, there was my mother. And, you know I couldn't go against--"

"As if you did everything in their favour." And for a moment, I felt like I belonged to another world. It felt like watching a Korean Drama without the subtitles on.

He exhaled another time and swore, "You know what? Fuck you," while raising his right hand's middle finger in the air and walking backwards.

She sighed out of pure annoyance and swore back, "You know what? Double fuck you!" And she raised her middle finger of both her hands in the air.

Angad stood there, searching for the right word. "Triple fuck you!"

"Ummm..." Violet scratched her right eyebrow and finally yelled, "Infinity fuck you," watching Angad leave her. She turned back to me and warned, "Trust me, Meeta. Don't trust him. He's fucking volatile than a mercury thermometer. At one moment, he would behave like he adores you. But on the other, he wouldn't think twice about stripping you in the middle of a busy road. See you."

With that, she left the room, leaving me with a galaxy of questions in my mind.

***

"Where the hell are we going, Meeta? Why are we here in Delhi?" Naina yelled at me while I chose to speak nothing and kept driving. It made her face go purple as she shifted her gaze to the window and murmured, "You're just like your fiance. Duh, thinking that you're good at surprising me!"

Did she just talk about Angad?

"Wait," I intruded on her and asked, "When did Angad surprise you?"

"Ummm..." She rubbed her forehead with her index finger and middle finger, probably looking for an answer. "You know, on my birthday. In New York. You know we're neighbours, don't you?"

"Ah, yes! I remember." I spotted the Ruhani standing outside my destination as I took a turn inside a wide street. I let my window open, put my right hand outside and waved at Ruhani while she waved back at me.

"Who is that?" Naina questioned while I stopped the car at the entrance. She got out of the car and stood in front of my new house to process where I had kidnapped her. "Where are we?"

"Come in." I gripped her shoulder and gently pushed her inside while getting the keys from Ruhani.

Naina's mouth dropped to the ceramic floor as I opened the door and led her inside. She took time to admire the brown walls adorned with pictures of my family, Angad's family, and me with Angad. It had a cream-coloured U-shaped couch next to a recliner couch, facing the 44-inch LED TV.

"What's that?" She whispered while gasping.

"Well, welcome to my house! Go upstairs," I greeted and pointed at the ivory-coloured cantilever stairs. She ran towards it while I stood downstairs. I knew what was there in it.

A few minutes later, she came downstairs slowly, looking like she was astonished.

"Did you like it?" I raised my eyebrows.

"All this for whom?" Her eyes went wide as she still couldn't recover from the surprise.

"My man, Angad," I revealed it in the most affirmative way possible while she scrunched her nose. "Post-marriage, I have to be with him in New York. I had applied for a job at his hospital. If we had to come to India for something or other, we need a place to stay, don't we? That's why I spent my money on my castle. Look here. Angad's favourite colour is brown," I pointed at the wall. "I know he loves cactus plants, swimming, the Beatles, classic literature and wine. You must have seen them here. Cactus plants and posters of the Beatles in his room. Swimming pool on the terrace. All types of wine at the wine cellar. Classic literature books at a library. I want to tell him that this is the wedding gift for the husband from his wife. I want to make his life with me as special as possible. This is just a small token of love."

As I was done confessing what I felt, I asked, "Did you like it?"

She faced me with teary eyes and subtly nodded a yes while requesting, "Could you please return me to Agra?"

***

Should Naina finally take a step to break up with Angad?

I know that's a stupid question. I know you all would answer yes. But, I thought whether you would think of those good ol' days when Angad and Naina screamed #CoupleGoals. Hence, I am putting out this question now. Think and choose.

And if you still haven't realised, we are just a handful of chapters away from the end of this book.

And from another surprise from me.

See you soon!

Song Courtesy: You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.

GLOSSARY:

1. Bhajan: Prayers