Chapter 18: Chapter 18

The next day, first thing in the morning I did was reading the story written by Sandhya. I read the story written by her, I understood, I related, I realized, I regrated and I worried. I even felt pleased to see her love, pain, and hopes for me. I fell in love with her again, and this time, I had a reason! Until now I believed that destiny brought us together. But no, it was our unrealized and unaccepted love that brought us to be a couple.

I knew Sandhya and Sindhu since my childhood. Sandhya being an introvert didn't visit places and people. Before our marriage was settled, I hardly saw her, it was only thrice.

I met Sandhya for the first time when I was studying my 6th grade. We played together the whole day. We ran. We jumped, we hurt, we cried and waved off a goodbye. That was it, fun with innocence!

The second time I saw her was when my love at first sight happened, I fell in love for the very first time! That was a one-time thing, a feeling to be remembered for a lifetime!

There was this birthday party organized. Sandhya blew the colored paper pieces onto Sindhu and shot a playful smile onto her. Nothing happened to Sindhu, but that smile struck me as hard as a bullet. Sindhu too grabbed a lot of color paper and glitters to pour them on Sandhya. So did all the other kids to her. Neither could Sandhya escape nor could she stop laughing over that fun thing! It seemed like, every other sound muted off and every other visual blurred off. All I could see were her glittering eyes and giggles, all I could hear were her laughter and naughtiness. Every moment, I was more and more attracted to her. It was my happiness seeing her so happy!

Also, she's beautiful. How would I not fall for that smile! Love at first sight! My heart raced, sparkles filled up the eyes, over surprise my mouth opened wide and without any movement, I only kept staring at her until an idiot came to disturb me. To capture this moment, to capture my happiness, to capture that happiness, I did take a picture. A single one, focusing on her. Yup, secretly! Sorry! But I did that. At that moment, I didn't think a lot. I was also confident that no one observed me doing this. I swear, I didn't know Sandhya observed that and developed feelings for me. She was very busy having fun. On that day, I was so nervous, I didn't even give formal greetings to Sandhya, and I taught she wasn't even aware of my presence at that party.

I was worried to be rejected, I wanted to confidently approach her and propose. I worked hard to succeed in my carrier. I equally didn't ignore or forget Sandhya. Sindhu and I became best friends and I used to get all updates about Sandhya. Sindhu is so talkative that, she used to talk even about the ice cream they had last night. Listening to unnecessary and minute details about Sandhya never bored me. Is that love?

The third time I met Sandhya was during our cousin's wedding. That was when I appreciated her for being unique. Her response was shocking and actually drove in a lot of negative vibes. "Is that all you want to say?" was her question. I replied "Yes". She gave me a scary look, showed attitude, said a rude 'ok!' and walked away silently. Neither did she smile nor was she pleased to be praised. I found that weird, but now I get to understand her anger. She probably expected an apology and a confession! Sindhu herself was shocked looking at Sandhya's behavior.

I was wrong, I was so wrong in assuming that I wasn't caught. Not just Sandhya, but my mom too caught me red-handed! She was the person who arranged our marriage. She spoke to Ganapathi uncle long back and ensured Sandhya wasn't taken by any other random guy. All of the story written by her was imaginary, but I can relate to her emotion.

I wish my mom advised me to confess and apologize in the first place instead of arranging our marriage. But she too had zero clues about Sandhya's feelings. I too didn't realize I was supposed to do so.

Me: Sindhu, send me Rekha and Niru contacts. I got to get a lot of information about Sandhya."

Sindhu: Planning any surprise for Sandhya? I am excited!

Me: No! Preparing for a shock! At the engagement, they directly asked me if Sandhya is really happy about the wedding.

Sindhu: What has gotten into you again? You love each other and are already engaged. Hell with your doubts, can you really keep my sister happy?

Me: That is why I have to get answers.

Sindhu: Hey, but it's arranged. It's an arranged marriage. You guys hardly knew each other! And, yesterday she did say that she loves you!

Me: Yup, she did say that to me!

Sindhu: And, is that not enough?

Me: You have no idea how complicated our love story is! Sindhu, it's urgent. Send their contacts. I'll explain you later.

Sindhu: Ok!

Me: Is Sandhya at school?

Sindhu: Nope! She took three weeks off from being a maths teacher.

Me: Very good! I'll be at the school in 15 mins. Come if you want to know more about what's happening.

Sindhu: Hey, we are busy!

Me: Whatever! I'm not waiting for you

Sindhu: That was rude! I so confidently boasted about you and your goodness with Sandhya.

Me: My dear sister-in-law, I am overwhelmed with existing doubts. Please don't create new ones. I will be very good to Sandhya. Sandhya is so impressed with me that she proposed to me, even before I did!

Sindhu: Waste fellow! Don't even know to express your love for her.

Me: Correct Sindhu. You indeed are correct! I regret being so!

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