Chapter 51

2 years ago

varshaoforange

@varshaoforange

The music started and Imlie hesitatingly placed her hand on Aryan’s shoulder. She’d danced with him once before, at least only once to a slow song like this, but this time it felt different. It looked like Aryan actually wanted to dance with her now. She swallowed, looking into Aryan’s eyes as he put his hands on her waist and started guiding her across the dance floor.

When he pulled her back after a twirl, he asked, “Kya hua? What’s wrong with your face?” (What happened?)

Imlie shook her head, “Nothing, just…how did you know all that about me?”

Aryan smiled slightly, “Main Aryan Singh Rathore hoon. Meri yaadadaasht sabse tez hai. Kya koi shak tha ki main jeet jaoonga?” (I am Aryan Singh Rathore. My memory is faster than everyone’s. What, was there any doubt that I would win?)

Imlie sighed, “Tum khud ki taareef karte nahin thakate, hai na?” (You don’t get tired praising yourself, do you?)

Aryan grinned, twirling her again and pulling her back, “Kyun, tumhari tareef sunna hai kya?” (Why, do you want to hear your praises?)

Imlie blushed despite herself, “Meri woh matlab nahin tha…sirf, mujhe nahin pata tha ki tumne un sab baaton par dhyaan diya tha…” (I didn’t mean that…just, I didn’t know that you paid attention to all those things…)

Aryan, feeling bolder having Imlie to himself, in his arms, said, “Main tumhari har cheez pe dhyaan deta hun. Har cheez jo tum karthi ho. Jo tumhe khushi laati hai, jo tumhe dukh deta hai, jo tumhe naraaz karta hai. Har ek cheez.” (I pay attention to everything about you. Everything that you do. Everything that brings you happiness, that gives you sadness, that makes you angry. Every little thing.)

Swaying in his arms, as the song ended, Imlie asked, “Kyun?” (Why?)

Aryan paused, smiling a little, he didn’t want to say it now, pressuring her was not how he planned this. He swallowed, dipping her and bringing her back close to him, “Kyun ki meri aadat hai. Tum—”

The song ended, and Aryan let go of Imlie quickly as he felt someone tap on his shoulder. It was Satyakaam, he didn’t look happy, or perhaps that was Aryan’s imagination, because then he split into a smile and asked, “Can I cut in? I would like to have a dance with meri shagun ka sikka too.”

Imlie laughed, recovering from the past few minutes of backflips her stomach had been doing, “Dadda, aapko yeh angrezi style dancing aathi hai kya?” (Dadda, can you dance in this English style?)

Satyakaam popped his collar, “Aryan ne humhein yeh suit diya, toh aah mujhe lagta hai main kuch bui kar saktha hun.” (Aryan got me this suit, so today I think I can do anything.)

He took his daughter’s hand and started dancing, not as smoothly as Aryan, but not terribly—luckily the song was much faster, so it wasn’t too hard for the father-daughter duo to keep up with each other.

Aryan walked off the dance floor, smiling and watching the two of them. Then before he realized it, Meethi and Narmada had approached him on either side.

Meethi started, “Aryan, tumne bhulaya, toh main aa gayi, lekin agar tumhara iraada sirf ek party tha, toh mujhe bahut dukh hone waali hai.” (Aryan, you called, so I came, but if your intention was just a party, then I’m going to get very sad.)

Aryan cleared his throat, “Amma—I mean Meethi Ji—”

Narmada laughed, “Aru, beta, Amma hi bhulale, accha lagega unko.” (Aru, son, call her Amma, she’ll find it nice.)

Aryan cleared his throat again, and looked between the both of them, “Aap dono please shaant ho jaaye, please.” (You two, please, calm down, please.)

Meethi and Narmada laughed as Aryan escaped them, his eyes back on the dance floor. After everyone ate and the dancing died down a little, he’d be able to pull Imlie aside. The song ended, and Aryan noticed some of Imlie’s college friends join her for yet another fast song. He grabbed a drink from the bar, a beer, but one with a very low alcohol content, because he needed just a little liquid courage to make it to the end of the night, but he couldn’t get drunk. Dev sided up to Aryan, grabbing a drink himself, “So,” he started, looking at Aryan, “what’s the plan, buddy?”

Aryan rolled his eyes, “Tumse matlab?” (What’s it to you?)

Dev sighed dramatically, “Kyun ki mere zindagi mein pyaar ka p bhi nahin hai, aur mujhe tumhari prem kahaani bahut hi pyaari lagti hai.” (Because in my life there isn’t even the l in love, and I find your love story very cute.)

Aryan shook his head, “Shut up, Dev.”

Dev pouted, “Fine, don’t tell me, but please at least tell me you got her a good present. Right? You can’t do this without a good present.”

Aryan sipped his drink, “Why are you so sure there is anything planned?”

Dev, “Why are you acting like you’re an agent in RAW?”

Aryan sighed, “Fine, I’m going to tell her as the party is dying down. But not in front of all these people, in fact, not in front of anyone. I can’t pressure her like that. I’m not about to turn into one of those weirdos who proposes to someone in front of a whole crowd, and then Imlie feels she has to say yes.”

Dev laughed, “Are you sure you’re doing it this way for her and not just in case she says no?”

Aryan paused, his hand with his beer only halfway to his mouth, “Wait,” he looked to Dev, “you think she’ll say no?”

Dev realized he’d gone too far, “Of course she’s not going to say no, arre where is the confident Aryan Singh Rathore? In fact, forget that, where is carefree and calm Aru? I think you need to bring that guy back.”

Aryan took another sip, hardening his gaze on Imlie, “I’m not bringing anyone back. I am what I am. If she wants me, then she wants me, not some other version of me…if she doesn’t, then…she doesn’t.”

Aryan left Dev in the middle of the conversation, he needed some fresh air. But Arpita pulled him back before he could head out to the garden. “Where are you going UNB?” She asked, “We’re going to cut the cake now. Come on.”

Arpita pulled Aryan towards the table that the caterers had set up. Aryan turned to the staff dealign with the music and signaled to them to shut it off.

Arpita was excited, “Imlie! Cake time!”

Imlie leapt towards them, with the joy of someone cutting a cake for the first time in their lives, not someone turning twenty, “Sita Maiyaa, I have been thinking about this cake all day!” She pulled Amma and Dadda with her behind the cake. She looked to Arpita and Narmada and hugged them, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is amazing,” then she looked to Aryan, “and, thank you too, ABP.”

Aryan put a hand to his ear, “What? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that? Did you say something?”

Imlie walked up to him and shouted in his ear, “I said thank you, ajeeb bikkat praani!”

Aryan stepped back, surprised and furious, but then it all melted away watching her burst into laughter and excitedly take the knife from Arpita to cut the cake.

Everyone broke into a chorus of Happy Birthday after Imlie blew out the candles and cut the first piece. Imlie picked it up, “Cake, I really want to eat you, but first, Amma.” She stuffed the piece into Meethi’s mouth, who laughed but ate it happily.

Rupi interjected, “You all should have gotten chocolate, Imlie loves chocolate, like Adi Bhai.”

Aryan cleared his throat before anyone could really hear Rupi’s last sentence, adding, “We got this cake because Imlie preferred it over the chocolate, right?”

Imlie nodded happily, swallowing the piece Meethi had fed her. Imlie went down the line, sharing cake with Satyakaam, Narmada, Arpita, the Tripathis, and then she came to Aryan.

“Main jaanti hun ki tum shaam mein carbs nahin khate, lekin ek din ke liye, chup chap kha lo.” Imlie smiled, pushing the piece towards his mouth.

Aryan smiled slightly, whispering, “Just this once, then,” and took the piece she fed him

—Thursday, February 11, 2022, 8:15PM—

The party had devolved into a mixture of people dancing, chatting with each other, and Meethi, Narmada, and Aparna sharing their favorite Imlie stories to those who were listening. Imlie who had been having her full of the samosas and golgappes was happily chatting with Priya. Aryan spotted her after a boring conversation with Surinder and a few other Bhaskar Times editors. He headed her way, and then an arm pulled him back. “What the hell? Who is—” He turned, it was Satyakaam. “Ah, Dadda—I mean Satyakaam Ji, hello. What’s up?” He cursed Imlie for scaring him about Satyakaam earlier, this was all her fault. Then again, whatever she’d said hadn’t actually been a lie. Aryan gulped.

“Aryan,” Satyakaam smiled, but Aryan could tell it was a loaded smile, “Meethi and Narmada have hinted to me that you seem to have developed feelings…for my daughter. Is that true?” Both their gazes turned to a happily eating Imlie.

Aryan looked back to Satyakaam, who still hadn’t let go of Aryan’s arm, “Satyakaam Ji, see, you’re correct. I mean, Maa and Amma—Meethi Ji. Meethi Ji and Maa, are correct. But I promise I am a very…err…I am a good person.” Aryan finished, lamely. He really should have had something planned out for Satyakaam and Meethi, he’d known they’d be coming here since he was the genius who had thought up the idea.

Satyakaam laughed, “You are…a good person? That’s your case?”

Aryan nodded, “Right, well, I am also…listen, you may be a big deal in Pagdandia, but I am a big deal in all of India. I run ten businesses, alone. I have been one of India’s 30 under 30 for years now. And, I was runner up—never mind.”

Satyakaam smiled wider, “Runner up? Please continue.”

Aryan shook his head, “No, it was nothing. I was runner up MVP in my college cricket team. That’s it.”

Satyakaam nodded, his face turning serious, “Got it. Well I don’t care how many businesses you run, or who knows you. All I care about, is Imlie. I can move mountains for her if I have to, if she asked me to stop time for her, I would. Nothing is more important to me than her happiness, than her dreams, than her future. So, as long as you’re not planning on messing any of that up…we won’t have a problem.”

Aryan stared at Satyakaam, he had never once been questioned by a woman’s father before. In fact, when he used to date ages ago, there were fathers that had begged him to marry their daughters. To this day, no one had dared to question his resolve or his intentions. And surprisingly, Aryan wasn’t offended. He was afraid, Aryan wasn’t cowardly enough not to admit that to himself, but he knew exactly why Satyakaam felt the need to have this conversation, and he knew his answer now.

“Satyakaam,” Aryan started, “I know you don’t know me that well, so any promises I make you right now, they’re not worth anything. But, I can tell you this, my happiness, it’s in Imlie’s smile. My dreams, they’re all of her. My future, it’s nothing if Imlie’s not in it. I don’t know if I’m perfect, or even if I’m Imlie’s choice yet, but I know I am ready to do anything it takes to make her happy.”

Satyakaam paused for a long time, his grip on Aryan’s arm still tight. Then he smiled and let go, clapping Aryan on the back, “Perfect, Meethi and Narmada Ji sent me over here to figure out if you actually know how to thread a few words together, or if you were planning on telling Imlie how you felt with something idiotic like a bouquet of flowers or something. I’ll report back to them that, well, tum to shaayar nikle! Shabaash! Say it exactly like that, the dreams, future, and happiness bit, that was great.” (You turned out to be a poet!)

Aryan laughed nervously, “Right,” he took a nervous step away from Satyakaam, “okay…I’m going to go now…”

Satyakaam gestured for him to go. Aryan backed away and turned to look for Imlie. She wasn’t by the food any more, Priya was there chatting with Dev now. He looked for her throughout the hall, his eyes darting from group to group, he couldn’t see her. There was no sight of her in that beautiful white lehenga, no glimpse of her hair dancing around, nothing. He headed to the corridor that led to the kitchen, perhaps she’d gone in search for more food or some water. But she wasn’t there either. He headed back to the main hall and decided she must have gone out for some fresh air, that would be good, the garden was beautiful this time of night, he could tell her now. He had to do it now.

When he walked out to the garden, he heard a voice, it was Shiv. Standing in the dark, Aryan realized Shiv was talking to Imlie.