Chapter 24
Ariya stood in the balcony, her hand on her chest, feeling the diamond ring that hung on a chain with her fingers. It had been a month since Veer asked her to marry her and it had been a fun and chaotic month. The reality TV show was serious work, and she had not expected what it took to create a season of a show.
She waved at a few members of the crew as they laughed, relaxing in the hot tub in Stefan’s backyard in the late evening. It was a party and sleepover night at Stefan’s house to celebrate the completion of the shooting of the reality TV series.
She smiled to herself when she felt his eyes on her even before he put his arm around her. “Are you hiding from me?”
“Like I could even if I wanted to. I didn’t want to disturb you when you got the phone call.” She turned to face him.
“You could have stayed.”
“I could have, but I didn’t want to listen to you talking to your dad,” she teased.
Veer let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. She knew instantly he was unhappy about something.
“What’s wrong?”
“Let’s hope it’s nothing… I’ll figure it out.”
“Veer?”
“There’s a board meeting the same time I was supposed to be in India.”
“During the wedding?” She sounded dejected.
“Baby, don’t be sad. Nothing is more important than me being with you.”
She looked up smiling at him. “Yes, there is, your dad needs you at the board meeting, doesn’t he?”
“He can figure it out. He had been the past few years.”
She cupped her hands on his face. “Veer, I want you to go to the wedding, but I’d rather you do what you need to do to help your dad. We can throw a wicked party for Siri and Rohan at your parents’ house.”
“I told him, I’ll miss a day’s meeting in Spain, so I can be there for the wedding, if not for the other events.” He kissed her cheek.
“Veer, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t want to miss the wedding.” He sounded adamant.
“Veer, you sound ridiculous.”
“Either you skip the wedding, or I skip the board meetings… I can’t be away from you for that long.” He growled against her neck.
“Okay, how about this…” he sucked her words into his mouth.
She heard cheers from the lower level, and someone called out, “Get a room, you two.”
She pulled back laughing and catching her breath. “Veer, listen to me. I want you to have fun at the wedding, spend time with the people I love, not fly in and fly out like it is a meeting.”
He shook his head. “No, let me figure this out.”
“Veer… I will be very sad if you are there only for a few hours. It’ll make me very sad when you leave.”
“I can’t go without being with you for all those weeks,” he grumbled.
“Stop being a baby… I’ll be gone a little over two weeks. That’s it.”
“Not acceptable because I am away for a few days for the TV Showtime Awards and you refuse to go with me.”
“I’ll go next year when we win an award for our TV series, and that’s the last weekend before we fly to India for the wedding.”
“So, if I don’t go to the wedding, I won’t see you for three weeks.”
“You’ll be fine.” She smiled.
“I want to see you before you go to India if I can’t be there for the wedding.” His voice was a whisper.
She thought for a moment. “I can leave after you come back. I won’t miss any of the events, but Siri might freak out.”
“Baby, don’t change anything for me. I will go to India for the wedding.”
“Veer, don’t be ridiculous. Indian weddings are not a fly in and fly out event, and I don’t want to introduce you to my mom and sister on the most… I shouldn’t say this but chaotic days in our lives.”
He smiled, nuzzling her cheek. “I’ll make our wedding day chaotic… after the wedding.”
“I want to get married at your parents’ house.” She looked into his eyes and saw the twinkle of happiness.
“I would like that, too.” His lips closed in over hers, and she felt his fingers in her hair angling her head for a deeper kiss.
*****
“I miss you already,” Ariya pouted, looking at him on the phone. Veer was away that weekend for the awards function, and it was two days before her mom and sister were leaving for India. She had changed her travel dates, so she could see Veer before she went to India.
Siri was unhappy about the change in plans, but she was able to cajole her with a promise of not spending a minute away from her sister after reaching India.
“There’s still time for you to join me for the awards… say the words, and I’ll make the travel happen.”
“No, Siri and Ma need me here.”
“Guess who I met at the airport?” Veer’s voice was steady.
“Who?” she wondered why he sounded so ominous.
“Devaraya.”
“Oh…”
“He looked good. He thanked me for stopping by the hospital, and he said he and I should meet for drinks tomorrow.”
She looked at him silently.
“Baby, don’t look at me like that.”
“Veer, I don’t want to hear anything about him. I’m not saying you shouldn’t meet him. I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Okay. I am going to take Stefan and Andy with me to the meeting. I want to get those guys introduced to him.”
Ariya felt guilty about lashing out at him because of what she felt for the man, her father. “Sorry, Veer. I didn’t mean to. That meeting will help Stefan and Andy.”
He smiled but did not say anything.
“I love you, Veer.”
“Love you, too, baby. I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She pasted her lips to the phone screen, laughing.
“I’ll kiss you back when I see you,” he crooned, winking at her before ending the call.
Ariya knew he would be busy the next few days with the various events and interviews. She looked forward to spending time with her sister and mother before they headed to India after being away on the assignment for such a long time.
She spent the following day helping her sister and mom pack in the morning, and they left home to spend the day at the spa. Her mom went from getting overly emotional to extremely happy as she spent time with her daughters.
Mother and daughters returned late evening to the house, relaxed and spent at the same time.
“We will miss you, Siri,” her mom said, rather emotionally.
“Ma, she lives ten minutes away,” Ariya teased.
“She will no longer be my daughter or your sister. She will be part of Rohan’s family.” Her mom sniffled.
“Really, Ma. Don’t get started again. I promise not to move too far from you.” Siri laughed.
“And I am going to retire as soon as you get pregnant,” her mom declared.
“There she goes again.” Siri rolled her eyes.
“Siri, go easy on Ma. You know we talked about this.”
“Yes, yes.” Siri laughed hugging her mother.
“I want you girls to be happy.” Her mom smiled at Ariya.
“Ma, I’m very happy,” Ariya said making her mom fight back the tears of joy.
“She is in love, Ma. Not ready to accept it.”
“Ariya, have you been seeing someone?” Her mom got excited.
“Siri is kidding, Ma.” She snarled at her sister who had promised not to say anything until after the marriage.
“Ma, look at her. Don’t you think she is glowing?” Siri winked.
Her mom smiled at Ariya. “She will tell me when the time is right. I don’t need to worry about her.”
“Thanks, Ma.” Ariya put her arms around her sister and mom. “I’m going to miss you guys.”
“Go with us,” Siri asked, making her feel guilty.
“I can’t. I need to take care of something.”
“Tell Stefan I’m pissed at him,” Siri growled making Ariya laugh.
Veer, not Stefan.
“Girls, go sleep. We have an early morning flight.”
Ariya went up to her room and started packing her bags for the India trip. She didn’t want to spend any time away from Veer when he was back. She was about to go to bed when her phone beeped a message.
She smiled hoping it was Veer, but it was Dominic.
Dominic: Hey, I had no idea you had a celebrity in your family.
She scrunched her nose and clicked on the web link he sent with his message. She almost fell off the bed when she saw the title of the article.
Production Moghul’s Daughter, Internet Celebrity… Matchmaking at its Best!
Her hands started to tremble when she saw the picture of Veer with the man she despised most. They stood shaking hands, smiling at the camera with Stefan and Andy in the background.
“No,” her voice was a whisper.
The article talked about Veer and her regarding what was going to be aired on the TV show and what was going to aired in a few months. Her eyes were getting blurry as she read about a potential venture.
“No…” She threw the phone away like she got stung.
Angry tears started to flow down her eyes and disappointment gripped her heart. She felt betrayed and started crying.
“Ariya, what’s wrong?” Siri came into her room and put her arms around her.
Ariya held her sister and wept without saying anything. She felt the burn in her chest as the image of the man she loved and hated the most flashed in front of her.
“Siri, what happened?” Her mom came into the room, worried.
“Ma, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Siri’s voice wobbled.
“Ariya, are you hurt… sweetie, look at mom.” Her mother pleaded, and Ariya looked at her mom and burst into sobs, hugging her. Even in the most painful moment, she decided not to talk about what really happened.
“Ma… I…”
“Siri, go get water,” her mom said holding her niece closer to her.
“Ma…” Her words were lost in her sobs. Her heart thudded, and she was in so much pain, she thought it would stop beating.
“Siri, call the ambulance,” her mother ordered.
“Ma, no,” Ariya managed to say.
“Ariya, talk to us,” her sister pleaded.
“I’m… I can’t…”
“Ariya, did someone hurt you?” Siri’s question had her wanting to spill the beans and cry on her sister’s shoulder, but she didn’t want to ruin her sister’s memorable time with her sadness.
Ariya shook her head. “I want to go to India with you guys.”
“Oh my God, are you crying because we were going to leave you.” Her mom put words in her mouth, and Ariya nodded, hugging her mom and swallowing the truth.
“Such a silly girl. I’ll talk to the airlines and change her ticket back to tomorrow. Stay with her, Ma.” Siri left the room.
“Ariya, are you okay?”
“I want to be with you, Ma. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“Silly, girl. Why did you need to cry for this?” Her mom wiped the tears from her cheek.
Ariya held her mom like a little girl remembering the time she spent on her lap soon after the accident. “Ma, sleep in my room.”
Her mom laughed looking at Ariya fondly. “Why don’t you, me, and Siri sleep in the big bed… just like old times.”
Ariya forced a smile and followed her mother out of the bedroom refusing to look at her phone. The people she loved and cared about were right in front of her, everyone else, she had no more room for them, including Veer.