Chapter 2: ✿ Two • Wedding Chaos ✿

Ruhani was dressed in a beautifully embroidered sky blue gown as she walked past the crowd of guests on Chahana and Jashn's engagement ceremony. She reached the table where chicken was being served. Her mouth watered just at the sight of Butter Chicken and Tandoori Naan. She looked around to see if Angad was anywhere around or not. Fortunately he wasn't around so she quickly picked a plate and filled it with Butter Chicken and Naan. She had made a bet with him that she won't eat chicken for a month because according to Angad she can't live without eating chicken. And she wanted to prove him wrong. Funnily, the bet had happened just a day before.

She put a morsel in her mouth, not caring about her pink lipstick getting smudged. But her eyes kept constantly moving around to make sure Angad don't see her eating chicken.

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Jodhbir was heading towards the buffet when Angad stopped him.

“Jodhbir, are you going towards buffet?” He asked curiously.

Jodhbir couldn't understand why him going to buffet would interest Angad so much. But he nodded, “Umm... yeah.”

“Great! If you, by any chance, see Ruhani eating chicken, just click a picture of her.” Angad very carefully instructed him as if he was telling him to catch a criminal red-handed. But last time Jodhbir checked, eating chicken wasn't a crime.

“But why? Eating chicken isn't banned in Awadh.”

“Arrey yaar, she had made a bet with me that she won't eat chicken for a month. But I know her, she won't be able to resist the Butter Chicken I put on the menu intentionally so she loses the bet.”  Angad grinned.

Jodhbir gave him a weird look because Angad plotted this entire Butter Chicken conspiracy to make Ruhani lose the bet. But he couldn't blame Angad and Ruhani for being so naive and carefree, they were lucky to have small problems like this in their lives.

Angad was waiting for Jodhbir's reply so Jodhbir said Okay and continued walking to the buffet. While Angad smiled smugly at his genius plan.

“If I went there, she will definitely hide away. But she can't even imagine Jodhbir will catch her red-handed, no, chicken-handed. Haha.”

🕊🕊🕊

Ruhani was savoring the delicious Butter Chicken and Tandoori Naan, she couldn't help but feel blessed that chicken existed on earth, all while keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings.

Meanwhile, Jodhbir reached the buffet with no intentions of getting involved in their silliness. He picked a plate and was serving himself some rice when his eyes fell on the brown-eyed brat of Shekhawat family who was standing in a corner and enjoying her Butter Chicken and Naan. Well, seems like Angad succeeded in making her lose the bet. The scene looked cute and he wanted to capture it. So he put his plate down and pulled out his phone from the pocket of his beige Kurta. Ruhani, unaware of his presence, was licking her fingers when he clicked the scene. Once done, he shoved the phone back in his pocket and concentrated on the food.

Later, when Angad asked him if he saw Ruhani eating chicken or not, Jodhbir politely lied that he didn't see her. Because he didn't want to share that picture with anyone.

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It was Chahana and Jashn's Haldi ceremony. Initially the ceremony was going pretty well. But then Angad and Jodhbir took matters in their hands and began the chaos every wedding is supposed to have. Angad dipped his hand in the Haldi and painted Chahana's face yellow while Jodhbir did the same with Jashn.

Ruhani was dressed in an orange floral saree with hints of red here and there on the organza fabric. And she loved her saree way too much to let it get painted yellow if Angad decided to attack her with the Haldi on his hands. So she slowly began walking away from the scene. However, Angad saw her trying to escape.

“Ruhani, stop!”  He yelled and began chasing her.

Ruhani shrieked and ran as fast as possible. She opened the French doors and entered the lawn. Angad ran after her and only stopped when he succeeded in coloring her face yellow.

But both Ruhani and Chahana took their revenge on him by putting itching powder on the Kurta he was supposed to wear later. He had to shower thrice to get rid of the itchiness.

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In the evening it was the Ladies Sangeet so all the men were pushed into the lawn and women began the musical night in the living hall. Ruhani wore a rose gold saree with stonework all over the blouse and the saree. She was enjoying her time seeing women singing mischievous songs and dancing.

While in the lawn, Jodhbir was stuck with tipsy men. He was the only one to be sober among them. Jashn had sneaked out, most probably, to make out with Chahana in some corner of the house. And poor Jodhbir was left to get bored in the crowd of drunk men who were laughing among themselves.

He was taking a sip of his whiskey when Angad approached him and asked him in hushed tone, “Jodhbir, do you wanna sneak in and watch the function?”

“I'm not interested in watching middle-aged women dancing on the songs mocking their mother in laws.” He refused.

“Arrey, there will be beautiful girls too. You might find your next girlfriend inside.”  Angad tried convincing him.

“I am still not interested.”

“Come on, Jodhbir, it will be fun.”  Angad insisted.

“But ladies have locked the doors. How will we enter the hall?”  He asked.

“I have it all sorted. Before coming out I opened the window and door of a guestroom on the ground floor to sneak inside later.”  Angad grinned.

“Hmm, that's impressive. Okay, I'll go with you but make sure we don't get caught.”

And they sneaked away from the lawn to the window of the said guestroom. They quickly jumped inside the room and open the door. The noise of women singing was echoing through the walls. Both of them hid behind a wall and began watching the function.

Soon Ruhani was dragged to where ladies were dancing and after lots of insisting she finally joined the dance. Angad was making faces and rolling his eyes at her not so great dancing skills. But Jodhbir was whipped. His mind was telling him to look away from her because inappropriate thoughts were coming to his mind. But he didn't look away.

After fifteen minutes or so Angad and Jodhbir went back to the lawn to not make anyone suspicious.

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The next day, it was Chahana's Mehendi. The ceremony began in the evening. Henna artists had arrived and were applying Henna designs on women's hand turn by turn. Young girls were really excited to get Henna done on their hands. Ruhani was also excited. She wore a black lehenga for the occasion. The long skirt had designs of brown flowers scattered all over the fabric while the blouse was a bit exposing. It was sleeveless and exposed a good portion of her chest. And she had ditched the veil fearing it will ruin her Henna. But showing too much skin didn't bother Ruhani. Yeah, it sometimes bothered Angad because he knew how men's minds worked. But her father never pointed it out so she was cool about it.

She was sitting on the carpeted floor and a henna artist was applying Henna on her hand when she saw Jodhbir entering the living hall with Jashn's mother. Their eyes clashed and for some strange reasons, she felt exposed. It never happened before. She had seen lust in the eyes of men but it never made her feel uncomfortable. Because she belonged to a powerful family and Ruhani knew no man will dare to touch her fearing the consequences of messing with her family. But Jodhbir's eyes held no lust in them. However, there was desire dancing in them.

They finally ended the intense eye contact when they heard Angad's voice. Angad shook hands with Jodhbir but then he saw Ruhani and her exposing dress. He quietly went to sit beside her and asked her in a whisper, “Where's your veil?”

Ruhani rolled her eyes at him, “Chill, Angad. There are only ladies here.”

“Jodhbir is present here.” He said.

“So? Veil will ruin my Mehendi. I'm not taking it until my Mehendi dries up.” She told him stubbornly.

“Then go to your room.” Angad told her angrily.

Ruhani glared at him. She knew he won't back down so she called for her Badi Maa.

“Badi Maa, Angad is bothering me.”

Chandni came to them and asked, “What did he do, Ruhi?”

“He is dictating me to take a veil.” She complained.

Angad defended himself by saying, “Mom, Jodhbir is here. Some male workers are working around. I just don't want them to look at her inappropriately.”

“Angad, I understand that. But just covering body won't stop anyone from having inappropriate intentions. It's inside them, clothes have nothing to do with lustful gazes. Now stop bothering, Ruhi. Have I ever stopped you from roaming in the house wearing a vest after workout saying maids will have inappropriate thoughts about you?”

“Mom, that's different.”  Angad argued.

“No, it's not. Don't make fuss about it.” And she walked away.

Angad grumbled something under his breath and left. After he was gone, Ruhani looked around for Jodhbir but by then he had left. He had only come to drop Jashn's mother.

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And the wedding day arrived sooner than their expectations. Ruhani and Chahana went to the parlor where they were supposed to get ready. The makeup artists did their makeup and then the cousins got dressed. Ruhani had her eyes on a Tarun Tahilani dress for a long time. So she bought it for Chahana's wedding. It was an ivory see-through corset with embellishments, paired with a draped skirt and a cape in similar shade. She knew it will be hard to carry the dress but it made her look regal. After wearing the dress, she wore two heavy earrings, a choker necklace, a bracelet and comfortable ivory sandals to end the look.

Once both of them were ready, they headed to the venue. As soon as Jashn removed his Jutti and stepped on the Mandap, Ruhani and Angad stole the Jutti and hid it in a car. Jodhbir didn't even realise that shoes were already stolen. Now that wasn't his fault, it was Ruhani who distracted him. Why she had to look so beautiful?

But then his eyes fell on someone else. She was wearing a yellow saree and coming towards him with a smirk on her face. His ex-girlfriend. Ipshita.

He really wanted to hide somewhere but before he could do that, Ipshita was already standing in front of him with her signature smirk.

“Long time, Jodhbir. Where are you nowadays?”

Jodhbir put on a fake smile, “I'm busy with work so I don't get time to attend the get-together parties. By the way, are you bride's relative?”

“No, your cousin Jashn has invited me.” Her smile faltered, “I thought you told him to send me the wedding invitation.”

And that's how the conversation turned awkward.

“I didn't, Ipshita.” He denied calmly, knowing very well that it would hurt her. She had been trying to get back with him, but he no more wanted to date anyone.

“Oh, forget it. Are you still single or finally got a new girlfriend?”  She asked putting a stone on her heart. She wanted his answer to be a No.

“Not really,” and his eyes fell on Ruhani, who was eating Tandoori Chicken while sitting in a secluded corner. Her eyes were constantly moving around, maybe to make sure Angad doesn't catch her eating Chicken. The scene made him smile and he continued, “But I have my eyes on someone.”

Ipshita turned around to see what made him smile so hard and she saw the brown-eyed girl who had her sole attention on her food. And her hopes of reunion were crushed.

“I see.” She looked at him, “I should leave now. Goodbye, Jodhbir.”

The sudden change in her mood confused him but he said his goodbye to her before she left. After that, he went straight to Jashn who was busy eating Ice Cream, sitting beside Chahana.

“Why did you invite Ipshita to the wedding?” Jodhbir asked.

Jashn replied nonchalantly, “That's for the chaos you created on my Haldi. It's called Tit for Tat.”

Jodhbir frowned but let it go. He would take his revenge at night by robbing him off his money during the rituals.

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The wedding reception was boring. Ruhani and Angad were sitting on a table and staring at the boring faces of politicians and businessmen attending the reception.

Ruhani was wearing a shimmery grey saree with matching earrings but now her efforts to get dressed seemed futile. It would have been better if she ditched the reception and watched some Turkish drama instead.

“Angad, it's so boring.” She groaned.

“I know.” He mumbled while counting the number of air conditioners in the banquet hall. Now that's what you do when you are bored out of your mind.

“Hey, guys.” Jodhbir came and sat with them.

“Hey.” Ruhani and Angad replied in unison.

“So both of you are also getting bored?” He asked, because he was also bored after talking about business for more than an hour.

“Yeah, there's no music, no dance, what sort of reception this is?” Angad complained.

“It's just a formality. Let's take selfies. That's the only fun thing we can do right now.” He suggested and quickly pulled out his phone.

It didn't seem like a bad idea to Ruhani or Angad. Taking selfies was better than getting bored. So three of them took lots of selfies. Ruhani and Angad began messing with each other while taking pictures.

“Guys, stop. Guests are looking at both of you.” Jodhbir put a pause to their childishness.

“Jodhbir, show me the pictures.” said Ruhani.

Jodhbir gave her his phone. Ruhani began scrolling through the selfies, laughing at their expressions. However, she stumbled upon a picture that she wasn't supposed to see. It was her picture of licking her fingers while eating Butter Chicken at the engagement ceremony. By then Jodhbir too realised the mishap he did by handing her the phone. And looking at each other's expressions, they understood what the other one was thinking. But they kept quiet because Angad was sitting with them. Ruhani handed him the phone and excused herself from there.

Jodhbir was confused how he would explain her why he had that picture. He was afraid of her reaction.

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Pictures of Ruhani's outfits will be posted on Instagram by tomorrow evening.