Jason
After taking a bath due to the flour incident, when I reached the entrance I saw only Alex was waiting for me. Where does Xandar goes? I told him to get ready for dinner. He should be here at this time.
"Where is Xandar?" I questioned him while looking around the corridor for him.
"He got a call from Lily, he will be coming soon." As soon as he completed his sentence we saw Xandar running towards us. He had a perplexed expression on his face and his eyes were winded. We both were confused by his reaction and behavior. He is always a calm and calculated man, he never behaved like this.
"Are you so hungry that you are going to run towards dining ha?" Alex asked him in a confused state. Xandar stopped in front of us and tried to suck air from his mouth, he was breathless due to his small marathon. He nodded in a negative way by shaking his head.
"I saw a princess." He confessed breathlessly, leaving us to freeze in place. I took a moment to confirm that I didn't hear wrong, but Alex's expression showed that I didn't hear wrong. Xandar only refers to his sister as princess and she died at 12 year old with his father. I and Alex never saw her and except us, no one knows about it. He doesn't even mention her name, because it reminds him of her. It was very difficult for him to compose himself in those days, it took him nearly a year to get stable in that situation.
"She even called me monkey." He looked tremendously happy after seeing that girl. His eyes were sparkling and it watered a bit at the edge. After a long time, I saw him happy. His smile was immeasurable.
"And the most interestingly she knows Jason." He grinned at me while saying that sentence. How can I know her? I don't even know what he is talking about? She used to live in her native country Canada.
"I never met her." I stated the fact in my raised voice.
"We know Jason, you tell us in detail." Alex also supported me, looking at me and then turned towards Xandar while asking the details because whatever he is talking about is just impossible.
"I was on call and suddenly I heard one girl calling me American monkey angrily. This caught my attention; she lectured me because accidentally I stepped up on a small plant. She recognized me as a friend of James ' uncle's son's friend, and after chatting some time I figured out that she knows about Jason like working habits and refusal to attend all gatherings. Not only this but also she thinks that you are going to come for this wedding." Whole time he was explaining in detail. His grin turned into suppressed laughter, he was controlling while talking about my past behavior, but the thing that caught my attention was that she knows about me. It's very clear that he met a local girl, then how she knows such kind of information about me. I was amused about this.
"What is her name?" Alex questioned. Ya, I would like to know too.
"She ran away before asking, because she was cooking and she was late." His answer disappointed me and Alex. I think all girls in India have a habit of running away without saying names. Those beautiful eyes didn't even see my face. If she is able to see then she will not run away.
"Why are you calling her princess?" Alex comes to the main point. That was the most interesting part, I got distracted a bit. Well, it wasn't even my fault.
"Because she has the same bubbly persona and she almost resembles a princess, for a moment I thought she was standing in front of me." Xandar was so excited to even talk about her. Arianna was so important to him, and her death broke him down. It was sudden and it made things worse. After talking to that unknown girl, he turned so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He was smiling like he never smiled before.
"Anyway, let's go to the dining area. I have heard Indian cuisine is the best and tastiest food on earth." Xandar is never going to improve. He and his food are soul mates. No one can separate them, maybe he is this interested because his princess is going to cook for him.
"What are we going to do with you?" Alex shook his head in disbelief. It's about food, he is never going to change. We headed towards the dining area and I saw a large dining area in a big hall.
"It's called a ballroom, not a dining room." Alex mumbled but no one replied as we all were surprised by his scale. One long table was placed exactly below the gigantic shining chandelier of multiple layers. An open terrace was connected to the dining, where people were chatting with each other. A subtle pistachio color was used for the room and all remaining silver and golden decoration was standing out.
I was searching for dad in that crowd of nearly 50-60 people. Booming sound of laughter was able to be heard from all around, as everybody was smiling ear to ear. Looked like the light from their faces was enough to illuminate the whole dining hall. It was a little difficult to digest that all these people were living under the same roof for at least a week for an arranged marriage. I was wandering through the hall with these monkeys and I heard someone calling me loudly from across the hall. Their dad was chatting with his friends, who were flashing a big smile at me. We walked towards them.
"Hey son, your life is going to change forever from this moment, like mine. Let me introduce you to these lovely people." There was no measurement for dad's happiness. I think he is exaggerating a little; ok he is exaggerating a lot. He is always this happy and full of drama when it comes to his friends. With that he introduced me to his best friends Ramesh and Prakash uncle. Then he introduced me to the father of Parkash' uncle. He even scolded dad for bringing me here late. I never saw my dad getting scolded. It was fun, he told me, Alex and Xandar to call him grandpa. Alex and Xandar liked the people around and enjoyed their company. They all are simple and sweet people, but also have traditional beliefs, especially grandpa.
I learned that this is an arranged marriage, and then they told us about different stories and how they convinced dad for marriage. They consider dad as their brother. They were going to cancel the wedding due to dad's refusal. This was shocking for the three of us, but it only shows that they not only call each other as brothers but also they share a very strong bond from the bottom of their hearts.
I can see happiness in their eyes after seeing me. All my aunties are smiling ear to ear. They avoided long introductions because there were lots of people in that room. In the US living with all relatives under one roof is not imaginable but here they are living with pleasure. My mind is not in a proper state, it's just flashing photos of Miss. beautiful eyes, I was unintentionally searching for her.
Interrupting through my thoughts, the helpers announced that plates were served, and we headed to take seats. Grandpa takes the head seat then uncle's and aunties. Remaining seats are taken by all youngsters.
There was one large plate placed in front of us. We get confused.
"This plate is for eating or serving!" Alex exclaimed amusingly looking at the plate. Then Nirmal told us that in Indian cuisine all different dishes are served in one plate. But he was also a little bit amused by the size of the plate. He said that normally the size of the plate is a little bit smaller. I understood it not a bit at all. I just waited and all the chefs gathered in front of the table. Then I spotted that runaway girl, laughing with her friends. She changed her clothing, of course Jason flour was also spilled on her hands and bit on dress but she bathed me with flour.
She started speaking in some unknown language and took the name of something stranger to me. What was that? What's its meaning? Like she can read my mind she translated it. It was a royal feast. Oh she prepared a Royal feast for me, not for you but for around 50 people sitting on the table and not her but with her group of friends. My subconscious mind reminded me.
One of her friends said that she is the head chef of the dinner and all dishes are prepared according to her instructions. I was impressed that she managed to prepare dinner for all people. Then she started telling the menu of the dinner. After that, everyone was shocked. Well, it didn't matter to me, because I didn't know what she was blabbering for that long. After a bit praising her, again everyone's mind was diverted. Their minds on the left were helpers bringing out food and even there was a lid on them. The fragrance was unbelievable, making us salivate for it.
"This is heaven. Princess is awesome." Xandar unconsciously uttered drooling at food plates that severs were handling and my and Alex's head snapped towards him with our widened eyes.
"This is your princess," both of us asked him at one time. He nodded at us. It made me happy that she knows me. No, she doesn't know my name. She only knows about James' uncle's son and his refusal of all get-togethers and she thinks that you are not going to attend the function. My sub consciousness muttered, and it was right. She is totally unaware of my presence and my mind just ending on her.
She personally served sweets to all, even me. Unconsciously I was staring at her but she was so immersed in her task that she never noticed my gaze on her nor looked at me, just served sweets with a smile lingering on her rosy lips; she served everyone with her same sunshine smile. What's in that, that I was so amused to witness it? How can anyone be so naïve that she didn't notice my gazes on her, with this close proximity? Her every behavior just makes me amused at her, she is impossible. She stopped at dad and she served him sweets. I got alert, he is diabetic. Before I could utter a word mom stopped her and told them that he can eat it she specially made it for him. I relaxed and surprised equally. I felt a nudge on my side and saw Alex was looking at me shockingly but with little confusion on his face.
"What?? You want something? "I asked looking for some dish to give him.
"Jason stops staring at girls "his expressions turned to grinning with his large smile.
"I am not staring at a group of girls ok; just enjoy this unbelievable delicious food ok" I defended myself and changed the topic. We all were struggling to eat food. It was a little difficult to eat but it was super tasty.
"You are not ok Jason, are you?" They both looked at me with concern filled eyes. What happened? What's wrong with them?
"Yaa, I am absolutely fine" their faces relaxed a little, but not completely.
"What now?" I asked them again as I could see hesitation in their eyes for some reason.
"You are eating sweets Jason, not only eating but look you completely finished both bowels" Xandar made me realize, arching his eyebrows at finished bowels of sweets. They are still half stunned and half amused.
"So, is it illegal for me to eat sweets?" I asked annoyingly and resumed my eating, ignoring them.
"No, but we never saw you eat sweets in our entire friendship". Alex's voice sounded half stunned and half surprised due to my act. Ahhh, I ate sweets. They are unhealthy, I always avoided them. I am super irritated with this girl. What are you doing Jason to get a hold on your body and mind? A girl can never change or shake your thoughts and beliefs. Having a girl in life is like taking away your freedom and peace in life. Love from whole heart with any girl only happens in movies and novels. I don't want to fall for anybody. I don't need it in my life and there is no place in my life for any distraction. Alex nudged me again.
"I just want to test new cuisine so I tried a bit" I try to reason my strange behavior. They were not convinced but just nodded and we resumed our eating. I don't know, but there is something that my mind always diverted to her, and I don't want that.
I am a businessman, and I am busy with my corporation. I can't spare time for any relationship. I think that's why I never have a girlfriend, and falling for someone is out of the question, something I don't think I will ever allow myself to do.
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