Rikara Short Stories Collection

The Last Minute Groom : Part One

Hello everyone.... Since I was posting the new OS, I thought why not post this part also.

Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the previous story.

Everyone at Oberoi Mansion bustled around as they tried to get the bride settled in her room, while the groom stood away a little aloof with the sehra still on his head efficiently covering his face.

Once the bride was settled in her new room, everyone gathered around as they discussed how and who will break the news to the bride. The groom now free to remove his sehra, pulled it of his head and stood away from the group of three all the while listening to them discussing. Keeping his hands inter-wound over his chest he thought of the bizarre happenings of the day.

Today was his older brother's wedding, and on the night before the wedding he realized that if he got married then his acting career would not kick off like he wanted. He is an aspiring actor. So he had happily left the night before to try his luck once again in Bollywood while his family was left behind to face the music.

After all the crying and searching, his family had decided that he would marry in place of his brother. Deciding that, they set off to the bride's house and talked to her family about it. He had insisted on telling the truth to the bride before the wedding, and her father agreed. Bride's father still asked him to always keep his sehra so the guests won't realize the change in the groom and starts questioning and create a bigger issue, and he like an idiot had agreed. So he married Gauri with his sehra down. And after all the wedding rituals were over, his new father-in-law dropped the bomb that the bride was unaware of the change in the groom. His reason being he was afraid she would refuse to marry if she knew the truth. When he had insisted in telling her the truth then and there, to his shock his new wife had started her wailing, as it was time for her vidaai, and he was again forced to keep his mouth shut and his sehra back on as nobody wanted to upset an already upset poor soul. Once they reached his home, she had been rushed off to his bedroom after all the welcoming ceremonies. His mother had come down a few minutes back after settling Gauri in his room. She was waiting for his brother there and here he was standing here listening to his parents and their faithful servant Dandi discussing on how to break the news to her that her husband was someone else.

Having lost his patience, he finally opened his mouth and said, "Enough! Gauri is my wife now. She is my responsibility; I will tell her that she is married to me."

Damned, all three looked relieved.

Finally, he walked into his room to see it decorated for the suhaag raat. He mentally cursed Dandi for his twisted sense of humor, what suhaag raat were they going to celebrate?

He saw her sitting in the middle of his bed, still in her wedding dress with her ghunghat down. Hearing him walk in, she sits up a little straight.

"Gauri..." Om gently says her name, and she immediately looks up, and she puts up her ghunghat and smiles at him all the while getting up from the bed.

"Omkara... where is Ajay?" Gauri asks him gently.

"He won't come." Om tells her, never the one to beat around the bush, "I married you, not him."

Gauri looks at him in shock then starts smiling, "I have heard lots about ragging on the first day of marriage by the family. But this one takes the cake."

"I am not lying. He ran away to Mumbai last night." Om tells her and gives her the letter Ajay had left behind.

Om didn't want to show her the letter, but he had no choice. She takes it and starts reading it. He knew it by heart by now, having read it multiple times, it said that Ajay realizes that at this stage of his (non-existent) career a marriage would do big damage, as no one was interested in a married new hero. So he said he is going away to try his luck in Bollywood and not to look for him.

It broke Om's heart that Gauri was reading the letter, and there was not even one mention of her in it. Apologies to her, what to tell her nothing.

He watches the letter fall of her hand and a second later she faints. Luckily, he was close enough to catch her, and carrying her to bed, he laid her down gently. He contemplated on waking her up and then decided against it, as he felt it would be better for her if she slept it off. He consoled himself that there was not going to be any side effect if one was not woken up from their faint, he had fainted once and he had woken up hours later, nothing had happened to him. She is going to be fine. Then seeing her heavy jewellery, he slowly started removing it without waking her up. When he realized that her ghunghat was in the way, he quickly got rid of it. Finally keeping her bangles with her other jewellery on the side table near her, he decided to freshen up before he also went to sleep.

He walked into his walk-in wardrobe and was shocked to see it empty, then looking to the other side, he realizes all his stuff were moved to one side of the wardrobe clearing room for Gauri. He decided to forgive Dandi for messing up his wardrobe, as he didn't have the energy to be angry now. He was very tired, after all it was his wedding day.

Please vote and comment

- Lazy