The Malhotra Bride (4 page)

“To me or just anyone?” he asked.

Sunita raised her head to look at him. Akshay drew his breath as he glanced into her lovely eyes at

close range. He felt himself drowning in those grey-green pools.

He caught himself up when he realised that he had missed what she was telling him. “Why don’t you

first wash your face, Sunita?”

She got up immediately to do his bidding as she felt quite silly by now. She washed her face,

removing all traces of the bizarre make-up. She placed her
tikli
in the centre of her forehead, outlined

her eyes with a thin line of kohl and went back to sit down in front of him.

On seeing her, Akshay surprised himself into thinking, ‘I wouldn’t mind getting up next to this face

every morning for the rest of my life.’ He looked at Sunita expectantly.

“I don’t have anything against you, Mr. Malhotra—” Sunita stopped as Akshay raised a hand in

protest.

Then she continued, “Okay, Akshay then. I just don’t want to get married now.’

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? I don’t want to get married, period. I don’t want to become a
bahu
so

early in life and get stuck in the kitchen. I want to see the world, travel. I want to have a career. I want

to become something other than the wife of a businessman and mother to docile children, be a

washed-out personality doing nothing other than whatever my husband pleased. Getting married

wouldn’t allow me the chance to fulfil my dreams. I hate marriage.” Sunita was quite red in the face

by the time she came to the end of that speech.

“Why not get married and do all that?”

Sunita looked at Akshay as though he had taken leave of his senses.

“Akshay”, she smiled with mild sarcasm. Akshay swallowed hard. He was a lost case by now.

“Hmm— tell me.”

Sunita wondered why he seemed like a cat that had swallowed the cream. She said, “How’s that

possible? Marriage means I’ll spend all the time for my husband and new family; work in the kitchen;

serve my parents-in-law—” her slight figure shuddered as she counted on her slender fingers.

Akshay just about managed to stop himself from grabbing her hand and kissing her fingers one by

one as she brought them up for counting.

“No Sunita, you won’t be bogged down by any of those things. I’ll help you manage—”

Sunita cut him short in desperation, “No, please, I don’t want to be married.”

Akshay was surprised at his own behaviour. It was just yesterday that he had protested more than

Sunita about getting married to a stranger. And here he was, doing his best to persuade her into

wedding him. What had changed? He already knew the answer, of course. He had fallen for this

gorgeous young lady. If he read the signs right, she won’t escape marriage. If it wasn’t him, it would

be an Akash or Aditya who tied the knot with her. Akshay shuddered at the thought of anyone else

being her husband. No way!

“Sunita, how do you plan to remain unmarried?” asked Akshay.

“That’s simple! You go down and tell my parents that you don’t like me.”

“That’s a blatant lie,” said Akshay, fascinated with her line of argument. Sunita made a face at him.

“Why don’t you tell your parents I’m not good enough for you?” countered Akshay.

Sunita glared at him. “I’m a mere female. They won’t listen to me,” she said bitterly.

“Tell me something, Sunita. What happens once I refuse to marry you?”

Sunita’s face split into a wide grin. Akshay felt the kick directly in his solar plexus. “The wedding

will be off.”

“And later?”

“I’ll be able to pursue my dreams.”

Akshay felt quite sorry for her. “If I say ‘no’ to you today, there’ll be other suitors knocking at your

door. I don’t think your parents will give up.”

Sunita stared at him in horror. Of course he was right. No wonder he was so good at business.

Akshay had a tough time keeping his arms to himself when all he wanted was to hug and comfort her.

He jumped from his seat and paced the room, mind racing, trying to find a way to persuade her to

marry him.

“Oh, my God! What do I do?” whispered Sunita pathetically.

Akshay sat down next to her, enclosing her small, cold hands in his large ones. “I’ve an idea.”

Hope stirred in Sunita’s eyes as she looked at him expectantly.

“Marry me and—”

Sunita pulled her hands out of his grasp and sprang to her feet.

“I should’ve known—”

Akshay pulled her back to the sofa. “Hear me out before leaping to conclusions.”

Sunita nodded her head reluctantly, looking unhappy.

“Let’s get married now for the sake of our families. You can pursue your career. I promise not to

interfere. We’ll go on trips around the globe, places of your choice. I’m too busy with the business to

take up much of your time. We’ve servants to take care of the house and kitchen.” Akshay looked at

the silent Sunita. Would she agree?

She was sorely tempted at the picture he painted. Where was the hitch?

“Are you sure? Your parents might not approve. We’ll be in a joint family.”

“Do you want to live separately?”

“Not really, just that I love my freedom.”

“I can vouch for my parents’ non-interference.”

“Why do you want to do it?” she asked, taken aback by his persistence.

He thought quickly. “My parents are also keen that I get married. It’d better be soon if I’m to live in

peace,” he said, fingers crossed behind his back.

Sunita ran out of arguments. It sounded like the only solution but she was afraid of losing her

identity. Talk about falling from the frying pan into the fire.

Sunita stared as his right eyelid dropped down in a wink. He grinned charmingly. “Why not look at

it as an adventure, Sunita? If we find that we’re not compatible at the end of three years, we’ll part

ways. You’ll be free, a rich woman, with a career all set up. You won’t have to answer to anyone.”

He stared at her, looking for signs of capitulation.

She was still not convinced.

“Trust me, little one, you’ll get out of this unscathed,” Akshay promised.

She looked at him warily.

“Take your time. No hurry,” Akshay smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, making him handsomer

than ever.

Sunita reined her straying thoughts. She had been sure she was in total control and would send

Akshay away. But what was he doing here still, trying his utmost to wed her? His reasoning was

perfect. But—

“So what do you say?” asked Akshay, confident of getting his own way.

“I don’t know,” Sunita grimaced. “You paint a perfect picture. But marriage is not what I want

now.” She shook her head in denial. “Forget it. I’ll face the consequences, whatever. Just now, please

say ‘no’ to the proposal.” She wanted out.

“Why don’t we keep our options open? We’ll wait for a week before giving an answer.” He was

confident that she’d agree.

Sunita was used to dealing with things head on. She didn’t want marriage and she couldn’t think of

one reason to keep her answer a secret.

Akshay looked at her doubtful expression, wondering how best to handle her resistance. It suddenly

dawned on him that the decision to wait or refuse lay totally at his command. A slow smile spread on

his face. For the first time in his life Akshay decided to make use of his power over another human

being’s life.

“Well, Sunita,” he said, “we’ll wait, say till next weekend,” his voice brooked no arguments, “and

then meet again to take a decision.”

Sunita gave him a frustrated look as she realised that he had not left her with a choice. Her

expression turned mutinous. She raised her chin and gave Akshay a belligerent look and said, “That’s

up to you. I’ve made up my mind. And it’s no.” She was firm.

“Sunita,” Akshay’s voice softened, “is it too much to ask for a week? Don’t be childish. You can

always give your ‘no’ after a week.”

Sunita refused to look at Akshay. His persuasive voice and arguments could put a lawyer to shame.

Unable to argue with his logic, she capitulated, saying, “Okay, a week it is.”

Akshay quickly hid his triumphant smile and put out his hand to Sunita, “Deal?”

Sunita nodded her head as she placed her hand in his. She wondered for a minute what she was

letting herself in for. Mentally shrugging her shoulders, she promised herself that it was for just a

week. Neither Akshay nor her parents could force her into a wedding.

“See you then, Sunita! I’ll be in touch. Bye!” Akshay left, leaving Sunita in a confused state of mind.

She left
Dadaji’s
room for her own and lay down on the bed to take deep breaths, hoping to calm her

agitated thoughts.

It was barely 15 minutes before Leela burst into her room to ask, “What happened, Sunita? What

did Akshay say to you? Didn’t you treat him well? The Malhotras just left saying that they’d call us

later. Pappa’s worried. Tell me what happened.” Her voice steadily rose with each sentence. She had

been sure that Akshay Malhotra would fall for Sunita at one glance and the wedding fixed

immediately. She couldn’t believe that the Malhotras were making them wait for an answer. What had

this girl done to offend him?

Sunita looked at her mother steadily and asked, “What’s the panic, Mamma? Let them call when

they’re ready.”

“But why, Sunita?” Leela’s voice rose by a few more decibels.

“What do you mean why?” Sunita was quick to anger. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask your

precious Akshay Malhotra himself? I’m sure he has an answer to everything,” she muttered.

Gokul Rishi entered the room quietly as she was talking. “Sunita,” his voice sounded like a

whiplash and Sunita jumped out of the bed to stand in front of him, her head bent. “What did you say

to Akshay Malhotra?”

“Nothing, Pappa,” Sunita’s voice was small. She reminded herself that her father’s bark was worse

than his bite.

“Why? Did you pretend to be dumb?” Gokul Rishi’s voice thundered.

“Of course not, Pappa,” Sunita stood her ground.

“Then what happened?”

“Akshay Malhotra told me that we’ll wait for a few days before reaching a decision.” Sunita did

not quite meet her father’s eyes.

“Oh!” Gokul Rishi sounded slightly calmer. “What else did he say? I hope you didn’t offend him in

some way.”

What did her father think she was? An automaton without an ability to think, she supposed. Didn’t

he credit her with any feelings at all?

“Of course not, Pappa. I was very polite and answered all his questions,” which was the truth

anyway. Her father need not know what the question and answer session had been about.

“Well then, I suppose we’ll have to wait for them to contact us.” Gokul Rishi sounded disappointed

as he might as well be. Akshay Malhotra was the catch of the decade and he had been confident that

his daughter’s beauty would definitely clinch the deal. But the young lady’s tongue tended to run away

with her. He had been a mite worried on that score. That was not the case, it seemed. He left the room

with Leela dragging her feet behind him.

Sunita vowed then and there that her children would surely have complete freedom. She wondered

what kind of a father Akshay would make. Most definitely not like Gokul Rishi. Akshay was much

more sensitive than that. He had understood her need for freedom. She pulled herself short. What was

happening to her? Akshay was considerate. So what? So were a number of men. Take her
Dadaji
for

instance. He was extremely thoughtful. She wondered how he had fathered a son like Gokul Rishi.

Sunita turned around as she heard her door open to see her dear Grandpa walk in. She ran to him

and dragged him over to the sofa. She sat down at his feet, waiting for him to speak.

“My dear Sunita, what do you think of Akshay?” It was nice to know that someone wanted her

opinion.

Sunita’s face puckered in concentration. She was close to Grandpa Ratan and he encouraged her to

be open with her views. “
Dadaji
, Akshay seems to be a charming person. Very good-looking, speaks

well and—but you know all that,” she ended.

“Yes. But how did you persuade him to wait?” Sunita raised her shocked gaze to meet her

grandfather’s twinkling eyes. “Come on, little one, this is your
Dadaji
. I’ve known you since the day

you were born.” He ran a gentle hand over Sunita’s head and waited patiently.

Sunita told him what happened after he left her with Akshay. She felt too silly to confess about her

bizarre make-up, but the rest of it came tumbling out.

Grandpa Ratan was a good listener and he had listened to every single story of her life. He sighed.

His grandchild had grown into an attractive young woman. She was on the verge of getting married

and going to live in her husband’s home, leaving behind her
Dadaji
with only fond memories to keep

him company.

“So, how do you like the idea of marrying Akshay?” asked Grandpa.

Sunita wrinkled her nose at him, “I told you,
Dadaji
, I don’t want to get married.”

“My dear, Akshay is a gentleman and will make you an excellent husband. Please don’t take any