Final Part B
"Kahan ja rahe ho ACP-ji?" Riya asked and wiped the tears on her cheeks.
"Your 24 hours isn't up yet! And your next challenge would be that you and me sit in that mandap and get married!" Riya said teasing him.
Arjun couldn't believe his ears, and he was so happy, that he forgot he was in a temple, and rushed to take Riya in his arms and twirled her around.
"Let me go, what are you doing? What will the priest say?" Riya said a bit embarrassed, though her heart was singing with happiness.
"Only that I really love you a lot," he said by slowly putting her down on her feet.
Riya couldn't stop herself anymore and words started to flow out of her mouth automatically, "Sach mein? You really love me a lot? Do you really wanna marry me? Are you sure? I don't have any words to express myself! You talked with a priest and even arranged our marriage when you hate such things? How and why? And when?"
Arjun couldn't stop himself from laughing on hearing her talk, "You really want or expect me to answer these entire questions right now? I guess I can try, but then we'd have to postpone our wedding because by the time I finish answering all your questions, it would be morning! Aur waise bhi, we have our whole life to ask and answer questions!"
"Nahin, answers baad mein de dena, I don't wanna take the risk that you decide not to marry me if you are given enough time to think!" Riya said worried.
"Shhsssh, what are you saying? No matter how much time you give me, I'll never regret nor back from my decision of marrying you!" he said while cupping her face in his hands.
Riya was so happy, that she forgot she was in a temple, and went in his arms to hug him. After some time, "Riya shaadi karni hein yah nahin?" Arjun asked, while seeing the priest look disapprovingly at them.
"Of course karni hein,kyun?" Riya said still in his arms.
"Well unless you let me go, and we go take our seats there, and let the priest start the rituals, how will we get married!" Arjun joked with her.
"OMG, sorry! Let's go," Riya said and grabbed Arjun's hand and pulled him to the mandap.
Finally after some time, both were married. Arjun beamed looking at his wife, with the mangalsutra in her neck and the vermillion. Both thanked the priest for accepting to do a late marriage and also asked for forgiveness for their earlier actions. After taking the blessing from the priest, both returned back to Riya's home. When they got down of the SUV, Arjun rushed to pick Riya in his arms, and he carried her like this in the house.
"Yeh kya hein?" Riya asked.
"Parampara Riya, didn't you see how western weddings are done! They always carry the bride when entering their home or room!" Arjun teased, though in reality he just wanted to take her in his arms.
"That's so sweet of you!" Riya said once Arjun put her down in the house.
"Waise Riya, there's another tradition," Arjun said to Riya in a naughty way.
"What tradition, of course we must do everything as per the traditions," Riya said very innocently, and waited for Arjun to tell her.
"Well the wedding kiss," Arjun said and watched her reactions.
Riya hadnt expected Arjun to say that, and so she couldn't stop herself from blushing at all. She looked at the man standing infront of her. Yep this man was now her husband, but the problem was that she didn't have anytime to get used to him in any other way than her boss. So now she was staring at him, and didn't know how to react at all. She saw Arjun coming closer to her slowly, her heart started to beat at an increasing pace.
Arjun took all his time, seeing the nervousness in Riya's body posture and thus when he really bent towards her, he gave her a soft kiss on her cheek and immediately went away to give her some space.
"Arjun aap ne mujhe?" she asked gently not being able to finish the question.
"Everything has a time, and well though we are husband and wife, you are still not accustomed to me and my ways, especially for us to take our marriage on the physical side, so let's take all our time Riya, I'm not in a hurry at all. After all we have our whole life to spend together!" Arjun said comfortingly.
Riya couldn't stop her eyes from again being wet and crying, she wiped her tears, and gave him her dimpled smile.
She strode slowly towards him till they were standing very close to each other and said, "Husband-ji, don't think that now that we are married, I'll forget the 24hr challenge thing! You still have to clean the house, go and do it right now!" with a devilish smile.
Arjun couldn't believe his luck, and here he had thought that Riya at least now would forget the challenge thing, but nope she was still harping about it. He turned in a defeated way to go out and really clean the house. But he had only taken a few steps, when he felt his hand being caught. He turned to see Riya smothering a laughter, and realized that she had only been teasing him.
So without giving any time for Riya to react, he grabbed her hands and pulled her in his arms. He held her tightly in his arms, and said, "Pati se badmashi! You will pay this very heavily!"
He slowly put his hand under her chin, and raised her head so that she could look into his eyes. Both shared an eyelock for a long time, trying to communicate their feelings through their eyes. He slowly bent down, giving Riya all the time to release herself from his hold, but Riya didn't move at all.
He bent and kissed her gently, a kiss as if to seal their love forever.
He couldn't believe his luck, what had started as only a 24hr challenge, was now the basis and foundation of his life. A challenge had brought them together forever.
THE END😳
