Chapter 96
She patiently waited for her date to show up. He was running a little late, but she didn't mind at all. Although she had decided to give it some serious consideration, she really wasn't too excited to meet him. Specially because she had no clue of him - no name, no picture, no background info. It felt strange, meeting someone for marriage but not knowing anything about him except his last name - Malhotra.
When she had gone back to her room that night, she had the strongest urge to complete the letter she had been writing to her Immortal Beloved. She had to force herself to delete the draft and discard the copy. Not only that, she had also deleted all of the previous letters from her laptop - and torn the ones she had printed out before she changed her mind. She had to do it...if not for her, for her parents...and the one she would be marrying. She had to be true to the one...or at least she wanted to try.
She didn't know why she was surprised when her parents approached her with another proposal the day after. Maybe she didn't expect them to approach her so soon. But they had, and surprisingly, had left out all the details about the guy. At first, she had considered turning him down, but then thought better of it and agreed to meet him. Why, even she didn't know. Maybe for her parents. They had been very hopeful about it for some vague reason.
While she was still wondering how she would tell him about her past and all that she had been through, she heard her name being called, "Ms. Gupta, please?" She turned to look at the receptionist just in time to see her gesture Sharan towards her.
She got up from her chair at the same time he stopped in his tracks. Clearly, he was as clueless about who he was meeting as she was. He recovered quicker than her though, and started walking towards her with a smile that didn't give away the surprise that was still there. Between the time she saw him and the time that he reached her, she had made her decision about him.
"So you are Ms. Gupta?" he asked her, extending his hand for a shake when he was near her.
She took his hand and smiled back as she asked him, "And you are Sharan Malhotra?"
They seated themselves and what followed was an awkward silence while they both looked out the window. Neither of them really knew how to begin...now when they knew who they met.
She looked at him, he was still looking out. She took a deep breath and broke the silence between them by calling out his name. When he turned, she told him quite frankly, "I cannot marry you."
Of all the things, he had least expected that. Before he could even register what she had just said, she explained herself. "Don't get me wrong. I have a history, an ugly one...which you are aware of. But that's not the point. I think..." she hesitated and paused to think of perfect words before continuing again while he patiently waited, "...I was...am in love with someone else. " He smiled at her which hinted he knew who she was talking about, and she understood. She didn't know if she should worry or be relieved with the fact that he knew.
She asked him how he knew, to which he only shrugged. She wondered if she was that obvious. While she was still pondering, she looked at him and saw that he was waiting for her to continue. And so she did, "When I came here, I was determined to give this proposal full consideration. But after seeing you here, I don't think I can do this to you. You are way too nice to have someone not true to you in your life."
She looked down and away from him after she said what she had to say. She didn't know what to expect in response, but what he said shocked her and made her look at him. "That makes us two." She couldn't control the opening of her mouth and her widening eyes. He simply smiled at her at her reaction. He had never shared this piece of information with anyone in his life, and had been very careful not to make his feelings for Keerti obvious. That way, he didn't have any difficulty. He had been like that since childhood. She realized she was still glaring at him with her mouth wide open and looked away immediately.
After another set of awkward moments in silence, she broke the silence again, "Well, I think that's good then. I mean, it's clear what we should do now."
"Both our lives are already messed up, at least for us. Don't you think it's better and wiser to mess 1 relation and 2 lives instead of 2 relations and 4 lives?" She was again shocked at what he said, despite her wish to turn down the proposal. She didn't know what to say to that. They both looked out the window thinking of the implications this relation could have. She was still hesitant - not wanting to deprive him of the love and affection he would have otherwise received from any other girl. She hated it, but for his sake she came up with the rejection again. He had been too nice to her, had helped her in ways she couldn't even think, and she didn't want to bind him in a relationship that had no future, or so she thought. Although she had torn away the letters and tried to get Rohan out of her mind, she knew he still ruled her heart.
This time, it was his turn to break the silence, "I think we should get married." When she looked up at him in surprise, she saw he was still looking out the window. She hoped he had said that in a daze and would realize and take back his words. Against her wish, he turned to look her in the eye and placed his hands on hers on the table before saying, "Please marry me."
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