Chapter 1

                                  Chapter - 1

Midnight silence prevailed in Rathore mansion as its inhabitants dozed off in their dreams. The old lady dreamt of her son's wedding, while the younger one resting in her husband's arms dreamt of everything from her husband's laughing face to her brother's frustrated-out-of-mind one. Two twin cribs held sleeping twin 10-month old boys, dreaming of something only they would understand.

One bedroom though, remained empty, Sheets untouched and unruffled. Car parked a street away, it's owner currently trying to sneak in through the big gates without waking the watchmen up. They will go running to his mother about his late night escapades and his mother would tan him alive. But with words.

Aryan shuddered, reminiscing the last time he was dressed down. His mother got rather creative with the words she used for him and he swore to himself that he'd never give her another chance to lose her temper with him......

By not getting caught.

Silently closing the gate, he tiptoed across the garden, his glee increasing at the prospect of successfully completing his task. Until his dog jumped onto him, barking his happiness out and subsequently waking the rest of the house.

He sighed at the humongous dog excitedly licking his face and groaned out loud as the lights in the house switched on, one after the other followed by footwear hitting the shoe and his nephew's cries hitting the roof.

"So much for sneaking in and not giving Maa another chance to use her creativity with words" Aryan thought defeated, as his dog was picked off him by his brother-in-law. He grinned sheepishly at his mother's face hovering over him, glaring.

"Oh..Hi Maaa" he screeched, faux surprise dripping out  of his voice.

"Fancy seeing you up at this time. What's keeping you awake ?" he innocently questioned her, trying his best not to wince as her glare hardened.

"Do you want the truth or the lie, Aryan ?" his mother questioned and he sat up on the floor, knowing what to expect next.

"Lie" he mumbled after a careful consideration of one minute, hoping his mother would go easy on him with the lie because truth would like a whiplash.

"Lie it is then" his mother spoke, "You know I have an amazing son, who sits with us every morning to have breakfast, patiently talking with us. He'd judiciously eat all the lunch that has been sent for him and the lunch box comes home completely empty. He has the healthiest of habits, drinking only fresh fruit juices and green tea. Never touches coffee, leave downing tens of cups every day. He exits the office exactly at 7 in the night and comes straight home for dinner. Doesn't yell at his employees. Doesn't stay up late in the nights either working or bingeing on some stupid series. Whenever he's out late, he's not at office working until his eyes pain. Rather he's partying with his friends, living his best life, not stressing. He has a healthy interest in life, a pretty girlfriend and probably a good sex-"

Aryan screamed, his hands on his ears, refusing to listen to anymore verbal slander and discussion about his sex life. He expected mercy through lie but his mother dished out sharper words than expected.

"What, Aru ?" she yelled, taking a seat, motioning him to get up and sit on the couch as well. Aryan immediately followed, lest his mother would start hitting him.

"You know, mothers complain to me that their sons of your age are seen with a different girl every few months. Good for them, their sons are exploring, enjoying. How can I tell them that I see my son himself every few weeks, when his head is not buried in files ??..." she continued yelling and Aryan zoned out, concentrating on the wall right behind and nodding randomly.

"Aryan !!!" his mother's voice jolted him out of his nowhere land.

"Yes or No ??" she questioned him, a serious look on her face and he cursed himself for not zoning out on her. Not a very good move. He has two options in front of him. Either tell his mom that he has zoned out and get by the nearest thing to her or give his consent to something he was completely unaware of. Aryan's eyes quickly darted out to the spots next to her mother's chair, looking for possible weapons of attack. His eyes widened at the sight of a T.V remote and he gulped, his brain replaying the memory of his mother throwing the remote on his face for not stepping out of his office for 48 hours. He winced as a phantom pain shot through hit head at the memory of the pain the remote could inflict.

"Yes, maa" he croaked out, for saying no would make her ask a "why" and he had no idea what he would be disagreeing for. His eyes quickly focused on his mother's face as she squealed and jumped into the air, making him second guess his answer. Was a 'no' better answer ?

"I love you, Aru. And I'm proud of you." his mother gushed, " I'm gonna call everyone I know to look out for a woman right away. My son has agreed to test the waters of relationship/marriage."

"No was a better answer Aryan" the devil and angel in him agreed, as Aryan sat there, shocked at the turn the whole conversation just took. He saw his mother literally bounce inside and he got up, running to his sister's room. He needed to rant.

"Di!!!" he barged into the room, only to have a soft thrown onto his face. It was day of welcomes for him.

"UNB...the babies just slept" her sister furiously whispered, picking up the towel as his worried brother-in-law looked over his riot of sons. Making sure they're asleep, he walked towards him and his sister, slowly guiding them out of the room.

"What is it Aryan ?" his brother-in-law asked concerned at his dramatic entry, while his sister glared at him, though concern evident in her eyes. 

"I just agreed to something that I absolutely didn't want to" he blurted and the confusion on his spectators faces just increased. Aryan collapsed in the nearest chair, slouching.

"I mean, I didn't know what I was agreeing to, but I still agreed to it. And now I regret doing it. She caught me unawares di. I didn't even know and I was in trance all the while. I think I just destroyed my life" he whined, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Aryan, you are scaring us. What happened and who's this 'she' ?" his brother-in-law asked, as his sister, stood next to him, a supportive hand on his shoulder.

" Of course Maa !! There's no other lady in my life apart from you in my life to trouble me" he yelled in an exasperated voice and yelped as he got smacked over his head by his sister who was now back to glaring. Just nearer this time.

"And what did you agree to ?" his brother-in-law, always the voice of reason asked.

"I agreed to look out for girls and she ran into our room to call people" he answered as if he was confessing a crime and screamed, as the smack on his head was harsher this time. He looked up to see his short in height sister, glaring at him. He stood up quickly from his seat, in order to tower over her. She just continued glaring, this time glaring up.

"Do. you. know. how. scared. I. was ?" his sister punctuated every word, with a pinch on his shoulder, "I thought you messed up something big. Not done, UNB. And why the hell are you freaking out for the decision ?"

"But di, marriage? You know how maa can get. I'm scared as to how over the top this can get."

"Shut up, Aryan, it's not like you'll be marrying a person after the first meet without getting to know her. You know maa's not like. You'll have plenty of time. In fact she's just introducing people to you. Date or marry is up to you. Rest assured, I'll make sure you'll not marry someone after speaking to her only once. You're an idiot, but I wouldn't put you through that misfortune. So rest for now and stop thinking about it." his sister delivered a speech, pacing around in the room.

"She's right you know" his brother-in-law chipped in, "Marriages aren't simple affairs. They happen after months of deliberation and weeks of preparations. So there's no way you'll be caught off-guard" he assured and Aryan nodded.

"Don't be so tensed about it. Go sleep for tonight, you must have had a tiring day at office and the idiot you are, you wake up early" his sister spoke and he began walking out, the day's exhaustion dawning on him.

"UNB !!" his sister yelled and he turned back, only to be hit in face with a cloth again.

"Why did you do that now ???" he yelled back and his sister grinned.

"Because, Arvind said things are not fu when you them a second time. Just wanted to prove him wrong. Still fun !!" she cackled and he huffed, wanting to pull her hair out like he once did as a toddler. He pouted, sulking as his brother-in-law joined, laughing out loud. He let them laugh as he turned away.

"Acha Aryan, " his brother-in-law called, "What kind of wife do you want ?" 

"Someone who has a bad aim, so she can't throw things at me like this idiot and maa" 

                                    ********

"Bullseye !!!" voice in the shooting range erupted, as a shot rang through the place.

"That's the 6th consecutive Bullseye, Imlie !" a man cheered, "You never miss a target, do you ?"

"Never !!" Imlie whispered to herself, as she fired another shot, that followed its predecessor to the destiny.

Precap : " He'll be in a checkered shirt and blue jeans" Imlie directed her teammates and they planned for their next mission, a man's face pasted in various photos on the screen.

                                     ********

"I hate checkered shirts, Di !" Aryan screamed, as her sister showed another picture, "I will never wear one"