Have a wonderful Eid. Love you loads! Nishi
-------
Part Twenty Five: Paradise Segment_2
After some time, Amar tenderly said, "I still can't believe this. You won't believe how I used to dream about holding you in my arms! Then immediately would reprimand myself. I thought you loved Sharad and I wanted you to be happy. But when I saw you, all my resolutions went down the drains. I so wanted to be with you like scorched sand awaits rain drops in summer! But things got complicated and I wanted to run away from here, from you, I couldn't bear losing you twice."
"But couldn't you tell Amar, I was not in love with Sharad! I agreed to marry him because you disappeared and I didn't have any clue if I will ever see you again. My parents wanted to see me settled and I kept disappointing them. The whole idea of marrying someone other than you was revolting and heart wrenching. But my mom started emotionally blackmailing me! Rimi said if you cared you would have contacted me! And you probably married someone and have three children by now. She convinced me that I could live with Sharad as he is a nice human being. And that would make my parents immensely relieved. It's a compromise I had to make! But you know, as soon as I agreed, I started having these dreams about you and about us. I was a complete wreck! Then you show up, out of no where, and made me feel free againâalive again!
Both were silent again. After a while Amar held her face with both his hands, "How can you even think I would marry someone else? Didn't you ever realize in high school, how much I liked you?"
"I was a stupid fool Amar. I went to look for you after the prom night but you went away to Europe!"
"You did?"
She nodded. He smiled, "If I only knew! We would have been married with three children by now!"
She smiled and added "And both of us would have dropped out of college and worked at McDonald's to support those three kids. We would have fought over watching Cinderella or Finding Nemo on weekends. It would have been so much fun!" Both of them smiled picturing their family with three kids!
Amar looked at his watch. "D, it's one already. I think I should take you home now. Let's go" He eased his embrace and looked at her holding her hands.
"Amar! I don't want to go! Why do you want to get rid of me?"
"But D, it's not proper to stay at my place before marriage."
"I know what I am doing. I am not doing anything inappropriate."
He cleared his throat with a mischievous look on his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean? What is inappropriate D? Are you trying to say maintain a 10 feet distance from me?" He smiled teasingly!
"Amar! Stop teasing me! You know what I mean. Don't change the subject. Pleaseee..Can I stay? Pleaseeee!"
"Aren't you afraid at all? Staying here can be risky for you. What if I do something inappropriate?" he raised one of his eye brows and had a crooked smile on his lips. His eyes behind his glasses shone brightly as if bantering her, was the greatest amusement in the world and she is such an easy prey!
"I swear I will kill you if you keep teasing me like that!" she raised her index finger and tried to be as serious as possible.
"Hmmm..This is scary! I am not sure if I should marry you now! You are lying to your parents for whom you can die happily, threatening to kill the love of your life, whom you swore, can't stay away for a single minute. You do seem have a bad case of neuro-psychotic disorder." He laughed and winked at her!
"I hate you." She pushed him away and stomped inside faking fury!
"Divya! Come on! Ok. I am sorry, I won't ever tease you again." He followed her inside and found her sitting legs crossed in a sofa pretending to be depressed. She looked down when he entered the room and avoided any eye contact. He went closer and sat on the floor in front of her and said "Let's get married now! Then you don't ever have to go. I won't let you either."
A skeptical Divya tried to gauge if he was making fun of her again but she was surprised to see the seriousness in his face. "Are you serious? But how? Where will we find a priest at this hour?"
"Come on, you will see. We don't need a priest. Marriage is a promise between two individuals who love each other. We will say our vows and promise to treasure each other. It's as simple as that."
Divya just stared at him with a blank face! Is he joking? How can one joke about something as important as this?
"Oh! Come on Divya, it will be fun." He pulled her up and almost hauled her to the balcony again. He stared into her eyes holding both her hands with his and said,
"I swear by Andromeda-Pegasus, Aphrodite, Laila-Majnu, Shiri-Farhad, Radha-Krishna, Romio-Juliet, all the gods and goddess of love and all the lovers in the universe from all religions and cultures, I would love you, cherish you through sickness and health, through sanity and craziness" seeing Divya's frown quickly added, "ok sorry, through prosperity or poverty, till death do us part. I promise to be yours, only yours till the rest of my life. No, even after this life, I promise to be yours in heaven or hell. Most likely you will end up in hell for lying to your parents tonight but I promise I will be there for you. We will burn there till eternity."
"Amarrr!"
He smiled but added with all the seriousness and genuineness with utmost sincerity, "I love you Divya, more than my own life, loved you ever since I can remember! I promise to love you, only you as long as I shall live."
She was feeling a little silly and shy at the beginning when Amar went through his spiel but the sincerity of his last words touched her, when she looked into his eyes, she felt the strength of her love for him, how pure and sacred all the emotions were, she softly uttered holding his gaze, "I solemnly swear by all the gods and goddess of love and all the lovers in the world, I will love you till I die. You are my life now. I will be yours even if you don't want me. I will never leave you even if you leave me. I will be your shadow, will follow you wherever you go. I promise to be yours and only yours till the end of time." She ended with tears filled eyes.
Amar whispered as soon as she finished, "By the blessing of the stars and the moon and the sun, we are now pronounced man and wife." He smiled gently.
Divya's heart was filled with unknown emotionsâthe solemnity and the sacredness of the promises, made her realize the strength of their love for each other, she felt happy, and sad, and loved! An angelic smile brightened her face.
Amar leaned closer to her and whispered, "Now can I kiss my bride?"
Shiv Shakti
