Part7
Riddhima was drinking water from a bottle with her right hand while fiddling with her ring on her left hand. It felt weird wearing a wedding band on that finger without being properly married. She never thought that would ever happen but in this job always expect the unexpected. Armaan was equally fiddling with his ring and having similar emotions to Riddhima.
A: 'Toh ab kya?' (So know what?) he asked sitting on the chair.
R: 'Ab hum private guided tour pe jaynge' (Now we are going on a privately guided tour) she said moving away from the window.
A: 'Kya?!!! Woh kyon?!! Aur tumne mere se kyon nahi pucha?' (What?!!! But why?! And why didn't you ask me?) he asked quickly getting up from his chair almost tipping it over.
R: 'Kyonke tumse puchna bekaar hai. Jab bhi puchti ho to ulte side jawab deta hai isliye' (Because there is no use asking you. You always give unreasonable answers) she said with huff. 'Aur humne kaam bhi toh karna hai. Bhool gaye?' (And also we need to work. Did you forget?)
A: 'Kaash main bhool pata' (I wish I could forget) he said grumpy.
R: 'Main bhi. Lekin agar hum kaam nahi karenge toh ek na ek ki chutti kardengi Kirti Madam' (Me too. But you know we have to work or one of us have to leave the job) she said defeated.
A: 'Jaanta hon' (I know) he said sadly. 'Hum is tour pe kab jaa rahe hai?' (When are we going on the tour?)
R: 'Adhe ghainte tak. Humne neechein lobby mein jaana hai aur vaha se aage humein tour pe koi le kar jayga' (In about half an hour. We are supposed to go down to the lobby and from there someonw will take us on the tour) she said sombrely.
Armaan and Riddhima got themselves ready for the tour. They didn't change their clothes but they changed their shoes into comfortable ones. Once done both grabbed their sunglasses and phones. Armaan also brought a camera to document everything. They went down to the lobby where a smartly dressed woman was waiting for them.
R: 'Hello! Are you the tour guide?' she asked politely.
Tour guide: 'Yes I am and you must be Mr & Mrs Mehta?' she said with a big smile.
A: 'Yes we are' he smiled widely almost pulling a muscle in his face.
Tour guide: *shaking hands with A&R* 'Hello! I'm Marie and I will be your tour guide today. I will take you both on a tour which will become one of the most memorable moments during your stay here. Just one thing before we start. Are you wearing comfortable shoes? Because we are going to walk a lot. And one more thing...did you bring your camera with you? We want to keep those memorable moments for the future, don't we?' she said chirpy.
R: 'Yes we are all set to go!' she said with a forced smile.
The tour guide Marie took them on a 20min walk before arriving at a beautiful small castle. She told the history of how two lovers use to meet secretly in the building but as all love stories have tragic ending this one had too. The lovers were caught and put in the jail under the castle to rot away. Armaan and Riddhima yawned but the bubbly tour guide chatted happily away. Then she suggested them to take some pictures which she would gladly help with as she was a great photographer. Armaan and Riddhima looked uncomfortably at each other but as they had to put up a charade they agreed to it. Standing in front of the wonderful castle Armaan moved his arm to hesitantly put it around Riddhima's shoulder. In turn Riddhima also hesitantly put hers' around Armaan's waist so they were side hugging. Marie suggested them to hold their hands too. Riddhima brought forward her hand and Armaan carefully took it. Side hugging and holding their hands they looked at the camera and smiled. Marie took a couple of pictures and praised them for being a gorgeous looking couple. Handing over the camera she turned around to continue with their journey. Armaan and Riddhima immediately let go of each other and followed Marie.
After some time they arrived to a very old drinking fountain. The tour guide told them how the lovers from the castle use to drink from the fountain. It had become a tradition for every married couple to drink from it too but not the usual way. The man had to put some water in his hand to make his wife drink from it and then vice versa. Armaan and Riddhima could barely hide their displeasure but they went on with the task. Armaan took some water in his hand and quickly moved it to Riddhima's lips before all the water ran out. She uncomfortably drank from his hand. Then Riddhima took some water in her hand and moved it to Armaan's lips. He cautiously drank from it. Marie couldn't help going aww seeing both of them sharing a beautiful moment and she was happily clicking away on their camera. Once again she handed over the camera and she turned around and once again Armaan and Riddhima put distance between them. They quickly wiped their hands on their clothes.
The three of them continued with their journey. Marie did most of the talking; Armaan and Riddhima only spoke when it was needed mostly asking Marie about herself, her work and her past but without raising any suspicious. They secretly filmed her answers with their phones and camera and also clicked some pictures of her. Armaan and Riddhima keenly observed their surroundings and documented anything that could be of use. The whole afternoon went on and Armaan and Riddhima were getting more and more tired. Not because of the walking more because of pretending to be a married couple. Finally Riddhima had enough.
R: 'Excuse me Marie...as much as me and my husband are enjoying this wonderful tour with you but I was wondering how much do we have left? We are getting a bit tired and would love to save some energy for later' she said kindly but in reality she wanted to yell and complain.
Marie: *winking* 'Of course I understand. Don't want to waste too much of your energy as you will be needing it for later tonight. But for your information we only have one more thing left. It's a beautiful garden which you must see and in the end there is a tiny little surprise for you' she said ever so enthusiastic. 'So please follow me'.
Armaan and Riddhima followed her like two kids who didn't want to obey their mother but were forced to. They went to this beautiful garden filled with all sorts of beautiful flowers. The grass was green and the flowers really colourful. Here and there were some white benches spread in a much organised way. Marie showed them around for a while before stopping in front of an old tree.
Marie: 'Ahhh, finally we are here. This is the surprise' she said smiling widely.
A: 'It is?' he said almost bored.
Marie: 'Yes it is'
R: 'OK...' she said a bit unsure.
Marie: 'This is a very special tree also known as the union tree. It has a legend to bring good luck and blessings to all married couples. But to be able to get that you have to hang a pouch filled with especially blended herbs in the tree. The wife has to hang the pouch in one of the branches; the higher up the better. The husband has to help his wife to reach higher ones by carrying her. This symbolises how a husband is always there for his wife and that the wife can accomplish much better in life with the support of her husband. You end this beautiful process with a kiss' she said with a nod.
A&R: *unison* 'A kiss???!!!' they said shocked.
Marie: 'Yeees...a kiss. What's wrong with that? It's not like it's your first time. After all you are married, right? And I'm not asking you to make out...a small peck will be just fine. But please hand me over the camera so I can capture this moment' she said enthusiastically.
Armaan and Riddhima felt like the wind had been knocked out of them. A kiss...a kiss...A KISS! WTH?!!! They had to kiss?!!! No way! They had to avoid it, but how? How will they get out of this sticky situation? Looking at Marie they knew there was no way they could get out of it especially with the tour guide staring at them with so much expectation. Armaan and Riddhima nervously looked at each other and then looked away. Marie handed them over an herb pouch which Riddhima took hesitantly. Carefully Armaan hunched a little to put his arms around Riddhima's legs and heaved her upwards. Riddhima quickly hung the herb pouch and motioned him to let her down which he did very gently. Now both were standing close to each other and Riddhima desperately tried hard not to panic but her eyes gave away. Riddhima saw similar kind of panic in Armaan's eyes but she still expected him to take the first step. When he didn't move for some time she knew she had to take the initiative. She took a deep breath and slowly moved forward. He still didn't move so she moved even closer. They could literally feel each other's breath on their lips. Armaan stared at Riddhima strangely but didn't dare to do anything. Closing her eyes she leaned forward, Armaan closed his eyes too, and placed a small peck on his lips. They really had to fight against all their urges to part quickly so they parted slowly and gave a smile fake to the tour guide who couldn't stop gushing over them.
Marie: 'Oh you two are the cutest! The pictures came out beautifully...you have to look at them. Wasn't this a perfect ending to our lovely tour? ' she said bubbly.
A&R: *nodding with a fake smile plastered over their faces*
Marie: 'Let me take you back to the hotel so you can enjoy the rest of the evening' she added smiling widely.
Marie the tour guide dropped them off in the lobby and Armaan and Riddhima walked silently back to their room without uttering a single word. At arriving Riddhima started to pace around to ease her tension and Armaan stood their scratching his neck nervously. Then Riddhima abruptly stopped. She stared at Armaan for a second and rushed out of the room. Armaan weighed for a minute or two whether to follow her or not but in the end he went after Riddhima.
Comment: The fountain part and the tree part is something a came up with on my own. Don't know if there are such traditions anywhere around the world. I chose tree as it symbolises life, herbs because people of all ages have used them in different aspectes of their daily lifes and water as it represents purity. The name "union" tree was chosen because this task is to bring two people closer and build stronger bond with each other.
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