4. First Meeting

🎧 Song: Dhadak
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Ivara's POV

We were busy preparing for Didi's haldi function.

Arav jiju's family had also arrived, and honestly, I was exhausted from greeting everyone. Such a huge family!

Maansi di ... Didu's best friend and I were helping her get ready. She wore a beautiful yellow lehenga with matching jewellery, and Didi looked absolutely ethereal. Like sunshine wrapped in grace.

Maansi di, however, was not having a sentimental moment, she circled didu like a fashion critic, dramatically inspecting her from head to toe.

"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "Not bad."

Ishu di shot her an annoyed look through the mirror. "Not bad? Excuse me?"

Maansi di crossed her arms with a mischievous grin. "Relax, bride. I'm just checking if Arav will faint the moment he sees you."

I burst out laughing.

Didu  immediately turned red. "Maansi!"

"What?" Maansi shrugged innocently. "I'm just saying. Poor guy is already head over heels. Today he might actually forget how to breathe."

"Stop it," Ishu di muttered, trying to hide her smile.

Maansi di leaned closer to her, lowering her voice dramatically. "By the way... have you practiced how you're going to look shy in front of him today?"

Ishu di's eyes widened. "I do not need to practice!"

"Of course you do," Maansi di continued mercilessly. "Because right now your face looks like someone who is secretly waiting for her future husband to arrive."

"MAANSI!"

I was practically wheezing from laughter at this point.

Finally, Ishu di groaned and turned toward me for help. "Iva, do something about her."

I raised my hands immediately. "Sorry, didu. I'm just here for entertainment."

Maansi di smirked proudly.

"Iva," Ishana said, adjusting her dupatta, "go get ready now. And please give this to Arav. I forgot."

I looked at the small velvet box in her hand. "Ohhh... a brooch specially designed by Miss Ishana Roy?" I teased.

Maansi di immediately leaned closer to inspect it.

"Ohoooo," she said dramatically. "Handmade gifts now? Wah, wah. Someone is very romantic."

Ishana covered her face in embarrassment.

I shook the box slightly, still teasing. "Okay fine, I'll give it to him..."

Then I crossed my arms. "But mujhe kya milega?"

Before I could react, Ishu di smacked my head lightly.

"Jaa!" she scolded. "Ab late ho raha hai."

"Ow!" I protested dramatically while rubbing my head.

Maansi di  burst out laughing.

I rolled my eyes dramatically and walked out, still holding the brooch.

Something told me this simple task... wouldn't be that simple.

I came to my room and started getting ready, but while adjusting my blouse, a random thought slipped into my mind.

I don't really have friends... not like the way Maansi di and Isha di do. Their friendship is effortless. Strong. Loud.

Maybe I'm just... not that likable. Ugh. There I go again.

Overthinking. This habit of mine will kill me one day.

I sighed and shook my head, trying to push the thoughts away. "Focus, Ivara."

I started applying my makeup slowly. A soft glow, light kajal, nude lips. Nothing too heavy.

I wore a yellow saree that flowed gracefully around me and completed the look with a small bindi.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Done."

I picked up the brooch from the table.

"Now let's go give this to Arav jiju."

But for some reason... my heart felt strangely restless.

Author's POV

She walked down the corridor and stopped in front of a door.

"This should be jiju's room... lagta toh yahi hai," she muttered to herself. "Let's just knock. Koi aur bhi hoga toh kya hi ho jayega."

Deep down, she had no idea her life was about to take a sharp, irreversible turn.

She knocked, the door opened.

And she froze.

The man standing before her didn't look real.

She had seen handsome men before... plenty. But this... this was different. Unsettlingly beautiful. Ethereal in a way that felt almost dangerous.

Honey-brown eyes. Deep. Endless. The kind of eyes someone could drown in willingly.

So men can be beautiful too, she realized faintly.

He felt like a siren not the kind that sings, but the kind that pulls you in with silence alone.

"Yes?" he said.

The single word sent goosebumps rushing across her skin.

His voice ..low, smooth, hypnotic, this man was a walking warning sign.

Everything about him screamed: stay away.

"Helloww?" he waved slightly.

Ivara snapped back to reality, flustered. "W-who are you?"

One brow lifted. "Miss, you knocked on my door."

Rude.

Color rushed to her cheeks. "Yes... sorry. I was looking for Arav jiju."

"Oh. Arav bhaiya?" he nodded toward the next door. "Next room."

"Th-thank you," she murmured.

He gave a brief nod and closed the door.

Silence crashed back in.

What... what just happened?

Was that real?

She pinched her arm.

"Ouch."

Yes. Real.

He was real.

Her heartbeat refused to slow.

What was wrong with her? She wasn't someone who believed in love at first sight. She didn't get attracted easily. Ever.

So what was this?

No. No.

I can't feel this. I can't fall into this trap.

I'm too broken to love anyone.

Then why did he feel... familiar?

Why was she still thinking about him?

"Iva, get a hold of yourself," she whispered sharply. "This is bullshit."

She inhaled, straightened, and clutched the brooch box tighter.

"First give this to Arav jiju... then get out of here."

But even as she walked away, those honey-brown eyes followed her.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

Ivara pov

I had just come back after delivering the brooch to Arav jiju. Thankfully, that part of my mission had gone smoothly. He had smiled politely, thanked me, and immediately pinned the brooch to his kurta like it was the most precious thing in the world. Typical soon-to-be groom behavior.

Honestly, it was kind of cute.

I was walking back toward Didi's room, enjoying the rare moment of peace in the hallway, when suddenly

"Ivaaaa!"

Before I could even react, Maansi di came running toward me like a literal storm.

Her hair was slightly messy, her dupatta half slipping from her shoulder, and her expression looked like someone had just announced the end of the world.

"Chal jaldi!" she grabbed my wrist immediately.

"What"

"Mujhe matching earrings nahi mil rahi!"

Before I could process what was happening, she was already dragging me down the corridor.

"Maansi di slow down!" I protested, nearly tripping over my own feet as we rushed past relatives and decorations.

But Maansi di was on full panic mode.

"No time! If Ishana sees me without matching earrings she'll say I'm ruining her bridal aesthetic!"

I was about to argue when suddenly

THUD!

Maansi di slammed straight into someone. Hard. Both of them stumbled back a step from the impact. Maansi looked up and froze, then her eyes widened dramatically.

"TUMMMM!" she shouted.

I blinked in confusion.

The guy she had collided with stared back at her with equal shock.

"TUMMMMM!" he shouted right back.

I stood there, completely stunned, watching this bizarre staring contest unfold like I had just entered the middle of a Bollywood scene.

"You!" Maansi di pointed at him accusingly.

"You!" he pointed back with the exact same energy.

"What are you doing here?" Maansi demanded.

"What are you doing here?" he shot back.

" Its my best friend wedding"

"Well congratulations! It's also my friend's brother wedding!"

They were practically yelling now.

"Why are you shouting?" Maansi snapped.

"Because you started shouting!"

"I did not!"

"You literally screamed TUMMM!"

"Well because I saw you!"

I rubbed my temples.

Oh god.

Maansi di crossed her arms angrily. "Unbelievable. Even at a wedding you manage to appear like a bad omen."

The guy scoffed. "Bad omen? Excuse me? I was peacefully walking when a tornado crashed into me!"

"A tornado?!" Maansi di gasped. "TUMNE MUJHE TORNADO BOLA?"

"Because you are one!"

At this point they were both talking over each other.

"You're still the same annoying junior!"

"And you're still the same overdramatic senior!"

"Tum bilkul nahi badle!"

"Aur tum bhi!"

"Unbelievable!"

"Ridiculous!"

"Arrogant!"

"Drama queen!"

"Idiot!"

"Pagal!"

"BAS!" I finally stepped between them, raising both hands like a referee breaking up a boxing match, "Stop! Both of you!"

They both turned toward me at the same time. Still glaring. Still breathing like they had just run a marathon.

I looked at her first. "Di... what is happening?"

Then I pointed at the guy. "And who is he?"

Maansi di huffed dramatically and flipped her hair.

"He," she said with maximum irritation, "is Advik Malhotra."

She said his name like it personally offended her.

"My junior," she continued. "And the person I hate the most."

Advik crossed his arms immediately.

"Oh please," he said sarcastically. "The feeling is mutual."

I looked between them. Then back at Maansi. Then back at him.

And suddenly one thing became very clear. This wedding was about to get a lot more chaotic.

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They finally met💗

Everything changes from this moment. Sometimes, you meet someone and you just know that things will never be the same again.