New Friends Colony East, where my father's friend lived, was an upscale posh locality in Delhi, where I had hung out a lot of times because of the various restaurants it boasted of. Well, mostly after I received my bonus. Our cab entered the gates of the housing complex and I glanced outside to see a number of row-houses built adjacent to each other.

It was a housing complex of row houses. I tried to not be impressed by the long intricately-carved traditional double-door row-house we had just stopped outside of. I reckoned it was our destination. I let out a breath and got out of the cab preparing to face the inevitable.

"These people are rich, aren't they?" my mother muttered to my father as I started towards the bell of the house. "Arun's father had been a businessman, and Arun himself is a lawyer in the Supreme Court. His son Dhruv has already taken over his grandfather's company. It's a good family," I glanced back to see my father running an approving eye over the house. My heart dropped. He approved of the family. In his sense, he approved of the marriage proposal. Without even meeting the guy.

"Having a nice house and family doesn't mean the boy would be good too," my mom said while correcting her dupatta. "And our Aashi has to be with the boy first, the family is a later topic," she said, looking at me lovingly. I melted at the loving look she had in her eyes. Her words helped too. My shoulders loosened as we waited for the door to be opened.

A relatively tall woman dressed in a bright pink and yellow saree opened the double doors with a toothy grin. I beheld the most pristinely white teeth I had ever seen in my life. She strode ahead and engulfed my mother in an almost-bear hug. My mother reciprocated with an awkward pat in the back. I held back a giggle as I saw my mom struggling with the overflowing excitement of the kind lady. A middle aged man, whom I assumed was her husband and papa's friend, took a less dramatic approach, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and taking him in. I mutely followed behind.

My eyes first landed at the magnificent crystalline chandelier hanging above. I had always loved chandeliers. They have a certain charm to them that add on to the royalty of a house. It was a two-storey house. Spacious. As we turned a corner to what I supposed was the living room, my eyes landed on the staircase, and the figure descending them. Dressed in a blue and black striped shirt and black trousers, with full-rimmed square glasses seated top his nose, Dhruv Jain had a lot of panache. Or I thought he was Dhruv.

"Arre Dhruv...come here," my father's friend called for the figure who was now standing at the base of the staircase, just a couple of feet away from me. I realized I was still staring at him, when his eyes met mine. I quickly averted my eyes to the elders sitting in front of me, trying to maintain a stoically poker face.

"Beta, come sit na," the overly-warm lady gestured towards a chair beside her with a smile. I sat down beside her, ignoring my parents at all costs. I tuned out most of the conversation, my mind churning excuses to turn this one down.

"Aashi...Aashi?" My head whirled towards my right to see Mrs. Jain smiling down at me. "I was saying Dhruv should show you the garden and his room. You both will get bored between us oldies. Go Dhruv," she said, motioning to her son.

He smiled softly as he walked to my side. "Oldies and you all? That's a lie. Aunty here doesn't even look past 30. If I hadn't known she was Aashi's mother, I would've certainly mistaken her to be her sister!" I groaned inwardly. I didn't have to look towards my mother to know she was beaming ear to ear. Dhruv Jain had pushed the right buttons in concern to my mother. He had won her over. I closed my eyes and committed myself to a minute's silence in honor of my defeated alibi number one.

"Aashi?" A deep voice caught my attention and I jerked to look up.

"Okay" I said and took a deep breath. Can a person die from extra intake of oxygen? Do their lungs burst out like that? I wanted it to happen now. Dhruv was easy to look at. Because he had a handsome face with a comely vibe to it. Not very easily found. The only other one who had mastered that was my very own boyfriend. Cheers to that! I followed him from the living room to the back of the floor where they had a chic open kitchen, a medium wooden dining table adjacent to those full pane windows that overlooked a quaint, green hand-kept garden. It was beautiful.

"You like it?" Dhruv asked as he opened the pane to the garden.

"Hmm?" I hummed, my eyes fixated on the open kitchen. I loved an open kitchen.

"You like the garden?" He asked, smiling in a knowing way. Blush crept up my cheeks. "I haven't seen it yet. Just had a glance till now," I replied, eyebrows raised.

"Finally a complete sentence. Progress," he grinned. It was a charming grin. I chuckled. We walked around the patch the family had converted into a garden. Rose bushes lined the sidelines of the garden, while vegetation crops were grown in a fenced patch in the corner.

"Hey, there's chillies and tomatoes!" I said strolling towards the fenced patch. "My dad loves growing vegetables at home. It's a hassle for the rest of us, but the food turns out good. That's a plus," Dhruv chuckled behind me.

"It's a truly beautiful garden," I said softly, looking at him.

"Thank you, my dad loves you already."

I laughed aloud.

"Here, take this rose," he handed me a white rose from one of the bushes. "It suits you", he added, shoving his hands in his pants pockets.

"White signifies peace. I am not at peace," I chuckled wryly, my temper getting the best of me. I regretted the words as they tumbled down my mouth. I was snappy, and the poor guy in front of me had been nothing but sweet and polite. I bit my lip and looked down at my shoes.

"I didn't mean you, I meant your top. The rose goes well with your top. I don't know you yet. I can't judge you this early, can I?" he completed with his soft smile. If only I could dig the ground and bury myself in it. Bet Dhruv's dad wouldn't find that charming.

"Hey, it's fine. Arrange marriage awkwardness, it happens," he nudged my shoulder playfully. I flashed him a tight smile. I didn't want to show how touched I was by that gesture. Of him noticing my discomfort and immediately jumping in to assure me.

"No, I am sorry. That was really uncalled for," I muttered apologetically. "I just...it's been weird lately and I took it out on you."

"It's okay."

I picked up the forgotten white rose from the ground and looked at him with a smile. He grinned back.

He seemed a good guy. A great guy for the right woman, which I was not. The thought of telling him the truth and asking him to call it quits invaded my mind, but the thought was driven out as soon as it came. It had happened before, me asking the guy to break it off from his side, which resulted in him tell-talking to his mother, who then left a very angry call at my parents'. And let's just say it didn't go too pretty for me from then on. To top it all, I didn't even have a boyfriend then. But now I do, and if they hear it from any other source than me; I can't fathom the horrors that would entail that. I swallowed and continued walking beside him, letting him do the talking.

"So, what do you do? Career-wise?" He asked.

"I am a practicing CS and LLB at Kapoor and Co., Delhi Branch."

"Impressive."

"And you?"

"I took over dad's business."

"Yeah, right," I replied.

We were silent for a while when a servant came to call us for lunch. I was about to go inside when he stopped me by my elbow.

"Hey, there is no compulsion, okay. We will manage our parents together if it doesn't work. And if it doesn't then it's not necessary that we have to meet for this...marriage thing. We can still be friends. I did like your company," he grinned while saying the last statement.

I felt a tug to tell him the truth then but my father's face from the morning flashed before me. No, it was too early to tell. I nodded with a smile and we went inside.

"This is very tasty bhabhi ji. Our Aashi cooks too. Very well, in fact. Why don't Arun and you come to our house for dinner next Sunday?" My father said as he took a bite of the biryani. My hand paused midway to my mouth. Wait, next Sunday? The seven days from now Sunday? Did that mean what I thought it did?

I pursed my lips and continued with my meal. It wasn't quite important to ask for my opinion now, was it? Or by any chance inform me first. I mentally started crossing off the hangouts I had planned this week. Dinners with Abeer, lunch with a school friend, office party on Friday at Natasha's. My mom would demand to spend every waking minute with them while they're here, making all these commitments impossible to follow. Wonder why I never had a boyfriend before? This has the answer.

Go to the office, come home early to find some or the other issue dug out by the mother dearest about the upkeep of the apartment. Goosebumps danced on my body as I thought of the upcoming week. Boy did I not look forward to it.

When I was done staring at my plate, I looked to find three quizzical, one amused and a glaring face looking at me. I gulped and let a small shy smile take over my lips. The glare dissipated instantly when Dhruv started talking. "She's way too taken with the food, mom. You shouldn't have made it so tasty if you wanted her to pay attention to us," Dhruv smirked and the entire table laughed. I jumped up on the chance to compliment his mother on the wonderful biryani. I looked at Dhruv for a brief moment to find him smiling kindly at me. Why does this guy have to be nice all the time? I looked away and continued to smother the Jains with compliments about the garden, the house and the food to make up for my absentmindedness for the rest of the visit.

When we came back home, I posed the question that had been sitting in my mind like a rock in my shoe.

"You are staying here for a week?" I asked casually, swinging my purse on the couch. It came out much less enthusiastically than planned, and I hurried to add 'that's amazing' to it. But the damage was done.

"Why, don't you want us to?" My mother commented. I closed my eyes, exasperated. Let's just say the next hour was spent convincing them how delightful I found their presence and company.

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