Arranged marriage was an age-old story that Khushi, the youngest of the infamous Gupta family, who revolutionized and dominated the trading market for generations, knew well.
For it was the only thing she heard growing up.
But that neither prepared...
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Khushi drummed her fingers against her teacup, forcing her eyes to stay open. She had just finished a thirty-hour shift at the hospital, when her mother-in-law called, reminding her to come early for a presumably-long-ago-planned Raizada family dinner.
Obviously, Khushi lied through her teeth in response, reassuring Satya that she was already on her way and then blamed the unpredictable Delhi traffic when she finally arrived at the Raizada mansion two hours late. Truth be told, Khushi had forgotten all about this dinner, which apparently was a tradition for the Raizadas. Every few weeks, all the cousins assembled for an evening of wine and gossip. Satya had called her almost a month ago, requesting her to not skip the event as Arnav often did. Khushi had –unthinkingly– agreed at once.
And now she was paying for it.
Arnav had again chosen to not come, though thankfully, he informed his parents ahead of time about it. Khushi was not given grief about his absence, and was instead warmly welcomed inside, where she was at once grabbed by Arnav's numerous cousins, who insisted on quizzing her about her married life. After almost three hours of questions, which lasted all through dinner, Khushi finally found herself alone, wondering when it would be appropriate to call it a night and leave.
"You have to wait until Papa finishes the wine, that's when it's late enough to leave."
Khushi looked up from the armchair she was sitting on, startled to see her youngest sister-in-law. "Erm, no..." she replied guiltily. "I was just thinking about... work."
Lavanya laughed. "Do doctors lie even when they are not on duty?"
Khushi sighed, accepting defeat. She was too tired to argue anyway. "What happens if you leave early?"
"Nothing much... Mom will freak out over how boring it was for the younger generation and then after a week, she will go right back to planning the next one."
Khushi snorted.
"Bhabhi, wine?" asked Bhagat, or Bhagi as everyone fondly called him, holding out a glass of red wine.
"No thank you," she replied, holding up her teacup. "I don't drink."
"Well you should," said Dev, another one of the Raizada cousins, settling himself on the floor beside her. "Putting up with Bhai cannot be done sober."
They were joined by Mitali and Samriddhi –Sam– who were two best friends until Mitali fell in love in Sam's brother, Bhagi. The alliance, happily accepted by the family, only deepened the two girls' affection for each other.
"Then your wife will have to be downright tripping to live with you Dev," Sam retorted.
"Please, I know how to take care of girls-"
"Didn't you get me socks for my birthday last year?"
"Because you told Mitu that you can never find socks in the morning!"
