Tani laughed, the sound watery but true. “You’ll dig the grave?”
“I don’t do sweaty work, baby,” Kanak muttered. “You dig. I’ll push him in.”
Tani almost cried then but she held on, control winning out for the moment. It was only when Aayushi, her aunt and Kabir’s mother, stepped up that she knew she was in trouble.
Aayushi put two little spots of ground turmeric on her cheeks, wiping the stray tears that escaped Tani as she did so. “Love is hard. Marriage is harder. But you, my baby girl, are the toughest little fighter I’ve ever known. I wish you and the man you love a lifetime of happiness together, my jaan.”
And Tani lost the battle. There was no together with the man she loved. Nor was there going to be a lifetime of happiness. All she had left was duty and sacrifice.
A small disturbance at the far end of the lawns drew her eye. And through the watery sheen of her tears, she saw him. He shoved the sleeves of his crisp, white kurta pajama up his arms, letting it rest at his elbows. Sunglasses shaded his eyes but there was no doubt that he was looking at her. Only at her.
Kabir Kashyap had arrived.
CHAPTER 21
KABIR
Lookingat Tani felt like looking directly into the heart of the sun. Kabir blinked, pushing his sunglasses up his nose with one long finger, throat clenching as emotion clogged it.
Fuck, she was a beautiful bride.
Rehan came charging across the lawns like an untrained puppy and launched himself at Kabir. “Bro, you’re here!”
“I’m here,” Kabir agreed, smiling despite his misery. “Where else would I be?”
“Good point.” Rehan wrapped an arm around Kabir’s shoulders and dragged him into the crowd of family and friends clogging the vast space. Kabir allowed himself to be hugged, his hair to be ruffled, and his back to be thumped, endlessly. All the time, he was acutely aware of her sitting on that stage, her cheeks flushed with streaks of turmeric, her eyes bright and sparkling. Eyes that were looking everywhere but at him.
He heard her laugh, a bright, tinkling sound that had his heart doing a little jitter even as he struggled not to turn and look, to see who was making her laugh.
“Kabir.” His mother came up, looking gorgeous as ever in a pretty cream saree. “Come put haldi for Tani. Almost everyone else is done with the ritual. You’re late.”
“Isn’t it a ladies function?” he asked, a little desperately as Aayushi started to tow him towards the stage.
“No,” she replied, smiling at him. “We’ve decided that this is a loved one’s function. Everyone who loves Tani is going to put haldi on her as shagun. And you love her, no?”
The words were a blade through his heart. His feet faltered as they stopped at the foot of the stage.
“Ma, this –“
“Come on, Kabir.” Aayushi looked impatient. “Don’t act like you’re shy or have stage fright of all things. This will mean a lot to Tani.”
No. He didn’t think it would. But at this point, with everyone watching him, there wasn’t much he could do but step up, on to the stage she sat on. He saw her shoulders stiffen, even as she kept her gaze determinedly forward. His mother shoved him from behind and he had no choice but to keep walking as he came to a stop in front of Tani.
Kabir dropped to his knees at her feet, the soft, yellow skirts of her lehenga crumpling a little beneath him. Tani glanced down, her breath hitching before slowly, ever so slowly, looking up to meet his eyes.
“Hi Bug,” he said softly, dipping his fingers into the silver bowl of turmeric paste.
Tani said nothing, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, as they roved his face.
He reached forward, his turmeric coated fingers stopping a hairsbreadth from the delicate curve of her cheek. His hands started to shake but before it was noticeable, Tani’s hands came up to cover them, bringing them to her face, and making him slide his trembling fingers over her cheeks.
“You look beautiful,” he said hoarsely.
“You look like shit,” she replied, her voice a broken whisper.
He laughed, a sad, brittle sound. “I feel like shit,” he admitted, his gaze skimming over her face, drinking her in.
“Kabs, I-“
