CHAPTER 16 #3
The women burst into laughter, but something inside me snaps.
I know exactly what kind of person Kriti is.
Manipulative. Every word coming out of her mouth sounds less like affection and more like strategy.
She isn’t talking about Raghav the way a woman talks about someone she loves.
She’s talking about him like he’s something she wants to acquire.
A prize to be won. And that bothers me even more.
The drums around the bonfires begin to beat louder. A massive banyan tree stands at the centre, decorated with hanging lanterns and sacred temple threads. Beneath it, long wooden tables have been arranged in neat rows, with the white lily garlands spread across them beautifully.
Kriti walks towards the tables confidently and picks up one of the lily garlands, twirling it in her hands before winking at the two women beside her.
My breath catches. She’s actually going to do it. I shouldn’t care. Maybe I should walk away. None of this is my concern. Raghav’s life has nothing to do with me.
My pulse begins to pound violently. Before I can stop myself, before logic can return, before my own mind can catch up with whatever my heart is thinking about doing, I walk towards the table and pull out a garland.
I don’t even remember deciding to do it. One moment, I’m standing there staring at Kriti. The next, I’m walking through the crowd, clutching a lily garland in my hands, searching for Raghav in the crowd.
Up ahead, I spot him near one of the bonfires.
His back is turned towards me while Haider stands facing him, saying something that appears to be serious.
Both of them are completely unaware of Kriti’s intentions tonight.
She’s still a few steps ahead of me, heading in the same direction, when an older woman suddenly catches her by the arm and stops her to ask something. Kriti turns to chat with her.
Without even realising what I’m doing, I hurry past Kriti. I almost race towards Raghav before slowing down again. ‘What the hell am I doing?’ I ask myself. The priest’s words from earlier at the temple echoes in my ears.
“On this night, your feet will move before your mind understands why. Do not think of the man you desire. Do not let your mind interfere. Instead… let your heart choose the man it cannot walk away from. Love is not something that is given to you. It is something you discover. And when your heart finds the man it chooses… you will place this garland around his neck. That moment, that choice, will be witnessed by Shivtara Mata herself.”
And then my eyes find Raghav again.
The moment I look at him, everything around him blurs. The music around me fades. The crowd disappears. All I can see is him standing there beneath the full moon, dressed in black, with one hand tucked into his pocket.
Suddenly, my mind stops working normally.
All at once, memories begin crashing into me.
Every moment we’ve shared flashes through my head so fast that it almost makes me dizzy.
The way he fought beside me, the first time we met at Josh Club in Mumbai.
The way he carried me in his arms when I lost my footing in the grape-crushing vat during the vineyard tour.
At the stables, when he had patiently picked strands of hay from my hair to make me presentable again.
At the game lounge, the way he had tied my hair back because it kept falling over my face and distracting me.
The way he took that bullet for me, saving me from Singhal’s hitman.
There are many more of such moments… Somewhere along the way, without my permission, without me even realising it… this man has started occupying every corner of my mind, and I didn’t even know it until now.
Haider notices me first. He looks slightly confused, but then his gaze drops to the lily garland in my hands, and his eyes widen. The reaction catches Raghav’s attention, and he turns around. The moment his eyes meet mine, I’m already standing right in front of him.
Everything inside me goes still as Raghav stares at me, completely caught off guard.
His dark eyes flicker briefly towards the garland in my hands before returning to my face, as if he’s trying to understand what is happening and what the hell I’m about to do.
That look alone should have stopped me. But it doesn’t.
Every instinct inside me screams to step back. To think. To breathe.
But before my mind can catch up with whatever madness has taken hold of me, before anyone can react, I lift the lily garland with trembling fingers and place it around Raghav’s neck.
Silence descends over the entire temple grounds.
The drums stop. The conversations die mid-sentence.
It seems like the entire valley has forgotten how to breathe.
Everyone is staring at us and what I’ve just done.
But my gaze remains locked on Raghav, who looks just as stunned as I am.
We both are frozen in the moment. The white lilies rest against the black of his shirt, and the contrast somehow makes the entire thing look even more real.
Too real. Enough to snap me out of the moment and back to reality.
Oh God. What have I done?
In front of everyone.
In front of the entire Shivtara Valley.
My heart nearly stops as the initial shock in Raghav’s eyes slowly changes into something darker, something hungrier.
Like I’ve just handed him something he has been starving for, without even realising it himself.
Like this one reckless act of mine has given the man standing before me a taste of something he now refuses to let go of.
My fingers slowly fall away from the garland resting against his chest.
Then I instinctively take a step back. Fear, embarrassment, panic… all of it crashes into me at once. I swallow hard, my fingers still trembling to undo what I’ve just done. But I can’t. Because how do you take back something like this?
And Raghav…
He doesn’t move, doesn’t say a single word.
And most of all, he makes no attempt to remove the garland.
Not even once. That realisation hits me so hard that I stumble back.
My hand flies to my mouth in pure shock.
Before I completely lose whatever sanity I have left, I turn around and run.
Far away from this commotion. Far away from the crowd who still remains frozen, and most importantly, far away from that man I know will come after me for answers, no matter what.