Chapter 3 — The Wedding Is Saved

Zinnia.

Frozen.

I was frozen in my place.

Why did this kiss feel so weird? Was it just a peck? If it was a peck, then it shouldn’t take much longer.

“You can open your eyes now,” the handsome guy mumbled, which made me furrow my eyebrows.

If he was kissing me, then how could he talk at the same time? What was on my lips then?

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes and looked at his orbs. He had a look of relief on his face.

When I tried to look at my lips, I found one of his thumbs placed over my lips.

I was beyond confused at this point. What had really happened when I closed my eyes?

As if he could sense my confusion, he removed his thumb from over my lips and hand from my cheek and said, “I am sorry. I had to pull that stunt because those muggers were walking here, looking for me. So when I pulled you into the photo booth backdrop, I had to pretend to kiss you so they couldn’t see my face.”

“Pretend?” I couldn’t help but let out. “What on earth did you do when I closed my eyes?”

Did he kiss me or not? This was the question but how could I ask that directly? It was so awkward.

As if he could sense my uneasiness, he immediately raised up his hands in surrender and said, “No, no, I didn’t kiss you. I can never kiss someone without her consent. Especially not a kid.”

I could sense the teasing tone he used at the end. I tried to glare at him, but I ended up chuckling. “Then what did you do?”

“I placed my thumb over your lips and kissed my thumb.”

I was stunned when he told the truth. This guy was not only handsome but also smart.

“How were you so confident when I told you to remove your mask and show me your face? Also, why did you say you were from the groom’s side? You could’ve said that you were from the bride’s side too,” I asked all the questions at once.

“Woah, calm down, kid. You are too curious, but well, you are a kid after all, so I totally understand the questions your curious mind has. It’s common in this age—” I took out the pencil from my messy bun, and pointed the sharp edge at his throat, which made him stop his talk.

“I swear, if you continue to call me a kid, I will shove this pencil into your mouth and the last words you will say is ‘kid’ before you lose your voice,” I threatened, my eyes glued to his.

He gulped and let out a nervous chuckle. “Wow, okay… Suddenly, I want the muggers to take me with them.”

I realized what I was doing, so I moved away from him a little and said, “Is the plan the same to drive the muggers away?”

“Yes,” he responded. I was about to tie my hair in a messy bun with the pencil again, until he said, “Don’t.”

“Huh?” I was confused.

“Since you are wearing this pink dress, you look more beautiful with your hair open,” he complimented—a smile playing on his lips.

I felt my heart flutter at the compliment, but I decided to keep a straight face and asked sternly, “Are you flirting with a kid now, mister?”

“So you agree you are a kid?” He took a step toward me.

“So you agree you are flirting with me?” I asked back, taking a step towards him.

He shook his head, the adorable smile still on his face. “We can continue this once you drive away those muggers. We can’t keep doing this while we are in danger.”

“I am not in danger. You are,” I pointed out.

“Oh, really? What will the muggers think if they see us together?” Before I could say something else, he added, “Also, you are the event planner, right? What will the people here think once they see the muggers? That the kid is really a kid and couldn’t do her job.”

His words silenced me for a brief moment. He was right. Technically, I was in danger too.

“Okay, fine, I am going to the muggers,” I informed him.

“Great.” He entwined his hand with mine and started walking, more like running a little. Soon, we hid behind a huge poster, where it was written nicely, ‘Kavita and Nehal’s Big Day.’

I looked at our locked hands. Why did this feel weird and normal at the same time?

Shaking off my thoughts, I asked him, “Why are you running with me?”

He pointed his index finger at one side and said, “Look, there are those muggers. Now run there and do what we planned. If the plan goes wrong, I will be there to rescue you; even though you seem more the type to rescue me.”

“Why will you rescue me?” I asked curiously.

“I would never leave a person in danger, especially not a—” When I glared at him, he said, “—nothing.”

I shook my head, even though a smile was threatening to form on my lips but I refrained from doing so. If he saw me smiling, then he would tease me with the word ‘kid’ more often.

“You got this, Zinnia,” I encouraged myself and ran to the group of muggers. Once I reached them, all five pairs of eyes fell on me. I panted and started dramatically, “You lost one of your friends, right?”

“Friend? What friend?” one of the men said, purely confused.

“The friend, who had copper brown hair and was wearing a black mask?” I described it to them.

“Yes, yes,” another man replied at that instant.

“Have you seen him?”

I nodded my head and added, “He has hazel eyes if I am not wrong.”

“Yeah…” one of them trailed off, not interested in the description at all.

“Well, I saw him going out of this place.” I pointed my index finger toward the entrance. “As soon as I saw him going out, I ran to y’all. Did you have a fight with your friend? He seemed upset.”

“Thank you,” one of the muggers said and the five of them started running to the place I pointed out.

I followed them. Once I saw they were fully out of the territory, I told the guards strictly, “Never let those five inside here, okay?”

“Okay, Ma’am,” a guard responded.

A grin appeared on my lips. Finally, the wedding was back to the title, ‘Perfect Wedding.’

“Well done.”

I didn’t have to turn around to see who was the owner of the voice. I knew it was him—the wedding crasher.

“Thank you,” I replied to him and started walking to the madam where others were standing. It was the time to sprinkle flower petals while the bride and groom would roam around the holy fire in a circle seven times. It was called Pheras.

“You are a great actress. For a brief moment, even I bought your acting.”

I continued walking and saw him walking along with me. Once we stopped at one place, near the mandap, I turned to him and said, “Even though I kick out the wedding crashers whenever they crash a wedding I organized, I am willing to make an exception today.”

He arched an eyebrow and smirked. “Is it because of my looks?”

“It might be, but mostly, it’s because today, one of my best friends is getting married.”

He gaped at my response. “It’s your best friend’s wedding, and you were busy dealing with a wedding crasher and muggers?”

“Kavita hired me as her wedding organizer, and I am very professional with my work.”

“Interesting,” he said, his voice lingering with amusement. He didn’t have his mask on his face anymore.

Zara held a tray filled with flower petals in front of me and raised her eyebrows, asking whether everything was fine now or not.

I nodded with an assuring smile and took a handful of petals.

Then Zara offered it to the wedding crasher, who took a handful of petals as well. Zara stood to my right while he was standing on my left side.

“Is this all new to you?” I asked once I started throwing the petals toward the bride and groom.

“It would’ve been, but one of my dad’s business associate’s son married an Indian, and my family was invited. So I saw these rituals before,” he replied and threw the petals too.

We were quietly throwing the petals, as the priest said his mantras.

Occasionally, the wedding crasher was throwing petals at me too, making me glare at him, to which he just smiled innocently.

When the priest asked the bride to come in front of the groom for the remaining pheras, my eyes fell on Kavita’s hand. She crossed two fingers on her left hand, looking at me and then at Zara—her eyes screaming for help.

We had fixed that sign to use whenever we needed help from each other and were unable to use words.

Kavita needed our help, at this very moment.

Just when I thought I had saved the wedding, the real drama had started now.