Page 145 of No Boss
The next day, fabric merchants arrived.
Three of them.
Bolts of cloth spread across the sitting room floor. Yellow bright as morning sun. Deep blue, cool and rich. Rose with gold so fine it seemed to breathe.
Naina moved through it all without pause.
“This for the haldi.” Yellow draped across Meera’s shoulder.
“This for the sangeet.” Blue followed.
“And this…” She held the rose fabric, eyes lighting. “Bhabhi, don’t refuse before you touch it.”
Meera touched it. She did not refuse.
Sarita watched from her chair, content, living a moment she had imagined for years.
Between colour and texture, between choices that kept multiplying, Meera found him.
Abhinav.
Sometimes outside the room, leaning against the doorframe. Sometimes across the people surrounding her.
He didn’t interrupt. Didn’t call her over. Didn’t cross the distance. He stayed. Whenever their eyes met, she looked away first.
The next evening, habit pulled her toward the temple.
She had meant to go earlier. Promised herself she would. Days had blurred into each other, preparations filling every hour. The temple had continued without her.
Her father stood there. He finished with the last devotee, looked up, and beckoned her forward.
They moved into the aarti together. The rhythm settled her. For a few moments, there was only flame, breath, prayer.
When it ended, her hand reached for the next task out of habit.
His fingers tapped lightly against her head. “Meera.”
She looked up.
“Stop worrying. A wedding happens once. Enjoy it.”
“Babuji, I just…”
“I am here.” His voice softened. “I have always been here. I will manage.”
His hand remained, warm, grounding. “You do not have to carry everything, not this time.”
She went silent.
He watched her, gentler now. “I am happy, beti. Not because of who you are marrying. Because of how he looks at you. Because of how you look at him.”
Her throat tightened.
He gave her head one last light tap. “Go. Before Naina Bai Sa comes searching.”
A small, helpless laugh escaped her. She stepped back.
He turned toward the temple again.
