It was an awesome night; everything was decorated with flowers, not only the building, but even every room was decorated for a nice wedding ceremony.

“Anita, are you done with your face pack?” asked Anita’s Mom.

“Mamma, not yet; it will take just a minute." Replied Anita.

Mom - “Ok. Do it faster; you have to get ready.”

“Ok, Mamma.” Replied Anita.

“So, hi, I am Anita, a gorgeous-looking girl in my whole colony, but that's not all. Today is a very special day for me. Yes, because today is my wedding, and that's also with a handsome guy, which is like a dream come true.

‘But how does he look?’ I am unable to answer this question, as I have not seen him once, but according to my family's opinion, he is a nice, handsome, and rich person. Yeah, you might be thinking, isn’t it a bit old-fashioned to not even look at your husband before marriage for even once, but yeah, that’s the case for me. As my family was told that only the bride couldn’t see the groom, but the other family members of the bride could, so my family has seen him, not me, though. So that’s all I can tell about him.

And for your kind information, today is my special night with my handsome husband. So, let’s see how he is. I am all excited.”

After all the rituals, it was nighttime, in which the two couples were pushed into the same room for consummation of their marriage, in our language, called ‘SUHAAGRAAT’ (Honeymoon).

The bed was decorated with red rose petals, arranged in a heart shape. And the Dulhan (bride), basically Anita, was waiting for her husband within the room wearing a beautiful red saree, and all the jewelry like the bangles, necklace, earring, tikka, etc. In Indian rituals, the bride has to cover her face with her saree, in the form of a veil. And her husband will lift the veil for her. And she also had her face covered under the veil while waiting.

Sara- “Oh ho, jijaji (brother-in-law), you look awesome, but you are nothing in front of our Didi; she is very, very beautiful in front of you“.

Groom -“Oh yes, I know that my wife is more beautiful than all the girls present over here and even more beautiful than me, since I’m not beautiful, I’m handsome“.

Sara- “Oh⁓ Waah Jijaji. Abhi se hi biwi ki itni Vaah Vaai, huh? (Oh⁓ Wow, Brother-in-law, so much praise for your wife already, huh?).”

Mom – “Ok, that’s enough, now let him go inside.” And pushes him inside the room.

The groom enters the room, and the females from earlier lock the door behind him. He looks around the room, and his eyes fall on her bride, sitting on the decorated bed, wearing a red bridal Saree, with her face covered with it.

He comes near her and slightly sits beside Anita.

After a few minutes

Anita trembles in fear and starts screaming at her own husband.

The groom enters the room, and the females from earlier lock the door behind him. He looks around the room, and his eyes fall on her bride, sitting on the decorated bed, wearing a red bridal Saree, with her face covered with it.

He comes near her and slightly sits beside Anita.

Groom - “You don’t have to cover your face like that. Because we are not in the olden days, so you do not need to do that.”

Anita - “But I want to.”

Groom – “What? Why?”

Anita – “Because I want you to lift this veil off of me.”

Groom chuckles lightly and then replies, “As you command, my lady.”

He comes closer to her, Anita’s heart beating in excitement, to see her husband for the first time. He lightly lifts the veil off of her face, and his eyes fall on her face.

Groom - “Oh wow, what a beauty, “ in a lower voice.

Anita blushes after hearing this, and when he realizes what he has done, he gets all shy.

Groom- “I have seen how beautiful you are, but even you need to see whether I am up to your standards or not. Please, look at me.”

Anita nods and slowly opens her eyes. But just as her eyes fall on him, something inside her makes her terrified.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh.” No words, but only a scream comes out of her mouth. In fear, she jumps off the bed and sits in a corner holding herself, her body trembling, tears running from her eyes. “No, don’t come any closer, please leave me alone.”

“Did I scare you? Don’t I look good enough? Is there anything in my face scaring you?”

Then, suddenly, Anita remembered something.

SIX YEARS AGO

Anita – “I was 20 when I went to Mumbai for my higher studies. I got a residence for my living at a very low price. It was a royal-looking, palace-type big bungalow, but very old, which gave the vibe of a haunted house. But I don’t believe in these things. And along with this house, its well-furnished furniture was free, so any mad person would only leave such a good opportunity.

I just broke up with my ex, so I was totally depressed and wanted a person, basically a new boyfriend, who would listen to everything I say, care for me, and even make me happy. But sad me had none, so basically I had to clean this huge house all on my own.

While I was cleaning the house, I found a photo of a guy. The guy in the photo was a tall, handsome, fair boy with a tall height, black hair, a well-maintained body, and broad, muscular shoulders. He was wearing a white loose shirt with black, baggy jeans.

I thought cleaning would lift my mood, but it didn’t, so I went and bought two big bottles of beer to drown in my sorrow all alone. I emptied both my bottles and got drunk. And when I am drunk, even I don’t know what I’m doing.

I went and bought two big bottles of beer to drown in my sorrow all alone. I emptied both my bottles and got drunk. And when I am drunk, even I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, after I got drunk, I picked the photo of that handsome guy and started talking to it.

“How idiotic I am to choose that stupid person, that James, that fucking person. Today, I regret my decision to choose that person. If only you were my boyfriend,“ I said while pointing towards that photo.

”But whose photo is this? Let it go. Do you know one thing? That you are very, very handsome and sexy compared to my stupid ex. I wish you were my boyfriend. Now go and bring some water for me,” telling the photo in a completely drunken state while crying.

“Shit, I forgot that you are a photo, who can’t bring water to me, so let me go and get it myself.”

Then, suddenly, the lights went out. She looked at the watch on her wrist. It was 9.30 pm. “I’ll go and get the water,” she said, and stood at her place. She turned on the flashlight on her phone, picked the photo, saying, “Let me pick you up, so that you can save me from any danger,” and started walking in the dark to get the water. While she was filling the water in the bottle, she felt like somebody was also present in her house.

As she turned around to have a look, the flashlight on her phone turned off; her phone was dead with no battery. She had forgotten to charge her phone. All scared, she hurriedly picked up the candle and matchbox she had kept earlier and lit the candle.

And after that, she looked around in the kitchen, but no one was to be found. She let out a sigh of relief and started to walk towards the living room. But suddenly she froze in her place; she saw someone standing there. “Who's there?” she asked, a bit scared. Not getting any replies, she asked again. “WHO ARE YOU?”

She was still in a drunken state and couldn’t stand properly; she was wobbling, and the person in front of her started coming near her.

“Hey, don’t come near me, or he will beat you,” by showing the photo. The shadowy figure disappeared immediately. And in the next second, it was in front of her eyes.

She stepped back in fear, but then suddenly noticed something: the person in front of her and the person in the photo in her hand were the same.

Drunken, dumb Anita started comparing the photo with the man.

“Is this you?” asked while making a silly face.

Suddenly, she loses her balance and falls on him.

He grabs her by her waist and pulls her closer towards him, so that she doesn’t fall.

“Oh⁓ is this a dream? Or has my wish come true? Burp⁓”

While tracing his face with her finger, she said.