Riya and Arnav’s relationship is built on childhood mischief and quarrels. But behind that mischievousness, Arnav had a deep love hidden. The family marriage proposal reveals the truth of their feelings and Riya realizes that Arnav’s love for her is selfless and deep. Let’s start the story.

I was sitting on the stairs, singing a song and rubbing dried chili with Kadbel. I’m an expert at eating sour things. Suddenly, a familiar voice said, “Who does Mamoni’s heart desire?” I turned around in surprise and saw Chachchu. “Chachchu… you?” Behind him was Kakima, and there was a girl, probably Natasha, with a guy who was looking towards the second floor. He wore glasses, looked really cute, and had an innocent expression. This must be Ornab Bhaiya. But no, he couldn’t be innocent. He used to trouble me a lot when we were kids. There’s a saying, right? Just because something looks shiny, it doesn’t mean it’s gold. He’s a troublesome bone.

This is a story from about 7 years ago. Ornab Bhaiya had been following me around since I was little. Whenever I started playing, he’d ruin my toys and run away. He would irritate me for no reason and hit me. I had gotten so fed up with him. Back then, I was in Class 5. My uncle had sent me a doll from abroad, which I loved very much. He broke it. I cried so much. Who could stop me? I cried to Chachchu and asked for justice. He beat Bhaiya up. After that, Bhaiya stopped talking to me and didn’t bother me anymore. I was so happy. A year later, Chachchu and the family moved to Dhaka. Although Chachchu visited sometimes, the others couldn’t come due to their studies. I heard Bhaiya was studying at university.

They all went inside. The wedding of my older brother was taking place at home, so they came. Mom was really happy to see Ornab Bhaiya and Natasha.

Mom: “You both have grown so much! Don’t you ever think of your Aunt?”

Natasha: “Of course I do. I miss her a lot. Bhaiya never wanted to come. That’s why I couldn’t come with Mom.”

Mom: “What! Ornab?”

Ornab: “No, Aunt. It’s just… studies…”

Mom: “I understand. I understand. No need to say more. Go and rest.”

I was happily eating Bhel with Natasha, chatting away when I heard Mom call me.

Mom: “Riya, Riya… Uff, Mom’s calling.”

Me: “What?”

Mom: “Go and give the sherbet to Ornab.”

Me: “What? I can’t do that.”

Mom: “Why not? Go give it. I have a lot of work—wedding preparations, so many things.”

Ugh, Mom wants me to serve that troublemaker. But I had no choice. Reluctantly, I took the sherbet to him.

In the evening, there was Bhaiya’s mehendi ceremony. The mehendi was for us, actually. Bhaiya came later, and Ornab also arrived. After the mehendi, Natasha started dancing and pulled me in. Everyone was dancing. Then a naughty idea popped into my head. My mehendi had dried. While dancing, I ended up near Ornab Bhaiya and deliberately rubbed my semi-dried mehendi onto his white shirt. Oh wow! I was so happy. He looked at me angrily, but he didn’t say anything. I ignored him, but I couldn’t help but feel bad that my mehendi got ruined.

The next day was Bhaiya’s Haldi ceremony. Today, I’m going to do something. I’m going to take revenge. I’m waiting for the right opportunity. But I must be careful; he won’t let me go easily. Finally, the chance came. Bhaiya was carrying cakes, sweets, yogurt, pithas, grapes, and turmeric for the Haldi ceremony. My cousin was holding the yogurt, and I bumped into her, causing Bhaiya to get completely covered in yogurt. I apologized and walked away. A little while later, I saw Bhaiya changing his Punjabi and staring at me.

At night, after the Haldi ceremony, I went to my room. The room was completely dark. I switched on the light, and my eyes widened. Ornab Bhaiya was sitting there. He glanced at me once, left a piece of paper, and walked out. I opened the paper and read what was written:

Dear Monkey,

You started trouble, and now you haven’t done the job properly. You know me very well. If you want to mess with me, fine. Be ready for the next response. You’ve ruined two of my dresses. I can’t just let you go like this.

Bye.

He’s threatening me! How dare he? I’m not the little Riya I used to be. I’m ready for him now.

The next morning, I woke up at 9 AM, my head feeling heavy. I had hardly slept the entire night. I had slept upstairs at Ornab’s house. The downstairs is ours, and upstairs is theirs. I peeked into his room and saw him sleeping peacefully. Kakima’s phone alarm went off. I snuck in and set alarms for 9:15, 9:20, 9:25, and 9:30. At 9:15, he jumped up, and from his face, I could tell he was scared. He turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. At 9:20, he jumped up again and turned off the alarm with an irritated face. He must have been thinking, “Who’s doing this?” After a couple more alarms, I went downstairs.

In the afternoon, we all played with colors—my cousins, Natasha, Mami, Fupi, Kakima, and I, all smeared in colors. Suddenly, someone poured water over me. Not just water, colored water. It was Ornab… What has he done? I’m shaking with anger, wishing I could dunk him in the water. Ugh, but I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t even complain. It took a lot of effort to get all the color off during my bath. I’m definitely going to get back at him for this.

We were getting ready to go to the bride’s house.

At the bride’s house:

“Wow! Bhabi, you look great!” The bride gave a little smile. Her family knew me well, and I knew them too. It was a nice gathering. The groom’s sisters were teasing Bhaiya. They were insisting that he have a glass of sherbet, which I knew had something mixed in it. I asked one of my friends to give Ornab a glass of it. They forced him to drink it. Poor Ornab… His face turned red from the spice. I laughed loudly, and he understood it was my doing. The wedding was completed, and we returned home.

Today was the Bou Bhath ceremony. I was dressed beautifully and sitting on the stage with the bride. Natasha and I were fixing our hair. My hair felt a little sticky. This couldn’t be right. It was my straightened hair! I asked Natasha to check it.

Natasha: “What is this… chewing gum?”

Me: “What? This must be your brother’s work! No one else would do this.”

Natasha:  “Bhaiya? Why would Bhaiya do this?”

I said, “Forget it… help me get the chewing gum off.” Natasha took almost half an hour to get the chewing gum off.

The next morning, I went to the laundry to wash clothes. Ornab was washing his shirt. He pretended not to see me and left. I went and threw his shirt into the laundry, making sure to dirty it intentionally. There was a wedding at home, so the laundry had gotten pretty dirty. In the afternoon, Natasha and I were chatting while washing clothes. The house was completely empty. All the guests had left, and they would leave tomorrow too. After a while, it was getting dark, so we started gathering clothes. But I couldn’t find the scarf of my expensive dress. Natasha and I searched for it but couldn’t find it. Natasha said the scarf was probably lying below. I looked down and saw that it had fallen into the drain. All the wedding leftovers were thrown there. Yuck! I remembered the morning’s incident… Ornab… That jerk did this.

The next morning, they left. I felt bad for Natasha. Bhai and Bhabi were gone too. She was alone. It didn’t feel right. I kept her Facebook ID, and we talked sometimes. I also got Ornab’s ID. He was quite famous, with many followers and friends. Of course, being in university helped with that. I was shocked after seeing his posts. They all seemed like break-up posts. I asked Natasha, “Did your brother have a break-up?” Natasha replied, “Well, sort of. Bhaiya has loved someone for many years, but she doesn’t love him. He’s been hurt for years. It’s like a silent break-up.”

I laughed hearing this. The girl had figured out what Ornab was like. She didn’t want to waste her life on him. I had a fake account and added Ornab with the intention of getting back at him. I wanted to make him regret his actions. The plan was to make him feel heartbroken. That way, the anger I had for him would lessen, and I would feel at peace. He was the one person I truly hated in this world. I posted some beautiful pictures, including one with a friend. After talking nicely for a few days, I proposed to him. He immediately rejected me, saying he loved someone else. He told me everything. I replied, “Don’t think about the one who doesn’t love you.” I said a lot of things about that girl. He got really angry and told me not to say anything about the person he loved. I got angry too and said a lot more. He blocked me after that.

Years passed. Now, I’m in my final year of university. I heard that Ornab had graduated in engineering and was doing well in his job. I had focused on myself and my studies. I didn’t talk to Natasha much anymore. One day, I returned from college, and Natasha hugged me.

Natasha: “You’ve changed so much.”

Me: “No, I’ve just been busy with my studies.”

Natasha: “Okay, no need to explain. Here, have some chocolate.” (She handed me five KitKats.) “Bhaiya sent these.”

I went to my room and threw them aside. Mom and Bhabi came into my room.

Mom: “Riya, your uncle wanted to talk to you about marrying Ornab. Your father, Bhaiya, and we all agree. What do you think?”

I felt like the sky had fallen on me. “What? Me and Ornab? Marriage?”

Bhabi: “Hey, what’s the matter? Say something.”

Me: “Let me first get over the shock.” (I was burning with anger but controlled myself and said calmly.) “I can’t marry him. Please forgive me.”

Mom: “If you’re not ready, I can’t force you. But think about it one more time. He’s a really good guy.”

Me: “Mom, there’s no question of thinking again. What I said, I said after thinking. (What is it that everyone sees in Ornab?)”

Mom: “Alright, I’ll tell your uncle that you don’t agree.”

Mom left. I went to the balcony. Ornab must’ve reacted the same way I did. Simple. I don’t understand why the family can’t see that we don’t like each other.

Suddenly, someone entered the room. As I was about to go back inside, Ornab grabbed both my hands and pinned them against the wall.

Ornab: “You can’t marry me? Why can’t you? Tell me why!”

I was stunned. “What do you mean? You should be happy about this. And let go of my hands, it hurts.”

Ornab: “Happy? Have you ever thought about my happiness? Then today, you wouldn’t have said no. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I used to deliberately make you angry, you know why? Because whenever you got angry, your face would turn red, and you looked the most beautiful then. Maybe I didn’t understand love back then, but I kept wanting to see your angry face again and again. And when you cried, you looked the most adorable. That day, I purposely didn’t break your doll even though it fell. I didn’t put chewing gum in your hair during Rony Bhaiya’s wedding. I don’t know who did it. I didn’t come for Rony Bhaiya’s wedding; I came to see you. Ever since you started using Facebook, I’ve been following you. Do you know how many nights I stayed awake, thinking about you? How many nights I cried and tossed and turned. You don’t believe me, right? Ask Natasha, and you’ll know the truth. I’ve loved you my whole life. Please, don’t turn me away.”

He said all this in one breath, not even pausing for a moment. Then he started crying.

Ornab: “Please, say something.”

Me: (I didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, everything felt upside down. I couldn’t believe this person loved me so much.) “Alright.”

Ornab: “What do you mean by ‘alright’?”

Me: “I mean, I’m ready to marry…”

He didn’t let me finish. He hugged me tightly. It seemed like he had been waiting to hear me say “yes.”

Everyone came into the room—Uncle, Natasha, and Aunty. They all hugged me.

Me: “But I have one condition. If you’re willing to accept it, then I’ll marry you.”

Everyone stared at me, their eyes wide with fear.

“I’m going to make you suffer just like you did when we were kids. You won’t be able to tell anyone about it.”

Ornab: “I agree.”

Everyone burst into laughter.