Missile

Arjun knew what was going to happen next, and he immediately jumped as far away from her as he could. Ducking behind his raised hands, he shouted out, “Manya, stop, please first listen to me!”

Manya roared out like a wounded tigress, “Listen to you? To what? And most importantly- why?!”

Arjun had an alarm ringing through his mind, announcing that if he didn't calm her down within the limited time he had, he would be as good as dead at her hands.

He tried to reason with her again, "Manya, wait, just give me a chance to-" 

He was unable to complete his sentence before the flowers were already being hurled at him with full force, and Manya had picked up her sling bag from the couch.

Luckily, Arjun was able to dodge the flowers successfully, as they had been in a bunch when she had thrown them, but had scattered mid-air due to the pressure of the thrust. But this time, it was a solid, intact substance that she had picked up, and the girl standing in front of him had an impeccable aim- he would have to work fast if he wanted to save his precious face.

He blurted out at lightning speed, "Minnie, at least give me a chance to speak and explain myself!"

"Give you a chance to speak and explain yourself!? And what do you think I had just given you some hours ago?!"

"Minnie, calm down, it can hurt me!" He screamed again, seeing her get ready to throw the bag at him.

"Yes, and that is exactly what I want! She replied with a smirk on her face.

"M-m-Minnie, but at least-" 

CRASH! The bag was thrown at him with full intensity, but Arjun managed to save himself from this deadly missile by diving behind the couch at the last moment.

*As he stood up with a grin, he looked at her, thanking his forefathers in the sky for maintaining the shield of their blessings on him that day. The day was really something, they had gone through so many things in such a short period since the dawn.*

Once again, the boy was lost in his thoughts when he heard a grunt, and saw Manya bending down and removing her heels from her feet.

*Was he too early to be thankful, or had he just jinxed his day himself? Now nobody could save him, but he still could not lose hope. He had to try once again, and so he did, by resuming his pleading along with the puppy face of his.*

"Minnie, please listen to me- please give me a last chance to convince you-"

*He flinched as he heard his own sentence, and realised that he had messed up again! Convinced! Convinced for what? The word which should have been used at that place was 'explain'. He was supposed to give an explanation, it would not go on the path of manipulation, that he would be needing to convince her, but rather, he needed to provide an explanation for this blunder! But now, the arrow had been launched from the bow, and he couldn't do anything apart from waiting for the grim reaper to come and harvest his soul to take along with him, to get it deep fried in the pan of hot oil, in the depths of hell!*

"Convince me? Convince for what? Baby steps? This! These are your baby steps, Mr.Arjun Chauhan? An engagement, why don't you do one thing, just go and announce the wedding directly! And why should we wait for three days? Why don't we just get married today- or wait, scratch that! Why don't we just get married at this exact moment, and the best method for that would be for me to burn you alive and trace a circular path around you seven times, swearing the oath of not getting married to anyone else! Okay, wouldn't it be great, you liar?!"

Saying this, she threw one of her heeled footwear to his side, expecting that he would definitely dodge. But alas! This time he didn't even move from his place by an inch. The shoe hit him on his right shoulder, making him whimper from the pain and forcing him to bend a little while holding his shoulder. But he was still looking at her, with surprise in his eyes.

As soon as the heel touched his shoulder, she panicked and dropped the other hell as she ran towards him, saying, "Juno, you great duffer! No one can be as idiotic as you! You dumbo! Why didn't you dodge it? It must be hurting a lot!" She removed his hands from his shoulder, rubbing the spot with her own hands.

Arjun took the opportunity presented to him and grabbed her hands from his shoulder, bringing them down and holding them. He spoke slowly, in a wounded note, "Minnie, how can you doubt me? I have also arrived here with you and I haven't even talked to anyone during the ride as well. You know very well that I can't do anything that would torment you mentally, or give you pain in any form. I-"

"I am sorry Juno!" She couldn't bear the look of hurt evident on his face and interrupted him, as she explained herself further, "Actually I got panicked after hearing the word 'engagement'. Especially the way everyone was greeting us, like we had come home with a sanctioned certificate declaring the status of our romantic relationship, and I panicked hard. I didn't doubt you, I was just being ignorant of the fact that the news might contain the same amount of shock for you. I know you don't want to get engaged either-"

She hadn't even completed her statement, when Arjun got startled and pulled her towards him, asking nervously, "Who told you that I don't want to get engaged? Don't tell me you don't want-"

"Do you want this engagement to happen?" Manya looked at him with shock.

"I mean I won't mind, after all it's just an engagement-"

"No, it is a very big commitment, for which I am not ready. And I don't want to get engaged-"

He interrupted her with an urgent doubt, "You don't want to get engaged for now, or do you never want to?"

"Of course for now, you duffer!" She  looked at him with an indecipherable look on her face. 

"Thank God!"  He let out a sigh of relief, adding, "You know what, I was feeling like someone has kept a huge stone on my chest. I was scared to death, thinking that you don't want to get engaged, ever."

Manya let out a loud laugh, trying to hide the pain in her eyes, despite knowing that  she won't be able to, but she was still under the force of habit.

She exclaimed, "Dumbo! This is why you are known with this name." Saying this, she ruffled his hair.

Arjun held the hand she had placed over his head and brought it down to his lips.

Placing a peck on the back of her hand, he let go of it and spoke, "Minnie, look into my eyes and tell me, what are you trying to hide?"

*Manya sensed that trying any stunts would not be worth it. She had already been caught, and the sole reason he was even asking her, was because he wanted to hear it from her mouth!*

She looked at him, when she noticed the love, affection and care in his eyes, and that was the end of any remaining doubts, as she was faced with the things she was more afraid of. She quickly lowered her eyes to the ground and spoke, "Juno, I don't want you to get engaged to me, thinking that you have gotten engaged to your Minnie. Because the girl standing in front of you is not your Minnie entirely, she has changed. She has changed a lot, and now the girl you are going to get engaged to, or are willing to get engaged to, is a different Manya Rahal, a selfish business woman who can't think further than prices and profit. I don't want you to get disillusioned and eventually disappointed, when you find out that I am not loveable at all. And you know what, this is just one of my fears, and I have a long list of them! This is why I had asked for confirmation, about whether or not you are okay with me taking baby steps! I-"

"Minnie, relax." Arjun spoke, patting her head softly, "I know who you are, and who you can be. And trust me, nobody can remain the same throughout their entire lifetime. And yes, it is true that I love the Minnie you were back then, but it is also a fact that I am madly in love with the Manya Rahal of today. It doesn't bother me, what you were and what you have become, because this is life! We both will keep growing and keep changing, this is what we call character evolution. But trust me, I will always find a way to love you again, and fall for you again and again. So just stop thinking about disappointing me. And one more thing, if you don't want to get engaged now, we should tell Maenu about it at the earliest!"

"No!" Manya shouted out suddenly, with teary eyes. "No, I can't do this. Have you not seen the happiness in her eyes after confirming our engagement? And the way she was announcing the news to everyone, I am not going to tell her anything!"

"Then what will we do?" 

"We? YOU! You are going to do whatever it takes to stop the engagement!"

Manya dropped the bomb on his head once again!

                ************************