Keerthi shuts her eyes,leaning on the headboard, extremely tired after the circus she has been forced to perform,she contemplates changing, but on a second thought, doesn't.

May be I should just sleep away this nightmare, she thought.

But the thing was,she couldn't sleep,her nerves anxious as she thought about what might happen in the next few minutes,hours.

Her stomach churns at the idea.

Seconds tick by,turning into minutes,the deadly silence of the room forcing her to think of harsh,bitter reality that she was forced to go through.

*******

Keerthi hears her father yelling at her mother as she enters the house quietly,from office.Her stomach was in her mouth. Why was he yelling?

Because when he does,there is no say to how much pain he put her mother through.

Keerthi hears a harsh slap from the other side,making her flinch,tears automatically forming in her eyes as she hurriedly removes her footwear and gets inside, hoping to bridge herself between her parents.

"I don't care what you say or do.I want her to get married to this guy in 10 days.Do you understand?",she hears her father hiss,grabbing her mother's chin,glaring at her,not caring about the tears that were flowing down her cheeks at an alarming rate.

What?

Arvind Varma looks up,finding his daughter at the door step and walks towards her making her breath hitch.

Keerthi wonders Why he was such a monster to her mother?

"Here is the guy. His name is Vikram Singh Rathore. You are getting married to him in 10days", her dad says and slams a piece of paper onto her hand.

"But..,I..I don't w.. want to..",she starts to interrupt but stops when she hear a thundering echo.

Keerthi shut her eyes,like he had slapped her,tears flowing from her eyes.

Her father grabs her mother through her hair,making her stumble."I don't want any useless discussion on this topic. It is happening. Understood?",her father glares at the both of them,and Keerthi quickly nods making her scared as to what he might do to her mother if she didn't.

He gives his wife an icy look and leaves.

"Keerthi!",Amritha Varma scolds,"Why did you agree?We could have at least tried to convince him",she says in a tired voice.

"I don't want you to go through so much pain all the time mom,and definitely not because of me",she say as she hugs her mother,still sad and angry about the assault her mom was put through.

"Beta, don't spoil your life for me. You know about your father. What if the man he chose for you is also like him?I don't want you to go through all the pain and suffering".

Her heart jolts.

But by this time,after witnessing her parents for twenty four years of her life,Keerthi did not think there was actually real love any where out there.

But abuse,well,she could figure it out when it came.

She was deep in her thoughts when she felt her mother pat her cheek, grabbing her attention.

Keerthi gives her mother a sad smile,"I can do anything for you,mom".

*********

And here she was, exactly ten days later sitting in an unknown room,waiting for an unknown guy,holding her future in his.

Keerthi's heart repels at the thought.

No.

She was and is a strong, independent woman. She could surely handle him.

But the fact that he had married Keerthi without a meeting and in a short span was convincing her otherwise.

What if he was like that?

Tears unknowingly formed in her eyes at the idea of assault.

What if he expects..... something tonight.

Please God,No.She prayed.

But then,again,she could always leave him,she thought.

Watching her parents has set her mind in such an adamant way that she would never tolerate abuse,of any kind.

Keerthi glances at the clock with sleepy eyes, One fifteen. She felt even more drowsy after looking at time as she knew she had to wake up early in the morning,for some ritual, sacrificing her sleep.

Why did girls always have to suffer?

She picks out her clothes to change,not willing to wait any more for him,making her way to the washroom,when she hears the door knob twist.

No.Don't come.

She holds her breath, desperately wanting it to be her imagination,but when she sees a form coming inside and locking the door,she was disappointed.

Keerthi freezes in place, momentarily forgetting about the clothes in her hand when Vikram turns around,walking towards the bed.

"Oh! You still didn't change?Go and change. You must be tired", Vikram says.

Keerthi nods and goes to the washroom, quickly locking the door as she took deep breaths.

Keerthi changes,taking her own sweet time,not willing to go outside as she contemplated her choice of clothing,grey full sleeved top and a blue pants.

She comes out and sees him sitting on the corner of the bed in his night suit as she silently places her clothes in the bag.

She slowly placed her accessories in the bag,half expecting him to jump her,half expecting him to go to sleep.But he does none.He distractedly goes through something on his phone,not even glancing at her.

Good.

As ten minutes pass by, and when there was nothing else to place in the bag,she takes slow steps towards the bed, freezing in place when she see him looking at her way,making her feel exposed.

"Why do you look so scared?"Vikram laughs when she nears the bed.

"I..I am not",she fidgets with her top as she stands near the edge of the bed.

"Okay,I believe you",he looks at her with an amused smile,"Sit".

She take a shaky breath,sitting on the far corner.

He shakes his head, smiling to himself.His bride was too nervous for her own good. Normal times,Vikram would like to ease her worries, but he was too tired now. He could ease them tomorrow,he thought.

"Look,I know what you are thinking,and frankly,you are not even being subtle about it. Don't be scared. I barely know you. Actually, I don't know anything about you besides your name",he grins."And we got married too quickly,though I guess we have our own reasons",he says shrugging.

"Nothing is going to happen between us till we like each other",he says loud and clear,"Though you are my wife,it is just legally,on papers. I must like you if I am going to do anything to or with you if I have to go beyond that",he finishes.

Keerthi releases the breath she was holding.

"Okay",she gives a small smile,relieved and at the same time embarrassed.

"Come on,get to sleep",he says,moving to his corner of the bed.

Since he has assured me nothing was going to happen,she lies down on her side of the bed.

Stupid,when did guys ever stand on their word?

She fears for a moment,what if he had just said that to get into her good books?

But she doesn't dwell on the thought as her eyes flutter close,sleep invading her.Thank God.Nothing happened.