Page 11 of Always? Forever.
I turned to look at him looking all smug before he chuckled and said, “I meant I'm in love with Aria.” I just narrowed my eyes at him.
I made my way to the kitchen to prepare our food, and Aarush tagged along. I continued to ignore his ramblings as I dished out our meals onto separate plates.
Then, out of the blue, Aarush abruptly stopped eating, clattering his spoon loudly against his plate. The suddenness startled me, and he exclaimed loudly, "I HAVE AN IDEA!"
"Oh no," I groaned inwardly, fully aware that Aarush's ideas were rarely anything to write home about. "Is it a good idea?" I cautiously inquired.
"I said I have an idea; I didn't claim it was the best fucking thing in the world," he deadpanned.
And then, he blurted out, "Why don't you ask Samaira to be your fake wife?!" He said it with such excitement as if he had just uncovered a hidden treasure. I choked on my food, coughing uncontrollably. At least Aarush had the decency to pass me a glass of water.
"Are you out of your mind? I can barely stand her now, and we've only met three times! If I had to spend the rest of my life with her, I'd go insane," I protested.
"Not the rest of your life, just a year at most. Think about it; you've only got 10 days with no prospects, and she's your best shot!" Aarush insisted.
I scoffed and continued eating. Aarush let out a loud sigh. "You're a fool if you think you can find someone better within your time limit," he declared.
"I can't marry her. She'd probably kill me within a week!" I exclaimed, half-jokingly. She really might.
Aarush chuckled, "I give it four hours."
"Yet you want me to marry her?" I retorted.
"Yes, because it's really fun to see someone put you in your place and mainly because you have no other options!" Aarush exclaimed.
Maybe... just maybe, it isn't such a terrible idea after all. I mean, at least she's not a complete stranger. She works at Mom's office, so she's not pretending to be someone she's not. As I reluctantly admitted this to myself, a pit formed in my stomach, that nagging feeling that if I played this card wrong, everything could spiral out of control.
With these thoughts swirling in my mind, I decided to head home soon after.
Samaira
After dinner, Aria and I were watching the movie, The Proposal. Aria, she was essentially a different version of me, you know what I mean? As we chatted, I caught her up on what my parents were asking for.
Aria pondered for a moment before deciding to speak up, which, more often than not, spelled trouble. "You know, I had an idea..."
I couldn't help but groan audibly. Aria's ideas didn't always lead to favorable outcomes. "Is it a good idea?" I countered.
"I said I had an idea, never claimed it was a good one," she replied, her expression remaining impassive.
Rolling my eyes, I acknowledged that her idea probably wouldn't be a winner. Yet, at this point, I was desperate for any idea that could help me secure a boyfriend in just 17 days.I looked at her, silently urging her to continue.
"So... you don't get to kill me though," she hesitated.
Now I knew it wasn't just an okay idea; it was an idea that might make me want to throttle her. Why were best friends so consistently irritating?
She cleared her throat, building suspense, and I couldn't help but urge her on. "Aria, just get it out!" I exclaimed, my patience wearing thin.
"Fine! Geez! Why don't you ask Kartik to be your fake boyfriend? Please don't kill me," she blurted out quickly, hiding behind a pillow for dramatic effect. I rolled my eyes, thinking my bestie had gone completely off the deep end.
"Honey, I know you're crazy, but to this extent?" I said with a disapproving tone.
She made a face at me, and I couldn't help but laugh as she started pouting. "Jail clothes? No thanks. Your best friend—aka me—would be the one locked up foractuallyhurting him. Trust me, it won't end well!” I declared, slamming my fork down for emphasis.
She flinched and shook her head, muttering indecipherable things. "What about the other guy, his friend? The guy from the building, Aarush?" I suggested.
Aria looked at me with narrowed eyes and declared, "You got a hot guy; I have dibs on Aarush."
"Good Lord, woman! First of all, Aarush didn’t speak at all in front of you and we flirted once, and secondly, I don't have a hot guy!" I protested, my voice raised.
