Marriage by Arrangement

by Sophia Singh Sasson

  Rani selected one and set it on her plate.

  Jhanvi took a delicate bite of her sandwich and Rani tried not to fidget.

  “So, what are your plans after you marry my son?”

  “Arjun hasn’t asked me to marry him.” Rani immediately regretted the glib words. She knew what Jhanvi’s response would be before the woman even spoke.

  “I think you know that we would not be meeting if my son wasn’t serious about you, so let’s talk frankly.”

  Rani nodded contritely. She felt like she was a teenager who’d been caught with a boy in her bed.

  “What specific plans are you interested in?”

  “Let’s start with when you plan to move to India.”

  So much for easing into the conversation with a simple question. “Arjun and I haven’t discussed where we will live, but I’m sure we can work something out.”

  Jhanvi leaned forward. “Our home, Arjun’s home, is in India. Do you think he’ll be happy living in America?”

  No, he won’t. “The hotel in Vegas will need oversight, and as Arjun expands the business globally, we will have to be flexible with where we’re based,” Rani said evenly.

  “That sounds ideal in theory but it’s not practical. You are both quite old now and will want to have children soon. You can’t take children from house to house. They will need a home and that home will be the one where Arjun, and his father, grew up. Our khandani haveli. The family palace.”

  Rani bit her tongue to keep from saying something she’d regret. She and Arjun had talked about the fact that they both wanted children. Although Rani was loath to admit it, she knew Jhanvi was correct in pointing out that children needed a home base. But settling the details of her future with Arjun was not the point of this conversation with his mother.

  “These are all important decisions that Arjun and I will make,” she said with a teary smile.

  “But these decisions are not just for you and Arjun to make.”

  And there it is. What she had come to find out. Rani tilted her head and looked at Jhanvi.

  “I understand you grew up in a respectable Indian household, so surely you know these are family decisions, and ones that cannot be taken lightly given how many lives this affects.”

  Rani bristled at the way Jhanvi said “respectable” as though she meant to put air quotes around the word.

  “I understand completely. And while I respect the traditions and customs of your house, I think there are some things that a husband and wife must decide together. Surely you and Arjun’s dad make many such decisions.”

  Jhanvi visibly bristled. “You aren’t comparing this...this relationship you have with my son to the thirty-six years of marriage that my husband and I share? And we are the eldest generation in our house. When my in-laws were living, we bent to their every wish.”

  “And how did that make you feel as a daughter-in-law? Did you love your in-laws?” Rani knew she was really pushing the boundaries of appropriateness but she wanted to find some common ground with Jhanvi.

  Jhanvi smiled. “I won’t insult your intelligence by claiming that I loved my in-laws like a daughter would have. At first I resented and tolerated them, but as my children grew, I came to respect them and understand why they did things the way they did.”

  It was as honest an answer as Rani would ever get and hope bloomed in her chest. “But there are things you did differently. For example, educating your daughters.”

  Jhanvi reached across the couch to pat Rani’s hand. “Rani, why don’t we talk about what’s really bothering both of us and stop circling around the real issues. I wanted to talk to you to see whether you’re willing to make the sacrifices it will take to be a part of Arjun’s life, and you asked to meet me to see just how tyrannical I’ll be as a mother-in-law.”

  Rani smiled at Jhanvi, her directness reminding her so much of Arjun that she couldn’t help but like the woman.

  “Then how about I lay my cards on the table. I was married into a family where the parents controlled everything—the money, what we did, what we ate, who we were friends with. It was suffocating and I want to know if that’s what your household is like.”

  Jhanvi took another cucumber sandwich; Rani hadn’t touched hers. “And that is exactly why we are concerned about you, dear. We ran a background check on you and know that per your divorce decree, you parted because of irreconcilable differences. There was no mention of abuse or infidelity. Controlling in-laws are hardly a reason to leave your husband.”

  Rani took a breath. “It depends on one’s perspective, and my situation was more complex than that. But it is also the reason that I hope we can come to an understanding about how we will interact. It’s not a conversation I had before my prior marriage.”

  Jhanvi set down her plate. “Well, to answer your question, Dharampal and I are involved in all of the big life decisions. Arjun is in charge of the household finances and I don’t care what he spends his money on or whether his wife tells the cook to make chicken tikka for dinner or daal makhani.” She paused, as if trying to decide how to say the next part. “But we will have a role in determining who he will marry and his wife will follow the same house rules as my daughters. No late evenings without Arjun, and respectable friends. I don’t want my bahu to work outside the house unless it’s with Arjun like Divya is doing. We are a close family and are very involved in each other’s lives.”

  Rani’s mouth soured. “What if I disagree with your rules?” Rani hadn’t meant to make it sound like a question and kicked herself for not being more forceful.

  Jhanvi smiled. “I asked you before where you planned to live as a test question. There is no choice in that matter. Arjun will never live anywhere other than India. The fact that you think you have a choice tells me that you either don’t know my son very well or you are living in a fantasy bubble that is about to burst. So I ask you to consider how much you’re willing to give up for my son.”

  “I realize compromises need to be made, but why must I do all the sacrificing?”

  “Ah, the optimism of youth.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “Rani, dear, even in progressive societies like America, women talk about how they are responsible for too much of the domestic duties. More women leave their jobs when they have children than men.”

  “There are practical reasons why more women take time off to care for infants. They have to recover from childbirth and men can’t breastfeed.”

  “Exactly, Rani. Arjun is responsible for not just his financial future but that of his siblings too. He’s not going to become a stay-at-home dad, as you Americans say. So what type of life are you picturing together? Exactly what are you expecting he will give up for you? What are you willing to give up for him?”

  “I love Arjun and I’m willing to give up the world for him.” She paused, trying to find the right words. “But I expect equality in our marriage. And the big decisions about our life will be between me and him.”

  “Well, then you truly do not understand my son.”

  Rani stood, done with diplomacy. “I think we’ve both gotten what we wanted out of this conversation.”

  Jhanvi stood and smiled.

  Rani thanked her for the meeting. Now she had to face Arjun.

  Twenty-One

  Arjun paced his office. Rani and his mother were meeting less than a mile away. Should I go check on her? He knew what his mother could be like. Yet he couldn’t go. Rani had insisted that she wanted to meet with his mother alone and promised she would come see him afterwards. It was just as well; he wouldn’t always be around to mediate disagreements between Rani and his parents and Rani had to make the decision about what she could handle.

  She’s strong. She stood up to me. She can do this.

  He looked at his watch again. Only two minutes had passed since the last time he’d checked.

  A knoc
k on his door startled him. He had asked his assistant to bring Rani to his office as soon as she was done with his mother. He looked up to see her looking breathtakingly beautiful, and weary, like she’d been beaten down for hours.

  He pulled her into his arms, not caring about the glass walls or prying eyes. Her body melted against his.

  “That bad, huh?”

  She pushed against his chest and lifted her face. “It wasn’t bad. It was clarifying.”

  Acid churned in his stomach. “What do you mean?”

  “Arjun, what are we thinking? How is this ever going to work? Every day will be a battle between me and your parents. I’ve done that before, and I can’t. Not again. I don’t want to give up my career to move to India and play housewife.”

  “You don’t have to give up your career. You can open up your own design firm. My hotels alone have enough business to keep you busy for years.”

  She stepped back from him. “You don’t get it. I don’t want to be dependent on you. I want my freedom. I want to be able to work late if I need to, go out with friends at night if I want to. I don’t want to fight over the simplest requests. I’ve lived that way all my life and I won’t do it anymore.”

  “I’m not going to lie to you. My parents will always be a big part of my life. But we can work it out. As you Americans say, I come with baggage.”

  Her face crumpled. “You mother made it sound like I’d have no control over my life.”

  “I haven’t asked you to give up a single thing, Rani.”

  “Okay, then tell me how it’ll work between us?”

  He blew out a breath, his chest so tight that he had trouble getting it all out. It was a conversation they should have had a while ago. A talk that he had avoided because he didn’t like going into a meeting without having the answers.

  “You can open your own design firm and we can live part time here and part time in India. If you don’t want my business, that’s fine. I’m not saying it’ll be easy but we’ll work on getting my parents to loosen the rules. If we live here part time, it won’t be as bad.”

  “And what happens when we have children? We drag them with us on your private plane every time I get tired of living in India? Would you be happy having them grow up in a hotel?”

  “We don’t have to figure everything out right now. It’ll be years before we have children.”

  “I’m thirty-six, Arjun. If we want children, there aren’t a lot of years that we can wait.”

  Why was she being so stubborn? He was trying to meet her halfway and she was coming up with all the reasons why it wouldn’t work rather than helping him find solutions like she usually did.

  “I know your heart is in the right place and you want to make it work just as desperately as I do. But I think your mother has actually thought things through more than we have.”

  He clasped her hands. “I don’t have it all worked out, but can you give me a chance to find a way?”

  Her eyes were shining and the desperate look she gave him cut through his heart like a knife. He kissed her softly. “Give me some time to come up with a plan. Can you do that?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely, her body pressed close to his, her mouth hungry on his, her fingers grasping his hair. When she released him, her face was wet. She turned and walked out, and he was left with a hole in the pit of his stomach.

  Why did that feel like a goodbye kiss?

  Twenty-Two

  Arjun was drained. He stood at his kitchen stove watching the tea boil and looked at his watch. Rani had asked to come over and he was looking forward to holding her in his arms.

  His parents had just left after a volatile two days. Hema had found the courage to tell her parents she didn’t want to marry him but her parents had reacted the same way as his. They felt that Hema didn’t know what was best for her and was making a rash decision. They’d called Jhanvi and Dharampal to reiterate that they’d given their daughter an ultimatum: to marry Arjun or be disowned. They had also expressed anger at Arjun for his indiscretions with Rani. Meanwhile, the media storm hadn’t let up.

  The only win for Arjun was that he’d prevented his parents from making an announcement about him and Hema. He’d told them in no uncertain terms that he would only marry Rani. Their response was that he wasn’t welcome back into the family home if he didn’t marry Hema. After her conversation with Rani, his mother was convinced that Rani would add fuel to the discord that already existed with his sisters, especially Divya.

  As soon as the security guard downstairs alerted him that Rani had arrived, he took the tea off the stove and went to wait by the elevators. When the doors opened, his breath caught. Rani was wearing jeans and a V-neck shirt that showed off her curves beautifully. She smiled at him and he pulled her into his arms, savoring the feel of her against his body. He let her warm vanilla smell soothe the storm raging inside him.

  She’s the woman I love. How can I spend my life with someone else, knowing she exists?

  He led her to the kitchen. “I didn’t have time to make a full meal, but I made you some masala chai.” She smiled and perched on the island stool while he poured the tea into two cups.

  “It was rough with your parents.”

  He nodded. “They need some time.” He tried—and failed—to sound convincing for her. “It’ll be better once the media coverage dies down.”

  She shook her head. “You and I both know it’s about more than bad publicity. I’m all wrong for your family.”

  His stomach clenched. He wanted to reassure her but his words would just sound hollow.

  She reached out and grabbed his hands and he wove his fingers through hers.

  “Arjun, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. And that’s why I’m going to let you go.” Her voice cracked.

  His heart squeezed painfully in his chest. “You’re going to have to explain that one to me.”

  She smiled sadly at him. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You look horrible.”

  “Thanks so much. I haven’t had time to get a facial,” he joked.

  “The stress is killing you and it’s only been a few days.” She looked down. “Think about how you’re feeling right now. Can you imagine life like this every day? Constantly having to choose between me and your parents? This kind of burden will kill you, and I love you too much to do that to you. It was foolish for us to think that there was a magical way we could make it all work.”

  “So you want to give up? Throw it all away? Do you know how special it is to have what we have? To feel the way we do about each other?”

  “Yes I do! But I also know what it’s like to be trapped and feel like there’s no escape. That’s how it would be in your house. All my life, I’ve had no control over my own destiny. I did what my parents asked, and then I lived the way that my ex in-laws wanted. I can’t do it anymore. I won’t be the obedient bahu your mother is looking for, and it’s going to create strife in your family. I’ll be yet another burden on you and I don’t want to become yet another person you have to manage in your life like you do with your sisters and brother.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. She is unyielding, his mother had said. He wanted to pull Rani close but she pulled her hands away from him and he let her. For the first time in his life, he felt beaten. He didn’t want Rani to feel like a life with him would be the kind of prison she’d endured with her ex, yet he didn’t have anything different to offer her. He’d been hoping that together they could come up with a middle ground where both their needs could be met.

  “I wish more than anything that I’d never married Navin. That I didn’t have the scars that are stopping me from believing that we can somehow make this work.”

  He wanted to beg her, plead with her to rethink what she was saying. Convince her that things would be diff
erent. But the words stuck in his mouth. She needed him to give up everything for her. His family, his business, his life.

  When she kissed him on the cheek and left, he didn’t stop her.

  Twenty-Three

  How was it that the very person she went out of her way to avoid always ended up right in her path? Rani smiled as she passed Arjun in the hall. He gave her a clipped smile back then strode by. There were no more dimpled smiles for her.

  She felt ravaged inside. The Mahal hotel was two days away from opening and for the last few weeks, she’d been onsite every day to make sure the finishing touches were done right. Arjun had moved his offices to the hotel and himself into the owners condo. Her heart squeezed painfully every time she thought of him sleeping in the four-poster bed where they’d made love for the first time.

  She turned back to see him walking away. They had survived a month and a half of pretending they were just work colleagues. What was two more days?

  After the opening, she was officially done at RKS. When Arjun had insisted she remain in charge, there had been some grumblings from Delia, which Rani calmed by announcing that she planned to leave at the end of the contract. That seemed to placate everyone. She had made it very clear to Ian Rabat that if he tried to tarnish her reputation like he had Bob’s, Rani would do the same to him. She felt fairly confident that her break from RKS would be amicable.

  In the last month, five different firms had given her amazing employment offers. Arjun’s hotel had already been featured in several travel magazines and each piece had commented on the unique interior design of the hotel. It was fully booked for its first three months.

  Rani had rejected all of the job offers. Instead, she had channeled the endless hours of sleepless nights into setting up her own interior architecture firm. She’d sunk every penny she had into buying basic computer equipment and software. She couldn’t afford office space or staff until she got her first contract but things were looking promising on that front. She had already signed a small restaurant in Vegas and had meetings lined up with several other businesses. Nothing as big as Arjun’s hotel, but she didn’t have the team for something like that. She’d start off small and as she built her business, she could take on bigger projects.