Not That Interested

Chapter 12: The One With The Samosas

Regular life hit me, once the weird weekend got over. Monday mornings were as crappy as Mondays usually are. It began with the usual, me yelling at Ali to wake-up for Fajr prayers. Then him yelling back "Mina! If people were meant to pop out of bed, WE WOULD ALL SLEEP IN TOASTERS! Let me take my time. GOD!"

There was a mini wrestling match between Me and my Dad over the last Iced Tea packet. I won. He glared at me over his coffee all through breakfast.

When I reached Lighthouse (My office), I found that everyone was avoiding our Intern Waleed for some reason. A quick pop in at our bubbly secretary Baby's desk (Yes, she insists her name is Baby. We don't even ask anymore) had me well informed of the gossip.

Apparently, Waleed accidentally mixed up the Medium sized German stapler pins, with the Medium-2 sized Italian ones. Ghauri was quietly (weirdly) flipping his shit over this. So naturally, no one wanted to be seen with Waleed out of fear of association. he was literally, a plague right now.

I thanked Baby for the valuable info, and proceeded to work my ass of at the piled up assignments. I was so engrossed in my painting, that I didn't notice Adiba standing over my shoulders. Glaring at me. She looked so angry, I actually pushed my chair away from her.

"Hey bestie! sup?" I chirped.

"Don't act cute! you traitor!" She growled. "YOU GOT PROPOSED TO, AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?? this is unacceptable babe, UNACCEPTABLE....That's it. FRIENDSHIP OVER!"

"Shhhh....be quiet! I don't want the entire office to know bout this! and I didn't tell you because I wanted to forget about it for a little while! I was gonna tell you today, Over your favorite dessert." I waved a pre-planted bag of Creme Donuts under her nose. I knew this was gonna happen somehow. Darn Areeb and his loose tongue!

"OH!, SO you think you can bribe me with CREAMY GOODNESS? HUH? What am I ? A DONUT HO?"

I stared unblinking into her eyes. "Yes. You are."

We did a mini stare-match, before she folded like a house of cards, and huffed.

"Are they fresh?"

"Straight from the oven."

"Vanilla center?"

"The very one."

She snatched the greasy bag from my hands. "Start Talking Mina! NOW!"

......

After recalling the entire story to Adiba, I was emotionally drained. We decided to head out to our favorite pig-out spot, a Samosa Vendor near the Office.

I am crazy about the guy's tiny one bite Aloo Samosas (Potato wrapped in a Triangular-shaped cover, deep fried, and served piping hot with Mint Chutni. After eating like a gazillion samosas, I started to feel better.

Adiba was surprisingly quiet about the whole Areeb scene. However, when I mentioned Shehzer's return, she got super excited about it. Weird.

"Ohh ohh!! Does he still wear those sexy Boy Tank Tops?" She giggled.

"God I hope not! I won't be responsible for my actions if he showed that much skin. It's hard enough bearing his hotness fully clothed." I joked.

"OMG! Minnie Mouse has a crush!!"

"Pffftt!! hardly! It's more like aesthetic appreciation for God's Handiwork. I am an artist Dah-ling! I have taste!" I pretended to blow an imaginary cigarette smoke puff.

"You are totally cray cray sister...hmm, your fiance won't like you checking out hotties anymore."

"First off, I am NOT engaged yet! I can look! Second off, Areeb will probably be rating people with me. We used to do it all the time remember?"

She shrugged, "Jussayin! I feel weird about you two....I wouldn't say it feels like incest. But something similar... you sure about marrying Areeb?"

I sighed. I trusted my parent's decision completely. I wasn't sure about Areeb, I doubt you can be sure about any human being. But I was sure that My Allah will guide me towards the best decision.

"I am sure about this samosa. I am sure that I will eat it, devour it, caress it with my intestines... yummm..." I stroked the last samosa in the crude newspaper wrapping. "The rest of my future is in God's hands now."

Adiba snatched my precious samosa and popped it in her mouth before I could say "Aloo"

She smirked at my tortured expression. Lesson Learned: Nothing in life is SURE.

.......

I staggered home that evening, weighed down by the work i had brought home. My hair was a mess, held together by several pencils. Paint splatter dotted my cheek and neck, and my hands looked like they belonged to a smurf.

Imagine my state of mind then, when I walked inside to find my prospective-in-Laws perched on our living room couches. I have grown-up around Auntie Farah and Uncle Tariq, but I blushed and stammered like i was meeting them for the first time. I knew the purpose of their visit. I looked around for Areeb, but he wasn't there.

Auntie kissed me again and again (paint splatters ignored) as she stared adoringly at me. Uncle gruffly patted my head, and said, "Areeb hasn't done anything in his life to deserve a wife like you. I hope he spends the rest of his life earning you." I blushed to my hair roots at this. My embarrassment somewhat lightened by my brother making disbelieving expressions behind Uncle's back. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

My parents proceeded to explain that the two sets of parents were beyond ecstatic at our impending marriage. I was already kinda sorta, engaged. Probably while I was chomping away at Samosas. Great.

They had already planned a proper Engagement ceremony that would take place within the fortnight. Areeb wanted the Nikah (Islamic marriage) to happen as soon as possible, but his mother was adamant about throwing a grand wedding with all the pomp and ceremony.So, we were to be married six months after the engagement. This gave us plenty of time to prepare for the event.

Personally, I disliked too much lavishness at wedding dinners. I mean, why spend Millions of rupees on food that the guests will always complain about, and makeup and dress that will look good only for a few hours? when you could save the money for charity, or even traveling the world together.

My parents respected Areeb's Parents' wishes, because culturally, this is what the girl's parents do. Agree with outrageous demands from the Groom's side. I guess, I was lucky that my To-be-in-laws weren't too irrational.

I shuddered. My "In-Laws" I was going to be married. A sudden urge to throw-up, made me bid apologies, and head to my room. To sanity.