No Strings Attached

one

such a shitty joke. and she here she was, scared that she was gonna find a ring in her champagne flute when she drained it.

"ananya, please," kabir actually looked offended, "i'm serious. why would i joke about something like this?" he asked.

"i don't know? because you have a terrible sense of humor?" ananya said, trying to stop her laughter.

"baby, just . . . just stop laughing, please. and listen to me." kabir insisted.

ananya still thought this was a poorly thought up joke. but she sat up straighter in her chair, just for his sake.

"ananya, baby, i'm so sorry. but my dad wants me to marry her. i—i thought i'd tell you this over the phone but—" he trailed off, "i'm so sorry, ananya. but you know that i can't say 'no' to anything my dad asks me. he's—he's done so much for me." he shook his head, looking genuinely . . . miserable?

"kabir . . ." ananya frowned.

"i'm sorry," he repeated, not meeting her eyes.

"you're not serious," she said, pulling her hand back from his with some force.

"i'm sorry . . ." he repeated yet again, trying to reach for her hand again.

and now the weight of it hit her like a fucking bus. her boyfriend was marrying someone else, and he was telling her this over a fucking dinner. her boyfriend of two years was ending things with her to go off and marry someone else. she didn't know how to stomach that. ananya pulled her hand out of his reach, trying to find some solid ground in the hurricane that was going on in her head right now. she couldn't think beyond the raging mess that were her emotions. she didn't know whether to cry or to scream at him.

"ananya, baby . . ." he began again.

"fuck you, kabir. and don't you fucking call me 'baby' again." she said, her own voice sounding a bit high-pitched to her. and she must have said it more harshly than she intended to, because the other diners were turning towards their table.

"just hear me out, please. you know that i—" kabir tried again.

"just shut the fuck up, kabir. i don't wanna hear anything." she said, and the disbelief stung more than the hatred should have.

"ananya . . ." he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.

her mind kept telling her to act mature, or else he'll feel like he was the one who handled it maturely and broke up with her.

"just to be clear," ananya said, and it took a lot of effort to hide the break in her voice when she spoke, "you're breaking up with me?"

"i tried, baby. i really did. my parents won't hear it. they're just so fucking thick-headed—you know how they get—" kabir launched into explanation.

"just 'yes' or 'no', kabir? just answer at least one fucking question straight. i don't want a goddamn essay from you." ananya said, her voice rough.

kabir looked taken aback for a moment, before he said, "it's not that—"

"oh, for fuck's sake—just answer the goddamn question, kabir!" ananya exclaimed, frustrated.

she felt like all her emotions were blaring into one, but it was mostly just complete disbelief and rage. she couldn't think past both these emotions clearly. and ananya had never taken anything lightly.

kabir seemed really offended, but he said, "—yes! yes, and i'm really sorry—"

"that's it." ananya said, getting up to her feet. she didn't think she could spent another minute here without screaming her lungs out at him.

"baby, please don't leave like that. please listen to me—" kabir got up to his feet as well.

why was he so desperate to end it on good terms? and what frustrated her even more was that he'd had the nerve to think that she'd actually sit down and listen to what he had to say after he just told her that he wanted to break up with her to marry somebody else after dating her for two years?! he wanted to end things over a dinner? just like that?

"just go to hell, kabir." she said, grabbing her clutch, "just go to hell!"

more people were starting to get interested in their conversation now, looking over at them from their tables. one of the waiters carrying a platter had slowed down for a moment, wincing at them.

"ananya, please give me some space to talk!" kabir exclaimed.

now that was really her last straw. he wanted some space to talk? he wasn't the one getting broken up with an on an unsuspecting dinner date. she was. and he wanted space? he wanted to talk?

"you want to talk?" ananya repeated, turning towards him.

"baby, please! just sit down and—" kabir began.

"sit down and what, kabir? hear you talk?" ananya asked. she was so fucking pissed at him, but she also wanted to cry so bad.

she reminded herself not to show any emotion in front of him, or it'll get into his fucking head.

"ananya . . ." he sighed.

he sighed? he had the nerve to pretend like he was the one at the brunt of this?

what she did next was purely an impulse that won. ananya grabbed her champagne flute, and threw the champagne at her boyfriend's face.

kabir was not expecting that. his eyes automatically moved to shield his eyes, but the lower half of his face was drenched in champagne, drops of it dripping down to his shirt.

"i had to fake it with you anyway, asshole." she said, "go get married. i don't give a fuck. go fuck yourself." she told him roughly, before turning away.

no. she never had to fake it. kabir was great at sex. but she had to hurt his ego because he'd broken her heart—and that too so casually, like he was just signing off another one of his fucking deals.

so ananya turned around and began walking towards the door, not turning back to look at kabir.

she could feel everybody watching her, but it didn't matter because her eyes were already stinging with tears.