Two Birds One Arrow (Completed)

Chapter 1

"Neha, sit down. We want to talk to you." My mother tells me as I get up from the dining table having finished my breakfast. I immediately sit down, obeying her. It is not like I had a chance anyway. Facing the wrath of a very pissed off Indian mother can sometimes be worse than death and that is a very light way to put it. 

My Mom and Dad look at each other and exchange looks as if to telepathically ask who is to initiate the conversation. An idea about the conversation already forms in my mind and I begin to panic being thoroughly, unready to have this conversation with my parents. 

Quick, Neha. Make an escape plan.

"It's getting late for my office, Ma. I should leave." I tell her to which she replies a stern look which immediately cuts off my escape plan. Damn.

And the stare down between my mother and father continued for some more time and then my father decides that he is the one who should be starting the conversation.

"So Neha," he drags out my name in order to find the right words in order to start this conversation. I shift my attention from the empty plate before me to him.

Please don't make this awkward, dad. 

"Yeah, Dad." I turn to him, questioningly hoping this is not the conversation that I think it is.

"You have turned twenty four, dear. Your Mom and I think that this is the right time for you to get married. " Way to not make things awkward. 

Great. Just what I had thought. The thing is that almost everyone in my family gets married within the ideal age of twenty three to twenty five. My mother had already planned to look for alliances when I turn twenty four. I was actually thinking that this conversation would start two months ago, on September, when I had actually turned twenty four. Since then I had dodged almost every possible conversation regarding this with my parents or any other member of the family. But last week, my mother's friend's daughter who was a year younger to me got married. Like an idiot I wanted to go to the reception with my mom because it was at this hotel and the buffet there is amazing. Guess who else turned up to the reception? Judgemental aunties who kept asking my mom to get me married soon and I knew that it was the last straw. In fact , I am actually surprised that they had waited for an entire week to initiate this conversation.

Thank you random aunties who made it your mission to sabotage my life.

"Oh". That's the only response that I come up with. I was having this weird feeling. Like I was shy, embarrassed and flustered at the same time. I could not even look at my parents.

"Dear, I just want to know if you have anyone else on your heart..." My mother asks me hesitantly, almost scared whether I would give her a positive answer.

"No ma. There's nothing like that." The thing is that when I was eight or nine years old (I don't remember my age correctly), one of my cousins was in love with a guy. She was stubborn about getting married to him. Our entire family was against it but in the end they gave up anyway. But that period before her marriage when everyone was against her was etched into my mind. I love my family more than anything and I would never find it within myself to have myself stand against them. It's a silent promise I made to myself which I had been following strictly ever since. It's not like I have never eyed anybody, in fact I have had a lot of crushes. But that was the limit. Nothing more than that. Call me old fashioned or whatever way you would, but I want to share my first everything only with my significant other and no one else.

The fact that I gave away a negative answer brought a sense of relief to my mother with all of her facial features visibly relaxing and she gave me a content smile as if proud of me.

Good for me. If I had given her a contradictory answer, I would have been shipped off to Jupiter by now.

"So, we can start looking for grooms to get you married, right?" My father asked me.

" No, I do not want to get married." I spit it out and I can the dramatic serial music playing in the background making this more dramatic.

"We thought you did not have a boyfriend?" Why is the absence of a boyfriend the only need to get me married? 

Actually I do not have any problem with getting married. But I have some dreams and ambitions. I feel like the Mangal sutra lying around my neck will restrict me from doing what I like after marriage. I feel like it would cut down my wings."

To be honest, that was barely my problem. Women nowadays are working even after their marriage and there are a lot of husbands who are supportive of their wife's dream more than anything in this world. I am actually scared about my parents. I don't know how close my in-laws house will be to my house. There will be physical distance separating me and my parents. I am one of those girls who is really home sick and cannot live anywhere else other than the comfort of her own room. In addition to it, I am also scared about leaving my parents alone. What will they do for so long in the company of each other? My dad too is retiring next year. What will be the source of income for them? My parents are all about being independent. Knowing them, they would definitely not accept me spending money for their expenses. They are getting me married to ensure a sense of security for my life. But what about them? How do I ensure myself a sense of security for my parents after I get married and become a part of another household.

That is my only reason for postponing my marriage as much as I could.

My Mom and Dad look at each other and then turn their attention to face me.

"We know how much your dreams matter to you. Of course we will not get you married to someone who would not take your ambitions as his own and carry the responsibility of making it true. Trust us with this, dear. We know enough about you well enough to know about your likes and dislikes. Plus, it's not like we are going to get you married to the first match that shows up right away and get rid of you. It's our responsibility to give you the life you are worth having and we will definitely not commit a mistake in anything related to it. " My dad explains to me as my Mom eagerly looks at me to hear a positive reply from my mouth.

"Well, okay. I am leaving it up to you guys. You can do whatever you want. " With that being said, I stand up from the dining table carrying my empty plate with me to the kitchen. As I wash my plate placing it under the sink, my mind runs wild with a million thoughts.

I know that my parents will only give me the best. That's the way things have always been with my parents and me. We argue a lot, we stay busy, we run on relentless errands but we always have room for love between the three of us.

But what if things change after marriage? What if I thought we were compatible first but later we clash like a lot? What if we fight endlessly? What if we weren't right for each other?

These thoughts accompanied by a million other ones continue to race through my mind. As I turn the tap off and place the plate in the spot where it belongs, I decide to exit the kitchen.

But my mother walks in exactly at the same time and places a kiss on my cheek. I smile at her for her sudden outburst of love and the walk out the kitchen. Picking my scooty key the coffee table, I mutter a quick prayer, bid bye to my parents and walk out the house.

After checking my face in the mirror one last time, I pull out my shawl and wrap it around my face and start my scooty.

Before I even begin riding, I hear my parents break out into an argument about which matrimonial site to use and which relative should be informed first. I try to listen to their conversation but then decide against it.

As I ride towards my office a thousand different emotions about my marriage run in my thoughts. Surprisingly, excitement surpasses all the other emotions and I am left with a smile tugging at the corner of my lips.