Unedited.
"Yeah, Aunty. I had it just now. What about you? Good. Ohh sure! I can't promise you but I will try. No need, Aunty. I know the address. Yeah. See you soon, Aunty."
I ended the call with Sudha Aunty and raised my head only to see that, the girls were looking at me in a scrutinizing manner.
"And here she says, there goes nothing at all," Aaru exclaimed while moving her hands dramatically.
"I agree with you!" Daksha chimed.
"Guys! Stop it yaar. I don't know what's the reason but the moment she came to my mom's place, she started behaving..like how to put it, yes! She started behaving like my closed ones and always calling me to inquire about my whereabouts. Since she is a sweet lady, I don't mind her checking up on me every now and then!" I explained them with a sigh.
She indeed started caring for me like my own family and most of all, her concern didn't make me uncomfortable at all. Instead, I didn't even feel any strangeness and it was like it had to be like that, in that way to begin with.
She even started sending me her handmade food whenever I told her that I had yet to have my food. She was indeed a good person but I was just wondering what was the reason behind the change in her behavior.
"Rishu, is there anything to eat?"
I asked her as I didn't eat anything this afternoon because I forgot my lunch box in the apartment itself and I couldn't bear to eat that Canteen food as I don't like outside food at all. I would rather prefer to starve myself than eat something that was not homemade food.
Nodding she left to the kitchen to bring something as we three sat there in silence. Then she came back with a fruit platter and sandwiches. Handing them to me, she placed the platter on the teapoy.
"Since tomorrow is a weekend, what are your plans? As for me, it's sleeping." She asked and hurriedly answered to herself as if she was afraid that we would include her in our plans.
"I am going to spend my day with my hubby!" Aaru answered and Daksha too gave a similar answer as I just rolled my eyes at the obvious reason.
"What about you?" Aaru asked me while plopping a grape into her mouth.
"Me? Nothing! Just gonna chill. Ohh. I forgot. Sudha Aunty again asked me to visit her house and it won't be polite to reject her every time. So I am planning to take some time to give her a visit. Since I have nothing planned out for tomorrow, I will just go to her house." I said in a muffled tone as my mouth was busy stuffing the sandwich.
"Ohh! I see.. No, no..we see!" Aaru smiled at me sweetly as Daksha smirked in my way whereas Rishu just shook her head to herself.
"You guys are unbelievable." Saying this, I went to the kitchen to wash my hands.
When I came back, I saw Daksha and Aaru standing up to take their leave.
"We will leave now. It's already too late. Arjun and Athayya must be waiting for me." Daksha said while making her way to the main door as Aarna too followed her after bidding us goodbye. Rishu just sat there silently without even replying to their goodbyes.
"I missed our old days. Now everyone is too busy with their lives and with their new families. We couldn't even spend some time together like we do in the past. What will happen to me when you have also decided to get married one day? Then I will be left alone! " she muttered in a sad tone after they left.
I froze on my actions when I heard her words and gulped a lump, guilty of still not telling them about my marriage plans. I took a deep breath and went to sit beside her.
"Why are you feeling sad? This is bound to happen. I can stop my mom for some time but can't forever..right. There is a possibility that I might even get married by next month." She just scoffed in my direction without saying anything.
"I mean.. We can't guarantee as the future is not in our hands. Moreover, do you even have time to worry about all these things as you are always too busy with your work these days? And I heard that your grandma is looking for the matches for you too! So don't worry, you won't feel this loneliness anymore in the future." I teased her a little at the end as she shook her head while wiping her teary eyes.
"No, akka. It's not about us, getting married but it's about us, drifting apart. I know we all can't stay together forever but can't we even spend an hour together? See! It hadn't been half n hour since they came but they have already left. I understand we all have our own responsibilities but I guess giving ourselves some together is not much difficult..right?"
"Yes, I am working overtime but do you know the reason? Given my position in the company, I don't have to work myself this much but I am willing to spend more time in the office than here because this whole apartment seems so cold to me without the presence of you guys. Once I came back from the office and greeted with the familiar silence in response, I started missing us more."
"I hate to say it but I started feeling like we are becoming strangers. Don't deny it because if it was in the past, we used to share everything but I don't know what has changed, I just can't say that we are the same. Don't get me to start with you. You have become a closed book. You stopped sharing anything and it came to the point that I had to call others to know about your whereabouts."
"You know, what's the most hurtful thing is, I have to even hear about your marriage plans from others! When Aunty told me about your marriage, imagine my situation. I was so shocked to even react yet I had to pretend as if I knew about your marriage from beforehand itself."
This was what I had dreaded since the moment I decided to delay informing them about my marriage. I knew it was a crazy move from my side but I, myself, still couldn't digest the fact that I was getting married, that too to a person I loathe the most.
Then how would I be in a situation to inform them as they didn't know anything about the real situation of the marriage and the real face of the said person I was going to marry.
Their teasing would only act as burnt to my wounds and their excitement would reflect the reality of my nightmare. So I was delaying by denying myself.
"Rishu-"
"Please akka, don't say anything. I understand you might have your own reasons to hide that big thing from us but can't you at least share your worries with us? Did we all become so unreliable in your eyes that we couldn't even be trusted with your secrets and problems? It would be a lie if I say that I wasn't hurt. So I am asking you to tell this news to Daksha Akka and Aaru as soon as possible before they might hear it from others and get hurt in return."
"You know Akka, if getting married would result in us becoming like this, I would rather choose to not get married at all. I have kept few more sandwiches on the dining table. Eat them if you are still hungry." Saying this, she left while wiping her tears, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I rose from my seat and went into my room. Standing in front of my room's window, I looked up to the dark sky which was reflecting the gloominess surrounding my life and I started to think that whether I took the right decision by agreeing to this marriage.
"No. I can't be a coward forever. If marrying him only would help me in getting back my dad's company, then I would be glad to do this even if it meant that I would have to face the hell. As for my girls, I will tell the other two soon and I know, rishu is hurt but I am sure she would come around once I apologize to her properly." I assured myself and went back to my bed to welcome the dreamless sleep.
The next morning, when I got ready, and went towards her room to talk with her. But I guess she was still sleeping as her door was tightly shut.
I quickly prepared some breakfast for both of us and kept her share aside in the thermos before having mine.
Seeing that she hadn't woken up yet, I sighed in defeat and stuck a sticky note on the refrigerator about me going out. Grabbing her scooty keys, I left the flat.
Once I reached her house, I parked the scooty aside, and standing in front of the door, I made a call to her. She soon answered the call and rushed out hurriedly to welcome me with a sweet smile.
"I am so glad to have you in my home. Come..come. Let me show you around." Saying this she impatiently dragged me inside and started showing me around the house.
It looked so homely and a pleasant feeling engulfed me after witnessing the flowers were neatly placed everywhere.
I chuckled at her in amusement when she was fascinatingly telling me about her young days when I pointed at the photo of her at the initial days of her marriage.
"It's Aaru's room and beside her's is Indra's room." She informed me and I just nodded at her, though I didn't know why she was telling me all this.
Suddenly our nostrils were assaulted with the burning smell of something as I heard her frantic voice.
"Geez! I think I forgot to put off the stove." Saying this, she hurriedly left downstairs.
"Yuktha, can you do me a favor? Ask Indra to come downstairs for the breakfast and you too join us."
She told me while looking back, as her feet still working on descending the stairs, and even without hearing my reply, she left from my sight.
"What! Is he home? Damn! I never thought he would visit his parents on the same day as mine."
I just stood there contemplating whether to go downstairs and give her some excuse before leaving or to just go with the flow.
"Yuktha! Did you call him?" Again her voice sounded from downstairs.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I walked in front of his room slowly and hesitantly raised my hand to knock on this room.
When I heard the click sound, I took a deep breath to say everything in one go and to make a run downstairs once I was done but those words stuck in my throat when I saw the sight in front of me.
"Maa, come inside." He held my hand and dragged me inside without even looking at me as he was busy wiping his hair with the towel.
"Where did you keep my white T-shirt? Why can't I find it? And how many times have I told you to stop messing up with my things?" He grumbled and turned around to rummage through his closet while throwing that towel on the bed.
I gulped and patted my flustered cheeks when I witnessed his naked upper torso. He only wore his trousers and it seemed like he freshly came out of the shower as I could still see some water droplets lingering on his back.
I wanted to open my mouth to say something or at least make a sound to let him know about my presence but I just lost my ability to speak because of my flustered self.
Unable to control my frantic heartbeats, I turned my back to him and was about to go outside while opening the door.
"Why are you so silen-" I heard his voice again and it looked like he became aware of my presence as he stopped his sentence in the middle and his next words proved me correct.
"Hey! You! What are you doing in my room?" He questioned me as I just rolled my eyes internally.
"I am talking to you only. Turn around and answer me." He again demanded.
"First, put something on yourself and as for what I am doing in your room, you should know better as you are the one to drag me inside," I answered him in my usual cool tone with my back still facing him.
"But still! You aren't dumb and you could have opened that damn mouth of yours to protest."
I heard his infuriating words followed by a shuffling sound, indicating that he was putting something on himself.
"Then you could have opened your damn eyes to see who was the person in front of you before dragging them inside. How infuriating. You are the one to blame but you are putting everything on me." I told him in a heated tone while turning around to point my finger at him.
Immediately I gulped a little when I saw him marching towards me while looking at me intently with a frown.
I expected some good come-back from him but just he came in front of me and held my hand softly, bending my forefinger softly that was pointing in his direction, and gave me one of his rare smiles which melted my heart even further.
"Okay. I surrender."
I was about to nod at him in glee, seeing him accepting the defeat so soon but he continued to say further which only made me riled up.
"Now don't be angry anymore or else you will be aged so soon and let me tell you, no one will marry you. Then you have to live as a spinster all your life. You are already too old. So keep a note of your age in your mind." He said in a humble tone while pretending to sympathize with me.
"Old? Saying the one who is about to hit his thirties. Compared to you, I am very much younger." I told him with a scoff as he nodded at me earnestly.
"You are right. But can a man in his early thirties and a woman in his late twenties be comparable? The more old and mature the man is, the promising is his worth. So don't wait for too long and get married soon as you are nearing thirty already." He answered cockily, making me tongue-tied about what to reply.
So not having any choice, I blurted out, "That's why I am getting married soon."
Once these words slipped out of my mouth, I saw his body going rigid as all his playful behavior disappeared and he looked at me while narrowing his eyes.
"You are kidding..right?" He asked me through his gritted teeth while his hand shot forward to held my arm in a tight grip as he inched his face forward to look into my eyes.
"No, why would I? If everything goes well, I will be married by next month. So see! I am still better than you." I said while trying to put a brave front when I saw him wearing his usual cold face.
"Good for you!"
Fisting his hands, he marched out as I placed a hand on my heart which was beating so furiously by his close proximity.
"Geez! What's wrong with this dude? I should be the one to be frustrated, at my damn fate, not him!" I muttered to myself before making my way downstairs.
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