I stepped into the office, ready for a new week, bright and early. Well, technically, it wasn't bright since it was raining like crazy for the past few days in Seattle.
"Good morning!" I greeted Lea and the comical expression on our receptionist's face almost made me want to laugh. She was no doubt surprised by my chipper tone this morning when I was usually a grouch when I came in to work everyday.
I don't know what was different about today, but all I knew was that I felt good inside. So far, there had been radio silence from my mother's end, Mira and I had enjoyed a girls' night out on Friday and the past week had been pretty slow at work. Actually, scratch that. I knew exactly why I was in such a good mood today. Despite not having a shit ton of workload last week, there had been a noticeable presence missing in the office. And I would be lying if I said I didn't notice it. I'd gotten an email from Neil, waiting for me in my inbox this morning, telling me that he'd be in to discuss any new developments regarding any of our clients.
Giddy with a feeling I couldn't really put my finger on, I settled down in my little office, making sure that I had all the documents ready to show Neil. With a quick breath, I walked briskly towards his office, rapping my knuckles on his partly open door.
"Hey Neil, I have -
I swallowed the rest of my sentence as the door was pushed open, the sight in front of me making me blink twice, just so I could make sure that I was seeing things right. There was a woman - a very beautiful one, at that - in Neil's office. And she was halfway in his arms. Like they'd been in the middle of hugging and had only stopped on my account. Both of them pulled away from each other as Neil smiled at me warmly.
"I can come back later. It's nothing urgent." I managed to say, trying to forget about the way my heart was sinking in my chest.
I shouldn't be feeling this, right? Neil and I weren't a couple. He had the full freedom to have any woman he wanted - especially with looks like that and money like his. I really hoped that he hadn't been cheating on this woman. If they'd even been a thing when we slept together. Because nothing would gut me worse than that. No matter how much I griped about men in general, I still respected Neil. A lot. And that respect was about to be tested, it seemed.
"Oh, no it's fine, Aaliya. Dipa was just leaving."
Dipa. What a pretty name. And Indian too, from the looks of it. I already hated how I didn't hate her despite a part of me seeing her as competition for Neil's attention. Especially with her kind eyes and bright smile.
"Tsk tsk." Dipa shot a look to Neil. "Where are your basic manners, Neil? Won't you even introduce us?"
"Right, of course," Neil laughed. "My bad." Based on their body language and the way they were communicating with each other, I'd say they knew each other pretty well. "Aaliya, this is my -
"Neil," Lea interrupted suddenly. "There's an urgent call for you. The client says he wants to talk to you and you only. Should I send him through?"
"Yes, of course." Neil sent me an apologetic glance, all introductions already forgotten. "We'll talk about this later, yeah? After I see what this call is about."
"Yeah. Sure." I swallowed hard, a brittle smile on my face as I left without another word.
I could feel Dipa's presence at my back, but I sped up my pace and only let out a sigh of relief once I made it back inside my cabin once again. Taking a sip of my coffee, I tried to see the positive side of this. It could be a lesson of sorts for me. The universe's sign of telling me hey you dumb bitch, don't get involved with another man who's going to end up breaking your heart anyways. It was for the best. Neil and I had hooked up - twice - and that was it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I didn't need to overthink it. Though that was the stupidest thought that could ever cross my mind because hello? serial overthinker right here.
I spent the rest of day going through my team's work and projects, making sure that they had gotten it right down to the last t. With one click, I forwarded the emails to Neil, CCing HR in it obviously, as was protocol. I wasn't staying in late today since I knew that I'd bump into Neil again and that was the last thing I wanted. I was no homewrecker - if Dipa was anything to go by - and I refused to be toyed with the way my father toyed with his side pieces. I'd strive to maintain a professional relationship in the workplace and nothing more.
With that single thought in mind, I sprinted out of the building, nearly twisting my ankle in the process.I took my usual route with the King County Metro, reaching home in a record twenty minutes. I changed into my pajamas and heated some leftovers from the previous night before settling down and logging into my Netflix account. I spent the next couple of minutes scrolling through my options before I played the latest serial killer docuseries. A smile crossed my lips as it occurred to me how absurd this was. Me, a single woman, unwinding after a long day of work by watching a biography about Jeffrey Dahmer. Fucking hilarious. My mother would have a seizure since she always disapproved of me watching dark and gory things on the TV.
I was halfway through the episode when I finished my dinner, only getting up to throw it in the trash before I glued myself to my sofa. Glancing at the wall clock, I realised that it was only seven pm - I could afford to watch a couple more episodes before I called it a night, right?
***
The shrill sound of my phone ringing woke me up from my nap. My mouth was half open and there was a spot on my cushion which I now recognised as drool. Blearily, I wiped the corner of my lips as the show played on in the background, a particularly gruesome scene going on. The call cut just as I went to pick it up before it started ringing again, my parents' faces staring right at me. Groaning, I mentally prepared myself to talk to them before I swiped on the green button.
"Mumma. Baba." I greeted both my parents that were now visible at the bottom of the screen. Though only half their faces were visible despite me instructing them countless of times on how to hold the phone for a perfect angle. "How are you?" I asked because of course, I was the cultured Indian daughter who lived and breathed for her parents - at least according to society.
"We're good, we're good. But that's not why we called." My mother brushed off my question as usual, waving her hand in front of the camera. "Guess what we just found out?"
"What?" I mumbled, dreading what was going to come out of her mouth next.
"Do you remember Aryan, Hetal aunty's boy? Well, he's in Seattle! He's working in some hospital over there." My mother finished with an excited smile, beaming as if marrying a doctor was the end goal in life. I'd be damned if I ended up with a doctor, or an engineer because no way was I going to play into that stereotype.
"Okay. And?" I was tired and getting irritated by the second. If she could just get to the point, it would be great.
"You used to play together as kids, remember? When we were living in Beijing?"
Yes, mother, I clearly remember the boy I used to play with when I was five in a city I have little to no memories living in.
"Yeah, I remember him."
"The good news is that he wants an arranged marriage and is looking for a bride. I dropped your name a couple of times the other day with Hetal. I told her how accomplished you were and how you were looking to settle down as well. Isn't it exciting if this rishta works out? God knows how long I've been trying to set you up with some good men after that fiasco all those -
"I got it, mumma." I said through gritted teeth. "I get how much of a disappointment I am after that fiasco." I said sarcastically, emphasising the word.
"That's alright, babu. We all make mistakes,don't we? The important thing is that we learn the lesson...don't get involved with a married man."
It seemed like my sarcasm had gone right over my mother's head - that or she'd wilfully chosen to ignore me.
"Thanks for the unnecessary advice." I snapped, tired of holding it all in.
"Watch your tone when you're talking to your mother, Aaliya." My father warned from beside her. Oh, so now he wanted to speak up for his wife, huh? Seemed very convenient to me, since he was usually involved with his flavor of the week. But you know what? I was done with putting up with their bullshit. It had been years since the incident had happened. I was young, naive and yes, I didn't deny that I had fucked up. But I hadn't known that he was married. I'd ended things with him when I'd found out - but by then, it was too late.
"Why are you suddenly sticking up for her, baba? Do I look like some property to be sold to the highest bidder without even consulting me?" My nostrils flared as I directed my anger towards my father.
To be honest, my father and I had never been close, growing up. He'd always been a physical sort of presence in my life who provided financially for us, but it was nothing more than that. He was never a father to me, per se. Nor was he a good husband.
"Nobody wants to sell you, Aaliya." My father said exasperatedly with a sigh, as if I was a child. "All I'm saying is that we have your best interests at heart. It won't hurt to listen to us from time to time."
I was agitated by the way both my parents were treating me like some sort of brainless idiot, holding my one mistake over my head. As if I wasn't an adult who had complete autonomy over her life. No, the problem was that they'd been too used to me obeying them. Of me being a good girl and never straying from my pre destined path. All of that changed when things blew out of proportion with my ex and I used undergrad as an excuse to escape from that country. Over the past eight years, I'd grown a lot as a person - thanks to the positive influences in my life and no thanks to my meddling parents. I'd learnt that there was more to life than society putting parents on a pedestal. That it was possible to have people love you with no strings attached. With no conditions. But no matter how drastically my views had changed, inside, a part of me would always be the rule abiding girl. The one who was weak and always ended up giving in to my parents.
"Fine." I muttered, hating myself a little bit more for letting them win. Again. But I was powerless. "What do you want me to do? Call him? Talk to him?"
"We've given him your number." My mom admitted, tilting her head in deep thought. "He'll probably call you and meet up soon."
"Fine. I'll meet him. But no promises that I'll go through with whatever you've planned mumma. I've told you a thousand times that I'm not ready yet."
"We'll see about that." Another wave of her hand in dismissal. "First meet him and then pass your judgements, okay? Anyways," she peeked at her wristwatch before looking back at the screen again. "I've got to go to a kitty party so I'll talk to you later. Let me know when Aryan calls you, okay?"
The screen went black as it indicated that the caller had hung up. No goodbye, no take care of yourself, no I love you - though the last one was a bit far fetched. I couldn't recall a single time when any one of my parents had expressed that sentiment.
Exhaustion lined my limbs as I dragged myself, turning off the TV before I fell into bed. It had been...quite a day. Not good. Not bad. But frustrating and tiring. Eat. Sleep. Work. Repeat. That was what my life looked like. God, adulting sucked so hard.
♡♡♡
Overthinkers, am I rite? Also sorry for the late update besties...I was done with a nasty ass (allergic) cold the whole day😭
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