"Swayam it's honestly alright." Sharon said convincing Swayam for the umpteenth time.
"I feel really bad Sharon. I know you wanted to spend some time together before Mondays pulls us into another loop of adult jobs." Swayam said.
"We have an entire day tomorrow and you made me dinner yesterday which counts as quality time." Sharon replied.
"But Sunday goes by so quickly." Swayam argued.
"For God's sake Swayam you have a family emergency, you should concentrate on that instead of me." Sharon yelled at him playfully.
"But he gets himself in trouble all the time." Swayam replied.
"Shekhawat are you really trying to convince me that your cousin with a broken bone is not an emergency." Sharon said.
"No of course not. Now that you say it like that it makes me feel like a jerk. I just..." Swayam defended himself.
"Just spit it out Swayam." Sharon said.
"It was so nice to spend some quiet time with you away from all the fast pace of the city." Swayam said.
"Yes it was." Sharon said remembering yesterday night.
Sharon was so tired that she ended up sleeping on the couch with her head on Swayam's shoulders. When Swayam tried to pick her up and settle her in her bed she woke up suddenly and smiled sheepishly at him. She dragged her feet to her bedroom and feel on the bed. When Swayam turned to leave she called him back and asked if he could stay longer. So they ended up cuddling and talking about few more random things before falling asleep together.
"I'll come by in the evening." Swayam said.
"I'll be waiting. I hope your cousin gets well soon." Sharon said.
"Don't worry; he will. He has broken so many bones that it doesn't matter to him anymore." Swayam replied.
"Still, tell him to take care." Sharon said.
"Of course. Bye." Swayam said and ended the call.
Sharon put her phone to get recharged and smiled to herself. She spun around to go in the kitchen. It was a good time to try a hand at baking something.
At around 3 pm Sharon heard the door bell ring as she was finishing off the last pieces of brownies she baked. She opens the door to find Swayam smiling widely at her. She smiles back at him and invites him inside.
"I smell freshly baked goods." Swayam said.
"I made some brownies but I ate almost all of it. There might be a piece or two left." Sharon replied.
"You ate the entire batch?" Swayam asked shocked.
"They were delicious so I couldn't help myself." Sharon said justifying herself.
Swayam was about to say something but was cut off by Sharon's cell phone ringing.
"You answer that; I'll taste some brownies." Swayam said and went in search of them.
"Hello Ma. Sorry I haven't called lately." She said picking up the call.
"It's okay; I know how busy you are." Her mother replied.
"So how are you and Dad?" Sharon asked.
"We are just fine. I wanted to ask when you'd be returning back to Delhi." Her mother asked.
"I just started a job so I just can't ask for a leave yet." Sharon replied impatiently. Somewhere she had a nagging feeling that the conversation wouldn't go well.
"I understand. Will you try to?" She asked.
"Why Ma? I have no reason to come." Sharon said.
"Don't you want to see your parents?" Her mother asked.
"You and I both know that missing each other is not the reason you're calling me back." Sharon asked irritated by the conversation.
"You're talking rudely again Sharon but yes that's not the reason. We found this boy and wanted to fix your marriage." She said and Sharon was utterly shocked to give a response. She wanted to yell at her but she knew it wouldn't get here anywhere so she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Ma you know I do not want to have this conversation. Why do you have to bring this up all of a sudden? I'm in a nice stable job just like you both wanted and now this?" Sharon said as calmly as possible.
"This is for your own good." Her mother replied.
"I'm tired of you saying that. I'll just calm you later. I can't have this conversation now." Sharon said as she saw Swayam from her peripheral vision. She cut the call before her mother could utter a response and threw the phone on her couch.
"Really? When everything is looking fine something always has to go wrong?" Sharon said to no one in particular.
"Hey are you fine? That didn't sound like a pleasant conversation." Swayam said eating the last piece of the brownie.
"Of course I'm not fine." Sharon yelled.
Swayam just nodded and backed off a little.
"Great, now I'm yelling at you. I'm sorry; my parents always seem to turn me into Hulk." Sharon said feeling guilty about her outburst.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Swayam asked.
"Seems like the most sensible thing to do." Sharon replied.
"It is just my parents forcing me into things I don't want to do." Sharon said as she sat besides Swayam.
"Did you at least hear them out?" Swayam asked.
"Of course not, because the topic was ridiculous. Swayam this isn't the first time. They always do this trying to force me into things or make me think that whatever I do will always be wrong for me. I was never good enough for them and they keep on reminding me that they ended up with a daughter who always disappoints them instead of a perfect son. I always try to ignore them and put my energy into other things, one of the reasons why I started dancing. They put me down for even doing that especially my Dad. I couldn't take their judgement any longer so I moved her but also took their advice and found a job that they approved of." Sharon said getting off the heaviness in her chest that she kept feeling for years.
"I'm sure they had good intentions in their hearts." Swayam said not knowing what words could comfort her right now. She seemed distraught and he had never seen her so down.
"I try to tell myself that but this is possibly the worst way to do that. I am happy now Swayam, content with my life. I finally have a vision of what I want to do with my life and the people I want to have with me in that life." Sharon said and looked up at Swayam at the last sentence. She stood up and turned her back towards him holding her forehead with her hands. They both were silent for few minutes and let the words sink in. The atmosphere was tense and it was choking them both.
Sharon turned to face him with tears glazing her eyes. She didn't want to cry and wanted to keep it all inside her but her body always seemed to betray her. "You want to know what she wanted to talk about."
Swayam almost wanted to say no because whatever she was about to say wasn't going to pleasant. He just nodded at her as he moved closer to her trying to comfort her.
"She wanted to know when I was returning to Delhi. They both have found an eligible bachelor for me and want to marry me off as fast as possible." Sharon said exasperated.
"I know you'll try to defend them by saying they might not know about us." Sharon said as she looked at his expressions.
"I told you how they disapprove of every decision of mine, well here's another one. I called Ma almost a week ago and told her about us. A small part of me told her wanting to share my happiness but the bigger part of me was proud to tell her that I'd found someone so smart and caring and kind who loved me with all his heart." They both smiled at each other trying to ease the tension around them.
"I was stupid enough to think that they would readily accept it. The funny thing is they wouldn't go through the trouble of finding an 'eligible bachelor' for me if I hadn't told them about us. It's irritating and completely maddening." Sharon said and sat down on her couch. All the thoughts and the situation made her dizzy.
Swayam sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder knowing this was the only way to comfort her. Sharon leaned against him and was thankful for his gesture. She closed her eyes and tried to think of pleasant things like chocolate, unicorns, puppies and fairies but all she ended up doing was rewinding the conversation she had with her mother over and over again. She opened her eyes and thought about ways to distract herself. She could watch a movie or read a book or fall asleep to the pleasant voice of Ed Sheeran but she decided to go against all the relaxing things.
"Let's talk about what you wanted to talk about a week ago." Sharon said as she untangled herself from him.
"No. That is the last thing we should do." Swayam said sternly.
"You're afraid of conflict again. I want to talk about it." Sharon said with slight anger lacing her voice.
Swayam didn't wanted to give in but he knew him denying to talk about it would just anger her. He would just risk having the talk now and hoped it would not go bad as the scenarios he was building in his mind currently.
"Alright." Swayam said quietly.
"Go on." Sharon said.
"I just thought that after you finished the job at the theatre you would focus more on dance rather than jump onto another one. I mean I don't exactly know how you would navigate through it but I was just hoping you would follow your passion." Swayam said.
"Great." Sharon said sarcastically.
"I not saying you should, I just felt like you would try to follow it. The end decision is all yours Sharon; I'm not forcing my opinion on you. I just felt like that because I know how much you enjoy dancing and the enthusiasm you felt when you participated in the competition." Swayam said trying to explain himself when he heard the sarcasm in her voice.
"Don't try to patronize me Swayam and do not try and explain yourself. You are just like them thinking that everything I do is equal to dirt. I'm not capable of making a decision for myself according to you three. Right? I'll never be good enough to stand on my own. Is that what you wanted say?" Sharon yelled at him.
"No Sharon I never said that." Swayam said.
"I think you did. You know what I think it's time to stop thinking and caring about people judging me about every single damn thing." Sharon said frustrated with everything.
"Sharon I think I should just leave. You obviously are angry and this is making it worse. I'm making it worse." Swayam said slowly and turned to walk away.
"You don't have anything to say? You're just going to walk away?" Sharon said tears brimming in her eyes. She knew she was yelling at him for no reason. He never said anything wrong and only had genuine concern for him. But the anger about the situation with her parents just took control of her sensible part.
"I'll call you." Swayam said.
"Maybe you shouldn't." Sharon said and immediately regretted it.
Swayam just walked towards the door and left without looking back at her. Sharon was distraught from everything and realized what a fool she had been as tears rolled down her eyes. She made no attempt to stop them and just slumped on the floor trying to call out Swayam's name but no voice came out her mouth.
A/N- Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. :)
Also, I was second in the fanfiction awards. Thank you all for this, I wouldn't win if not for you all reading.
Thank you once again.
Till the next chapter,
R.