Fighting!

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 :

“Hey Mrs. Mehta, how’s Mr. Mehta?” I asked as soon as I opened my house gate because I saw her abandon her work and snoop on our house like she always does. Typical Indian neighbors.

“Yeah, he’s good” Mrs. Mehta said, giving me a tight-lipped smile before scrambling away. She, for some reason, thinks I’m hitting on her 50-year-old husband, like a b***h. Please, I’m not that desperate.

I rang the bell waiting for my mom to open it. Maya and Arshi went directly to their homes and would meet me here tomorrow for THE DAY, if you may say.

“Anu” Mom exclaimed as soon as she saw me and engulfed me in her arms. Nothing can beat mom’s embrace for sure. I hugged her back, basking in her homely feeling that I missed so much.

“Come in, your dad’s inside”. She said, opening the door wider and went to get my bag. I packed lightly since the kind of clothes I wear in Pune can’t be worn here. I don’t want to give my dad a heart attack with my booty shorts.

“Hey papa” I exclaimed as I entered the living room where he was watching Cricket. That’s why he didn’t even hear when mom yelled my name.

In India, cricket takes precedence over every single thing for men.

I’m a football kind of girl. I love some Ronaldo.

I would say yes to being his mistress if he would just let me stare at him for a few minutes every day. I mean, how can anyone be that perfect?

The most attractive thing about him is his skills and his history of hard work.

Someday someone will do a documentary or a movie on his life.

“Hey my lovely daughter”, his buttering never gets old when he’s guilty, now that he forgot that I was coming.

“Wanna know the scores?” He asked excitedly.

“No thanks”, I walked towards my room to freshen. Don’t worry, he won’t be offended. He knows how I am, he must have just shrugged and continued watching it.

I took a long hot shower before changing my clothes into my comfy pajamas. My phone pinged twice and I already knew who it was from.

I don’t socialize much, so only my two best friends will contact me.

“Hey, did your parents say something?” Maya asked in our group chat.

“Did you see his photo or something? Is he cute?” Arshi asked. I couldn’t stop but roll my eyes. This girl is obsessed with cuteness. That’s why we don’t take her to the mall where cute things are kept, like kids' stuff or a cute ceramics aisle.

“I just got home, didn’t have any talk with them, so calm your t**s” I said with a black moon smiling emoji.

I entered the kitchen to see mom preparing dinner and I sat at the counter as usual. Me working in the kitchen when my mom’s there is a big no-no.

“What are you making?” I asked, grabbing a cucumber slice and started munching on it.

“All your favorite dishes only” she said with a small smile. nb

I gave her a cheeky smile.

“Soooo” I dragged the word, looking at her expectantly.

She sighed.

“We talked to Akshay bujju, he thinks this guy and his family are really good people. He is really close to Ayush it-seems” she said, shrugging. Bujju is her nickname for me. She rarely calls me that, but when she does, I love it.

“Then why the hell is he not picking up my call” I said, getting enraged.

That stupid cousin of mine is ignoring me or avoiding me. I’ve called him a million times and sent him all kinds of threatening messages but no reply.

My mom chuckled.

“He called yesterday and told us about your threats, spare the poor guy. He is scared of you and, anyway, you will meet him tomorrow, right?” She said, smiling. She loves my bond with him.

“Oooo, he shall pay” I said with a sadistic smile.

“Bujju, how are you feeling about all this?” Mom asked me, looking seriously.

“Mom, to be honest, I don’t know. You know I always wanted to be financially independent, but marriage and, along with that, a baby too, I don’t think it will work”, I said honestly.

Every Indian girl at this point of age has to pretend she cares about an arranged marriage and then rejects the guy. Every girl does it and they prepare themselves for it.

“I understand, but give it an honest try. Don’t be stubborn and ignore it even when there might be a chance that you like him”. She gave me her suggestion.

“But mom, you really think I would be able to take care of a baby?” I asked, looking at her incredulously.

“That’s kind of an icky concept, but Akshay told me the whole story of the divorce and I felt bad for the guy”, She said with a sad smile.

“I want to ask you one thing though. You and dad are the most conservative people I know. But you are trying to get me married to a divorcee. What changed?” I asked curiously. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any issues with the guy being a divorcee. These days, expecting guys to be single till they arrange a marriage is foolish, but knowing my parents, I feel lost in this concept.

“It’s not something we are okay with, but your dad trusts Akshay a lot and he knows if Akshay thinks Ayush is good for you, then he wants to meet them” she said calmly.

“Wait, is Ayush that guy’s name?” I asked, acting like I didn’t care.

“Yeah, Ayush Malhotra” she said, looking at me with a grin.

Indian mom’s, I tell you.

Shaking my head, I thought the name was not that bad, but it’s not that important either.

For the rest of the night, we just talked about my college and family. I went to my room after dinner and all I could do till late at night was lay on the bed and think about this guy.

I have always been a curious cat, the number of times I have gotten into trouble for it are countless and it’s not always a good thing.

Like one day when I was a kid, my parents sent me out of their room and told me to go play, but the curious kid that I am, I ran towards the balcony and peeped inside the window and, trust me, I get nightmares every time I think about it and honestly I don’t want to think about it either.

I was scarred for life.

I shuddered at the memory.

Next morning, mom woke me up very early and told me to clean the house. No surprise there. Dad was out buying sweets and what not. They are coming at 11 and my friends will be here at 9 to get me ready for the proposal unquote.

After breakfast, our door bell ran indicating that my two besties were there. I rushed to open the door. Till now I was fine, but now I’m kind of getting jittery. I’m feeling very unsettling and I keep telling myself that I don’t care about all this but it is still real.

“Hey sista”. Both of them barged in and enveloped me in their arms.

They know me very well.

“Maya, Arshi. Come inside, have breakfast” we heard mom say as she saw them.

“Hey aunty, how are you?” Maya said.

“Hi aunty, where is uncle?” Arshi said.

Both left me and went inside to talk to mom. Both of them love her. In our engineering days, we used to stay nights at my place a lot. Mom would treat them just like me and they love that. She would say that she has three daughters and these suckers sucked all the attention in.

Sighing, I closed the door and walked in to see all three of them talking like sisters. Knowing they would find me in my room, I went there to get ready.

I stood there in the shower but my mind was miles away. All I could do was ask everything that was happening right now. I always wanted to be an independent girl. Seeing my mother growing up, I left awkward thinking of asking money from my husband. I rarely asked for money from my dad, he always kept money in my account knowing how weird I get about asking for money.

And here, now I’m getting ready to impress some guy I don’t know and, plus he has a daughter. A child for heaven's sake. Children are god and all that is okay, but a kid is a huge responsibility and trust me, I’m definitely not ready for it.

And thinking of staying at home looking after that kid makes me laugh at the ridiculous situation. I don’t think I am cut out for that.

Anu, why are you thinking about this so much? It’s not like you have to accept him. You have the choice to say no too and there is no guarantee that they will say yes either. There is a huge possibility that they might not like me for their son or not like me wholly.

I came out wearing the peach colored dress my mom took out for me. I brought this for my last birthday and never wore it again. The pictures from my last birthday were so bombed. I looked so cute in that. That was before hair-fall started. Now I’m so conscious about photos that…don’t even get me started. I don’t want to get depressed before all this.

“Anu”, I heard my friends call as they entered my room.

“Your chitchat with your aunty get over?” I asked, smiling sarcastically, and stood in front of the mirror wiping my face.

“Sorry, it’s been so long since we talked to her” Maya said as both of them gave me a sheepish smile.

Shaking my head, I began to get ready. Nothing extravagant though. I don’t use foundation or concealer. I’ll just put my fair and lovely with some ponds powder.

Don’t judge me.

“Let me select your accessories” Arshi said, getting excited, and rushed to my cupboard to get my accessory box. I don’t wear much jewelry, but I’m sure mom will give me some gold to wear today.

I stared in the mirror, looking at myself. I don’t look so bad except for the glaringly obvious declining hairline. I should do something about my hair-fall and dandruff.

Girl’s problems are endless.

“Anu?” Maya called and I turned around to see her sitting on my bed looking at me seriously.

“What?” I asked, turning around to put on the earrings Arshi picked for me. It will go with the dress.

“Are you ready for this?” She asked and I chuckled.

“What? Don’t laugh, I’m serious” she said, glaring at me.

“Maya, chill. I will meet the guy and, with all the scenarios, I don’t think I will say yes or even be interested in the guy, then I’ll just pull one of my stunts and scare the hell out of him”, I said, shrugging nonchalantly.

I’m oddly calm right now.

For a while, I gave it some real thought, but with all his baggage, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle this relationship.

I saw her visibly relaxed in the mirror. I even know they think this proposal is not right for me.

“Here” Arshi gave me a cute necklace to wear.

“No, mom will give me a gold one” I said, and gave it back to her.

She pouted and kept it back.

Yeah sister, I don't even like gold.

Diamonds are my thing.

Which I can’t afford.

Great.

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“Psst” I glared at Maya to move her arm away. Her elbow was pressing on my back, hurting me.

So, currently all three of us have our heads pressed against the door.

They have arrived. Mom came and gave me a signal saying that they were here.

“Ooo, that voice was manly” Arshi said with a grin.

I scoffed.

“That’s my stupid cousin who will be murdered today by yours truly” I said sarcastically.

“Shhh” Maya glared at us and pressed her head even more to the door.

I did the same and all we could hear was oldies and Akshay’s voice, which is very annoying by the way.

“Is he mute or something? Why isn’t he talking?” Maya asked, getting agitated.

“Ayya, chill who cares about his voice. It’s not like I’ll say yes to this proposal anyway”, I said, rolling my eyes.

“Stop acting like you are not curious” Arshi said, shaking her head.

Damn, they know me so well.

“Shh” I said, not knowing what to say.

Yes, downright pathetic. I know.

We heard footsteps coming our way and all of us scrammed towards my bed and sat there like nothing had happened, slowly adjusting our hair and dresses.

“Anu?” Mom called, opening the door a little.

I looked at her heaving a sigh. This is it.

It’s time to put on a show.

Anu, listen to yourself Aka me.

You are a strong, independent girl who has big dreams and doesn’t want to get tied down. This proposal is the first among so many proposals that are yet to come. You have to fight them and all you have to do is make the guy dislike you and the chances of that happening is very high.

You can do this.

“Yeah” I said, getting up and followed her and my friends ensued.

My heart was thumping like crazy for some reason. Bitting my lips, I entered the living room keeping my head low. No, not to look shy or traditional, it’s just that I’m a tad bit nervous.

This is my first time. Sue me.

I’ll be more confident about my second proposal.

“Hi Ananya” I heard my cousin’s voice, which made me raise my head to see my cousin sitting on one of the couches and beside him was a man of my dad’s age and next to him was a lady. I’m guessing the guy’s mother. I gave all of them a smile.

“Hi” I said with a huge fake smile.

“Wow, you are beautiful” said the lady, looking at me lovingly, and I stared at her in surprise. Wow, she’s bold.

“Thank you, auntie” I said with a toothy smile.

She’s nice. I like her.

You like anyone who praises you – mock your inner self. I rolled my eyes internally.

Huh, I’m complicated.

Dad pulled me towards him.

“This is Mr. Danish Malhotra and Mrs. Jaya Malhotra. As you know, this is my daughter Ananya. Anu, you know Danish’s family are from my village only. Your grandfather knows his family” dad said with a huge smile.

“Yes beta(daughter), I moved to the city at a young age so I never met your father. Now that we started talking, we got to know we have a long connection” Danish Malhotra said smiling at me.

I smiled back, a genuine one because his smile is so contagious.

Don’t get me wrong but man oh man, he is good looking for his age.

I wish I could ask him his 20’s photos.

“Sorry, I got stuck in the traffic” I heard a voice and turned towards it to see a tallllll guy, around 6.2 wearing white formal shirt and black pants.

I looked at his face and

Shit!

I stared at him walking towards Jaya Malhotra and sitting beside her.

“It’s completely fine, pune’s traffic is rising day after day” Dad said shaking his head.

“True uncle” He said smiling and my heart dropped.

His smile.

HOW THE HELL CAN A GUY LOOK SO HANDSOME?

It should be illegal.

My ovaries are dripping.

But attention was drawn towards a baby voice to see a baby in his arms.

How the hell did I miss that?

“Oh my god, she’s so cute” Mom gushed looking at the baby while I stood there completely clueless. He hasn’t even looked at me, all his attention was on the baby and his mother. He turned his head up to give my mom a smile and looked at me who was standing beside her.

Mashallah, he is gorgeous.

HOW THE HELL ARE HIS EYELASHES SO LONG?

He neither smiled nor ignored me, he just stared at me and turned towards the baby. I’m sure I looked dumb standing idly in front of him gaping at him.

“Ananya, this is Ayush my son” His mother introduced him to me giving me a huge smile. I tried to smile back at her but I’m sure I look like a chimpanzee smiling awkwardly. I just nodded at him and he did the same but when his eyes met mine, my stomach churned.

My hands were getting sweaty and my throat is parched.

Am I getting sick right now?

What the f**k?

I tuned out the conversations they were having and turned my attention to Ayush and the baby.

On i********:, you watch reels of the hot guys with cute babies which make you feel worthless about your own life because you don’t have someone like them. Yeah, same situation over here.

I know I’m not supposed to stare but it’s physically impossible not to. The way he is holding the baby, oh my god my ovaries at getting bashed very badly.

“Anu?” I came out of my trance at my dad’s voice. My mom nudged me to get my attention. I turned towards him and he pointed towards Jaya Malhotra.

“Jaya asked you something” He said looking at me in confusion.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you” I said with an embarrassing smile. He looked at me and I avoided his eyes.

“I was asking about your studies” She asked again with a sweet grin.

“Uh, It’s going great. I am doing my Master’s in computer science in Pune. I have my finals in a month” I told her.

“Yeah I heard, your university is really nice. Have you attended any campus interviews yet?” She asked me looking interested. I looked at her shock, maybe she wants to know if I am interested in working or not.

“Um, I have attended a few but results are not in yet” I answered her honestly.

“That’s great. Don’t worry you will get in” She said genuinely smiling.

What? No fake smile?

Is she genuinely interested in my career? Doesn’t she want me to look after her son and grand child?

It’s getting weird.

“Thank you” I said with an awkward smile.

Both of our dads were involved in serious talk among each other while my mom joined his mother by taking a seat in front of her. I stood there fidgeting, I looked at my cousin who was talking to Ayush.

Oh, I haven’t forgot about him.

I begrudgingly moved to sit beside mom, I looked at my friends on the way who were sitting in the dinner table. They showed me thumbs up while Maya mimicked ‘Hot-hot-hot’.

As if I don’t know.

I rolled my eyes and sat beside mom.

I looked up to see him looking at me but upon me looking at him, he moved his gaze.

I can’t even look at him without having a seizure, what will I do when they send us both alone to talk?

What if I spasm when he smiles at me?

Given that he hasn’t smiled at me once.

Maybe he is a shy guy.

Or he doesn’t find me beautiful.

Umm, it’s a possibility.

“Danish, let both of them talk and get to know each other” My dad said actually very interested in this proposal.

My heart started thumping loudly.

Shut it, heart.

“Yeah, go on kids”. His father smiled at both of us.

We looked at each other.

OHH, I’m in trouble.

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