[32] Shopping For Me!
898 Words
"This one should be alright, I hope"
His fingers held a red churidar, glittering with gold designs that decorated its arms and sidelines. Its hands were transparent and shone in the light, as a beautiful signature of the gold lines.
For a moment, it stood in my eyes, its glory shining off my mind.
But then it struck me; that for this wonder, it would cost too much.
"How much?"
He looked upon the price tag and sighed,
"Just 3000 rupees"
I raised my eyebrows in shock. For a beauty like this, three thousand was a huge profit. I suspected him of telling a lie and moved forward to look at myself. But he pulled out the price tag, almost breaking it, and showed it through his arm, whilst those eyes searched for another garment.
I gasped.
"This is too cheap"
"Not in the Malawi Bazaar...", Harith simply laughed and grabbed the red dress out from the hanger. Then throwing it over his shoulder, he moved swiftly to the back row, to search more.
My arms held simple jeans and a funny Arabic top, which however didn't seem to cost more than a 1000 and was up to my type.
But he ignored it at one go.
"Why?!"
"Cause if in any case, the lights come on, you would be the one standing out"
I sighed, my fury getting to me.
"Whatever..."
But I didn't throw it away. He marked it as the 'last option in case we got nothing else.
"You have something to wear?"
He shrugged, "A pants or T-shirt will do"
That cliche sucked. No matter what, boys could roam around in half pants and little sneakers while even during a party, we were expected to dress up like the gods in the temples.
"That is big partialit-"
"This one!"
He screeched, startling the other three customers in the same Girls section. I bit my lip and pulled him closer to me, and checked out his piece of interest.
"It's a Kurti!"
"Yeah, you can enjoy in this as well as look like a little Muslim chutki"
That slang got me laughing bitterly, though he was insistent I understood the joke.
"Harith, that red one is enough..."
"Nah, let's buy both"
Both?
"But how much does this-"
It was a 500. Totally three and a half thousand would go away from my pocket. I thought about the money my part-time job in the cafe had given me; the savings only went up to 5000, and there were more bills to pay once I reached back.
"Let's just stick to this Kurti"
He noticed my hesitation, that I smiled my best fake grin,
"Because like you said, I can enjoy and look amazing too..The red is too over the top...Come", dragging his wrist, I walked us to the counter where the old man sat, his hair dyed thick black now.
"I remember you!"
He immediately squealed, with a croaky throat.
Of course, he did. We had executed the first mini-episode of shopping during Fidha's groom's arrival. That day, I had been the star and a lot of unwanted attention had lead to a rather bad day.
"Everything is for the good"
I remarked, trying my eyes to settle down instead of barging into the red dress.
"A 500? Only shopped less today?"
I wanted to argue, but the man seemed to be polite. Harith smiled and held my hand,
"We did buy extreme last time. So this time, decided to go a bit low...after all, it's just a party", he sounded like he was convincing me rather than the poor fellow.
The man nodded and gave us the change.
"Whose party, may I ask?"
"The Khairans"
His eyes went wide for a second, then into utter shock, and finally ended in a consequence of disbelief. I flinched and so did Harith at the shock.
"Excuse me, is there a problem?"
He shook his head,
"Is this...our...Fidha beti's...."
I nodded, accepting it in an instant.
The man seemed to have drowned in silence.
"Is everything okay?"
He sighed, "Please don't feel bad if I may ask something?"
I nodded, "Go on...sir..."
"Umm...how much is the dowry..."
I didn't know, that my gaze went to Harith who was confused.
"It's a car....and some gold...", I remembered many aunties saying that, though the numericals weren't so in my brain.
"Of course, it is. Thank you for shopping"
That was it.
The man didn't even meet our gaze then. I felt so astonished that my mindset wanted to ask more ut the man didn't seem to be in the mood to ask. Harith gestured for me to leave, and we walked to a nearby auto stand in silence.
A silent weekday was rarely uncommon in the heart of the city, but today even the dog was sleeping.
The silence of the man gathered around us till we reached the hotel.
"What was that?"
He looked at me, "I don't know...", he smacked his lips.
I sighed, "Fidha might know?"
"I think so. Though how can we ask?"
"And what if she doesn't?"
"Let's go there, tomorrow as well?"
He nodded and smiled.
"There is something..."
He smiled and pushed my back, dragging me to the canteen.
"I'm not hungry"
He giggled, "But I am"
Our hands intertwined, and we went to eat.
With a disturbed mind on what had happened.
- Writer
