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My mother stared at me shrewdly.
“You can do whatever you like, Jayshree, as long as you follow your heart. If you want to date Deep, I won’t stand in your way. But think about why you’re doing it,” she suggested.
“I’m doing it because I think it’s time for me to be married,” I stated bluntly.
Any Indian mother would be ecstatic at hearing that her daughter wanted to get married. Unfortunately, my mother didn’t seem to have received that particular memo.
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked, rearing back in horror.
“What! Why?”
“You can’t seriously be thinking of marrying Deep? It’s a match made in hell, Jayshree!”
“You don’t know that, Ma! You don’t know the kind of guy who would be right for me. Deep might not be the most handsome man on earth, or the most charming. But I’m not looking for that in the man I choose to marry. I just want a nice, normal guy, who has the same sort of values that I do,” I argued.
“And do you really believe that Deep could be that guy? Aren’t we talking about the same boy who once made a butterfly collection of live butterflies pinned to a piece of cardboard? Is that your definition of a nice guy?”
“He was ten years old, Ma! A spoiled, misguided child! You can’t blame him for what he did as a child. For that matter, didn’t Veer almost burn down the Viceroy’s Suite with a magnifying glass when he was eight? Do you hold that against him?”
“That was different, Jayshree. Veer did it by mistake while playing with the magnifying glass. The piece of paper that he was trying to set alight flew off the window sill onto the curtain. And he was miserable about it. But Deep knew what he was doing when he tortured those poor butterflies to death. I saw his glee at their struggles to escape,” said my mother grimly.
I got up and started pacing around the room angrily. I couldn’t believe that my own mother was being so petty-minded about a childish transgression. Sure, at the time, I had believed Deep to be an utter and absolute monster. But people did change for the better, didn’t they?
“Jayshree, I’m just asking you to think this through.”
“I don’t care what you say, Ma. I’m meeting Deep tomorrow, and if I think he’s right for me, I’m going to marry him,” I announced furiously.
* * *
ARYAN
Arshia fiddled with the car radio, changing stations until she came to one that was playing old Hindi songs.
“Mmm, this is perfect! Lovely music, a long drive, and excellent company,” she purred, with a sidelong glance at Aryan.
He grunted in response. He was still brooding over Deep’s presence in the palace. That louse was up to something. The last time that he had looked so pleased with himself had been on Jessie’s eighteenth birthday. Aryan scowled as he forced his mind away from those memories.
Arshia lived at the other end of town. It was almost an hour’s drive from the palace. And he had spent the last twenty minutes scowling at the windshield.
“Aryan, listen. I have a confession to make,” said Arshia, softly.
He turned to look at her, and his heart sank at the triumphant look on her face. Confession was a bit of a stretch. Arshia wanted to gloat, he realised.
“Go ahead.”
“Your mother has invited my parents over for lunch, tomorrow. Now, I know we haven’t discussed this, and I know it’s too early. But we like each other. So, there’s no harm in taking it forward,” she said in a rush.
Aryan took a deep breath and counted to ten, and then backwards. She was telling him. She wasn’t asking for his opinion. Arshia had decided that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level, and his opinion clearly didn’t matter.
He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but Aryan was damned if he’d allow anyone to bully him like this. Between his mother and his scheming girlfriend, he would lose control of his life if he didn’t put his foot down. And yet, he couldn’t take his anger at her out on her parents. It would be rude to cancel the invitation for no reason. Thankfully, he had an ironclad excuse.
“Arshia, I’m going to be working tomorrow. The triplets need constant monitoring, so I’m going to be at the hospital all day. I’m sorry, but we have to postpone the lunch.”
“But… but… my parents are looking forward to it,” she argued.
“If either you or my mother had thought to check my schedule before you made your plans, you wouldn’t have been in this position,” he said mildly.
He hid a smile as she spluttered helplessly next to him.
