"Shahma, you don't understand, I haven't even seen the guy and how could dad just decide it?" Sushi massaged her temples.

Her father did not even speak to her about the alleged relationship. He was being so impractical. He was always impractical. He never let Sushi have a password for her phone and always collected the phone numbers of  her friends with whom she was going out. He even made surprise visits during her outings. Her friends always adored it when her father showed up out of no where and bought gifts for all of them. Sushi always felt it awkward but never spoke a word against him. He was already hurt enough.

But this was just outrageous.

"Sushi, arranged marriages are not always bad, just calm down" that wasnt what Shahma wanted to say exactly. She wanted to console Sushi by saying that they could think over the situation but Aunt Anna's words kept ringing in her ears and she feared that saying what she actually felt might be like she did not think her decision was good. It was like betraying her own parents and Salahuddin.

Sushi simply looked at her best friend through narrow eyes before murmuring some incoherent words before letting her vision be distracted by the sky.

The sky was bright and beautiful. The mango tree under which they sat was beautiful. The chirping of the birds was beautiful.The soothing silent wind was beautiful. The murmuring leaves was beautiful. The energy of the college students, the youth was beautiful. The way they smiled at each other was beautiful. The couples walking hand in hand were beautiful. Shahma was beautiful .The interlocked ground with dried and not mango leaves here and there was beautiful. Everything was beautiful, except her life.

Sushi knew that Shahma could never understand her situation. She was trusted by her parents. Her parents were 'modern', they allowed her sister to marry whom she liked.  Shahma had all the fun without any interruption, her parents never called her when she was with Sushi. Shahma was really lucky but when did she become so inconsiderate?

"Give the boy a chance with an accepting heart, who knows?" Shahma shrugged. "You might like him..." She kept her hand on Shahma's shoulder but Sushi did not look at her.

Sushi just kept shaking her knees as she she pulled her hair and let out a small scream.

"Do you want to go to my place before going to your house?"

Sushi sighed as she closed her eyes for a few seconds. May be that was what she wanted before meeting her father's selection that evening. She wanted to feel the warmth of a house before going to her house where she felt so cold and distant.

It had been two weeks since her father let her know about Viswanath , Amal uncle's son. Neither did he say much about him nor did she ask anything about the man her father chose monarchically until that morning. That morning, her father said that they were coming to see her on the same evening.

Her college was also closing on the same day and the exams were just weeks away. She did not want to get distracted. Each moment was important, considering the fact that 'modern criticism' was an alien subject to her...or maybe considering the fact that she knew she was not ready for a marriage.

She kicked a stone angrily and then nodded at Shahma.

"But I don't think it would be a good idea to ride a bike now,?"

Shahma was being a prick to her. Sushi wanted to shout at Shahma. She could feel the urge with which her heart was beating in her ears. Heat covered her eyes and ears. She could feel the surge of the anger that was roaring to be unleashed on someone. Sushi knew that her anger was trying to take control of her. She took a deep breath as she analyzed the situation silently. She took the water that her best friend was extending towards her.

Shahma was only trying to help. Breath in ,breath out. Take a sip of water.

Shahma only intended her goodness. Breath in, breath out.

Shahma wanted her to be happy and relaxed. Breath in, breath out. Take a sip of water.

Shahma was her best friend. Breath in, breath out.

Sushi looked at her best friend and managed to smile, barely. She nodded.

Shahma was about to call Biju Chettan, an auto rickshaw driver, when she remembered that her fiancé had come to the college on that day with a car. It would not be too much of a task for him to drop them on his way to his home. After all , he was her fiancé.

She asked Sushi about the same matter. Sushi was silent for a few seconds, perhaps she was still not over her anger. Shahma had already taken her phone when Sushi merely whispered a yes and put her head on Shahma's shoulder.

She took the phone and dialed her future husband's number.

Shahma felt very sorry for Sushi. She wanted to speak to uncle about how his decision was affecting Sushi badly but she was afraid of him. He was very friendly to her but for some reason, she was afraid of him.

"Hello, Assalamu alaikum" She said.

"Wa alaikumu salam,"

Shahma waited for a 'how are you?'. It had been a while since they met properly beside the lecture sessions. A few hundred seconds passed before Salahuddin resumed the conversation.

" So are we able to communicate silently now?"  Salahuddin chuckled.

How foolish of her to expect a few words of care from him when she herself did not convey something like that? She should read more books on family life and related psychology. She had already read about four but she realized that it was not enough. She wanted her marital life to be filled with love and care and she knew that it was not one way road. She had to make efforts.

"Hello...you there? Shahma?"

"Uh, yeah, I was thinking something"

"Oh..."

"Actually, I called you to ask if you could drop us at my home on your way home?"

"Sure...Carpooling is an efficient way to save fuel, but us?"

"Me and Sushi," Shahma looked at her emotionally drained best friend and patted on her head, softly, with the touch of a mother.

"Oh...okay"

In a few minutes, Shahma and Sushi was in Salahuddin's car. Shahma chose sit in the front seat while Sushi chose to sit at back.

Salahuddin felt a little hot as his future wife and her best friend got in the car. He smiled at Shahma and tried to smile at Sushmitha.

Shahma rewarded him with a dazzling smile. He noticed that her tooth too were in perfect alignment just like that of Swaliha. However, all that he got from Sushmitha was a dark glare, he wondered if he did something very wrong to her.

Shahma could feel that something was wrong with ride. There was an immense awkwardness that clouded among the three and muted them. She smiled as she remembered the car magazine that she just displaced from the seat to sit. She had kept it on her lap.

" I had always wanted to feel the ride with this model ever since I saw it in a showroom on our way to college," Shahma said.

" I thought you did not have license," Salahuddin's eyes did not leave the road ahead of them.

" Oh, I do not have a license and I do not think I have the courage to sit behind the steering wheel but I have loved riding in cars since time immemorial. I used  to irritate my father to go out when we were in Saudi Arabia, back then he had a Toyota camry" Shahma had always loved everything about cars. She used to read car magazines and watch car stunts. Some of her cousins and friends said that this 'interest' did not actually match her nature. However, Sushi had never said so.

"Oh...so which model is this?" His eyes were still glued on the road and Shahma could not find an ounce of interest in his voice.

"This belongs to the new generation of Maruthi suzuki desire, isn't it?" Shahma felt a little proud of herself as she felt that she had passed the test quite successfully.

"Oh...I do not know much about cars, this is my friend Amar's, he is attending several charity events abroad so I drive this once in a while, upon his insistence" Salahuddin wondered if he was talking too much. Was it because of the girl who looked like his sister or her best friend?

Shahma did not feel very down but she did feel a little uncomfortable. She had thought that she had found a topic that both could speak about without getting bored.

"I am more of a scooter person," Salahuddin said as his heart yearned to touch his scooter which was at the workshop.

don't you think that you are just being desperate to find common interests?" Shahma shook her head, hoping Aunt Anna's words would just fall of her head.

"Oh..." Shahma was it a fan of the vehicle that depended on the person for balance and made life a mess when the weather was rainy. In fact she had only travelled on one scooter, Sushi's. but Shahma did not want the conversation to die with her. " Well, Sushi also love scooters, isn't it Sushi?"

Shahma looked behind to see a peacefully sleeping figure behind them. Sushi almost felt abandoned.

She had to find another topic that would keep them engaged.

"Do you like Dhoni?" She asked hopefully. Majority of the people she knew were cricket fans, her family, her friends as well as her neighbors.

"I am more of a football person,"

don't you think that you are just being desperate to find common interests?" Shahma could feel the bitter truth of the words.

Salahuddin felt guilty even if he was not doing anything wrong. He only said the truth but he felt like he was hurting her but he did really hate cricket. It consumed a lot of time.

Shahma had already tried to initiate a conversation twice and failed. She was in no mood to try again. She looked outside the window to see the beauty of everything in the evening glow.

Salahuddin asked if she used to play cricket but Shahma was already lost in her own world. Her eyes receiving the the darker yet not the darkest shade of the day. Her ears not sending any messages to the brain. Her mind clouded by thoughts of what more words Aunt Anna might share if she unblocked Aunt Anna.