To the promise I made to mom, I didn't back off but also I provided enough hints to Mr.Iyer that I wasn't interested.

"This is the first time he agreed to join us," Mrs Iyer spoke passing a smile at me. Alok was having a deep conversation with the males sitting on the couch in the living area. "Thank you for bringing him back home," she mumbled. I could see hope in those orbs that was the reason I was against having the dinner.

I felt guilty on seeing those expectation shaping in her black-sparkling orbs. I would have never concluded her for an emotional person. I had seen her various interviews, pictures. She came across well-mannered and well-controlled of her emotions but maybe she had a weakness and Alok Iyer was her weakness.

"I had done, nothing ma'am." I mumbled. "I wasn't even aware of your arrival. Mom will be happy getting together with her childhood friend," I nodded in a gesture to excuse as I walked into the kitchen. She was making it difficult, I could neither directly speak the truth nor I could encourage those hope. I was in the biggest dilemma.

I had ignored the existence of Mr. Alok Iyer for the rest of the night. I was as mad at him as I was at my parents. Why he decided to sent me a marriage purposal when he was aware of Faizal? Though I had introduced Faizal as my friend yet Mr Alok had hinted himself that Faizal had feeling towards me than why he was doing this?

"Why are you ignoring me?" The sudden voice startled me.

"I...I..." I wasn't able to form a proper statement on finding his presence behind me. What was he doing in kitchen? Was he following me? I had never doubted his intention but upon his one step, I felt as if the trust I had on him had disappeared.

"I am here to clear your doubt that the purposal wasn't initiated by me. Like most of the things in my life this was also decided by them." He groaned, "don't need to take it in the wrong manner. And you don't have to deny it, I will tell that I am not interested." With that as a final statement he walked out of the kitchen not waiting for my response.

For the first time in my life I doubted if he really held feelings for me? But I shook the thought away, wishing happiness in his life.

•••

He kept to his words, their parents didn't contacted us on the matter. Mom's seemed doubtful about it but never mentioned it directly.

But the situation in office had changed, he kept least interaction with me and I felt as if I was becoming a burden in his workplace.

"Do you really think he had least interest in you?" Ashwariya questioned as she stared at boss, working in his cabin.

"Don't stare at him like that," I groaned. Had she gone nuts? "Are you planning for us to be thrown out of this office?"

"But I am genuinely concerned, he seems different after your rejection." She suggested, I shook my head.

"I don't want to think about it!" I shove the topic away. "Even if he holds any feelings, I don't and I won't!" I pressed, my mood turning soar at the mere mention of the day.

"Okay," Ashwariya raised her hand in surrender seeing my pissed mood. "How is things between you and Faizal turning up?" She was attempting to distract my mind towards lighter topic.

"There is nothing to turn up," I groaned. "Mom is still looking a suitable South-Indian Hindu guy for me," I grumbled in frustration.

"Have you ever mentioned a thing about you liking him and wanting to spent your life with him?"

"How am I supposed to do it?" I was dying in nervousness and anxiousness. "I am not sure if he the one for me? What if the assumption made my parents are correct? We are two different world, dating is easy but life gets difficult after marriage. I will have to live in his family, with his people. What if I won't be able to manage it because it would be totally different from here?"

"Life is all about experience, Nivi. You need to dive in the water if you want to swim whether you will reach to your destination on drove in middle, can't ever be said..." She mumbled, passing a smile at me. "Your friendship had survived for so many years. Long-distance are hard to survive. People find replacement very easily if you don't hang-up on regular basis. He could have easily find a more-attractive girl around him than wasting his time on video call with you. If he is determined to put the extra work to convince his family about you than it should mean you hold importance, right?"

She waited for a moment before continuing, "if he is attempting so much shouldn't it be your duty as well to try from your side? At least erase those self doubt, try to be confident on feelings you share for him." She was attempting to build a positive hope inside me, I nodded in agreement.

•••

"Mom," I mumbled as I got into the kitchen. I wasn't sure why I chose mom for the conversation. Dad understood me better than mom yet when it came about emotions, I felt comfortable sharing it with mom than dad.

Mom raised her head from cutting the vegetables as she continued with her work. Her way of indicating that she was listening and I shall continue.

"I want to request you, mom." I pleaded as I came and stood next to her. "Can you stop searching guys for me?"

She spared a glance at me as if suddenly she was interested in the conversation. "Why have you found one for yourself?" Her orbs raising in questioning manner.

"I am not sure if he is the one but shouldn't I be provided with an opportunity to discover it before your attempt to find one for me?" I was attempting to put it in as beautiful as I could. Not wanting to offend or upset her yet to keep my point forward.

"He is a Muslim, Nivi." Mom pressed and I sighed. Was I ready for the conversation? I wasn't sure yet I had to! I needed to!

"He understands me, mom. I am not sure if he is the one or not but he really make me comfortable in his presence. He doesn't have solution to all my problems, neither he understands all of them yet he never gets tired of my rants. He hadn't got bored of me from past few years. I can't assure you that it will be forever. He wants to spent his life with me and what if it really work? None of us can be sure of our future. What is the possibility that I marry a Hindu and from our caste that marriage will survive? There is no secure future all we can do is hope and attempt to make it survive."

"Such words seem pretty until you face the real world, Nivi." Mom mumbled, "when responsibility comes in." She paused, "things get ugly! Very ugly! Life isn't simple when two world collide," she pressed.

"Life never had being simple for me, mom." I mumbled, "it had not being simple for you as well yet you survived. You married a North-Indian, though he was born and brought up here yet he isn't a proper South-Indian. Didn't your marriage survived?"

"That was because we were similar, I didn't had to cross states to live a married life with him. Our world was similiar, our family background was same, we had to just manage our difference in preference, understand eachother as person." She paused for a minute longer, "don't you mention that Shruti had crossed the border. Yet she is married to a South-Indian. Your days doesn't get started without Dosa and Idli, had you seen his face when those dishes are prepared?" She stared at me in concern, "you will have to compromise in small things and slowly it will seem like a burden. Those things will soon start spoiling the beautiful relationship, you hold."

"I am just giving you mere examples," she mumbled. Silence prevailed among us, and I allowed the conversation to slide off.

•••

"What is troubling my princess?" His cute voice spoke from the otherhand.

I pouted as a traitor smile displayed on my face. "I want to be sad, don't force me to smile."

He chuckled at my reasoning, "and may I know, why you want to be sad?" He inquired sounding genuinely interested to know the reason behind my sulky mood.

I had given the conversation held with mom to have a troll over me. I had avoided three-four calls from Faizal as I wasn't in mood to talk yet I was forced to give-up infront of his stubborn self and pick the cell.

"Do you think, things between us can fade away? I mean, I had seen so many marriages. They claim that things fade away and they parted their way. They concludes that maybe they never were meant together, especially in love marriages."

I heard him sigh, "this was the thing stressing you up." I could imagine him shaking his head in disbelief at my overthinking spirit. "You need to stop troubling your mind on this foolish thoughts," he was attempting to keep it in a soft manner.

"Mom has the same opinion," I mumbled. "What if things get messy?" I was voicing my worries to the only person whom I trusted the most.

"I will be there to wipe off those mess, Nivi." He assured, I was trying to convince my anxious heart.

"Always?" The uncertainty was visible in my voice. The fear was planting seed in my heart. What if we marry and it end into a disaster. "What if one fine day, you get bored of me? There are more pretty woman out there. What if one day you realise, you had a better option than me?"

"I don't know if there is a better option out there and even if there is, I want to spent the rest of my life with you, Nivi." He assured, "I understand those doubts, those worries. I get that your mother is concerned about you, about the place you're going to end up in as she hadn't met any of my family except me. Give her time, once she gets to know us she will understand that my upbringing values marriage, it will be different."

There was silence around us for minutes. I felt guilty for sharing it with him. Maybe sharing my doubts made him feel insecure, what if he thinks that I still don't trust him? I do trust him but I don't trust my future! You never know, what shall go wrong!

"We are different in so many ways," he mumbled. "We come from different backgrounds, different lifestyle but one thing is similar, we value relationship. We are brought-up with much similar values. Our family had taught us to respect our respective religion, we love our parents or we could have easily ran away and had got married but we are struggling to convince our parents, isn't this our biggest achievement? If we are together in the way we value relationship, emotions. Could our mere preference for simple foods and clothes could cause difference between us?" He questioned while my brain was blank to utter a thing.

"I don't know what future had stored for us, Nivi." He mumbled, "I had always doubted about the future of us. From the minute I realised that things between us was turning serious, you were turning into my habit. I attempted a lot to distract myself. I lied to you on various events that I never cared or I was extremely busy to care because I was scared about the future it held."

"I didn't wanted something causal, just dating. I wanted it to reach its destination and I wasn't sure a girl born and brought up into a complete different family from mine could ever fit in my life? I was frightened if she could accept my culture." I could hear his heavy breathing, he was hardly vocal with his feelings or thought and whenever he was, I always treasured those moments.

"My views were changed when you visited Zoya's wedding. I won't lie, I was extremely nervous when I got the news that you were arriving, you were going to step into my world. Either you would despise it or adore it and the way you fit in. The way you grabbed Azia's attention on first meet, the way she started adoring it. The way you didn't hesitate for a second and rather was so excited to show yourself in hijab," I could hear smile in his voice. "I wasn't able to move my eyes from it," he confessed as he took huge intake of breath. "Maybe that was the moment when I had decided that I want to marry you."

My heart jumped out of my ribs. Words weren't forming on my tongue.

"I know, you love those loud gestures. Those romantic dates, romantic confession. I am not a guy like that," he was cursing himself as if he was disappointed. "But I don't want to spent a moment of my life without you. You bring happiness and peace into my life, Nivi. I will always be grateful of your magical presence in my dull life. You make me look beautiful."

°°°

I love him, guys!!!