I guess, being fat is one of the worst things that could happen to someone. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even on my worst enemy.

The pain and struggle of an overweight person is something that is known only to them. Nobody around will ever understand the real seriousness of things even if they try to.

Of course, I had been going through this uniquely depressing agony for as long as I can remember but the past few days had just made it even more evident.

Watching everyone around eat and live their lives as usual but me being restricted from doing any of that had been tougher than I expected. Experiencing the divine aroma of good food and not being able to taste any of it had been painful. Constantly feeling tempted to break the diet and wanting to have cheat meals had been even worse.

I hardly ate anything delicious or filling during this entire week. I had been starving myself and surviving on just two meals — that too scanty ones. I just hoped and prayed that I'd at least get to witness some proper change for all these efforts because I was truly frustrated with the way things were going.

Although my family told me that I looked smaller than before, my heart did not accept it. Every day I stood in front of the mirror, begging it to show me signs of weight loss. And guess what I found? I was still fat as ever!

Perhaps being fat was a curse that I will never be able to break.

Sigh.

With these heart-rending thoughts in my head, I continued to mix the cake batter. A cake that I was baking for Ibrahim. Not out of love. But due to compulsion from my sisters.

And no, it wasn't his birthday or anything. It was just to be taken to his place by my family today evening when they go there to discuss a few things about the engagement and the wedding. A visit made for the sake of formality.

"How is the cake coming along?" asked mom as I cracked open an egg to add to the mixture.

"Okay, I guess," I replied.

"Pray and make your best version so that your husband will fall in love with you even more when he eats it," she said with a smile. She was definitely very happy about it. But not me. I mean, referring to that professional fat-shamer Ibrahim as my 'husband'? Ewww!

I did not respond. I carried on with my work in silence.

A little later, the sisters' group on WhatsApp blew up with messages about the visit, the cake and the rest of the plans. I hardly replied to any of those because I wasn't really interested in it. But then something that Shaheen sent caught my eye and it also enraged me.

Shaheen: Btw Lish
Shaheen: Were u able to check ur weight?
Shaheen: The groom's mom called a while ago asking about it 🤭
Aira: she has certainly lost weight 🤗
Me: 🙄
Me: tell her there's zero progress 😣
Me: such a stupid woman
Daneen: aiyo don't get angry baby
Daneen: forget about her. It's anyway good to keep track of things na 😇
Daneen: why don't u check it?
Aira: yeah just check it for your records 😊
Zoya: our weighing scale isn't functioning properly 💁🏾‍♀️
Shaheen: oh is it? 😬
Me: yeah there's no point in checking on that
Me: it shows false numbers 🤦🏽‍♀️
Daneen: hmm 🤔
Daneen: u should buy a new one 🤗
Me: planning to 👍🏽
Daneen: but for now, isn't there any way for us to find out?
Daneen: won't some neighbor have it? 🤔
Zoya: u serious? 😂
Me: 🙄
Shaheen: Chee no don't ask neighbors
Shaheen: won't be nice 🤭
Aira: yeah don't do that 👎🏾
Daneen: hmm then what do we do?
Shaheen: no prob
Shaheen: I will tell them about our weighing scale
Shaheen: after we buy one let's inform about the progress 😊

Ibrahim and his family were simply disgusting! How dare they inquire about my weight like that? Didn't they have basic human decency at all?

Oh God! The more I thought about them the angrier I felt. My blood was boiling. I couldn't even imagine living with them after marriage. They would probably keep a daily track record of my meals and weight like personal dietitians. It would definitely be a life of nightmares!

After a while, when I was decorating the cake, Zoya commented jokingly, "Damn! That looks good! Are you falling in love with Ibrahim by any chance?"

I frowned at her. The joke wasn't very funny.

"Sorry! Just asked because I would never put so much of effort for a person like that," she added.

"I'm doing it for the sake of my family. Not for Ibrahim," I replied.

"The consequences of being a family-oriented girl, I see," she said with a sympathetic face.

"Maybe."

"Okay, let me ask you something. Just be honest with me."

"Yeah, what?" I asked. I wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

"Do you really think you can have a happy future with Ibrahim?"

I sighed and replied, "Hmm I don't know."

"What do you mean? It's a simple 'yes' or 'no' question," she said in a tone of frustration.

"See, Zo. Obviously I don't like him. I don't like him at all. But then I don't have much choices. I'm 30. Everyone at home are worried. So yeah, I hope you understand my situation."

"First of all, you are not 30 yet. Second of all, even if you were 30, whatever you're saying is just so stupid. If you don't like him, I don't see your point in going ahead with this. You need to speak openly to people at home and tell them this is a no go."

"Haven't I done that already? You have seen me telling them and the responses they give, right?" I asked with a heavier sigh this time.

"Oh come on! You speak but you are never strict with your points when it comes to this matter. I'm sure they will drop it if you get real adamant about it. Because as far as I see, no one's forcing you, Lish. You definitely have a say," retorted Zoya.

"True enough. No one's forcing me. I have a choice. I can certainly make a stand and end things. But I don't want to because then everyone's going to be worried. So, I'd rather just make up my mind," I replied.

"What's the point? If you are not ready to speak openly at a time like this, then truly what's even the point in having a voice?" she asked.

As the youngest in the family, she definitely had no idea about what it was like to be a middle child. She was so used to having her own way that she hardly knew anything about making compromises for the sake of family. Obviously, she wouldn't understand even if I tried explaining things to her. So, I decided to switch the topic by questioning her about her new workplace.

She started talking about her coworkers and then suddenly asked, "Hey by the way, what happened to that arrogant guy at work? You haven't spoken much of him lately. Is he still fat-shaming you?"

Great. From Ibrahim to Ibrahim Lite.

My life was truly pathetic, right? Every conversation had to revolve around some toxic person because there was nothing else to discuss.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. On Monday, he was chortling like a fool when Devi asked me about my proposals. I got so mad that I scolded him and ever since then we haven't spoken with each other. Even for work purposes, he approaches Roshan or someone else now. So much the better!" I said.

"What a moron!" she remarked. And then we both continued to natter away till I finished icing the cake.

By the time I was done with that, the other sisters came home with their families. As always, the first comment they made was about how smaller I looked after starting the diet. Nothing ever made me happier like someone telling me that I had lost weight. So, their compliments instantly put a smile on my face.

And they thought the smile was because of Ibrahim. Everyone started teasing me about the wedding. It was awkward and annoying!

After sometime, when it was time for them to leave, I realized that only mom, dad, Shaheen and her husband were ready. It looked like the rest of them were staying back, including the kids. It was strange because I thought the whole family was going except for me and Zoya.

"Why aren't you people getting ready?" I asked Aira and Daneen.

"We are not part of this visit, Lish. Today it's only for the elders," replied Aira.

"Why not?" I asked. I was confused.

"Because it's not very nice of us to go like that," said Daneen.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Only the groom and his mother came home, right? They probably like it that way. I don't think they are very fond of a large crowd visiting their home either. So, we thought it's better to go as a smaller group today," said Daneen.

"Yeah, our family is too big. And our kids might be noisy there. So, it's okay. We can always visit together after the wedding," added Aira.

"So what? Ibrahim and his mother know that I'm from a big family, right? Then what's so wrong about all of you visiting? Shouldn't all my siblings get to see where I am going to live? Hold on. Did that woman say something? Is that why you guys came to this decision?" I asked.

"Nothing directly. But you know, they are a little posh, right? So, she may have mentioned something about the beauty of having only a small gathering," said Aira.

I was furious. First, they fat-shamed me. And now, they have indirectly slighted my family.

It looked like they clearly did not like anything about me fully. They simply wanted to see change. An altered version of everything that was mine — that too according to their wishes.

How mean and rude?

Perhaps like Zoya suggested, I should just speak up and break this off completely. Or I should have at least poisoned the cake I made. Argh! A missed opportunity!

I was so sick of everything that I spent the next few hours sulking. The thought of a future with Ibrahim got scarier by each minute that passed. Thinking of everything that could go wrong, I fell asleep.

When I woke up after a quick nap, Daneen and Aira were seated on the bed with a wide grin. They were discussing something happily. It was still too early for the elders to have returned from Ibrahim's place, so, it was definitely not about that. I wondered what it was then.

"Lish, Lish! Check your WhatsApp!" said Daneen excitedly. Even when I asked her why, she insisted on me checking it for myself.

I turned the internet on and 89 messages flooded on the group chat. I read through it and I was beyond shocked by what Shaheen had texted.

Shaheen: girls 😍
Shaheen: guess what?
Zoya: 🧐
Daneen: what news do u have for us? 😋
Aira: yeah tell us without keeping in suspense 😄
Shaheen: everything went well ☺️
Shaheen: we decided on the dates anddd
Daneen: and what?
Shaheen: He gave a gift for our Lish 🥰
Aira: awww that's sweet 🤩
Daneen: so romantic 😍♥️
Daneen: what is it??
Zoya: ok now that's a lil hard to believe 🙄🤣
Shaheen: I don't know 🤪
Shaheen: I have the box with me 😃👌🏾
Shaheen: will bring it home for Lish to check 🥰

"See, Lish is smiling already! Awww," said Daneen.

"No, I'm not!" I retorted at once.

"Yes, you are!" said all three of them and started teasing me.

Was I truly smiling? I didn't know. Maybe I was. After all, I was a woman. And all women loved gifts, especially if it came from men. It wasn't just me. It was universal.

So yeah, I guess I was kind of thrilled the moment I read those messages. A part of me felt that maybe Ibrahim wasn't a bad man after all. Maybe I got him wrong all along.

However, all my excitement went away when I opened the gift box. Because guess what I got?

A WEIGHING SCALE!

Yes, a freaking weighing scale — the most offensive thing that a man could ever gift an overweight woman!

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How would you feel if a man gifts you a weighing scale? 👀
I would be totally offended 🤭 It would be as bad as someone buying me fairness cream 💁🏾‍♀️😏
~~~

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