If anyone has ever dealt with depression, whether it be in the past or present, you'll know what I mean when I say that it never gives a shit about you. It just acts on its own accord, and for me, the smallest reminder of something negative in the past sets it off like a bomb.

And when it's ticked off, it explodes, leaving me to deal with the darkness that has enshrouded me and the painful shrapnel of memories embedded in my mind and heart.

    All the memories of the past not only set off the darkness in me, but it also gave me a crude reminder of the pain and pits of depression that were cursed on me after Manish left. It was an extra weight that dragged me down deeper into the ditch.

And it's usually so hard for me to get out of it. But that's where I'm glad I have the best people around me to help me out. It took forever for me to invest that support in the people around me, but I'm glad I did.

    My set of people includes Jen and Anwar, so I'm glad I'm around them so much. And especially with their whole wedding planning being in full swing. Anwar got really lucky to have his Uncle Syed be a jeweler, and a damn good one. Because Anwar's mom, Meher Aunty, would rather die than let me pay for my own jewelry, I'm looking through the three sets Syed Uncle has demoed for me.

As he's explaining each of them to me, he looks at me with a confused look. "Didn't you say you had a friend coming?"

I nod, and just as I'm about to answer that question, I hear my phone vibrate. My eyes dart to the screen to see Manish's caller ID present. I pick it up, and say, "Hey, you got the address, right?"

I hear Manish nod in the background, along with his shoes smacking against the concrete. "Yeah, I got the right one. I'll be there in 5 minutes, alright?"

I nod again. "Cool, see you then." I set my phone down, as I see Meher Aunty prance out of the kitchen.

A dish towel is slung on her shoulder, as she's dusting her hands off with whatever was on them as she was cooking in the kitchen. "When is your friend coming, Jaya?"

Just as Aunty asks the question, the sound of the doorbell rings through the air. My eyebrow raises a bit, while a little smile curls at my lips. "That must be him," I think to myself, as Aunty runs towards the door.

Jen leans in towards me, as she's admiring a maang tikka that Syed Uncle brought. "You made the right choice in asking Manish over."

I snicker a little bit, and shoot back, "Of course I did."

I hear the door unlock and Meher Aunty swing it open, and I hear her greet Manish with, "Hello, beta! You must be Manish."

A little smile curls at my lips, as I can see a smirk unfold in Jen's eyes. As I hear soft footsteps padding up the stairs, I hear Manish reply with, "Yes, I am!" Manish eventually reaches towards where we are, and when his eyes lock with mine, a joyful smile explodes on his face.

"You must be Manish! Sit down, please!" Syed Uncle exclaims, as he beckons for him to sit down next to me. I scoot over to make room for Manish to sit down, as Syed Uncle takes out some more necklace designs for us to marvel at.

Once Manish is seated next to me, I lean in and say, "Thanks for coming, by the way."

"Anytime. You know that I'm here to help you out."

The smile on my face is stretching so wide that I'm sure it'll rip my cheeks open any minute now. Manish too looks like he's about to explode into pieces any time now. As we're both smiling like idiots, I hear Syed Uncle clear his throat a little bit, and we both turn to face him.

A little tinge of embarrassment glows at my cheeks, as he lays out some of the jewelry he has. "Alright, so here's what I have brought for you to choose from."

First, Syed Uncle turns to Jen, and hands her a few packets to deal with. "Beta, you mentioned you wanted to wear the passa at your wedding. Here are some options. Try them out. Oh, and your jhumkas too."

Uncle then turns to Manish and I, and hands over a few boxes. "Jaya, by the way, I love your anarkali. I think these will go with it. Give them a shot and model them after Jen tries out hers."

I smile, as I think about the anarkali that's hanging in my closet. The emerald green color automatically gives it a sense of unmistakable class, while the gold embroidery gives it the jaw dropping factor I hope to achieve as I stand by and watch Jen get married.

Manish and I both snatch a box, and when I open it, I feel my breath stop. As Manish opens the other box, I feel him whisper, "Oh, wow."

The gold like material shimmers softly underneath the dining room light, while the white stones embedded make it seem like someone duplicated the moon and put them in this necklace. The dangling earrings have one moonlike stone embedded in them. The maang tikka, however, has even smaller stones embedded in a pattern, like stars in a constellation.

In Manish's hands, a completely different set is resting, but it still manages to sweep my breath away. This time, red rubies are embedded in the necklace, and the earrings are shorter, but more flashy, as the gems are bigger. The maang tikka stands out the most, as the red gems add a bold note and make it stand out as much as the necklace.

"Oh, how about the last one?" I ask, as Manish reaches for it. Excitement continues to bubble furiously in the depths of my stomach, as I pull open the top to see the last piece.

Just like the last two, this set is also drop dead gorgeous. This time, however, sapphires are embedded into the neckpiece for something that matches the intensity of my anarkali more. And the column of sapphires embedded in the dangly earrings make the whole set seem put together and sophisticated.

Confusion clouds my mind, as I can't decide on which one looks the best. I personally am leaning towards the ruby one, because of the contrast with my green anarkali, but I think it's best to consult the experts on this one. I turn to Manish, whose warm brown eyes are already abuzz with a million thoughts on which jewelry set to decide on. Anwar may have the best taste in suits, but Manish has the best taste in jewelry and traditional Indian wear.

"I was thinking of the red one. What do you think?" Manish gives me an affirmative nod, as he takes the jewelry case from my hands ever so gingerly.

"I agree."

As I see Jen admiring her head in the mirror with the passa, Syed Uncle's eyes dart up from the pile of jewelry in front of him towards me. "Are you going to try it on, Jaya?"

I nod, as I unclip the necklace so that I can slip it on easier. "Yep. Manish, do you mind helping me out a bit? You're better at this than I am."

Manish sets his phone down on the ground, and says, "I got you, Jaya."

I place the necklace gently on my chest, as Manish's fingers delicately grab the chain and fasten it behind my neck. His hands gently push my dark locks forward to frame my face and complete the look. I look back at Syed Uncle, and everyone in the room is just nodding along with him. "That one looks stunning, Jaya," Anwar compliments, as Syed Uncle holds up a  mirror for me to see.

Surely enough, the first thing that pops into my head is, "Woah," The red stones embedded into the necklace gently shimmer underneath the light without drawing attention away from me.

Manish unclips an earring for me to ogle at and holds it up next to my ear. The dangling earring ties the entire thing together, and the brightness of the jewels gives me confirmation that it's the perfect match with my dress.

"This is the best one, Jaya." Manish whispers in my ear.

Syed Uncle, overhearing his feedback, nods his head in agreement. Anwar and Jen both nod, and go, "Yeah, we agree."

That's how I know I'm going to look great at their wedding.

********

"Hey, thanks for tagging along, by the way," I tell Manish, as we both walk to our cars. I keep my keys pressed between my index finger and thumb in case a creep decides to try anything funny on me.

"It's no problem. Where did you park, by the way?" Manish asks, as I crane my head behind the row of houses to make sure nobody robbed my car.

"Behind there." I point, as my hand immediately dives into my bag to pull out what I was planning to give Manish. "Before you leave, Manish, I wanted to give you something."

I dig through my wallet and other assorted items strewn about in my bag to find the box. "I saw your sherwani and found something that I think would've gone really well with it." Immediately, I feel my fingers brush against the rough material of the box, and I pull it out of my purse.

Manish's eyes widen, and he looks back at me with shock electrocuting his eyes. "Oh Jaya, you didn't have to!" he squeals, as I hand him the box.

I can't help but smile at him, and he just snatches the box from me excitedly. "Oh, but I did," I announce, as he lifts the top off of the box. I hear Manish sharply inhale, as he admires the shiny watch staring back at him.

Manish's jaw falls open, and I hear him trying to mumble several words to no avail. "It's amazing, Jaya," he finally squeaks out, as his eyes dart up towards me. Before I can reply back to that, he runs into my arms and engulfs me into a rib crushing hug. I don't even mind it — in fact, I kind of enjoy it —  and I hug Manish back. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he repeatedly squeals.

Somehow, I manage to squeak out, "I'm glad you like it," while having my lungs crushed by him. That's when he realizes that he's crushing me and will kill me if he doesn't loosen his grip. He loosens his arms around me, and this time, I'm allowed to comfortably hug him and let the feeling of warmth and fuzziness fully engulf me without worrying about my lungs being crushed to dust.

Soon afterwards, we fully let go of each other. Manish is still holding the box so gingerly like one wrong move will cause it to disintegrate into dust. "Seriously, thank you so much, Jaya. This watch is going to look amazing with my sherwani."

I'm still smiling to the point that I'm sure my cheeks are going to rip open, and I just give him a nod. "I know it will."

Just as I say that, I hear his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and scans the notification that popped up on the screen. "Aw man. Isha needs something back home. I'll talk to you later, okay? We can have dinner at my house sometime later this week, if that's alright with you."

I again nod my head, as I start to think to myself, "When would that NOT be okay with me?" I adjust the strap of my purse a little bit, and nod again. "I'd love that. See you around."

"Take care, Jaya," he parts, as he walks past me to get to his car. I start walking towards my car in the opposite direction of where he's going, as I keep smiling and taking a few breaths to inflate my crushed lungs once more.

I would've paid good money to see Manish's reaction again, I think.

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I love cute chapters! How do you guys think this gift will change the course of their relationship? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you guys liked this chapter! The next one should for sure be a treat. As always, please vote/comment/share/message/follow (both on here and my Instagram [svts.writes]) for updates and announcements regarding my works! See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree