| NAINA |

"Naina," Mumma called me while I was lying on my bed and reading The Fault In Our Stars. I sat upright as she sat close to me. "Dinner is ready. Come."

I shook my head slowly and said, "I am not hungry."

"Why?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I don't feel like it." I looked away from her. "Please leave me alone for a while."

"If you are so depressed, then step out. That would help depression heal. And who knows it better than you do?" Mumma shrugged her shoulder, trying to be casual with me. But no, I wasn't in the mood for it.

"I'm not depressed, Mumma. I'm just not okay," I raised my voice to make it obvious.

"Not okay with what?" She raised her voice equally and stood up with her arms crossed.

"Just everything, Mumma. Life is not throwing a few lemons but one big lemon tree at me. I had a break-up. I lost my father. I fell for a man. And despite knowing that he is my friend's fiance, I am standing for him. Then there is you, stubborn with your decision. What should I do?" I yelled at the top of my voice and stood up.

"I know you are disheartened now. But, you will thank me later for what I'm doing now." Mumma's tone changed to a concerned one.

"You say it every time, Mumma. You said it when I wanted to settle in Paris, but you opted for New York. You said it when you persuaded me to date Richard. Not anymore, Mumma. Please!" I discovered my voice trembling as I confronted my mother.

"If you keep choosing everything in your life as you wish, what am I here for? It was you who opted for the Commerce stream against our wish. It was you who opted for Journalism. You moved to Chennai while your father asked you to study in Delhi. And again, it's you who wanted to date an engaged man. What am I in your life?" Mumma raised her voice to show how exasperated she was with her "not-doing-okay" daughter.

"Mumma, please! This is the last time. I will do as you say if things mess up with Angad. But let me play my game this time. For one last time, Mumma. I'm already tired of life. All I want for now is marriage and family. Yes, I am already successful in my life. But I feel like it's time for me to create a family. And I think Angad could be the best man for me to stand by me for the rest of my life. He took good care of me when I knew nothing about him. Then, there's no doubt about his love for me." Tears had already rolled down my cheeks, but Mumma was least bothered.

With that, I dived down to touch her feet as if to beg and said, "Please, Mumma. Let me live my life as I wish for one last time. I will play your game if things with Angad don't work out. Please!"

Mumma kicked me off in a bid to free her legs. As I moved away, she said, "Let me think first, Naina. I need to trust your choice this time. Only then, I can tell you my decision."

Then followed mere silence that was deafening, and the sound of my heart beating made me more deaf.

"Come down for dinner. You can't sleep without having your dinner." She closed the door with a bang, not before saying these.

***

"What happened, Naina?" Angad looked at me with a perplexed expression on his clear face while bright stars and the dark sky bore witness to the confrontation to come.

"We need to discuss something." My face held no expression, while my heart was full of emotions. "I need to clarify some things."

"I'm all ears." He tried to grab my waist while I raised my hand at him.

"No time for romance, Angad. Hold your horses." I took a deep breath through my mouth and became prepared with my points. "First thing is that I spoke to Mumma. It seems like she won't be budging an inch about us. We must fight hard."

He chuckled and said, "Winning your mom's support is much easier than winning you, Desi Girl."

I smiled upon being referred to as Desi Girl by him and conveyed my confidence by stating, "I trust you, Angad."

"I trust you more than you could imagine. I will trust your words even when the world accuses you of cruel sins," he stated as his eyes spoke more than he did.

"Now, I have a question." I exhaled through my mouth and asked, "Meeta or me?"

"Ask me when I sleep, and my answer will be the same. It was you. It is you. And it will always be you. I want to be by your side; I will ask people to build my grave next to yours when we die." As he was done, he stepped closer and raised his hand as if asking my consent to grab my waist.

I stepped forward with my consent and fell into his arms as he grabbed my waist. The night sky beautifully concealed my hot crimson blush creeping up my cheeks while he chuckled at me.

I looked up and asked, "What happened?"

He chuckled more and said, "I was thinking how beautiful this night would be if we kissed under the same sky."

My eyebrows met each other as I said, "Secret kisses are not fresh anymore, Angad. If you dare, kiss me in front of everyone. It should make me forget that we were in a public place. It should remind us how much we love each other. It should remind us how much we could sacrifice for each other. That's what I call a fresh kiss. Oh, and make sure I slap you hard after the kiss."

He chuckled at me again and said, "This is why I love you."

"I will repeat the same line if you make that happen." I winked at him with a smile on my face. But soon, it vanished as a thought crept into my mind. "Angad?" I called him with a sulky tone while he responded with a hum. "Am I too dramatic and worrisome?"

"No way, Naina. It's hard for anyone to be you. You had a break-up. You lost your father. You found another man. And despite knowing that I am your friend's fiance, you are standing for me. Then, there is your mom standing against your decision. It's sickening to face everything at a time. But you did." He made me realise my worth and why am I being so while I had put my head on his chest.

Soon, I heard him say, "Am I too impromptu and timid?"

"I thought so when you proposed to me. I hated you a lot for this. But later, I realised that you didn't have much time. Your time is ticking fast, and you must set things right before things go out of control. And no, you are not timid. You wouldn't have been here if you were so."

I held his hands and cupped it. "By the way, are you ready for Papa's eulogy?" I asked while I remembered Papa's funeral that was to happen the next day. Mumma wanted to do it since she remembered Papa telling her he loved eulogy speeches.

"Yeah, sure. See me in action tomorrow," he whispered in my right ear, not after breaking our hug.

The ray of hope walked away from me when I realised that my happy ending was near.

***

"Did everyone come, Naina?" Mumma asked me while I was going through the guest list.

"Dhriti and Charlie are yet to come, Mumma. They told me they would be quite late," I responded while my eyes were fixed on the guest list. Or rather, the guy in front of me checking whether the theme inserted was right. The theme for the eulogy was pink and white, as it were Papa's favourite colours.

I fixed my gaze on the guest list as my man looked back at me. So did my mother. Soon, I saw him going into the kitchen. I instantly looked back at Mumma and discussed about the event.

Angad came out of the kitchen with a white floral porcelain cup and saucer and approached us.

"I noticed that you didn't have any food since morning. Hence, please have this coffee, ma'am," he recited the phrase on his head before Mumma could snap out at him, and he extended the cup at her.

I covered my open mouth with my palm and was breathless at what he did. I wanted to laugh at this, but Mumma would burn me to ashes if I did so. Hence, I enjoyed it in silence and gushed at my boy, who could prepare coffee for his to-be mother-in-law.

"No, thank you. Naina had already made me one this afternoon." She ignored him with a calm tone, and her focus was on the guest list.

"Mumma, when did I do that?" I pretended I didn't understand her lying and asked it with my nose scrunched.

She glared at me as if to say, "I wish I had a loaded gun now," while I dodged it with a smile that suggested, "Yeah, I am stupid indeed."

She took a deep breath to bring on her calm and God-like demeanour and received the cup and saucer from Angad.

The smile on his clear face told me that his joy knew no bounds. He looked at me in the proudest and braggy way possible while I smiled at him like mothers do when their child receives an award from their school.

Soon, he dragged the wooden chair from the entrance towards Mumma and said, "Please sit and relax, ma'am. I saw you standing for a long time."

Mumma said nothing and sat on the chair to relish the coffee from her daughter's lover. "Who made it?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Ummm... Me." Angad's eyes glistened in sheer pride.

Instead of saying something, she hummed and continued having the coffee, which I see as a positive sign. Mumma says nothing if she likes the food a lot. That silence is her way of showing her approval.

He stood there with a confused look while I stepped back to show thumbs up to him. But before that, Mumma looked back at me and asked, "Why are you standing here, Naina? Go check whether Dhriti and Charlotte have come." My gaze kept wavering from Mumma to Angad to Mumma again. She noticed it and said, "I won't eat up your boyfriend. You go now."

I reluctantly walked away from the radiant duo while Angad's gaze was locked on me. I blinked once, suggesting, "It will be alright."

***

"Now, I would let the other half of my brother start this event with her eulogy. Let's welcome Miss Bhavna Mathur to start her eulogy." Kishore Chacha left the podium so that Mumma could deliver her eulogy.

She cleared her throat to start delivering her eulogy. "I don't know where to start. But to start with it, Naina is the result of the best decision I have ever made."

I covered my face while everyone laughed at Mumma's pun. She cleared her throat again to bring the attention of everyone.

"It's been 30 years since we married, yet I remember how I met Sanjay," Mumma said. "One fine evening, I was at a cafe and crying on and on since my boyfriend cheated on me. Sanjay was at the adjacent table and was crying. I asked him why he was crying, and he said he saw his crush kissing a boy. And it turned out to be that his crush was the one who kissed my ex. That's how we became friends.

"From strangers, we became friends. From friends, we became lovers. And from lovers, we became two better halves. And from two better halves, we became parents of an adult daughter."

She looked at me with a smile while I smiled back, getting rid of tears while blinking.

"He was a good friend, great husband, fabulous lover, and an unmatchable father. Perhaps Heaven needed his duty and offered something lucrative. That's why he left us." Mumma hung her head low and became mum. Her sniffing sound made me conclude that she was crying. Then she spoke up again, not before wiping her tears.

"Our parents disapproved of our relationship since I was from Kerala and he was from Lucknow. So, we had to run away. On that day, when we ran away, I asked him whether I was worth the thing he did. And he said, 'No. But we and our love is a thousand times worth it.'"

She hung her head down again, closing her mouth with her hand.

"I guess she is crying," Angad whispered in my ears. As I got up to console her, Angad held my hand and whispered again, "Wait. Let me go," and went towards Mumma.

I followed him as he hugged Mumma one-sided and inquired, "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Do you still want to talk, ma'am?" He whispered back in her ears.

"Leave me, please. I'm not done." She released herself from his hug. Angad and I, not before looking at each other, stood close to the podium.

She faced the people and said, "I guess I'm done. To conclude, I have to say that he loved me more than he loved anyone else. And I will love him for that throughout my life. May his soul rest in peace."

She walked away from the podium while Kishore Chacha occupied the place. Before he could speak, I saw Angad approaching Chacha Ji and getting his mic.

He tapped on the microphone's grille twice and spoke up. "Thanks a lot, Bhavna ma'am. Your eulogy made everyone's heart melt."

He looked at me for a second and smiled while I was looking at him, wondering when he was chosen to be the host of the event.

"Now, I guess I have to deliver my eulogy now. I knew Mr Mathur as none other than Naina's father. And according to me, he is no short of an amazing person. And he is cool for a parent of an adult."

Mumma shot a deadly glare at me while I scrunched my nose, confused about what he was blabbering in front of a handful of my acquaintances.

"Mr Mathur's mother was admitted to my hospital two years ago for surgery. I was at my initial stage as a resident surgeon back then. So, I remember meeting Mr Mathur at the hospital premises one day. I guess I was back from..." He paused there as if to think whether he should continue speaking.

"I was back from gushing at my crush." He chuckled and looked down while my eyebrows relaxed at the relaxation. But then, it went all up.

What if he made our relationship public?

"So, I met Mr Mathur at the canteen; we shared our life updates. Then, I had to tell about this girl in my life on whom I had a crush."

Shit! Did he tell Papa about me? Then, why didn't Papa ask about it for so long?

"I told him about who she was, how I met her and so on. He said it's cool for a man like me, and I had a great taste."

Everyone laughed at it: Angad, Charlie, Violet, Dhriti, my friends, relatives, and colleagues.

Except for Mumma and me.

"Then, I promised him that I would propose to her in front of him. But soon, shit happened. But anyways, so what if Mr Mathur is not here? I'm sure he will still watch me from Heaven." He paused there and walked out of the podium. He walked towards me while the vibe became awkward and perplexed.

We were mere inches away, and my heart missed its beat. I wanted to see Mumma's reaction. I wanted to see Charlie's reaction. I wanted to see Violet's response. But the magnetic force from his eyes made me glued to it and barely made me turn anywhere.

He kneeled one knee down out of the blue and said, "Hello, Miss Naina Mathur. The hot and cute daughter of Mr. Sanjay Mathur. I, Angad Sharma, am ready to face all shits on the way for your sake. For our sake. I'm ready to make sure that we look at our wedding picture with much romance in our eyes while I am holding your hand. I'm ready to burn the whole world to see you smiling all day. All you have to say is that will you marry me. I'm sorry I couldn't afford a ring, but you have all my heart for you."

Happy tears blurred my vision as I tried to react to his proposal. I didn't see a proposal coming for me amid my father's funeral. I blinked it away and looked at Mumma, who was stunned. Much more than I was.

Angad, who caught me staring at Mumma, got up and walked towards her. He kneeled two knees down at her and said, "Good evening, Mrs Mathur. I, Angad Sharma, wish to be a part of your small world as your daughter's better half. I swear that I won't let her go away from you. I will ensure that this small and beautiful world remains intact and more beautiful than before. So, please! Will you be my mother-in-law? And, since Naina has all my heart, I got a ring for you."

Saying so, he took a ring box from his pants pocket. He opened it, and we saw the pink heart-headed diamond ring.

I couldn't help but look at others while they looked back at us. Precisely speaking, they were looking at my mother and my boyfriend.

***

I wish that Mrs Mathur would say yes. Yet, I am not forcing you guys. I will let you peeps play your game. Will she say yay or nay to this affair?

Stay tuned for more!

Song Courtesy: Love Story by Taylor Swift.