⋆ ——————— sitara ⋮ ⋆

THE PING OF my phone signalled Shaurya’s arrival. I grabbed my phone with a grin and checked the text: mind giving the love of your life some encouragement? At the parking lot.

I put on a long button-up shirt and shimmied myself into a decent pair of jeans.

“Where are you going?” Ma asked, uncluttering the tea table.

“Shaurya is here. At the parking lot,” I said, putting on my flip-flops.

“Doesn’t he know his way up here?” Pa asked, and Ma hit his shoulders.

“Let her do what she wants,” She told him and nodded at me to go get him. I got onto the elevator and then just like he had said, he stood in the parking lot in neat casuals, his back facing me. I sneaked in behind him and slowly wrapped an arm around his waist. He immediately knew it was me.

“Sitar, I am freaking out,” He admitted. I pressed my face into his back and hummed in acknowledgement. “What if they don’t like me? Or don’t agree?”

I came around to face him in the front. His hair was perfect and his shirt was crisp and ironed. “Shaurya, my parents had a love marriage. Do you know how much struggle they had to go through because both were of different castes?” I said, eyeing his hastily folded sleeve. “They fell in love after college and they married almost two years later because they had to fight for it on both side of their families.”

I unfolded his sleeve and straightened it out. Then, I evenly rolled it and buttoned it just below his elbow. “I am sure they would understand that we are madly in love like they were once, and that sometimes, you’ve just got to let love win. Because, whatever happens, in the end love will be the only thing standing. And what’s not there to like about you?” I said, rolling his other sleeve.

“Who is this, Sitara?” I heard Shambavi Aunty’s voice call out. My eyes widened and before I could form an exit plan, she circled us. Her glance glued itself onto our intertwined hands and I knew she was already preparing her speech to go recite to her other friends in the apartment.

I wanted to remove my hand from Shaurya’s but I knew it was late. “Who is this? I haven’t seen him around before,” She said, cleverly coating her voice with sugar.

“Um,” I started, raking through my brain to find an excuse. Do cousins hold hands? Or is that a friend thing? I glanced at Shaurya and then back at her. She waited for my response. “Um, he is my…”

I can't say he is my boyfriend. That would become a massive volcano eruption of gossip.

“Well…” She prompted again and I wanted to break her nose. Couldn’t she mind her own damn business?

“He is my... fiancé,” I blurted out, squeezing Shaurya's hand tighter. If she was hell bent on getting information from me, why not give her a juicy one? “Go tell all your friends, Aunty. Wouldn’t want them missing out on such great news, do we?”

She spluttered. “B-but…”

“If you’ll excuse me, my fiancé and I should get going,” I said, and pulled him to the elevator.

“Okay, what in the hell was that?” Shaurya asked as soon as the doors closed behind us. “You’ve got to stop giving me mini heart attacks.”

“That’s nothing for you to worry about,” I said and backed him against the wall with a smile. “So… are you still nervous?”

“A little.”

I nodded and then raised myself on my tip-toes and tugged Shaurya by his shirt. “Maybe this could be an encouragement?” I whispered against his lips before pressing mine on his. He smiled into the kiss and his arms came around me to rest right above the waistband of my jeans. My hands moved up from his waist and pressed on his chest. His thumb rubbed circles on my shirt as he kissed me back slowly.

I pulled away and then kissed his jaw once before I lowered myself back onto my foot and smiled at him. “How are we feeling now?”

“Can I get another kiss?”

I chuckled, smacking his chest. “Now, this is just you being greedy." The doors opened and we stepped out. “But, who knows? You might get another one later,” I winked.

“Tease,” he muttered and we walked to my flat. We stopped right outside my door and I glanced at him.

“Pro tip: Tell Ma you love the cushions. She made them herself. And ask Pa about the book he read recently. After that, the meeting will be a breeze for you. He will do all the talking himself,” I said and opened the door.

My parents got up from their seats to welcome him. “Ah, Shaurya right?” Ma asked and he nodded with a smile before touching her feet to get her blessings. She raised him by the shoulders and then asked me, “You didn’t tell me he was this handsome, Situ ma.”

“Ma, I can’t tell you all that. It’s embarrassing to talk about it with parents,” I said and took a seat on the couch. Shaurya greeted Pa the same way before all of them took their seats.

“What do you like to drink, kanna? Coffee, tea or juice?”

“Coffee will be fine. Thanks, Aunty,” He said and I bit back a laugh. He was being such a saint.

“So, what are you doing for a living?” Pa started the conversation. I told them everything about him already but I decided not to comment. I let them get to know each other personally and went to the kitchen to help Ma.

“He seems very sweet,” Ma said, adding a spoon of sugar to the mug.

“He is,” I smiled to myself and she smirked at me.

“I was worried you weren’t going to find the man who makes you happy. That's why I scolded you a lot. I didn't want you to end up alone but I am so glad that you found him. I haven’t seen this smile before at all. It looks lovely on you, Situ ma. I am so happy for you,” She said and I wrapped my arm around her neck and pressed my cheeks to hers.

“Thank you,” I said, turning to place a kiss on her cheek. She poured the coffee into two mugs and assembled a plate of gulab jamun and some sev for snacks. I took them and served it to both the men in the house.

“... told her yesterday about Sitara. She was really happy for me. She said she wanted to plan the wedding if it came down to that and she will fly from Texas to organize it,” Shaurya said, when I pushed the tray of snacks towards him.

“That’s great to hear,” Pa said, sipping his coffee.

“Kanna, have the gulab jamun at least. Situ made it herself,” Ma encouraged him and I gestured to her to keep it down.

“That’s the only sweet I know to make,” I whispered to Shaurya and he smiled, biting into it. He gave me an approving nod.

“But, she cooks well. Her father doesn’t like biryani but if Situ makes it, he will have it. Non-vegetarian is her speciality but she can manage vegetarian also,” Ma continued.

“But she can’t sing even if her life depended on it. The reason why she sings in the shower is because she is not allowed to sing anywhere else. Did you ever hear her sing, Shaurya?” Pa asked and I put my head in my hands.

“No, Uncle. After what you said, I don’t wish to,” Shaurya said, making my parents laugh.

“He already loves me. You can stop butchering my image, Pa. He is not going to change his mind,” I said.

“I’m just trying to warn him before I marry you off to him. He should not come to me accusing that I didn’t say any of this earlier,” Pa laughed and I groaned, hitting the back of the seat and letting them laugh all they wanted.

“Are you both sure you want to marry each other?" Ma asked.

Shaurya glanced at me and I blushed. “Yes, Aunty. She is the one for me,” he said.

Ma gushed at that and nodded more than once.

“From what Situ told about you and from what I’ve heard from others as well, they say your family is a reputably good one. Your mother worked in a NGO right?” Pa asked and he nodded. “We asked around. Don’t get me wrong, but as parents we have to know your background a little before we give our only gem to you. But we’ve heard only good things about you, Shaurya. If we would have seeked alliances, we wouldn’t have found such a good man like you for her. I am really happy that I get to hand over my daughter to you,” Pa said.

“I promise I’ll take care of her well,” He said.

“And I’ll take care of him equally well,” I volunteered my opinion and my parents chuckled.

“So, when do you want to get married?”

“Soon,” We chorused as if we rehearsed the answer. We both looked at each other and blushed.

My parents laughed. "You two remind me of us back in the days," Pa said, earning a reminiscing nod from Ma.

“We’ll talk to the priest and fix the dates. You can call your sister and tell her the news. We have a wedding to plan,” Pa said and I grinned like an idiot.

I was getting married.

To Shaurya.

I wanted to scream.

“What about the engagement ceremony?” Ma asked.

“Can we have a really small engagement party? Like only close relatives and such. We can have a grand wedding though,” I said and Shaurya nodded.

“That’s okay for us too,” Ma agreed with a smile. “We have to fix dates, get rings, invite everyone, buy clothes… there’s so much work to do. And, I forgot half the traditions we have to follow so I have to call Ma and find out. She is going to freak out when she learns you are going to get married.”

“Yes, I’ll tell the news to Paati myself,” I said.

“Okay then. Allow us to worry about all the preparations. The next year is going to get busy for us,” Pa said. “You two are free to go out now. Though, you will have to visit often, Shaurya.”

“Sure, Uncle. Definitely,” He said. “And thank you.”

Everyone stood up. “We should be the ones thanking you, kanna,” Ma smiled, hugging him.“And you should eat more. Don’t rely on restaurants for all of your meals. You now have a home here. Come by whenever you want.”

I pretended I didn’t see Shaurya’s eyes well up with tears. “I’ll go with him too. I’ll be back in the evening,” I said and my parents nodded. I hugged both of them and followed Shaurya out of the flat.

We didn’t talk once on our way to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, I nudged his hands lightly but he looked away. I went around to face him and stood on my tip-toes to wipe the tears that had escaped his eyes. “I know,” I whispered. “I wish they were here too. I would have loved to meet them.”

He nodded lightly. "You have me as your family. And my family comes along with me. You aren’t alone anymore," I whispered, placing a hand on his cheek, over his stubble.

The elevator stopped at level 3 and I took my place beside him, his fingers loosely tangled with mine. A mother and her son walked in with their dog. They eyed us suspiciously and I smiled awkwardly at them before turning away to face straight.

When we reached the ground floor, I took his hands in mine and led him to a secret spot the girls and I hung out in sometimes. “Did you understand what I said?” I asked him and he nodded.

“Sorry, your mother reminded me so much of mine and I hadn’t heard such motherly concern after she passed away so I just got… emotional,” He said. “And it was nice to talk to your father. I wondered if this was how mine would have been.”

I smiled and hugged him. “So, Mr Shaurya, when are you going to let me talk to your sister? You can’t keep us away for long,” I said.

“I know, sadly. I am not ready to be ganged up against,” He said.

“Sorry, that’s something that I can’t help you with,” I shook my head with a mischievous grin.

“You can, by agreeing to never join my sister and stick to my side. But I know you never will.”

“You know me too well,” I shrugged, patting his chest. “So, what are we doing now? I have till evening.”

“I promised my friends I’ll introduce you to them. What say?”

“Okay, let’s go. I’m sure they aren't as bad as you described them,” I said and pulled him to his motorbike.

“Oh, you’ll see.”

⋆ —————————— ⋆

glossary:

kanna: son

gulab jamun: indian sweet

sev: thin, stick-like fried savoury.

biryani: mixed rice dish, with indian spices, meat or eggs and sometimes vegetables and mushroom (a royal delicacy, I must say. my absolute favorite!)

paati: grandmother in tamil

⋆ —————————— ⋆ PLEASE VOTE ☆ IF YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. THANK YOU FOR READING!