I went to meet my family that evening after work.

"I brought biriyani, fish kebabs and mutton curry for everyone", I happily let everyone know as I put down the heavy packets of takeout on the dining table. A big cheer came from my nephew and niece as they ran towards me and leaped at me. An enthusiastic Lola joined them in showing me love with her tail wagging as fast as ever.

My whole family gathered in the drawing room as we sipped tea and enjoyed snacks while catching up.

Suddenly after a major laughing session ended and we were catching our breaths, I noticed Mumma's laugh fade and a serious look take place on her face instead. She exchanged suspicious looks with Papa and all of them turned towards me.

"Meghu, we have something very important to discuss with you."

I stared at her, having no idea what she was about to say. She continued, "I hope Prithvi has contacted you today."

"Yes? Why?"

"Because his mother asked him to"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Papa spoke up, "Meghu, we want you to marry this boy."

"Wha- what do you mean? What do you mean you "want me to"?"

My brother said, "He is a nice guy. He will make you happy."

"And how do YOU know that? Did he tell you so?"

"N..no but he is a very accompli-"

"SO? What does that have to do with him making ME happy?"

My mom said, "No, beta. We're only doing what's best for you."

"Did I ask you to do that? Cause I don't exactly remember that"

My dad said, "We are getting older, Meghu. You must understand us. If there is any other person in your life, you can tell us. We just want you to settle down"

"Why is it such an absolute need for me to have a guy in my life? No, papa, I don't have anyone else in my life. And guess what? I'm still doing just fine. What a shocker right?!"

I stood up, "Is this the reason why you guys asked me to come over? To force me to marry a guy like people did a hundred years back? Mumma, Papa, you guys had a love marriage. So did Rishi. So why am I expected to get married to the guy you are arranging for me?"

My mom replied, "It's not like that. We have no issue if you have someone you love and want to marry, given he's a decent lad of course, we just want you to have someone, a partner with whom you can share the rest of your life. And Prithvi is that guy. He is career oriented, just like you. He has no bad habits. He is extremely respectful of elders. He spoke so nicely to me over the phone today and-"

"WHAT?! YOU SPOKE WITH HIM?WHY?", I almost shouted.

Papa spoke in between, "Calm down, Meghu. Don't raise your voice at your mother."

I frustratedly sat back down with my head placed on my hands. This shit is getting out of hand now.

Mumma replied, "Yes, I did speak to him. To ask him to call you and meet up with you again. To convince you. And despite of all that wealth he has and the position he is in in life, he obeyed. He called you and asked you out again, didn't he?"

"So, you all are simply planning and plotting on how to destroy my life behind my back now?"

My sister-in-law spoke up now for the first time, "It's not like that, Meghu. We all want to see you happy."

I didn't want to argue with her, so I stayed quiet.

I kind of gave up. There was no point in arguing with them. There never was regarding anything growing up. I knew I didn't want the next phase of this to begin where Mumma would just break into tears and emotionally blackmail me. I was hungry too and I didn't wanna storm off without having that biriyani. I can't imagine I am giving up the biggest fight of my life over biriyani. I laid back on the sofa for a minute and closed my eyes. Everyone remained calm. I sat back up and said, "Fine. I will meet with him this Saturday. But that's all I'm promising for now. I need to talk to him and know what he's thinking about all this. I am not saying I will marry him and mind this – I won't unless we BOTH want to and none of you can force me to do otherwise."

Everyone sighed out of relief and smiled. Mumma smiled a little harder knowing very well that she would force me to go on one date at a time till I finally got married to him. I hate how she has this control over me that I can never break away from.

Then they returned to their gossip session as Mumma served us dinner. I focused on my biriyani and didn't take part. I had to show some kind of rebellion after all.

----------------------------------------------------

I lay down on my bed. It was past midnight. I was still processing what happened today and trying to understand what I felt exactly. This Prithvi guy seemed sexy, but he didn't have the least bit of interest in me. So why did he agree to convince ME? Maybe his mom is just as manipulative as mine. Mothers, ugh.

I heard my phone chime. I looked at it to see Arjun's name pop up. I was confused. Why is he texting me so late? Is it something important? I unlocked my phone and opened the notifications.

"Hey"

Umm sorry what? Why is he hey-ing me now? What file did I forget to give him today? I couldn't come up with any reason as to why he texted me. I decided to reply.

"Hey. what's up, boss?". I tried to keep it formal.

Within less than a minute a reply came, "Nothing work related. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Umm that's weird.

"I'm fine. Thanks for checking in"

"Are you seriously getting married, Megh?". Dude, why the fuck do you care?

"I guess." I didn't want him to get his hopes up in any way.

"Oh". That sounded disappointing but that's okay for me.

"Goodnight, sir". Let's wrap this up, shall we?

No reply. I put my phone on the bed side table and went to sleep.