Love Arranged

Chapter 4

One month to go…. I woke up to this thought. Last night was awesome just awesome. After a long time, my and friends hung out together. As we wouldn’t be able to catch up again till we meet for exams again. I update Sam about whatever had happened over the weekend and he listened to me like an amazing friend like always without commenting anything back. He knew sometimes we just need a lending ear and that’s comforting in itself.

Scarlet’s mom is quite strict when it comes to exams, she doesn’t let her go anywhere during the exams. She is only expected to study, eat and sleep and do this on repeat till the exams end. She is supposed to be the brightest of us three but still, she has the pressure to prove it always.

Ajay’s parents are very cool, they don’t bother him at all as long as he clears his exams. He is from a big rich business tycoon family. They expect him to join their family business once he did with his graduation and MBA. Till he finishes his education, his parents have quoted what he told us once ‘son as long as you finish your required education and join the business, you can have the time of your life. Because once you start working you will be in a different game altogether. So, Son, this is my advice to you just go live your life for the next 5-6 years. We were in awe as soon as we heard what his parents told him.

On the contrary, my parents don’t ask me anything at all. I mean I have always had this inclination towards digital designing and with time the passion and determination only got stronger. Only after I researched a lot, I found out that I have the best designing colleges in the USA, so that’s when I decided to move to the USA for my studies and career perspective. We are also from the business background, my dad owns a few jewelry stores, my mom was a jewelry designer is what I heard everyone telling me and that’s where my dad got the idea and he quit his job and supported my mom and made her dream come true and started the business and expanded it to the level it is today. My mom always loved the simple lifestyle is again what I heard from various people and that’s the reason we stay in a gated community and that too in an apartment and not in a villa or bungalow like Ajay and Scarlet. I love my simple lifestyle. My dad tells me always about the happiness that counts not the money that we have earned. At the end of the day, money is not constant but your happiness is. So do things that make you happy.  

My sister on the other hand is a total techie geek, she knows someday she needs to take over the business from the day and take it forward. So right now, she is just enjoying her time by living her techie geek life. But even now she keeps helping dad with the business on and off. She keeps herself up to date with the business happenings and everything about the market and its fluctuations as she tells me.

Since Sam has moved to college for his further studies. He makes it a point to follow the ritual of studying with me before the exam. When he was in school with me, it used to be easier to follow the routine like the timetable as our exams used to be held at the same time. But now since he is in college, our timings don’t match but still, he has made an effort to still keep the ritual alive as it is my final year in school and then I will also be in college just like him. I sigh thinking to myself about how to break the news to Sam about my dream to go to the USA and study. I guess I will have to do it after my exams itself. Like today morning he sent me a message saying ‘Pihu, there are some amazing colleges here in Mumbai just for digital designing. Did you know about that?’ at this point I dint know how to break the news to him about my decision to go to the USA. I didn't even tell at home for the matter of fact that I have been planning to apply to a few of the colleges in the USA for my further education.

Suddenly, I feel my head will burst with all these thoughts and I have been stressing out lately about all these thoughts as to how will I break it to my family about my decision to go to the USA and how will I break it to Sam and how are they going to react? I had already been freaking out about all these things. I just couldn’t get my head into the game of exams due to all these thoughts and I just felt like pulling my hair and screaming out loud just to release the tension from my body and soul. But I still felt as if I was being strangled by these thoughts….

The next thing I know I screamed out so loudly and jumped out of the bed…...Oh god!!! I was breathless and all of a sudden, I felt my heart was in my mouth like literally. “Di, WHAT THE HELL? DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A STROKE OR WHAT?” I literally screamed at my sister. But she looked at me as if I spoke gibberish which she couldn’t understand at all.

She was standing with both her hands on her hips and looking at me with those eyes saying ‘Seriously’ shouting at me? Uh.

“Whaaat?” I said I bit irritated by her look.

“What … what? I have been calling you for the last 10 minutes literally and you are lost in some dreamland of yours. What’s wrong Pihu? Are you not well? Is it the exam stress?” she said…

After waiting for a few seconds looking at me and scanning me completely. She sat down opposite to me on the bed and held my hand and sighed a sigh of relief and spoke again softly, like how a mom would talk to her kid when she knew something is wrong… “you know you can talk to me Pihu, whatever is bothering you, just talk to me okay? We will figure it out together, okay? Just don’t get too worked up and lose focus from yourself, okay?”

I relaxed under her touch, I knew I dint have to talk to her explicitly about anything right away. So, I just squeezed her hand which was holding mine, and gave a small nod. She sat for a little while and then patted my hair and left without anything else. Before leaving, she gave me that sweet smile, which reassured me that everything is going to be just fine. It will all fall in place no matter what.

After all this, I thought it's better if I just sleep for a while and let my mind drift off to something peaceful for a while. I don’t know when I fell asleep. Because when I woke up, I could smell a very delicious and yummy food which was either being cooked or was bought from out. But whatever it was it was just so inviting, so I just woke up and rushed into the direction from wherever the smell was coming from. The next what I saw was just otherworldly…. There was fooood… so much food. I mean who says no to food and it was all JUNK food. I mean woow!!!

SAM!!! Whaat the fickle? I screamed in happiness and danced towards the table where everything was laid out for me. “I see the mouse has found the cheese at last” I heard Sam say that and everyone started laughing at that with him. I just stuck out a tongue at him and enjoyed the food which was on the table. I personally have a very bad sweet tooth, so when I saw there was my favorite pasty, I just couldn’t resist myself anymore and the first thing I did was to take the pasty and relish it and then, later on, I had a burger and then a few slices of pizza…. I know I just ate like a giant today and I guess I won’t be needing food for the next couple of days now… I saw SAM and Di look at me as if they saw a ghost and I gave them a sheepish grin after I was done eating to my heart's content.

“Didn't I tell you, she will just surprise us?” Sam said that to Di, I played dumb as if I was not paying attention to their conversation.

“I know, I am just amazed that this girl who fusses about eating home-cooked food every day has actually gulped half of the food on the table” she is trying to be funny… definitely … try harder Di.

“If you guys have forgotten, I am still here and you guys are talking about me”

“Exactly we know, you dint even bother to offer some food to us? You came, saw and attached like an animal” Sam was snorting when he made this statement

“I… I was hungry okay... so, I dint” I said with a bit of guilty.

“ha ha ha ha ha” both of them started laughing as the purpose was served and somewhere I knew that Di told him about what happened in the afternoon. How zoned out I was and he must have bought me all the food to cheer me up. He always does that. Because he knows if anything that can cheer me up, that is some good food.

I silently mouthed him ‘thank you’ and he just nodded his head understandingly. After my animal attack on the food. Sam and Di also joined in to have food and after our early dinner we all sat down and watched some movies in silence and the silence and company were definitely something which I needed the most today.

After a restless day, the end of the day felt like everything just fell in place and It felt like everything is going to be just fine and I don’t have to worry about what will happen. Because whatever has to happen will happen no matter what so I won’t be bothering about it anymore. First things first I will be concentrating on my finals. After the finals, I will deal with the next most important thing. Just take it one step at a time Pihu. Just breathe it is going to be fine. It will be fine and better.

I didn't know when I drifted off to sleep. Because I definitely remember dosing off watching the movie, don’t know how I ended up in my bed. It's nice to be tucked in all cozy and warm and drift off to sleep again.