ria woke up to the blaring sound of her ringtone next to her face, which arthur had set as "staying alive" by the beegees (string in a light, string in a light). she swiped the answer button once she saw the contact "mummy💕💕" flash up on her screen. before she could even get a word in, she heard the familiar sound of her mum shouting at her through the phone.
"ria kaur sandhu, i raised you better than to hide things from me! lying to me about your boyfriend? what kind of besharami behaviour is that? thera dimaag kharab aa? do you know what all the aunties are going to say about this? they're all going to say that i can't raise my daughter. and stop staring at your teammate. can't have people thinking you're out there travelling the world with your gora boyfriend." she shouted.
"mummy, i'm sorry! if it makes you feel any better, it was aaron, aunty aman's son. he was very nice to me the whole time. and oscar is not my boyfriend, i hate him." she tried to explain.
"i don't care who's son it was, you don't go out lying to me about being with boys? and multiple of them?" her mother argued back. "ria, i was worried. i know aaron's a good boy, but what if something happened to you? and you didn't tell me where you were? how could i live with myself?" her tone softened.
"i'm sorry mummy. i didn't realise that at the time. i just wanted the freedom that all my friends had. what did daddy say about it?" she questioned.
"he's very, very angry with you. i'm sure he'll speak to you when he gets home. i'm still worried about what all the rest of the family are going to say." she confessed.
"pher ki? why should you care? i'm doing much better in life than whichever aunty's doctor son is doing. you should only worry about me and arvind. by the way, tell him i say hi." she asked her mother to greet her brother.
"chal, i'll let you get on with your day. i'm still disappointed in you, but please stay safe this weekend. make sure you pray this weekend, beta."
"han ji mummy. i miss you, bye bye."
"bye ria." and with that her mother put the phone down.
ria was anxious for her father's phone call, which would probably come between practice sessions that day. he was much more strict about boys than her mother, and he would go absolutely ballistic.
more than anything she felt anger towards oscar. anything he may have made her feel the day before was gone, and replaced with the utmost hatred.
she entered the mclaren garage in her team wear in the early afternoon, and was greeted by the one face she didn't want to see in front of her driver's room. a few mclaren team members were walking up and down the corridor , so to avoid making a large scene, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into her room.
"what-" he started.
"what the fuck is wrong with you? that question about secrets hidden from my parents? that might've cost my relationship with my dad, and my parents' relationships with the rest of their families." she berated.
"look, i didn't think it was that deep. you had a boyfriend? i don't really see an issue there." he justified.
"my mother had a go at me for half an hour this morning about how i've destroyed their reputation. i hope you're fucking happy with yourself."
"i don't get how it's my fault? you could've just lied?" he said.
"i did fucking lie. you think the worst thing i did as a teenager was have a boyfriend? did you not see me at parties every night, doing more drugs than i can count on my fingers? i remember literally doing lines next to you?"
"what do you want me to do about it now? apologise to your parents for asking you what you did? they already fucking know." he inched closer to her, making her walk backwards, only to realise her back was pressing up on the door. "i don't know what your problem is, but sort it the fuck out."
