Pages of Us

Chapter 12

I got up from the dressing table and started walking towards Mom's room. Mom and Dad's room was on the ground floor. Besides their room, there were three other large rooms on the same floor. My room, on the other hand, was on the first floor. Next to my room, there were a few smaller bedrooms that we used as guest rooms. Anyway, enough about the room details. I reached Mom's room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Now where could she have gone? And Dad was also not here.

I wandered around the room and noticed a small box lying on the bed with some jewelry beside it. Calmly, I sat on the bed and picked up the box, placing it on my thighs. Slowly, I opened the lid. What I saw inside made my eyes sparkle. It was a beautiful lavender-coloured Anarkali dress.

"Oh wow, it's so beautiful. Mom's choice is always the best," I said happily. I picked up the dress and went towards the mirror. Holding the dress against me, I started admiring my reflection. I was lost in my own beauty when Mom walked into the room, muttering something to herself. I turned around to show her how pretty the dress she picked was. Just as I was about to speak, she exclaimed, "Haye, mera bacha kitna pyara lag raha hai!" She hugged me so tightly that I almost felt breathless.

"Mom, Mom! Let me breathe," I said, pushing her lightly. Mom gave me a hard slap on the shoulder and said, "Shut up! Tumse compliment bhi nahi liya jata." She then walked towards the closet and started searching for something. I stood there, rubbing my shoulder, feeling a little pain.

"Mom, what are you searching for?" I asked. She didn't reply, so I asked again. Still, no response.

"Mommm!" I yelled a little louder.

"Hanvika!" she said, turning towards me. "Stop it and see this. Isn't this pendant pretty?" Mom showed me a small pendant. "Wear this pendant today," she said with excitement. It was a dragonfly pendant.

"Yes, Mom, it's very pretty," I said, picking up the box from her hand.

"Hanvika," Mom said as I was looking at the pendant box. "Beta, go and get ready. Guests are coming in half an hour. Be properly ready, okay? I don't want any drama from your side. And one more thing, you will like these guests, so you won't feel annoyed like you usually do with others. Now go and get ready quickly.' Mom looked tired as she spoke, so I picked up the dress and pendant and left the room to get ready.

I went to my room and decided to take a 5-minute nap, but that 5-minute nap turned into 20 minutes. I woke up to the sound of a crow cawing. The crow was sitting on my window, indicating the arrival of guests. I quickly got up from the bed and started getting ready. I wore the dress and pendant that Mom had given me, applied moisturizer on my face, and put some lipstick on my lips. I combed my hair and looked at the mirror for the last time. I was looking like a doll.

"Oh Hanvika, Rudram is very lucky. One day you will marry him," I said to my reflection and blew a flying kiss to myself. Thank God there's no way to kiss yourself, otherwise, I would have kissed myself a million times.

I stopped admiring myself, picked up my phone and AirPods, wore my flip-flops, and went downstairs to ask Mom if she needed any help from me. I went to the kitchen where Mom was talking with Jaya Aunty, our house helper. Jaya Aunty is a very kind lady, and she makes my favorite food-Modak. Her modaks are so soft, and the filling inside, oye hoye, my mouth started watering. Anyway, I should stop my modak love here; by the way, I can write a 1000-word essay on modaks.

I went towards Mom and Jaya Aunty, but the moment they saw me, they stopped talking.

"Why did you guys stop talking?" I asked, picking a pakoda from the plate placed on the kitchen counter. They both looked at each other for a second. Then Jaya Aunty resumed her work, and Mom grabbed my shoulder and dragged me out of the kitchen.