Raastein

7. A Small Spark

"Son. Listen. This is the only way in which our family business will be saved from going bankrupt." Mr. Patel said to his son, Shahid Patel.

"But papa, this is my life you're bargaining with," said Shahid. "I can't just marry a stranger."

"She is no stranger to you son. You've practically known each other since the day you could walk!" Mr. Patel grinned as he remembered all the good times he had with the Sahaani family.

"Oh please papa, that was almost eighteen years ago!" exclaimed Shahid.

"Just get to know her beta (son). Jazz is a lovely girl and she comes from a great family. You two will make an amazing couple and give your amma and I beautiful grandkids."

"Papa, please don't talk about kids right now. That's too much for me to think about. What if I get to know her but decide not to go ahead with the marriage?" questioned Shahid, hoping his dad would think of something that would benefit him.

"Amma tells me you've been wanting something that I'm thinking about selling for the benefit of our family?" asked Mr. Patel.

"Are you trying to bribe me?" asked Shahid a bit shocked that his dad would have the guts to think of doing such a thing.       

"It's the plane isn't it? The family plane that you always go out to ride?" asked Mr. Patel, completely ignoring his son's question.

"Yes it is actually. I've only talked to amma about it and she said she'd sell her shares..."

"Amma doesn't need to sell her shares. I'll buy it for you, but– only if you marry Jazz. Is that a deal?"

"Yes." Shahid said without hesitation. In that very moment, Shahid didn't really know what to do.

The two men shook on the deal as if they were sealing some sort of business deal.

Despite this agreement, Shahid left his room a bit disheartened after the recent conversation. Shahid wanted many things in life. As a matter of fact, he had a whole bucket list ready, and marriage wasn't even near the top of that list. Besides, who knew what kind of a girl Jassmeet was like now?

This evening the ship was hosting a dance night and if Jassmeet decided to go, Shahid would have to accompany her. It was the perfect opportunity to finally out and dress up for the night. 

Evening came pretty quickly and everyone had decided to go to the dance. Shahid made his way to Jassmeet's room, only to find that she was nowhere to be found. She had already made her way to the dance, and by her actions, it was clear that Jassmeet didn't agree to this arranged marriage either. Proving to be a bad sign for the two families.

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Jazz made her way towards the bar. At this point, she was done with her parent's constant nagging about the marriage. They didn't understand what she wanted in life...

Jazz gripped the beer bottle in her hands; her eyes began to swivel towards the back of her head in a distressed sense of a headache. She tilted her head towards the edge of the bench as she took another long swig of the substance that affected her.

One bottle. Two bottles.

Eventually she had chugged down three bottles of beer, drawing attention to some of the girls who were sitting on the other end of the bar. Shayla, Kyra and Alia made their ways towards Jazz. As they came closer, they could smell Jazz's breath, which was the underlying cause of the smell of alcohol that entered her nostrils. They could tell by the look on her face that her mouth was sore from the amount of alcohol she had poured down her throat.

Jazz turned around to see three blurry figures hovering over her.

"Hey," she said as she cleared her throat and stood up stumbling on her feet. The girls held onto her and helped her to the couch across the other end of the hall. They settled Jazz onto the couch and waited for her to regain consciousness.

"Hey Jazz. You're probably feeling a bit sick from the three bottles you chugged earlier. If there's something going on you can talk to us," said Alia.

"Sorry I'm not usually like this, I don't go to alcohol as a last resort for situations. My family's just forcing me to do something that I'm completely against and they're only doing it for the benefit of the family company and I just don't understand why my parents don't notice that I have my own dreams and a list and a desire to be something and set up a future for myself..." Jazz rambled.

The rambling and ranting was a sign to the girls that something was seriously wrong. It was pretty clear that Jazz was in the middle of an arranged marriage situation. The only way to sort a situation like this out was to know the story of the other person. Perhaps after getting to know the boy, Jazz would be all right with the idea of this marriage.

The girls encouraged Jazz to freshen up and afterwards, go talk to Shahid. That would be the only way Jazz would feel comfortable with the situation.

Twenty minutes had passed and Jazz had made her way towards Shahid who was talking to the other boys.

"Sorry to interrupt boys, but would you mind if I borrowed Shahid for a few?" she asked with innocence. As if she didn't just chug three bottles of alcohol twenty-five minutes ago.

"Sure, take all the time you need love," said Aakash in a playful manner.

Shahid moved away from the group and followed Jazz towards the other side of the hall.

"Jassmeet?" he questioned.

"Call me Jazz," she said with enthusiasm. At least he had identified her.

"So why exactly are you dragging me along here?" said Shahid with concern. Things were moving pretty fast in his mind.

"I need to talk to you regarding this marriage," she said as she sat down on the couch. "I just don't know you at all. Or it's been a while since we last saw each other and if we have to get married we may as well do it when we know each other as good friends," she said with her head lowered. "What do you think?"

"Well first of all thank you for coming up to me because that takes a lot of guts," said Shahid as he glanced over at Jazz. He could see her blushing. "But I completely agree with you. I don't think what our parents are doing is right, and there is no way out of this mess. So like you said, let's embrace our burden as good friends." He said as he gave Jazz a smile.

Jazz smiled back innocently and immediately felt like there was a spark between the two of them. Perhaps this arranged marriage situation wouldn't be so bad after all?