More Than A Miracle

5. Finding hope

Akshita

My parents were extremely happy that my marriage finally got fixed because they were no longer required to take my responsibility after marriage. For the first time in my life, their choice made me happy, even if it was unintentional happiness they provided me with. I smiled at the prospect of marrying a guy who was not like my father, who was a different man from the men I was accustomed to seeing in my family. Yes, I just met him twice and talked to him for a total of half an hour but I felt that he was different, that he didn't deserve to be put together in the same category as the males in my family.

"Asha, call our priest immediately and ask him to give a date of next month. We need to marry her off as soon as possible before the Bansals start to find her faults." Dad told mom, rubbing his hands in anticipation. My smile faltered and a sad expression covered my face. Their words made me want to curl on my bed and cry hard.

"You are right, I will call our priest right away." My mother replied and quickly phoned the priest. I felt so dejected at their statement. I slipped past them to my room.

"Why is it that they always find a thing to hurt my feelings? Why am I not good enough for them? Are these things suitable to be said to a living person? They don't think I am a human or what." I asked myself through the mirror as tears made their way from my eyes again. Can't they change for a few days? Why can't they see me happy? I cried with sadness.

I started thinking of something which could make me smile and Ashish's name popped up in my mind. Remembering the way Ashish wiped my tears so lovingly, with so much care, my tears stopped and my lips curved up in a smile. If this thing kept on going then maybe I would be able to find a reason to smile after all. Maybe Ashish would become my reason for happiness one day because I don't have any other reason left.

I hope that this hope never leaves me.

I brought the dinner to my room and ate it alone. I didn't want to see the happy and giddy looks of my parents at the dining table. I would surely lose my appetite.

After so many months of improper sleep, I finally slept peacefully that night. No thoughts were running in my mind, I felt relaxed and calm.

The next day, I woke up feeling fresh and got ready for college. As I realised about college, I remembered that Ashish and his family never mentioned my job.

What if they refuse to let me do the job? My day was ruined because the thought kept running in my brain the whole day. I was agitated, I was confused. I didn't know what to do, who to talk to.

As I returned from college, I was informed that the priest finalised the date for our marriage to be next month.

Fear gripped my heart. What if Ashish refuses for marriage now? He would say no if he heard this. Who would want to marry a stranger in less than a month? For a moment, I thought I could be happy but my parents had to ruin it too because of their selfish reasons.

"I will call them. They will agree knowing there was no other date available." My mother looked giddy in happiness at the brilliant plan she and my father concocted. Father saw me standing there listening to their conversation with a shocked expression but he ignored me because he knew I was not a harm to their scheme. I did not have the guts to go against them.

How do I tell Ashish and his family about my parent's plan? I didn't want to start our relationship with lies and deception but I didn't have any source to reach him.

My whole day passed in tension about so many things. I couldn't sleep again that night. The lie my parents were going to tell Ashish and his family was so big that it was weighing on my heart. I paced inside my room trying to come up with something to calm myself but it was not working.