Cyclone of conflicted feelings wallowed in her mind, and she found herself tethered within her emotions. She knotted her fingers on her lap and emboldened herself, blowing out a sigh. “I think I should tell him.”

“Hey!” He astonished her by coming in and she sprang on her seat. He didn’t seem to notice it. “Sorry if I am late. Here, your favorite.” He forwarded a frappe towards her.

Anahita was surprised to say the least. “You know?”

“Of course.” He replied flatly as if she asked a stupid question. They finished their drinks in silence. Anahita was thinking of telling him about Mukund. She just wanted an opening. She threw the empty glass outside the window and smiled at him, “Thanks.”

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.” She licked her lips nervously and cleared her throat. “I actually wanted to tell you…”

“Show me your bags.” He spoke at the same time and she squinted in confusion. “What?”

He cleared his throat and turned to her, nodding his head to the backseat. “Show me your bags.”

“Why?” She scowled.

“Because I am asking.” He demanded, and she handed all her bags to him mechanically, waiting to see what he was up to. Yuvraaj pulled out all of her dresses and did a close postmortem of them. He scrutinized each and every piece with his hawk-like eyes. Some curled his lips upward, some made him frown, and only a few managed to scrape through his thorough inspection. He tossed them in the bags messily before handing it back to her. Anahita was fuming in anger.

“What the hell was that?” She asked through her greeted teeth.

“Your clothes are tacky, as always.” He said in disappointment. “All the pink ones… change them, and buy something in violet or indigo. You know what I mean? Ah! Ten years and you are still the same. Always filling your cart with tasteless things. The same old Anahita Maurya.” He joked, and his words somehow managed to unleash the beast in her.

Throwing her bags away, she pounced on him and pressed his neck so tightly to block his oxygen supply — or better, break his windpipe.

“I’ll kill you today. End of my misery.” She growled, using every ounce of her power to strangulate him. Taken aback, Yuvraaj didn’t get the time to anticipate her move, and he couldn’t tackle her. Gasping, he fortified his grip on her wrists to wrench them off her, but her palms had turned into metal. They didn’t loosen up. Anahita was so firm in her mind to send Yuvraaj to heaven in business class that she didn’t even fear the prison which was calling her, spreading out its arms.

“Anahita, you fool. Leave me.” Yuvraaj garbled, coughing and heaving sharp breaths. When she didn’t move back. He clutched her waist, pulled her over him, and began to tickle her weak points. Anahita whimpered in defeat as she lost her hold falling on her seat into a laughing mess. Tears bounced in her eyes when Yuvraaj didn’t stop caressing her sides.

“Stop. Stop. Stop. Time’s up.” She guffawed, trying to hold his palms. Satisfied, Yuvraaj moved away from her and huffed like an asthamtaic patient, rubbing his neck. “What the… hell was that?”

“I don’t want to marry you.” She spat on his face, sitting up. He glared at her. “So you’ll kill me?”

“What can I do? You are so shameless. How dare you go through my clothes?” She screamed on top of her lungs, and Yuvraaj slapped a palm over her mouth, shutting her out. “Stop it, you mad girl. Do you want to gather public here? So what if I saw your clothes? I am going to be your husband.”

Glaring at him hard, she bit on his palm. “I won’t marry you.”

Yuvraaj smirked, suppressing her mouth even more. “Really? Who else is dying to marry you? You will die alone if I am not here for you. So stop with your rant.” He took his palm back and started the car.

Anahita didn’t talk to him again. She sulked, looking outside the window. Yuvraaj stopped the car in front of her house, and she clicked the door open. As she was about to step out, Yuvraaj held her arm and poked a finger at the back of her head, “Silly girl.”

She didn’t reply. Merely jerking his hand off, she gathered her bags and stepped down. Yuvraaj chuckled at her antics, following her out. “Good night.”

She didn’t acknowledge him and moved towards her house, but he stepped in front of him and poked her cheek mischievously. “How can you not invite me in?”

“Yuvraaj, please…” Anahita finally implored, feeling tears filling her eyes. She felt so miserable all of a sudden. She was tired of this. Yuvraaj had a pattern with his teasing. He would fight with her to the point she would feel insignificant, and then he would come to cajole her which only stimulated her anger.

“Okay fine.” He smiled, holding his ears and crouching to his height. “I am sorry. Happy?”

“Leave.” She moved past him and he stopped her again. “I was joking, mou. You know that.”

“Is my life just a joke to you?” She paused to glance at him with brimming eyes, biting on her inner lip to not cry in front of him.

Yuvraaj was stunned to see her so heartbroken. He corrected his face, and stuck his hands in his pockets, regarding her seriously. “Anahita, I…”

“Let it be. Goodnight.” She whispered and disappeared in the house without a second glance at him, leaving him chuckling to himself. “Such a spitfire.”

***

“I am not going to marry him.” Anahita announced, throwing her shopping bags on the floor as soon as she entered the house. Mr. and Mrs. Maurya glanced at each other, preparing themselves for another episode of her cribbing about Yuvraaj.

“How was your shopping?” Mrs. Maurya asked, getting up to collect the bags and Anahita rubbed her forehead. “It was good but…”

“Who dropped you?”

“Yuvraaj, and I want to tell you…”

“Didn’t you ask him to come inside?” Her father demanded to know, and she sighed. “I did. He was in a rush so he left. Now, will you please listen to me?” She threw her hands in the air, frustratingly.

“Of course, why not? That’s why we are here.” Sassed her mother, putting the bags on the couch and her father came to her, holding a bowl of Rashogulla in his hands. “But before that, have this.” He dropped a whole piece in her mouth and wiggled his eyebrows. “How’s it? I especially made them prepared for you.”

“Thanks.” She managed to reply, holding a palm under her chin to prevent the syrup from falling on her clothes.

“Tasty?” Her father prompted, and she nodded. “Dad, I…”

“Hey, eat first. You will start coughing otherwise.” Her mother interjected, and she rolled her eyes, getting the drift. She gulped down the delicacy and glared at both of them. “So you already know, right?”

“Know what?” The couple acted surprised, and Anahita shook her head in disbelief. “Of course, he’ll tell you first. Who else is going to be on his side?”

“What sides are you talking about?” Mrs. Maurya scowled at her. “It was just a joke. Why are you getting so angry?”

Anahita narrowed her eyes. “He emptied all my clothes, and inspected them disregarding my privacy. He made fun of my dressing sense and it looks like a joke to you? Are you serious, mom?”

Mrs. Maurya clicked her tongue. “You know him, right? He was joking. Otherwise why will he call and apologize to us? He said he apologized to you too, but you ignored him. And you liar! You didn’t even invite him. He told us everything.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Anahia ballooned her face, looking away. Mr. Maurya chuckled and pulled her along to the dining table. “Okay fine. Eat your dinner. You are cranky when you have an empty stomach. I will give that boy a rap on his knuckles for troubling my daughter next time.”

Anahita knew it was all empty talk but she allowed herself to feel happy in that moment that her father was going to stand for her, and sat next to him on the dining table. Luckily, the chef had made all her favorite dishes, so she forgot about the incident sooner than she expected until then…

“Hey?” She chirped, picking the call and falling on her pillow. Mukund was calling her constantly. She only got the time after the shower before retiring to bed. Hopefully, he didn’t complain. “Hi. What are you doing?”

“I just came from shopping.” She told him, “It went well. Why were you calling me so many times? I was with my family.”

“I wanted to talk to you.” She smiled when he grunted on the other side. It was rare he ever lost his calm, and talked to her roughly.

“Okay. We can talk now. What are you doing?” She said and turned on her back, looping a curl in her finger. While they talked, her phone constantly beeps with another call. She got irritated and took a look to find that it was Yuvraaj. She ignored his calls, but when it was clear that he wouldn’t budge, she finally took his call.

“What do you want?” She screamed at him.

“Are you free tomorrow?”

“No, I am not.”

“Good. I am buying you breakfast tomorrow. Take out some time.”

“I don’t want to eat with you. Bye.”

“Anahita… I was joking, darling. Stop it now.” He chortled, and she twisted her lips. “I am hanging up now.”

“Why was your phone constantly busy? Who were you talking to?” He asked, paying no heed to her threats.

“My boyfriend.” She revealed carelessly, and he played along.

“Okay. Enjoy wasting your time. Be ready at eight.”

“I am hanging up now.” She stressed each word and he hummed, rasping a little. “And I will show you what actual strangulation means after our marriage.”

A venomous serpent lashed in her veins and she hissed. “Do me a favor, and disappear from this earth before I kill you.”

He laughed, calling her bluff. “If I survive, be ready for a night way more tortuous than this. Okay?”

“You wish!” She muttered.

“Goodnight. manni mou.” He teased her and cut the call. Anahita blankly stared at the phone, until Mukund’s ‘hello? hello?’ fell in her ears.

“Mukund, please yaar. Do something. He just threatened me.” She whined, stomping her legs on the bed.

“Anahita, can we please talk about it some other day? I’m really not in the mood to listen how he is torturing you or whatever. Please, let’s put it on hold for some other time.” Mukund dismissed her offhandedly, and she made a face. “Okay. If you don’t want to know, I won’t talk about it. But please… Please think of something. We only have three weeks.”

“I know that, Anu.” Mukund huffed, “But, don't you think it's running too fast? I mean your goddamn marriage. You are just twenty four. Can’t they wait a little more? Think about it. You ain’t even self dependent. What’s the rush?”

Anahita scoffed, shaking her head. “According to my family, we’ve already been delayed a lot. Thanks to Yuvraaj that he went abroad, otherwise my parents would’ve bound us in a child marriage.”

“What they are doing now is not different.” Mukund pointed out bitterly and she hummed. “What can I do? My parents love Yuvraaj a little more than God. He’s a blue eyed boy in their eyes, and I am… huh! I am a witch right now.”

“Oh, so there’s nothing we can do to change their mind?”

“No. I gave up on that. By the way, why are we talking about it? Let’s focus on how to come out of this situation. I am telling you, Mukund, Yuvraaj won’t let me live in peace. When he went abroad, I thought everyone's obsession with our marriage would fade away gradually but I was wrong. Mom and dad still treated me the same, always asking me to improve myself so that I can fit in with Yuvraaj. I even wished for him to find his true love and settle there permanently but that guy had to come back and ruin my peace. I don’t have any options now except for running away.” She finished lamenting and realized that Mukund had already disconnected the call. She gasped in outrage.

“What the hell?” Why were the guys always hanging up on her? It never happened with Mukund before. Did she give off such vibes? Agitated, she called him back and as soon as he picked the phone, she lashed out.

“Who do you think of yourself to hang up on me? Huh?”

“Because I don't want to hear about Yuvraaj.” Mukund was snappy. He began to chide her in a gruff voice. “Anu, I called you to talk about us. It's been days since we talked properly and all you've to talk about is Yuvraaj. I am really not entertained with these ‘Tom & Jerry’ episodes of you and your fiancé.”

She made a face, “I am sorry. It’s just that I am really stressed these days. I even get nightmares of being married to him. Please save me or else…”

“Anahita, please, please, I beg you. Can we not talk about something else? Yuvraaj and his tortures are all you have to say!”

“Then, why don't you marry me? Save me from him, no!” She quickly advised him and he huffed. “It’s your regular rant. Pause it, because I am sick and tired of listening to the same crap over and over again. I called you because I wanted to talk to you. And I wanted to talk about us, Anu.”

“Okay fine! I won’t talk about him. That asshole doesn’t deserve my attention, anyway.” She twisted her lips, and Mukund groaned. “You know you are still talking about him.”

Anahita clenched her eyes close in frustration. She was dying in anxiety and Mukund behaved as if it wasn’t a big deal. Her life was at stake, for god sake but he felt completely relaxed. She wanted to shout, clamor and even burn the entire world down, but she wasn’t even allowed to talk about him. It made her entirely hopeless.