Two Birds One Arrow (Completed)

chapter 2

I end the conversation I was having with my best friend, Ananya, over phone when I see my mother walking into my room with some papers in her hands. 

I mentally sigh and look at her, already knowing what these papers are.

When I agreed to get married a month ago, I have no idea what thought I had in my mind. Either I must have thought that they'll find a suitable match soon and all these processes would be discarded off within a month or so; or I must have conceived the idea in my mind that no body will like me and I will happily die alone. But this is definitely not what I had in my mind.

After I agreed to getting married, my mother and father did not talk anything about it, like nothing at all. I did not ask them anything about it, though, having the misconception that the topic would not be initiated again within the next few days or weeks or if luck is in my favour, even months. However, I hate to break the fact that I was surely mistaken.

One day my Mom walked into my room while I was listening to songs and laying down on my bed. She carried some papers with her. Spotting her inside my room, I got up and switched the music off. She sat next to me and gave me a warm smile.

She then handed me those papers in her hand which were actually bio datas of some matches that they found in a matrimonial site. She also handed me each of their photos separately and asked me to look through them patiently and inform her if I was impressed by any of them. With that being said, she walked out of my room.

Obeying what she had said, I went through each of their profiles but I do not know why I found neither of them impressive. It was not like as if I did not like them, they repulsed me or something similar to that, but a part of me did not get drawn to even one profile in those six sheets I held in my hand. The moment I looked at the profile or the photo of the second person, I immediately forgot what the first person looked like. I also knew right away that neither of them were the perfect match for me.

I informed that to my mother thinking that it was all that she had with her, but much to my surprise, she was not even slightly moved by my lack of interest in them. She only started bringing out a lot of other profiles.

So here I am, one month later, with still no prospective match for me.

I skim through the sheets she had handed over to me, there were only two of them.

I looked at the first one named Ram. He did not have any effect on me. So I decided to move on to the second profile. But at the exact same time, I received a call from one of my cousin sisters who had a baby girl only a week ago. I placed the sheet down on my bed side table and eagerly pick up the phone to talk to her.

"Hello?" She spoke on the other side of the line.

"Hey Manisha," I greeted her excitedly. We were speaking for nearly fifteen minutes about how the baby was doing and if her health is okay. She then abruptly became silent and asked me what was the status of my alliance.

I sighed into my phone and told her the whole story. I also told her I was tired of it being the only thing that my parents are concerned about for the past month.

"How did you know your husband was the one for you?" I asked her as her marriage was also arranged. She is happily married for the last two years.

"Frankly, I did not. I was actually only taking a chance. I had seen lots of profiles and four to five families even visited me. But nothing seemed to work out. I got tired as this process was being dragged for nearly eight months. When my Mom showed me the picture of my husband, I told her it was the last shot I was giving and if it did not work, she should stop all this for the next two years."

I 'hmm' and listen to what she has got to say.

"Scared by whether it will not work out and I will be even more aged in the next two years, she was extra careful this time around." She laughed into the line. "Then he came along with his family to meet me. Our families kept talking for some time and then it was time for the two of us to talk in private. This was actually the part I hated the most because I was really bad at socializing and the questions asked by the other persons were lame too. But this time, it was different. As soon as we were alone, he didn't beat around the bush, he just straight up told me he liked me and wanted to know my answer. This is exactly where he was different from the other guys who did not actually tell whether they were okay with me but kept asking me really personal questions. For the first time ever, I opened up. I told him about my likes and dislikes and asked whether he was actually interested in this marriage to which he said yes."

The line was silent for some more time.

"Actually when I say it out loud, others may not realise how beautiful that moment was. But each time I talk about him, it feels like I get to fall in love with me again. I had to wait eight months for him and he made all of that bearable. Actually, forget bearable, he made it all worth it. That is what matters, Neha. Even if you like someone, you'll always have certain unerasable fears but do not ever let those fears contain you from giving someone the chance they deserve. You will literally have no idea about where you will find your love story. " Just as she finishes saying this, I hear a door opening on the other side of the line. "Hey Neha, I will talk to you soon."

I mutter a bye to her and end the call.

I let her conversation run in my mind for some time and then I decide to scroll through my phone or perhaps continue the conversation I was initially having with Ananya but at that exact same moment, my gaze falls on the sheet in which I had not yet taken a look at the second profile.

Manisha said that I have no idea where I will be finding my love story. I pick up the second sheet and the photo makes my heart skip a beat.

Manisha was right after all. I really did have no idea.

I run my hands through the details given in the bio date and I smile at the name of the person in the sheet - Gautham.

Yes, he was the name of my love story and possibly the reason behind every other story in my life.