Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 16

I returned to my nest - back in Mumbai, and I'm back to living my mundane life. That week in Coimbatore felt nothing short of magic. I honestly wanted to stay longer; it felt so different and I've never felt that free, ever before.

I felt as though I left my emotions back in Mumbai for a while, and it was light on my scarred heart.

Now that I'm back, I'm looking into the misery of my life, all over again. Everything's back to being dull and lifeless. Coimbatore felt like a dream, and I want to relive that, all over again. Without Sanya, this time, of course.

I wonder what Darshan's doing; he probably must be dancing around in happiness in one of his many houses, because he cracked the deal.

We didn't get to talk after returning to Mumbai; I reached home exactly when the weekend started and it's still Sunday morning. There's an entire day before heading to work to meet him, and I'm not going to lie - I'm looking forward to that. It's one of the little things I look forward to, right now. Meeting him. He makes me forget about everything I'm going through. He makes me forget about Advik and not everyone can do that.

"Nivi", Maa knocks on my bedroom door, before walking in; she looks a tad bit worried and nervous. "Mumma, all good?", I call out for her and sit up, tensed.

"Do you remember Vidyut?", Maa prompts and I don't even spare a moment to think - a picture forms in my mind, right away. He was a potential groom, but I rejected him because I was dating Advik.

"His family heard about your wedding...and they've sent a marriage proposal. Again", Maa informs. "You declined, right?", I chuckle. Just because I'm single, it doesn't mean I'm open to dating, or whatever, again. I don't think I'll date, or even think about marriage for a good two years. Or, maybe, longer.

"They're on their way", Maa reveals and it takes me an entire ten seconds to process her words. "What did you say?", I stand up, slowly, and she repeats the exact same words.

"Maa, what's wrong with you?", I utter in shock. "You decided without even telling me about it?", I question her. "You would've never agreed, Nivi", Maa explains. "There'd be a reason if I did that, right? I wouldn't reject guys for no reason. You know that, don't you? You know that I need time to heal and get over Advik, and you still chose to agree?", I scoff, fighting back the tears.

"I need my space, and I'm not going to meet anyone for anything. I don't know if you understand or not, but Maa - people don't have the capacity to jump from relationship to relationship. There's so much I need to get over. I still think about Advik to this minute, and I still dream about how different things could have been. With that in my mind, I'm not going to meet anyone!", I stand to my decision, firmly.

"Just meet them", Maa insists. "No, Maa. Please. No!", a tear rolls down my face. "And you're doing all of this because Papa said, right? He isn't even with us, you don't have to listen to him!", I tell her.

"Don't drag him into this. I'm doing this on my own, because I'm tired! Nivi, you're 25. Everyone's talking about you in our family, everyone's asking me about when I'm going to get you married. I've been having sleepless nights, because of you. I don't care about what people say, but I need to figure something out for you for my own peace of mind. Please, for the love of me, meet them. Please, Nivi. I really cannot fight with you anymore ", she whispers a plead with tears in her eyes, and what can I do in front of that? Nothing. Nothing at all.

I'm really, really annoyed and mad at everything, but I simply stay calm and sit on the edge of my bed with my hands clenched into a fist. Just then, my phone rings and I snatch it from my bed, aggressively.

"What is it?", I snap, in absolute annoyance. "Oh fuck. Wrong number", a familiar voice rings in my ear and I take a glance at the screen. Shit. It's Darshan.