From being arranged to love!!! #An Indian Love Story

6.The guèsts!!

It was near to 4:00. The guests were supposed to be here by now. I slowly entered the house and risked a glance at the shoe rack and the door threshold while parking my scooty. To my relief, it was empty.

I once again checked the phone which had 6 missed calls from mom, 4 before and 2 after the accident. Plus a few missed calls from Rithu and Papa.

I had deliberately avoided Amma's call after the accident. She already had enough pressure on her of me being so late, and if she knew about the accident, she would go hysterics.

I entered the house without knocking and saw that the hall was empty and silent. So they are late. Which means I have a chance of tidying myself before I presented myself to the guests.

"Amma" I called a bit softly. She must be real angry and I have to manage her well before the guests come in.

'Ruvee, is that you?" Mom came out from the kitchen. Her face showed all the tension she had held inside. But as soon as she saw my face, all the barriers broke.

"Beta, what happened to you? Why didn't you attend our calls. We were worried about you. Where were you till now and what happened to your head?" She asked a million questions one after the other.

"Amma I'm fine. Just take a deep breath, and sit down I'll tell you everything. But before tell me, where are the guests. Aren't they here yet?" I said in a more calm and soothing tone.

I took her to the sofa and I sat on the floor despite the protests that my knee showed.

"Beta, they said they will be a bit late. They were coming here on time but then was met with an accident. They will be here by 5." She replied back.

I checked the clock. 4:16. I had enough time to take a bath and get ready.

"Achcha, so mom I'll go take a bath and be ready by 5. We will talk after that, okay?" I was trying to keep a calm and slow pace of speech.

"No, that is not important right now. You will only get up from here after you tell me what happened to your head." She said with finality and I knew there was no escaping from her.

I leaned back on my hand at the back and stretched my legs, feeling the pain arising from my left thigh. Then I told her the whole story except the part were we almost hugged each other. Her face showed several emotions as I went from one scene to the other.

At first shock, then tension, then fear and sad and many other emotions. As I finished she hugged me closer and cried.

"Just take rest, I'll make hot water for your bath. Hot water is good to calm your muscles and then I can use the hot oil to massage your legs." I could see that she was going hysterics by the minute.

"Mom, mom, I'll be really fine. Just a small pain here and there, that's all. And remember, we have guests to welcome. I need to get ready, its already 4:40." I reminded her.

"Don't worry about that. It can wait. Maybe I'll ask them to come tomorrow. You are most important to me." She said trying to calm me.

"Nai Maa, they are guests, how can we ask then to come later. That will be inconvenient. Anyway you make hot water. I really need a bath. I will dress up fast." I said preparing to get up.

"Ruvee, before you go, call papa. He might be tensed." She said as she strolled into the kitchen.

"Ji maa". Shit, papas is gonna be really tensed. He will postpone the meet for sure. I have to be careful with him. I dialled his number and waited for him to attend the call. It rang for full one time and went silent.