Maya's pov :

Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different. Time flies so fast, it seems like it was just yesterday I was that little kid with lots of hopes and dreams.

After that confrontation, I'm feeling lite as if the huge burden I'm carrying is lifted. I should have confronted him before only, but the situations didn't support it. Anyways, I hope he changes and doesn't do anything nasty this time.

It's been a week since we came to our village. We, cousins had a great time reminiscing our old memories (except Avi and Arpita Akka). They arrived yesterday and would be staying in Yash Bava's house as we could't stay together in the same house.

I'm walking on the terrace, trying to seek the comfort darkness is giving me. This is my favourite spot here. The cool breeze is sweeping against my body and the plants are waving against the wind producing soothing music. It feels like heaven here.

I stood near the railing and looked down. The house is beautifully decked up like a new bride. A large canopy with palm leaves is laid in front of the house. Whole house is decorated with lights and flowers. Mango leaves and marigold flowers garlands are beautifully hanging to the architraves. Everyone are roaming here and there in the house.

I didn't realise how fast the time flew away, and by this time tomorrow I would be his completely. Am I ready for this big step? I know there is no looking back now. I'm feeling so nervous. Will I be able to fulfill all my responsibilities properly? Why do only girls have to leave their family and move to a new house and live with a new family? Why not boys?

***************

On terrace :

"Oh my God, Girl, I've searched the entire house for you," Anju Maa said as she approached me.

"Oh! Actually, I'm feeling suffocated inside my room. So I came here," I said, looking at her.

She mumbled, "Okay."

"Why, Anju maa, is there any work?" I asked her.

"Nothing. My daughter totally forgot about me these days, and tomorrow you are getting married and will go to your in-laws' house. So, I came to spend my time with you." She said, sitting beside me on the floor.

"It's nothing like that maa, I just got busy with things, otherwise you know about me," I explained, keeping my head in her lap and her hand in my hair.

She started caressing them immediately. I'm closer to her than I am to my mother.

"Why did you agree to the marriage, Maya?" Anju maa asked me.

"Your Akka and Bava didn't give me another option. So, I didn't have any choice," I said.

"Hmm. I told them many times, but they didn't listen", she said, sighing.

"I wish babay (chacha/mausa) was there with us today. I miss him so much. He would have run here and there, looking after everything. Why did he leave us this much earlier, maa?" I said, remembering my Adi dadda.

She just stayed silent. What could she answer? It's her husband there. He left us all suddenly, and, moreover, they had a love marriage. How difficult it must have been for her. He was the charm of our family. Wherever he was, he used to make people laugh. My cousins were small when he left them, Siri was a 11-year-old, and Vicky was a 7-year-old. I wasn't even able to see him one last time because I was having my semester exams. Anjumaa strictly told me not to come, though I had 3 days of holiday in between. Those 3 days were literally hell for me. I couldn't even read properly. His death was something we never expected, and it took us months to come out of shock. These two trusted me when I lost trust in myself.

"I can't answer your question, Maya, but I can say that he is watching you from up and giving his blessings. You know right, he hates when anyone cries", she said, wiping off my tears.

"Maa, don't you miss him?" I asked, looking at her.

Though I know this is a stupid question, I want to hear her point of view.

"I miss him every day, Kanna. You know, Siri is his carbon copy. Her naughtiness, her sarcasm, her sassy replies to the people who mess with her, everything about her resembles him. He promised me that he would be with me forever, but he broke his promise and left me in the middle. Though Vicky is similar to me, he is very attached to his father." Saying that, she broke down in tears.

I don't know what to say more or how to console her when I don't know how to console myself. I still can't get over the fact that he's no longer with us, and the idea that he's no longer with us seems foreign to me. I sighed.

"Maa, he is always with us in our hearts. So now stop crying, otherwise I'll complain to Siri, and she'll come and start her lame jokes. Should I call her?" I said, teasing her.

"I can't bear her jokes, and that girl is becoming crazy day-by-day," she said, chuckling.

"Don't say anything about her craziness. I don't know, how do you handle her?" I said.

"Keep that aside, are you happy with this marriage?" Anju maa asked me.

"I don't know maa, on the one hand, I'm happy that I'm marrying Avi Bava rather than some stranger. On the other hand, I'm afraid of the responsibilities. Why must we girls only have to leave our house, Maa?" I told her what I felt.

"Maybe God must have thought that we are strong enough to deal with the changes. It's not easy for men either, Maya. A new member, will add to his world. He has to share his things with us; he has to balance his time between his parents and us; he has to make us feel comfortable; his responsibilities will increase. No matter how difficult things are for us, it is the same for him too," she said, caressing my hair.

"Hmm", I mumbled.

"See kanna, from tomorrow your world will change, your responsibilities will increase, stand with your husband, never let him down in front of anyone. I'm not saying to support him even if he makes any mistake, but explain to him calmly where the things have gone wrong. Trust is the most important thing in any relationship, without trust we can't live for long, one day or the other it breaks. Never let a third person enter your relationship. Generally men, won't say their feelings to us openly, but they will have their own fears and insecurities. Understand him and give him your love. Don't take any decision in haste because it will effect the relationship of two families. Take care of your in-laws' and respect them. I know you will handle everything properly but it's my responsibility to say you everything. Remember your Anju Maa will always be with you, you will always be my first baby. Yes Siri, maybe my first child but your are the first one who made me experience the motherhood", she said, caressing my head lovingly.

I don't know how to thank this woman in my life. She understands me well, maybe better than my Amma does. After my granny, I'm close to her and Arjun Anna. I can share everything with her without any fear because she won't judge like my Amma. I'm not blaming my mother, but her thoughts and morals are different. Sometimes she thinks only from her perspective, even if we try to correct her, she just gives up and leaves from there, and that hurts me badly. Sometimes she points out even a small mistake as a grave mistake. Well coming to Nanna, it's a whole different thing. We can never reach his expectations and I'm tired of satisfying his expectations all the time. I know both of them love me and Nandan very much, but they failed to understand us at some points.

"What to do you think about Avi Bava?" I asked her.

"Why are you asking?" She asked me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Maa don't tease na, say what is your opinion about him?" I said, whining.

"Well I must thank your parents for choosing him. I trust him with my baby. I can see his love for you in his eyes", she said.

"Hmm", I mumbled.

"Is there anything that you are hiding from me, Maya?" She asked me.

I know there is no point in hiding from her. And she would be hurt that I didn't share it with her. So, I told her everything about what Rajesh had done, how his sister had blamed me, and what happened at the temple. I noticed that she got stiff when hearing everything. So, I got up from her lap and sat facing her.

"This much has happened and you didn't find it necessary to share it with me," she said, glaring at me.

"Maa, it's not like that. He proposed to me after a few months of Babay's death. I rejected him straightaway, Maa, but he didn't stop pressuring me. You are in your own misery. Nanna is facing problems in his office. I informed Arjun Anna. He said that he would take care of it, but that boy didn't stop even after that. One day, Sravya read the messages sent by him on my mobile. That's how she came to know about him. One or the other thing came up and I didn't get time to tell you", I explained to her.

"I know you are mature enough to handle the things on your own, but what if things have gone wrong, Maya?" She asked me.

I didn't know what to answer her. She is also correct.

"Why did you reject him?"

What the hell was she asking?

"Of course, I didn't like him. I only thought of him as a cousin, nothing more than that. And I'm not at all interested in a relationship then", I told her.

"Is that the only reason?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

Well, how can I tell her that Avi's face flashed in front of me when that jerk proposed to me? How can I tell her that I've been in love with Avi all these years but never got that dare to accept my feelings?

"Of course, Maa", I told her.

"Okay, I believe you. Is there anything more that you need to share with me? You know right, I won't judge", she asked me.

I gulp. Of course, there is a lot that you need to know, but this is not the correct time. I just nodded my head no.

"Okay then, I won't force you. But remember, don't hide anything from Avinav either. Hiding things in a relationship will just tarnish it. Open up to him, I know it will take time for you, but don't take too long before the things slip out of your hands", she said, kissing my forehead.

I just nodded my head.

"Okay, now sleep; it's quite late, and you also have to wake up at 4 o'clock tomorrow for the puja," she said.

With that, both of us moved down and went to our respective rooms.

***********************

I came inside my room and saw Sravya was talking to someone on her mobile. A small smile is playing on her lips. I know to whom she was talking. As soon as she noticed me, she passed me a smile. I gestured her to switch on the speaker silently. As soon as I heard the voice from the other side a smile came on my lips too. But as the realisation hit me, some tears escaped my eyes. I told her to continue to speak.

"Did you receive the invitation?" She asked him.

"Hmm", he mumbled.

"So, are you coming?" She asked him.

"No", he said.

"Surya, till when you will be angry with her. She cries everyday looking at your pics. Until when are you going to punish both of you?" She yelled at him.

While he stayed mum.

How wish to punch his face right now. Stupid Sunny. Okay, I call him Sunny and he calls me Mia.

"Why are you silent now? If you don't want to talk about her, then why do you daily ask me about her well-being? Answer me Surya, I can't see both of you like this. Don't you know how much you mean to her? If you do like this with her, then she will definitely break down one day. You know about her, don't you?" She said, calmly. I know she is controlling her anger.

"I need time Sravya", he said.

"That's what I'm asking till when you are not going to talk to her. Tell me the exact date, you have been saying the same thing from past one year", she asked him.

And the call got disconnected.

"Great. I'll definitely smash his face next time when he meets me", she said with frustration.

I sighed in disappointment. What can I do? He is my only best-friend from the school to college. We have had numerous fights in the past. But we used to reconcile by the end of the day. We were together since my 9th standard. Even we did graduation from the same college and same department. Even during exams we were seated on the same bench. We were placed in the same company and did training in our last semester. I resigned it for my parents, while he resigned it as he wanted to pursue MBA. He was angry with me as again I accepted my parents' wish. He stopped talking to me and now this marriage had increased his anger.

It's been 1 year since I talked to him. I didn't even receive a single message from him, and he didn't even respond to my calls and messages. But every day he asks about me to Sravya.

I moved to change my dress, by the time I came back, after freshen up, I saw her blushing while talking on the mobile. I shook my head in disbelief. This guy won't change, he is a big flirt. And, this girl is madly in love with my bestie, but didn't propose him till now. She cut the call and moved towards the bed.

"When are you going to say your feelings for him?" I asked,making myself comfortable on the bed.

I looked at her for response, but I noticed her face getting pale.

"What happened Sravya? Is everything okay?" I asked her.

"He has been in love with someone for many years", she said, making me look at her shocked.

Well, I didn't know this, I didn't know that my best friend was in love with someone that too for so long. He told her but not me. Did she know her?

"Do you know her?" I asked her

"Yeah! But she is getting married in a few days", she said with a fake smile.

Some thing is definitely fishy.

"From when do you know her?" I asked, raising my eye-brow at her.

"Umm, now why do you want to know about her? You have to wake up early in the morning and tomorrow will be a long day for you. So now sleep quietly. I will say you some other day about her",

saying that, she switched off the lights and slept with her back facing towards me.

Why is she stammering, when I asked about that girl? Something is definitely fishy. I sighed and laid down on the bed. Definitely it's going to be a long day tomorrow. On the top that the wedding is at mid-night. I closed my eyes and soon sleep took over me.

Keep smiling and take care ❤