Marry him? The one I've been running away from all this time? But why would he want to do this. My brain is not working.
Without a second thought, I rushed to Grandma's room. As soon as I entered, I saw Dad standing up from beside Grandma, turning his face away. The anger I felt towards him at that moment vanished instantly. Grandma looked really sick, with an IV drip still beside him.
Dad quietly slipped out of the room.
As soon as I sat beside Grandma, he opened his eyes, saw me, and burst into tears. Grandma always cried tears of joy whenever he saw me, but today, seeing his condition, I felt terrible.
After running my hand through my hair for a while, I said, "Grandma, what are the people outside saying about my marriage?"
Grandma started crying again. I didn't understand why he was crying so much today. I told him to calm down and went to ask Mom, "Where's Dad?"
Mom looked to her left with a hint of worry.
I saw Dad sitting there, smoking a cigarette. As soon as he saw me, he dropped the cigarette and covered it with his foot.
I went over to him and angrily said, "Didn't you quit smoking? What's all this now?"
Dad lowered his head and remained silent. I sighed deeply and sat beside him.
I said to him softly, "Dad, I share with you things that I don't even share with my friends. Things even Mom doesn't know, but you know thousands of things about my life. You're the best friend in the whole world to me. You know Tiyas very well, right? Didn't I tell you? Then how could you decide to marry me off to him without telling me? Dad, we may not be as rich as them, but we have self-respect, don't we?"
Dad looked up and said, "Who told you that they've fixed the marriage?"
I shook my head and said, "That sister from the neighboring house."
Dad looked in that direction just like me and said, "Are you talking about Masud's wife, Nira? It's through her that the proposal came. She's somehow related to the groom's family. They're saying that if you agree, they'll have a small ceremony tomorrow and the wedding the day after. But I've told them I can't do anything without my daughter's consent. But they're saying it'll be a small arrangement for now, and later..."
Before he could finish, I interrupted him loudly, "Do you think I'll agree? Why didn't you just say no directly? Why spread this rumor all over the neighborhood? Now everyone is coming to see me!"
"I was going to tell you that day. But your phone was off. If I hadn't found you today, I would have gone there to get you. How could I say no without your consent?"
"Dad, I changed my house because of them. You wouldn't have found me even if you had gone. Anyway, how did grandma suddenly fall ill?"
"Your grandma has been unwell for a few days. After this proposal came, he kept saying that his life is short and he at least wanted to see his granddaughter get married. And when Tiyas and his family came, Tiyas talked to your grandma for a long time. I don't know why he liked that boy so much. He's been bugging me to fix the marriage ever since. I kept trying to explain about your exams, your dreams, but whenever I said anything, he would burst into tears."
I stood up, looked at the sky, and closed my eyes, saying, "Let's go inside, Dad. I'll see grandma."
I entered the room and saw Nira, the aunt-in-law, sitting beside Grandma, humming something. As soon as she saw me, she pretended not to notice and moved away. I knew she was trying to influence Grandma. The saline drip was almost finished. As I was about to remove it, I asked Grandma,
"Grandma, do you like the groom?"
Grandma tried to sit up, smiled weakly, and said, "God bless, the boy is quite handsome."
I sat down beside him and said, "Then you should just get married. You two would look good together."
Grandma's smile faded, and he looked serious. He said, "I was quite beautiful in my youth, you know. Your grandmother went to see me for his cousin, but he fell madly in love with me and started to act stubborn. His madness only stopped after he married me. He used to call me princess."
I laughed out loud. For a few moments, my worries faded away. But then Nira broke the silence, "Lia, Rojina Aunty, and Tiyas will come tomorrow morning to talk to you."
I forced a smile and said, "Great matchmaking skills. You're so young, but you're already such a good matchmaker. You should be the pride of our neighborhood."
I couldn't tell if she was annoyed or not, but she was smiling. Maybe she was trying to hide her annoyance with a forced smile.
That night, I tossed and turned, thinking about marriage, studies, and family. Everyone in the family knew that I wanted to focus on my career before marriage. Dad was the only one who knew the real reason. I had previously asked him not to tell Mom, as she would be more strict.
The next morning, Mom woke me up and said, "They're coming even though we've refused. We've tried to explain that you're not ready, that you want to focus on study and career, But they insist on taking responsibility for that. Now, you'll have to talk to Tiyas directly. Try to convince him, he seems like a good guy."
I got up with sleepy eyes and said, "He's a total jerk. Go ahead, I'll talk to him. You will get upset if I say anything anyway. But don't bother with any food preparations. They're not guests, just visitors. You can cook something nice for me, though. I haven't been home in a while."
I smiled at Mom and went to the bathroom while yawning. Mom was sweeping the floor, and her expression was so intense that I thought she might hit me.
"I'd been pressured for quite some time to meet the prospective groom. I had no interest in dressing up like other girls, for a marriage I didn't want. But I had to go, somehow. Without bothering about a veil, I went over and greeted the aunt casually.
I didn't even glance at Tiyas.
The aunt looked at me and said, "Lia, where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you. After losing your number, Tiyas went to your old house, and from there, Prabha gave us the address of your hometown. We came here through Nira. But Nira lied. She doesn't actually know us or have any relation to us. We only contacted her to facilitate this."
Before I could respond to her, she continued, "You want to know why we're doing all this? You were a tutor at my house. And now, suddenly, I'm so eager to have you as my daughter-in-law!" "This whole matter is arranged by my son. I just know that you two shared a good bond at one point, and my foolish son, without realizing it, pushed you away. Not on purpose, but he forced you to distance yourself. Now, you two can talk privately. After so many years, you should at least hear what he has to say."
I looked away from her and towards Grandma, who was sitting beside me. He whispered, "Please agree to it. You're my eldest son's eldest daughter. Please let me die after attending your marriage!"
I looked at Dad to gauge his reaction. But his expression seemed to say my decision is his decision.
I turned to Tiyas. After so many years, I was looking at him properly again today. For a moment, I was lost in thought, then turned to Grandma and said to everyone, "Firstly, I don't want to get married now. I want to establish myself first so that I never have to face rejection again anywhere. I haven't forgotten what happened four years ago. I hope the other side hasn't forgotten it either. And Grandma, if you insist that I get married soon if my lifelong dreams are less important to you than your desire to see me married, then I'll marry anyone. Just not Tiyas. I don't have the courage or the ability to insult anyone. I'm saying this out of self-respect."
With that, I looked at Tiyas once more time and left. His eyes were red and teary. He probably never expected me to be so stubborn.
My mother also looked at me angrily. Only looking at Dad I couldn't understand what he was thinking.
As I went back to my room to close the door, someone pushed against it. I jumped back, startled, and said in a trembling voice trying to hide the tears in my eyes, 'Why are you here again?'"