2. chaos

                                    

                                          
Chapter 2 is here.

"Shub, Sia, you both were 8 and 6 when you first met, and ever since, you both have known each other and we saw you both grow up into what you're today in front of our eyes."
Ramesh, Sia's father, took the reins from Lakhwinder, " And you both have reached the age to settle down, finally. Hum bhi budhe ho rahe hain, we want our next generation to carry on..."
" I don't like what this conversation is trying to imply..." Sia mumbled.
"We wish to see you both settle down together, i.e., tie the knot." Lakhwinder and Ramesh said, together.
The mother's looked at each other in anticipation.
That Shubman and Sia fell from the sky would be an understatement.
They felt blank.
Shub's jumped up in surprise.
Whose face did he wake up to?
Oh wait. His own face. He was admiring his new haircut.
Screw it Shubi. You're mahoos for yourself only.
Why me? 
Sia sat in silence with a baffled look on her face.
Their parents saw compatibility in them. No freaking way. They never looked at each other with softness except -
No no not now.
They're not meant to be together!
"No. Nope." She said.
"We're not meant for each other!" Shub he added.
"And how do you know that?" Keart asked.
"Aunty, he's a total different person. Am a common girl. He's a star, a global sensation. We're not compatible."
"How many couple's in the world are same in all things?" Keart asked back, "We can give you ample reasons why you both a meant to be together, moreover -"
"Moreover what, Mom?" Shub asked, dropping in his seat.
"Your dadaji and Sia's Nanu. He wishes to see you both together." Lakhwinder sighed.
The trump card.
Damn it.
" Give it a try. Go out together, try to see things in a couple way." Lalita tried to reason, "You both share a bond, a feeling, which pulls you."
Not her Mom saying a typical rom-com movie's dialogue.
Ramesh added, "Give it a try. The final call is yours. We will wait for your answer."
My choice. Naah. The final verdict has been given by our grandparents.
The rest of the youngsters weren't allowed there.
"I don't want to drag anyone in this crapfest, Papa! You all know how it affects the family of the cricketers for just one bad day! How they're brutally attacked for no reason!"
Shub tried to reason.
"It affects a day or two. But does it affect the whole life, Shub? Life takes tests always ---"
What his father and the rest elders said further, didn't register in his brain, nor in Sia's.
They just looked at the ground, and stole glances of each other.
___
"Why are you both looking as if someone has just asked you both to do something impossible?" Jugnu asked, munching on a pack of Doritos.
Shahneel, having now been told everything by her mother, came in the scene and sighed, 
"You both are total idiots, no offense. Anyways, I'll go get the binder ready!"
"Why are you creating a hell hole for me?"
"Ewh. Please. Not me and him. All horrific thoughts are coming to my mind."
"Horrific? Or..." Jugnu made a comment, only to be hit on his face with two pillows simultaneously.
"Tu nikal yahaan se." Shub groaned.
" That applies for you too, Shubman." Sia rolled her eyes and before he could reply, filled him off with her middle finger.
Only to realise what blunder she had done. Full toss.
"We're past that, already, don't we, Ahuja?" 
And here goes a sixer. Ball out of the stadium.
"Buzz off, Gill." She smacked his shoulder and stormed away.
A while later, the Gills were getting ready to drive back to their place.
"I always wanted to have you as my daughter." Keart whispered in Sia's ears before patting her cheek and going out.
" We need to have a talk." Shub whispered in her ears, making her shiver, something which she hadn't felt ever, due to him. And this action of his, which she was well acquainted to.
Is it because now the equations seem to change, scratch, are definitely going to change?
She didn't reply. She was too lost in her own surroundings.
Jugnu knew it would be dangerous to let a lost Shub drive. He took the keys and sat on the driver while Shub sat in the passenger.
His parents had gone in their son in law's car.
Throughout the ride back home, Shubman was looking out of the window, his mind playing the incident months ago and the incident that happened few hours ago.
The anticipation and eagerness in their parents' eyes, the wishes of their grandfathers. The two people who had asked them probably nothing, because in his case he had been asked nothing from him, he doesn't know about her case.
But he knows, she'll never say no.
She is the more than perfect child. 
Agh his mind is messed up. And so is his life.
As soon as he had entered his room, he just collapsed on the bed, without changing.
His eyes immediately went to his family photo on the opposite wall and he let out a sigh.
Sia sat on the divan beside the window and looked out, at the starry sky.
All through her life, she had wanted someone rare, not a prince, not a commoner. Just someone who's rare. Someone who will make her feel what she yearns for looking at the love, bond and unexplainable things between the her elder brother and his wife, her parents, and her favourite couple, Virat and Anushka. 
Being each other's rocks, embrace, company, listener and lover.
She yearns for someone who will listen to Lata Mangeshkar, Rafi Saab, Arijit Singh, Taylor Swift with her and will cry along during the climax of tragic movies and laugh at the  comedies.
What now? Shubman loves hip hop, Coldplay, action and horror movies.
A different taste in this too!
WRITING IS MY ESCAPE. 
and will forever be.