Three Hearts Intertwined

Everything was perfect.

I had a perfect life: the life I always wanted, the life I had always dreamed about.

From my love life to my social life, everything was spectacular, and there was nothing to complain about.

My family was amazing, my friends were wild and loyal, and the best guy in this world loved me. I loved my life.

Everything was perfect. I was happy.

Then suddenly, I wasn't.

One day.

One single minuscule day that changed everything in my life. From the place I called my home to the direction of my lips, everything went upside down.

It was a warm Sunday evening in March. I had just returned home after a date in my boyfriend's bed when I heard my mom calling me from the living room.

My mom, Kavya Sehloth, was a compassionate, jolly woman in her late forties but with a figure even I, her 21-year-old daughter, envied. She was slim, in a way only a woman with amazing genes could be without having to exercise, and she had a smile that showed all her thirty-two teeth (famously called 'battissi' by friends and family). Her dark brown eyes with flecks of gold, the same as mine, always showed love or happiness.

Today though, they were missing.

Instead, the brown was filled with sadness and guilt, and the gold tint of happiness was absent.

That is why, the moment I saw her beautiful brown face, I stilled and, with a huge frown, asked, "Is everything okay?"

Did any of our relatives die? Perhaps that old grandmother who always nagged about my complexion or, if luck was on my side, that smelly old uncle who preached that I should practice making 'round rotis' because otherwise, no man would want me?

If it's them, good riddance! We don't need their negative energy on this earth.

Not to be mean or anything, but they were ancient—they had already outlived their ages—also, they were very toxic and probably snatched a few years from poor irritated people.

As much as I hope, I don't think it's them, she wouldn't be so sad or look so...so...broken?

What had happened?

What could have gone so horribly wrong that my mother, the 'look at the positive side of things' mother, could feel depressed?

When she still didn't answer, I grabbed her arms and asked again, "Mumma, what's wrong? Are you okay? Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not. Nothing is okay,” mom cried, her smooth voice breaking.

Instinctively, I reached out and pulled her tall figure in a hug. Wrapping my arms around her body, I gently patted her head as a sob broke from her lips. I hugged her tighter, and my heart broke a little louder.

I had never seen her cry, never. But now, my beautiful, compassionate mother, who was always so strong, was breaking down in my arms. This wasn't just shocking or heart breaking; it was frightening because something that could break my mother had the power to shatter me to my very core.

At that moment, I didn't know how false my statement was because the news didn't just shatter me; it crushed my heart and my very being into small pieces with a bucket full of salt to burn my cuts. Never had I known the pain, the sound of my heart crushing until this moment. Never had I understood what it was to have everything and yet nothing.

When she finally calmed, at least enough to untangle herself from my arms, she stared at me with red-rimmed eyes and said, "You have to marry," and choked on a sob.

"I know, I even have my husband ready and waiting," I joked, trying to lighten the mood, trying to extract even a hint of happiness from her eyes—her usually always smiling eyes.

But none came. Instead, she stared at me pitifully as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, mom?"

"Rexy," she grabbed my arms and cried, "I…I…I'm sorry."

And I could see that whatever it was, it was breaking her from the inside. She regretted it, she wished she could change it, and she wished she wasn't so helpless or hopeless.

Ditto, mom! I wish the same, right at this moment.

"Please don't hate me," sobbed her mother, and I hugged her again, pulling her shivering figure closer to mine.

"I could never hate you, mom. Especially when I know, whatever it is, it's killing you from the inside. Just tell me, mom, what is it?"

"Your dad and I have chosen a man for you to marry, and you...you are going to marry him in three days."

"Wh…what? "I stammered as I pushed myself away from her. I couldn't have heard right, surely not! This had to be a joke. I stared into her eyes, begging her to prove my disbelief over what I heard but what she said instead...

"I'm sorry! Break up with Dev, and three days from now, you are going to marry someone else. Someone better, I assure you," she said, in a voice that should've sounded convincing, but it wasn't. Because it was a lie.

No one could be better than Dev. No one.

Dev is everything to me, everything, and she wouldn't dare separate me from him.

"Mom! Please be serious," I cried.

"I am, I am," she sobbed as she nodded, "I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't so important. You have to marry him, Rex. It is a matter of life and death,” she explained and with every word she spoke, her voice gained conviction.

"No," I shouted and pushed myself away from her, "No! No! No! I'm not marrying anybody else. Dev is my life, and anyone else is my death."

"It's not a choice."

I looked at my mother, with huge watering eyes, pleading, begging her to tell me this was a joke. When she didn't answer, I added in a sobbing voice, "Mom, I can't live without him. You know I can't. I love him. Please don't do this to me, mom, please." I collapsed on my knees.

"You don't have to live without him. All I'm asking is that you marry another man. You can still have Dev in your life."

My eyes widened. Did I hear right? Surely not.

I jumped to my legs and asked, incredulous, "What? You want me to cheat? Mom, you? What is wrong with you?"

There was something very wrong here. My mom wouldn't, even in my wildest dreams, advise me to cheat on a man I'm supposed to marry. I didn't know what it was, but I had to find out.

"What is it, mom? What is this life and death situation? Why do I have to marry someone I don't know?" I asked, my voice soft yet demanding. I wanted answers. I needed them, and I demanded them of her.

"Your dad has..." she started, but before she could utter anything else, I heard the sharp voice of my dad from behind me.

"The reasons do not concern you, she told you what you need to do, and you are going to do it. End of discussion." My dad—a tall, muscular man with eyes as deadly as a bullet from a gun and a heavy voice that demanded every inch of you to obey—said in a tone of dismissal.

But I wouldn't be dismissed. Not now, when my life and my happiness were in danger.

"No, I want to know why. I won't marry some stranger, and you can't force me to marry him because I'll run away if you bloody do,” I snapped at him, shocking both him and I. I loved my dad, respected him with every fiber of my being, and I had never, ever raised my voice at him.

He tried concealing his reaction, his face passive, but his eyes told me what his face wouldn't. I could see the shock, guilt, and hurt he felt to hear me retaliate in such a brutal tone.

Taking a deep, grounding breath, he calmly stated, "You've watched enough movies to know that in some situations, 'the less you know, the better for you.' This is one such situation. You are going to marry him, and I don't want any more discussions on this topic," after a sigh, he added, "I just wish you'd trust me enough to believe when I say, I wouldn't do this to you if I had any other choice."

I stared at him in disbelief. I trusted him, alright, but was he really trying to guilt-trip me into marrying someone I didn't know without giving me a bloody reason? Yes, yes, he was, and it was working.

I trusted him; blast him! I trusted him! He wanted the best of me, always, and even though he was choking the very life out of me right at this moment, the other option was probably worse.

"Daddy! I trust you; I really do! But I want to know, please! Why?” I pleaded, desperate for answers as tears gathered in my eyes.

He shook his head and left the living room, my mom following close behind him.

My knees collapsed on the floor under the weight of my collapsing future.

My best friend, Shanaya, entered my room, and a huge grin broke out on her lips the moment her eyes landed on me.

"Damn, girl! You look fire. He stands no chance,” she commented as her gaze, which was quite perverted, took a tour of my body.

Standing cross-legged in baby pink lingerie (the customary color for 'phera,' or the marriage) that I had to admit looked great on me, I nodded at her. The soft texture made my curves stand out while hiding the not-so-good parts of my body. The lacy fabric covered my firm, tear-drop-shaped breasts in a delicate and sensual hold, making them look so attractively soft that I had to force my hands away from them every five minutes. The strap of the panty landed on my hip and enhanced the smooth curve.

I looked good, like a sensual painting of today's modern woman with an 80’s aesthetic. But this was all a waste. No one would see me in this, and there was no way I was taking pictures.

"He is not going to see me in this,” I emphasized 'he' with a disdainful eye-roll of my eyes.

"Why, planning to greet him naked, are you?" she sassed and raised her right brow as if challenging me into a duel.

"No, there will be no greeting because there will be no wedding night! At least not in a real sense,” I smiled sweetly while my eyes glared at her.

"You say that, but what about him? He'll expect a wedding night, a real wedding night with his wife."

This is what I hated about Shanaya. She was smart, brave, and annoyingly beautiful, but she had very patriarchal views for a girl in a heterosexual relationship. She believed that men had power over their woman, always, and the woman couldn't do anything about it—especially if they were married.

It's not that she believed men and women were not equal because if that were the case, she wouldn't be my friend, let alone my best friend. The problem was while she believed that men and women were equal, she didn't want to fight for it. Instead of fighting for equality in a relationship, she chose not to have one at all.

This pissed me off a lot because I was the exact opposite, but more so because even after a hundred tries, I was still unable to change her views on this subject.

"His expectations will die,” I remarked.

"You never know,” she winked. She winked. She bloody winked. Didn't she know I had a boyfriend I loved more than anything in this world just three days ago?

I glared at her, not in the mood to argue with her this early in the morning. I knew my day was going to roll downhill. I didn't need to add any more reasons to be sad this early in the morning.

"Where are the others?” I asked instead, querying about the rest of my friends. I needed them to survive today. They were my moral support, and I had specifically asked them to come early. I would kick each of their butts if they didn't come.

"They're somewhere outside. Since I'm the only one allowed to see you naked or, you know, in revealing clothes, they asked me to check if you were decent. And thank god they did. Put some clothes on; they want to come in,” she pulled a long nightshirt from a drawer beside her and threw it at me.

I pulled the shirt over my body and called them in. Liam, Manoj, and Krish pushed the door open, grim expressions on their faces. But as soon as their eyes landed on me, their lips turned upwards though their eyes remained grim.

"Hey!" they said at once, and after a pause of silence, laughed together.

"Thank you for coming!" I said as a warm smile spread over my face. I loved them, and I was going to miss them so much.

"Like we'd ever miss this,” said Manoj rolling his eyes at me.

"We'd come even if you didn't invite us,” said Krish at the same time.

Liam didn't speak; he just rushed towards me, and with watery eyes, wrapped his arms around me tightly. I smiled in his embrace because this said more than words ever could. He, just like the other three, was sad for me, sad because I was being forced into a marriage I didn't want, sad because I was losing Dev, my love, and perhaps sad because I was moving far away from here.

I was so grateful for him. And all the others.

I wrapped my arms around him, smiling in the cocoon of his warmth, and he held me tighter until I stammered out a tiny "too tight" in between breaths.

I loved Liam, I did, but I wanted out of this hug. You see, Liam was a huge guy at 6.2 ft tall (I asked) and about twice the size of me—he was quite literally crushing me.

He chuckled as he loosened his grip a little, kissed the top of my head, and said, "I'll miss you."

Before an answer could form in my head, three more arms wrapped around Liam and me, and a messy shout rang in the room, "We will miss you!"

"I will miss y'all,” I shouted from under the mass of bodies.

They held me tightly, and I smiled in their embrace; this felt good. I loved them so much. After today, I wouldn't be the same; we wouldn't be the same. This might just be the last time I'd see my friends as me—Riya Pathan—because very soon, my name would change into Riya...Riya? Riya what?

Bloody hell! I don't even know what my new surname was going to be.

Hold on a second! I didn't even know my husband-to-be's name. For some reason, no one found this information important enough for me to know!

Classy, Riya! Very classy! You pester your parents for the reason you have to marry, but you don't ask them the name of the man you're going to marry? His job? His qualifications? His age? What if he's fifty?

Shit! Shit! Shit! Gotta find out soon! I can't marry an old man. Use your brain, Riya! Your mom wouldn't ship you off with an old man.

Shaking my head vigorously, I pulled away from the hug, and I asked perhaps the silliest question a bride could ask on her wedding day, "Who am I marrying?"

"You don't know?” screeched all four of them loudly.

"Um, no? You guys know that I found out about him just 3 days ago, and I didn't ask! And I can't believe no one bothered to tell me!" I screeched, but before they could answer, I sighed, suddenly in a somber mood, "And honestly, I didn't want to find out—whoever he is, I have to marry him, so what's the point?"

Marriage didn't even mean marriage anymore. It was just something that was happening.

It's funny how things changed so quickly, from being happy and content every day to being restless, sad, confused, heartbroken, and so many other things.

Manoj rubbed my shoulder. He was sweet, skinny, and the tallest guy in our group at 6'3 (as you might have guessed, he and Liam were constantly comparing and arguing about it). Manoj said, "Rexy, his name is Aarav, Aarav Singhania. I saw the name written when I entered the wedding hall."

"Does anybody know anything else about him?" I asked as I glanced into each of their eyes.

"No, not really,” said Liam.

"Why don't you ask your mom? Or dad?” Shanaya added with a shrug.

"No! I'm not talking to them, not unless they tell me why."

So, what if I was going to marry a guy on my parent's order? I still had every right to stay angry with them. And I would.

I would give them the silent treatment until they told me why, until they explained why it was so important to ruin my life. I would hold a grudge until I found their reasons and decided if they were valid or not.

"Riya!” groaned Shanaya. She, like the sweet soul she was, didn't believe in holding grudges or staying angry, especially against our parents. They only wanted the best for me, she would say, and I failed every time I tried arguing this point. So, this time, I didn't argue.

I ignored her groan but Krish, bless him, argued on my behalf, "Shanaya, she has the right to stay angry!"

"But—," Shanaya started, but I cut her off with a sad sigh, "Please, I don't want to argue. I just want to enjoy the few moments I can before I am doomed to a life with a stranger."

"Yeah! Yeah! Of course,” added Shanaya, a little guiltily.

"Riya, listen! I know this is too much, and we could never truly understand what it feels like but know that we are here for you whenever you want to rant, talk, scream or cry!" said Liam.

Manoj walked closer to me and, placing a warm hand on my shoulder, said, "We don't want to dampen your mood, so we won't push it. If you want to talk, let's talk! But if you want to forget about everything and just enjoy, we are up for that too."

I looked in his eyes and then scanned the other three. Genuine concern and love shined from each of them, and I knew, however downhill my life was going to be from now, I would always have one thing to be grateful for. I would always have my friends. The best friends the world had to offer.

"It's your choice,” said Krish, and at that moment, I decided I wouldn't think about it. I wouldn't think about anything at all. I would enjoy my time with them and let the worries of the future remain in the future.

"Let's have a wild morning,” I cheered, and we set off.