do you think of him?” she had no clue it would become the most important face
in her life. “He’s okay”, she had said matching her mum’s tone even though her
heartbeat had climbed up a notch. Then that weekend she met him for coffee.
Even in that short hour she had felt at ease because he had seemed completely at ease despite the whole ‘arranged
marriage’ rigmarole.
found herself engaged. And another few months later here she was.. Married. A
Married Woman! She vaguely remembered reading a book by that name, a book that
didn’t have nice things to say about marriage. Quickly she banished those
thoughts.
what with completing the shopping and finishing her work assignments before she
went on leave.
She sat in her new home while her new husband pottered around in the kitchen. He had offered to make tea while she refreshed herself after the long road journey. All those feelings, long suppressed, seemed to have woken up now and were
clamouring to be recognised. Nervousness, excitement, happiness,… and DREAD. A wave of homesickness
hit her.. Hard. And the dread!
girl like me.. in an arranged marriage? For godsake who goes in for an arranged
marriage these days? How much do I really know this man? She asked herself.
What if he turns out to be an alcoholic, a wife beater or worse?.. she was alone.. all alone with this stranger.
the side table. Crash!!!! The bottle went crashing down taking with it a bunch
of knick knacks. “Are you okay?” he called out from the kitchen. “Yes”, she managed to
croak, her words stuck in her throat.
carton full of books.
carton. And there, in neat rows, she discovered…. her own bookshelf.
Livingstone Seagull- a rebel and a perfectionist, Bill Bryson – So he liked
travel and he liked humour. Then Joseph Heller, Ayn Rand.. Oh she did like him.
Her eyes glistened with tears of relief.
out from the doorway. She looked up hastily to find him balancing the tea tray
in one hand while three boxes of biscuits were piled up in the other supported
by his chin. “I didn’t know which ones you’d like so I brought all,” he said
with a boyish grin.
him with the tray. She knew she would be fine.
Day 3 ‘The Write Tribe Festival of Words’ (8th – 14th December 2013) prompt is Books. For some mindblowing entries from super talented Write Tribers go here.