Page 32 of Always? Forever.
“Hi, I am Kartik, I should have probably taken your blessings who raised her and turned her into the amazing woman she is before asking her to marry me” Kartik finally spoke after a few moments of silence. I gulped, I couldn't get a read on my parents today. Maybe it was because I was nervous too. They were silent, my mom was judging and contemplating her choices, and my dad was silent, it was never a good combination.
Kartik was nervous too because he couldn’t stop shaking his leg under the counter. I had to do something. I kept my right hand on his thigh to comfort him and it did the trick. He stopped shaking his leg. He put his hand on top of mine and held on tight. I didn’t know what he was thinking but I didn’t like that he was anxious. I glanced at Kartik hoping I could think of something to do to ease the worry. Kartik felthis eyes on me and looked at me, when he did all those lines of worry I was sensing in him melted away into a beautiful smile and he tightened his hold on my hand giving it three squeezes before he gave me a wink. I returned a smile, this guy was crazy, he would probably panic if he knew I understood that he was nervous. I shook my head slightly. It was my dad who decided to speak.
“Why do you want to marry my daughter?” he had the expression that I had seen on him a million times while he was interviewing someone. Oh boy.
“When I look at her I feel free and a little less lost. She makes me feel things I haven’t felt before and I did think I was in love with someone but when I look at your daughter I realize that…that what I had before her wasn’t love, when I look at her working hard for her goals I realize I am lazy when she looks at me and smiles and it’s like everything in the world is alright even if it’s burning down. She is the calm in my storm. I might not know her for a long time but I can guarantee there isn’t a thing I wouldn't do for her. I love that she reads, and I love that she can write so well but she is really terrible at taking compliments. But I guess that is what makes her…her.” I didn’t realize I was holding my breath till he looked at me with an adoring look that took my breath away. No one had looked at me that way…until now. “I know sometimes it takes a lifetime to get to know someone and I can’t wait for that if I have your blessings?” Kartik finished. I was dumbstruck. I couldn’t think of anything until I heard my mom bite back a sob. My father looked impressed, he had a small smile on his face. Iguess that was a good thing. I couldn’t gauge if what Kartik said was true or if it was only to convince my parents.
“I like this boy” was all my father said. That made Kartik relax a bit. My mom narrowed her eyes at me still not convinced, she always has had a sixth sense with me. I made the most innocent face I could muster.
“I would love to meet your mother.” Mom said to Kartik leaving no room for discussion as if she thought he would say no.
“Sure aunty. I’ll send you my mother’s contact information through Samaira, is that okay? And then when you guys come to New York you can meet, sit and discuss when we should get engaged.” Kartik said to which my mother just gave him a curt nod. I see we haven't warmed up yet. Shaking my head I say, “We have had a long day, can we just get to the part where you give him your blessing Mom?” I say irritated which wasn’t a good idea because it just pissed my mom off.
“I’ll give him my blessing if he can tell me three things he likes about you and three he dislikes about you genuinely.” She answered while my dad observed and looked lost in thought.
I was surprised. Huh, so we were going with the medium-degree torture to my fiancé, okay then. I nudged Kartik to respond. “You want me to answer that truthfully?” he asked me.I reluctantly nodded yes. What was he going to say? Lord save me.
“Five things I like about her, one: she’s intelligent, she doesn’t let anyone know that, she doesn’t say things out loud much but when she does, she’ll leave you surprised.” Kartik started speaking but didn’t wait for my mother’s reaction or approval to continue.
“Two, she’s kind to everyone and she loves everyone, even if the person doesn’t deserve it. Three, she’s passionate about what she wants. Three things I don’t like would be..” he looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “First would be, she likes frappuccinos, they are just cups of sugar.” He sounded exasperated when he said that, but that was what made my mom look amused from being concerned, and made my dad laugh.
Before Kartik continued speaking, he looked at me “Two, she loves with all her heart, and sometimes if it is the wrong people she gets hurt but blames herself thinking she might have done something. Three, this one kills me the most that she doesn’t see herself to be beautiful or intelligent or any of the best qualities she has but it’s not really her fault apart from you both or her friends, I don’t think anyone’s told her that and they are utterly stupid and jealous people.” He finished speaking and looked straight into my eyes. If I wasn’t crying before I surely had tears in my eyes. No one apart from my best friends has figured that out about me, about the fact that I self-sabotaged a lot, about the fact that I didn’t give myself enough credit. Hearing him acknowledge it made my heart dance at the fact that he had noticed me enough to learn that.
My dad grunted in approval before speaking, “if you hurt my daughter, I’ll make sure you’ll not see the light of day again, is that understood?”
Kartik nodded a yes. My mom cleared her throat. I could see she had welled up too. I gave her a soft smile. “Okay, I approve. When do you kids want to get married?” She asked
Kartik hesitated a bit before he said, “If it’s possible by the end of November.” I had known this so I wasn’t shocked. But now I was scared because my parents would ask why it was so urgent. “Because the only way I can afford all her desires is by getting married before I turn 26, otherwise I don’t get my inheritance that I have worked way too hard for and can afford all the luxuries or the basic necessities and it goes to my cousin who doesn’t really deserve it. And I understand how it must look but I promise you, I’ll take care of your daughter who I am sure you have raised as a princess, I promise to treat her like the queen she is.” And he proved me wrong, if I was in my parent's shoes and was skeptical, this would be a nail in the coffin as this would convince me. Kartik looked nervous again. My dad chuckled, he looked at my mom who gave him a smile and nodded his head before he said, “Okay, you have our blessing to marry our daughter. I have checked your background as well, I wanted to hire a private investigator but my wife wouldn’t let me.” he shook his head at my mom who looked like she was done with that conversation. I was not surprised. This was my dad after all. Kartik didn’t even flinch at the mention of a PI and that is what surprised me. “You check out, you take care of my girl young man or you’ll have to face me.” My father completed speaking.“Of course, sir, you don’t have to worry,” Kartik replied as he flashed my parents his signature smile. We bid our goodbyes for the night. I took a deep breath of sigh. At least the hard part was over from my side. Until tomorrow.
Chapter 25
Samaira
Kartik was still hanging out at my place as we ordered some dinner. Since it was almost 10 p.m., limited places were delivering. I was craving fries. There was a Mcdonald’s drive-thru near where Kartik lived. So we decided to head there. Kartik opened the passenger door for me and he walked towards the driver's side to get in the car. Kartik’s house was 30 minutes away from my place.
Kartik kept looking at me. “What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“I meant what I said, regarding the 3 things I like and dislike about you. I also meant when I said that I would love to get to know you” he told me getting serious.
“Yeah, I’d like that too. Okay.” I replied not knowing what else to say. I gave him a small smile which was returned with an absolutely adorable smile. “But my dad, I’m sorryregarding the PI thing, I didn’t know he would go that far,” I added, wincing.
Kartik chuckled and shrugged, “I mean he didn’t really do it so you don’t have to apologise and I can see where’s he coming from” I was not expecting him to say he understands that.
“What?! How is that alright?” I asked
He turns towards me fully and says, “If we ever have a daughter and when she grows up and finds a guy who is suitable for her, which I doubt any guy will be” I roll my eyes, of course.
“But if she ever finds the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life with, he’ll have a third-degree torture for sure,” he adds
I scoff, “Come on, you can’t be serious, what if she is also getting into a marriage of convenience and the guy is almost like you?”
“Well then she has some issues which I would rather not let my daughter have and be a damn good father I can be and it will be before hell freezes over that our daughter dates…” Before he could complete his sentence, I start laughing. He turned to look at me while trying to pay attention to the road as well. “What are you laughing about?” he asked me confused. I try to calm myself down before answering, “then surely she’ll turn out like me when she grows up, my father is the same.” I answer giggling.
He breaks out in a smile while looking ahead at the road. “I’ll still love her, maybe a bit more than you--”
He paused on whatever he was saying before he cleared his throat. I realized what he said. He almost said he loved me. Could that be true? No way, I mean we were joking about something and it happened in the flow of the conversation, nothing else. I turn to look at him, he has his jaw clenched. I’d read about that in romance novels, how the hero clenches his jaw when emotions get too loud. Huh. Turns out, that is what it looks like in real life. I didn’t know what to say neither did he so we sat in complete silence, the only thing we could hear was the radio. We soon pulled up in the drive-thru. Kartik quickly placed our order for two large fries, one medium fries, two burgers, and two sodas. I was bewildered.
Kartik drove ahead to the next window to pay. “Who did you order so many fries for?”
