Shape of the Sun

Single Parenthood?

2 days after

Papers. There was no way that Manmeet Chatterjee could be unfamiliar with them.

They were the objects that she drew upon every day of her work life, the stuff that contracts, and cheques, and the origami planes that she built for her younger cousins were made of. They were the things that Manmeet Chatterjee deemed herself a master in, of some sort.

But the one lying face-down before her wasn't like any other before it. Nope. It felt heavy like lead when she had carried it in her bag home and looked like it had the power to disrupt the fluidity of her life, well, because it could. It was her pregnancy test, and Manmeet wished she had sat down to listen to the doctor read it out at the hospital, instead of dashing out of there like a fucking Mickey Mouse, letter in hand, only to develop cold feet here.

Was she ready, really?

A hand on her shoulder, accompanied by Mansi's serious voice, interrupted her thoughts.

"Look, babe. You don't have to even read this, okay? We can just go back to the hospital and have the doctor read out the results. I have my car keys here."

Manmeet glanced at her, hands in a steeple that her chin rested on, as she sat in a yoga position on the bed. It reflected her pensive mood.

"You think so?"

"Babe, I..."

"Mansi, stop terrorizing mannu baby, okay?!"

Both women turned to the new entry into the room. It was a woman with red tinted hair that had a hijab on, and glasses the size of coke bottles on her face that anyone would mistake for innocence. Haha. Aisha Ali was anything but that.

Mansi was the first to roll her eyes at her unusual appearance.

"Oh, that's rich coming from the friend that has been AWOL for the past few days. And please," she peered at her face, "can you really stop tricking everyone with that i-can-do-no-wrong look?"

Aisha ignored her and dashed for the bed, scooting over to Manmeet's other side when she was on it.

"Look, Mannu. I got here as fast as I could! You know how flights get delayed all the time, right?"

Mansi was the one who voiced out what Manmeet really thought in reply to that.

"Okay, you were the one who decided to cut a movie date short and take a party flight to another city with a guy you had just started dating. Serves you right."

"Hey, can you stop discriminating against those who are not single and starved of happiness?"

Manmeet clapped her hands in a bid to stop their bickering. She was the one who always got caught in the middle and had her stress levels raised up, which wasn't particularly needed now when it felt they were making a hit for stroke zone.

"Girls, I really don't need this right now, okay? I'm freaking the shit out of my mind."

They both stopped upon seeing her uneasy expression. Aisha's turned concerned and reached for her hand, any trace of frivolity that was there before, gone.

"Look mannu, just know that we are always here for you, no matter the results, right Mansi?"

Mansi nodded at the question, signaling agreement and prodding Aisha on.

"So, I think that the best thing to do right now is for you to read the results. There is no need to go to the doctor, really. I mean, Mannu it's you we are talking about here. You never back down, and you shouldn't here."

"Okay, Aisha. That was the worst pep talk...."

"She's right." Manmeet interrupted Mansi's tirade, stunning her. Aisha had an i-told-you-so look on her face. Mansi thought they looked particularly irritating with those fake-ass coke bottle glasses that she had on, but she had to keep focus on what, and who was important now.