Roundabout Way to You

15. Screwed

"We just thought that we would tell you guys after we are official," Sarth said with an earnest expression, hoping his mother would buy his lie.

Bella was excited about the news. Her eyes shone brightly as she stared at her son. She had been worried that her son would be too sad about his ex-girlfriend cheating on him and would be unwilling to try finding another partner.

She was scared that her son would be left on the shelf if stayed single for long. "Tell me about them. Do you have a photo of them? Show it to me." 

She was sure that Sarth would have their photos given how her son loved taking photos of almost everything happening in his life.

Before Sarth could answer that, his mother had already snatched his phone from his hand. She used his face ID to unlock it and started going through his gallery eagerly.

Sarth realized that his lie would be caught if he didn't show her the picture. He was thinking hard about what to do to get out of the situation without being caught.

From where was he going to bring a picture of someone who didn't even exist? He couldn't show a picture of a random person as well. Knowing his mother, he was one hundred percent sure that she would want to meet the person soon. When that happens, he would be in a tighter spot.

Bella who had been scrolling through the phone, paused at a certain photo. Her gaze lingered on the photo for a few seconds. Her brows knitted together to form a frown. 

"Sa" She called out. "Who are these two?" She showed the phone screen to her son. 

She knew almost every friend both Sarth and Mihit had. She had never seen these two boys who were standing in between Sarth and Mihit in the photo.

When Sarth saw the pic, a sudden idea appeared in his mind. "Mom, these are the people we are seeing." He lied with a straight face.

The pic was a selfie he took while he and Mihit were having breakfast at Ayut's place. He was so excited to reunite with his high school best friend that he wanted to commemorate the moment that he took the selfie. In the selfie, Anwit and Ayut were sitting in between him and Mihit.  

He couldn't think of a better cover for his lie than his high school bestie and his sibling.

"Which one of these two are you seeing?" She asked. "No, wait! Let me guess!" She tapped her chin, thinking deeply. "Is it this kid?" She asked pointing at Anwit's face in the pic. 

Anwit was sitting right next to Sarth in the selfie, with a small, forced smile on his face.

Sarth didn't answer. Everything was a lie anyway. He didn't have to be picky. He can just go along with his mother's wish. It didn't matter who his mother thought he was into.

"Aww. This kid is so cute. He would suit you perfectly. He is much better than that witch you used to date" She said didn't miss the opportunity to diss his ex-girlfriend. She stared affectionately at the picture. 

Sarth felt helpless. Would it be too much if he broke it to his mother that the kid hated him? She would probably shower him with flying slippers.

"Is the other kid the one Mihit is seeing? That kid is cute too na. They would look adorable together." She commented, eyeing the shorter one standing next to Mihit in the selfie.

Num peeked into the phone to see the pic. He had a satisfied smile on his face when he saw the selfie. His son still had a good taste.

"I brought the old basket na" Jolly entered the house with Mira in toe. 

As neighbors they often came over without a special reason. But today's timely visit seemed a bit suspicious to Sarth.

"Oh, it is good that you are here. Sa was just showing me the kids he and Mihit were seeing." Bella called her friend over.

Both Jolly and Mira rushed over to take a look. "Where? Show me. Show me."

No matter how natural they tried to make it look, Sarth could see that it was all part of the plan. His mother getting emotional in the morning, bringing up the topic of blind dates, and Jolly showing up with Mira after some time, were all carefully devised steps of the two women's plan to get them into the blind dates.

He was the innocent victim, who got trapped in the plan without a way out. As Mihit had been working overtime due to the cooperation with Omni, Sarth was sure that he wasn't visiting his parent's place as he used to. That is why they decided to target him.

"P' Sa, you and P' Hit is dating Anwit and P' Ayut?" Mira asked seeing the familiar faces on the phone screen.

"You know them, Mira?" Jolly asked.

"Of course, Mom. Anwit was my classmate and P' Ayut is his phi chaai. We used to be really close na." Mira explained. "Don't you remember Wit, Mom? He used to drop me back home when we had evening classes."

There was a time when she used to have a crush on Anwit. But the latter turned her down and they decided to be good friends from then on.

"Oh, that kid. I remember!" Jolly recalled how Anwit used to walk Mira back home on days they had to stay late at school. "He looks even more handsome now."

"But how do you guys know them?" She asked Sarth.

"Yut is my friend from high school and he lives across the hall from Hit's place. So..." Sarth knew he had completely messed up. With Mira thrown into the equation, everything is starting to turn serious.

"Is P' Hit really seeing P' Yut? I really like P' Yut na. He is such a cutie." Mira was practically bouncing in excitement at the thought of getting Ayut as her brother-in-law.

The noise of a bike was heard from outside.

"Looks like P' Hit is here!" She exclaimed. "I will go get him. That cunning fox. He hid something this big from me!"

She enthusiastically ran out of the house.

Bella and Jolly were busy scrolling through the photos that Sarth had taken at Ayut's place, including the breakfast they had. There were a few candid photos of the boys as well.

The women were discussing the two boys in the photos with each other. Bella was sharing what she remembered of Ayut and Jolly was sharing what she had heard about Anwit from Mira.

Both the ladies were satisfied with the information that was exchanged.

Sarth was cursing himself mentally. 'Why the heck did I have to tell them that? Hit is going to kill me.'

He didn't even have a doubt in that. He was mentally counting down his last moments before Mihit found out what he has done.