Sparks Fly

CH24: Empty ring finger

There's pin drop silence in the room upon hearing her. Sara's expression screams relief, Jay is confused, her parents are disappointed and Neil is staring at me with a soft gaze but it turns murderous as Karan pulled me closer towards him. To break the tension in the room I speak up.

"Well that settles it. Let's have dinner."

"You all go ahead. I can't even swallow anything now." With that being said Sara's dad makes a dramatic exit. Her mother follows behind. My mother looks between the leaving pair and us, she just sighs deeply.

In the most patriarchal way possible my mother and I set up the table as men in the house sat comfortably waiting for the food to magically land on their plate. Sara excuses herself and retires to her room. Since then Jay just seems distracted between following her behind or giving her some alone time. To put him at ease I suggest.

"Give her some time. You can finish up your dinner after which you go and have a one-on chat. Guaranteed you both need some time alone."

Jay considers what I said and visibly calms. Mother sits at the top of the table followed by Jay and Neil on her left side and Karan and I on her right. As Neil sits right in front of me I try to distract myself with little things like going around and filling everyone's glass with water. I purposely leave him out. He doesn't comment on it. My eyes stay down on my food, this is going to give me terrible neck pain later on. Karan indulges in a conversation with Jay, asking him about their business. Turns out both of them are business partners and together have opened a trading platform. Neil's got the smart streetness to run that. They go on about but I tune them out since it doesn't interest me until someone calls my name. I look up and into his eyes to acknowledge him as he repeats himself.

"So what are you doing these days?"

"I work."

"What work?"

"In an office," I speak in a monotonous tone.

"What's your designation?" He probes.

"I'm the head of marketing."

"Her recent marketing campaign was quite successful, makes me immensely proud of her," Karan says while his hand comes to rest on top of mine for everyone to see.

"So am I." Neil speaks into the air. This not only makes Karan's nostril's flare but so do mine. I know it's immature but I turned to my mother to finally break it to her.

"Karan and I are engaged. We didn't tell you because obviously. But he asked me a week ago and I said yes." My mother is confused and turns to Karan for confirmation, he nods slightly. She smiles and rises from her seat to greet us. A hug for Karan, kisses for me. A congratulation comes from Jay. She continues showering kisses on my face and hand, specifically my ring finger.

"Your hand looks very empty for to be married woman. Where's the ring?" Mother asked me.

"It's in my room, I'll wear it from tomorrow."

"We should leave." Neil suddenly stands from his chair and starts walking towards the door.

"I think I should talk to Sara first," says Jay unsurely.

"If she wanted to talk to you, that would have happened by now. I think it's best to leave her alone for now." There's an urgency in Neil's voice and dejection in Jay's eyes as they walk out of the door. I go after them to lock the door behind but take a peak to check or maybe get one last glance at Neil. Last? Who am I kidding? He is here to stay now. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Apologies for the small update. I'll make it up as I always do. xx

Like, Comment, Share