Seasons of Love by Jaismita Alexander

Seasons of Love part 27

Part twenty-seven:

21.06.21

That day a shiny golden ring adorned the ring finger of my left hand. I quietly lay in his arms crying silently time to time. He hummed, "Lag jaa gale, ke phir yeh hasi raat ho na ho..."
I quietly thought, what if really we never get back these moments again? We were engaged for no one to know but us. There was a ring on my finger but I wasn't allowed to give him a ring in return. I was engaged to him. This was just one sided. But too special to me. I wondered how our marriage would be.

Our summer season of love was about to end and we were heading towards monsoon. Love drenched us in glory and we were wonderfully together. 

I returned home with a shining golden ring on my finger. I did not bother to remove it. I wasn't either prepared to answer about its being around my ring finger. I entered the house and Piyush's smiling face caught my eyes. Instead of getting upset, I was least bothered. I knew, I was someone else's now. And that one person owns my life and no one else can ever steal me from him. 

"Come and sit." said Piyush. 
I ignored and walked towards the room. 
"What happened beta? ", said someone from behind. It was a voice of a lady. I turned around and saw Piyush's mother standing there. Aunty was back from Australia. I was extremely disgusted to see her.

"Come and sit, Shehnaya", she said again. 
I kept my bag on the sofa and sat at the table opposite to Piyush. 

"Are you alright?", Piyush asked.

"Hmm...", I replied. 

Aunty brought the coffee mug from the kitchen and sat next to me. 

"So how's my daughter-in-law doing?", she asked to my utter disgust. 

"Excuse me?", I asked giving her an irritated look.

"You aren't yet. I know but you'll soon be", she explained. 

Mom entered the living room and sat beside Piyush. Her face clearly expressed fear. She knew I could burst out and snap at her ruthlessly any moment. 

"Why don't we do the engagement this Christmas?", Piyush's mother said to mom.
Mom looked at me and then looked at her. 
"She has to appear for her school finals. We can think about it next year sometime in April", mom said. 

I closed my fist and controlled my anger. I didn't want to spoil my mood and end the day bad. 

"I think we should buy a platinum ring", Piyush said.

"Why? We have our traditional ring for engagements. That has been passed on for generations. A gold ring, plain with a stone. Why do you want to buy a platinum ring?", his mother argued. 

The argument continued for a minute more before her mom noticed the ring on my hand.

"Spinsters shouldn't wear any ring on that finger before engagement", she said pointing towards my hand.

Mom noticed it as she pointed it out. Mom was shocked. She hadn't seen the ring before. It was pretty clear to her that the ring wasn't mine or hers. And it was quite obvious that I wouldn't buy a gold ring with my pocket money. I was not a jewel person. 

"I can't open this. My best friend gave it to me", I said.

"Tania gave you a gold ring!" mom exclaimed. 

"Yes", I replied.

"But why did you accept such an expensive gift?" mom tried to add to my story so that Piyush's mom wouldn't suspect. 

"Its my birthday gift", I said.

Piyush was looking directly at my me. His stares made me uncomfortable. I got up and went inside my room. I could feel the eyes following me as I left.