You and I - a pranushka tale

chapter twenty-four

"What should I learn before becoming a wife?" Thara asked, as all the women of the family sat around her in the garden. As the days neared for her marriage, beyond the large amount of excitement, she found a small amount of nerves wrack their way up as she began to worry about the change that was to happen to her lifestyle.

"You don't have to learn anything," Mithrah said with a roll of her eyes. "There's nothing you need to know or do before becoming a wife." The other women laughed, knowing Mithrah's strong views and opinions but she turned to look at Thara with a serious expression. "When you go Chennai, find a good job first."

Thara grinned and bumped shoulders with her best friend. "I already have. I'm not going to be just a housewife but... there are some things that I should know right?"

"Yeah, that men are stressful." Mithrah deadpanned.

"How would you know if men are stress or not?" Nithya asked with a teasing raise of her brow. She immediately saw Mithrah's blank expression morph into a glare as everyone else laughed.

"There is nothing you need to learn before becoming a wife," Radha told her, her hand softly caressing Thara's hair. "Love does not need to be taught."

"What about cooking and cleaning?" Nithya asked trying not to laugh as Mithrah pretended to look for a stick to hit her with. "I'm joking! Wives are not workers I know!"

But Thara suddenly frowned. "Okay but Rana actually doesn't know how to cook. Neither do I." Being the only child in her family, she was always spoilt and cooking was something that her mother never taught her. She never considered having this knowledge as important but the thought of takeaway every night didn't appeal to her.

But it wasn't just Thara who wore the expression of sudden worry. Mithrah's face mirrored her as she slowly nodded with a frown. "Thara is right. What if my husband doesn't know how to cook?"

"I thought you didn't want to get married anytime soon?" Padmini asked, looking at her with a knowing smile as some of the other women looked at her niece with narrowed eyes.

Mithrah scoffed. Her opinion definitely hadn't changed. "I don't. But, there's no harm in preparing for the future." She said shrugging nonchalantly.

"Of course," Nithya nodded with a smirk. "No matter how far or close the future may be. Or very close even." She added, looking behind Mithrah's unimpressed face.

At that moment, Prabhas and Rana walked out of the back door. Mithrah and Thara immediately looked back the second they heard their voices. Mithrah turned back at Nithya with a glare as she understood the double meaning in what she said a few seconds before.

The moment they saw Prabhas catch sight of all the women staring at them, he stepped closer to Rana and whispered something, giving the audience an awkward smile. Rana then glanced up and smiled in a similar manner before they both looked at each other. Quickly, they turned back around to go inside and avoid the women.

"Look how you scared them away," Nithya said, feigning disappointment. But with a mischievous glint in her eyes, she stood up and called their names out loud. "Rana! Prabhas! Come back!"

The men looked back at the group cautiously before slowly making their way towards them, whispering to each other with doubtful expressions.

Mithrah rolled her eyes as she sat back properly. "I didn't scare anyone away."

"Pretty sure you were looking at Prabhas with a glare Mithrah," Padmini said pinching her cheek playfully. "Who wouldn't be scared to be on the other side of your glare?"