To Love Or Not To Love| A FEATURED STORY

Chapter 13

Ajay's mother very soon returned home and stayed with him as it was much closer to the hospital. The siblings juggled their work to care for her alternately choosing to work-from-home.

His mother was an active lady, and the heart-attack came as a jolt — a reminder that life was pretty unpredictable. Most importantly, it brought about a grim situation for Ajay for his mother insisted him to get married before her time was up. Though he loved her and his sister to death, he was not much inclined to tie the knot.

He often wondered if marriages were inevitable when born in the Indian subcontinent. But now these thoughts were mitigated with the images of his vivacious Anya. Ever since she came into the picture, marriage didn't look like an impossibility but rather a very distant possibility. Yet, he was reluctant to move forward. He saw so many crumbling marriages to come to terms with it.

Ajay was too preoccupied with her thoughts and their mother to talk to Anu about her encounter with Rajendra. Anu was equally preoccupied with thoughts of their mother and unavoidable thoughts of Rajendra to speak to Ajay about Anya.

It was a couple of weeks since Ajay's mother's homecoming, while Mrs Mullapudi rested on her favourite easy-chair, Ajay was working relentlessly on his laptop.

She glanced at his son, "So, Ajay?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you even listening? Not sure why you are always working. I feel like throwing that goddamn laptop and your cell phone outside this very window."

Ajay quirked his brows in amusement at his mother's use of foul language and put his laptop away with a soft sigh. His mother was a force to reckon with, and there was no use denying her his time.

She knew him too well. Before she nagged him out of his wits, it was better to hear her out and find a simple excuse to get out of there. He praised himself about being successfully scarce in his apartment. But that was how his mother functioned, both tender and demanding.

"Tell me. Now, what do you want to talk about, Amma."

She looked at him with a spark in her eyes, and he knew by instinct —it was about some eligible girl that she had found for him. He internally rolled his eyes but wore a poker face to humour his mother.

"I heard from Anu that Anya came to the hospital while I was there. Is something going on between you two that I should know of? She is a delightful child, well-mannered with a clear sense of humour, quite tall and good looking. From her delicacy, I can easily say she can cook well. She has a software job too. Women should have jobs, makes them independent. I think she is right for you."

Ajay froze momentarily at the sound of Anya's name. He lived by her thoughts day in and day out. After she made her intentions clear at the hospital, he did not contact her at least once. This time until he approached her, she would never even look at him. She had sufficiently high self-esteem. He closed his eyes for a moment to overcome this daze and noticed his mother look at him intently.

"Yes, she did come. We are just friends, Amma. Nothing more."

It pained him to claim her as a mere friend. She was much more than that, but he was determined to fight off the attraction he felt for her. He didn't deserve her, and this uncertainty was not something she needed.

"So how is she doing? We should invite her for lunch or dinner sometime," when his mother claimed, oblivious to his discomfort, he wanted nothing but to run out of his house, and breathe in much-needed air.

He never lost his cool over any lady, but Anya made his blood run cold. She brought so much drama and nervous energy to his otherwise bland life.

He somehow controlled himself and answered his mother evenly, "I've not spoken to her much. It's year-end. She must be busy with her work. Not sure if she'll come here. But for the 'nth' time I'm telling you, she is just a friend. I don't have any other intentions towards her, Amma. Please stop nagging me about it."