Only Mine
Prologue: YOU

The orange gold rays of the sun filtered through the dense clouds, it was still April, yet she wished that the rains would come soon. She loved watching this street in particular while it rained. The deep grey tarmac would turn onyx, glittering as water gathered, and the white lines on the edge stood out like a monochrome painting. The paved pathway were smooth grey stones joined with precision, a perfect setting to walk in abandon, or maybe lost in love. While one side of the street depicted civilization courtesy its range of hotels, cafe and restaurants, the other side was pure wilderness with the uneven rocks and territorial sea.

Naina Agarwal sat on a small round table inside the famous Marina Café, twiddling a pencil, and watching the traffic and pedestrians on Marine drive. She was waiting to meet someone, a boy to be specific. It was funny how she was waiting for the person when she didn’t even know his name, all she knew was he was supposed to meet her at 6pm in this café on table number 3. She glanced at her wrist watch which indicated that it would soon be 6:30pm.

Going to marry a late-lateef Naina?

No, she wasn’t going to marry anyone, especially not a person who made her wait unreasonably. As if it wasn’t enough that her family had said yes to this match without even asking her or even showing her the boy’s photograph, it so happened that this boy didn’t even have proper etiquettes. She leaned back on her chair, adjusting her deep pink kurti, and wondering if it would be bad manner on her part to order a cup of coffee.

How could they do this?

She had been outraged when Chachaji had called her to let her know about the wedding proposal, and the ecstatic voices of Chachiji and Preeti in background hadn’t helped. When she had questioned about the boy, Tauji had taken away the phone and told her not to ask unnecessary things and if she believed that they would choose a bad person for her. She had wanted to rage, but had meekly accepted, because she had been taught to never argue with elders.

Her free spirit had never been entertained in her family. If not for Phulla-bua dadi, that spirit might have died a sorry death, but thankfully it was living and had flourished all the more in Mumbai. This city had given her the wings that she had longed for all her life. She didn’t need to hold her tongue all the time, she didn’t need to worry about being the good obedient girl all the time, she didn’t need to worry about if her family would stop loving her if she was not as good sometimes. Most of all she was far… very far from Tauji, Taiji and her father.

The trips to Ahmedabad had been short and had not given her much happiness, her only pleasure being able to meet Chachaji, Chachiji, Preeti and Arjun Bhaiya. Sadly enough, the last trip had taken away one person from the list of the ones she used to be happy to meet. She had never thought that Arjun Bhaiya could have been such a coward, and he had assumed she wouldn’t know anything about it. How could she not? Shefali had always sent letters to her, continuing their original relationship of pen-friends, and in them she had mentioned about a boy she had fallen in love with… It hadn’t taken long for her to guess who it was, and when asked, Shefali had replied honestly. Her friend had fallen in love with her brother, and the feelings were equally reciprocated. Shefali had gushed in one letter about how Arjun bhaiya had promised her mother that he would always stand by her, be with her, love her, care for her. However, all these promises had been conveniently forgotten when faced with Tauji and her father’s wrath. They had been spotted by some nosy neighbors, and of course they had done their rightful duty of informing the family. Tauji had confronted them, her father had raged as usual, but Shefali had stood strong and confessed of her love. But when all her hopes had been on Arjun’s promises, he had backed out… Naina had been horrified to read how Arjun had said that he didn’t love Shefali, and he had made no promises… And disgusted to read about how her brother had tried to justify his actions later to Shefali, even blaming her for being in too much hurry to reveal about their relationship.

She had confronted her brother when she had gone to Ahmedabad six months ago, and to her immense disgust he had tried to feed her a cock-and-bull story about how his family’s prestige mattered to him, and for that he had chosen to sacrifice his love. Naina had stopped the pity tale and had pointed out that he had not sacrificed anything; instead he had chosen to malign the name of a girl he had promised to cherish for lifetime. She had asked him that if he had never meant to be with Shefali forever then on what basis he had even claimed that he loved her. If family reputation had meant so much for him, then why even had he acted on his attraction and begun a relationship.

Arjun had snapped and commented that maybe he should have been as shameless as her. That had been the end of their bond. If her brother could believe the worst of her, then probably he never knew his little sister. And if he thought she had brought shame to family, just like Tauji-Taiji, and her father thought, then so be it… she didn’t need a brother like that. Holding her head high, blinking her tears back, she had told her brother to never try and talk to her again, and she would also forget that she had an elder brother who had meant the world to her.

Ignoring her family’s protests she had met Shefali who was leaving the city with her mother. They were going to Kanpur for some time at her maternal uncle’s home, until there was some more clarity on where they could settle down. Shefali had promised to be in touch, and had asked of her that if she ever fell in love, then hopefully she would see through it unlike her brother. Naina had been amused for a moment that Shefali who was not related to her had never believed the rumors her family had believed. It had been three months now that Shefali had shifted to Mumbai; her mother had been transferred to a bank here, and she was now pursuing her career as a model. Just last month she had bagged her first modeling contract. Naina was happy for her friend, and about her brother she just knew that he was still jobless.

The sound of clinking bell at the café door announced a new arrival, and it brought her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, sighing, and wondered how her life would have been if it hadn’t been for nosy neighbors. Naturally, she would still be in Mumbai, but she would have left Ahmedabad on a happy note, and her trips back would have excited her more. Maybe Arjun and Shefali would also have been spared, and her brother might have gained courage years later to actually act upon his promises. Maybe… There were a lot of maybes’ which didn’t matter in life anymore. Things happened… and all one could do was learn to endure, cope and move on… just like she had done, just like Shefali had done.

The guy is still not here.

The thought irked her, and she decided not to wait anymore for an irresponsible jerk. Just as she grabbed her purse and decided to leave, the bell clinked again, and a silhouette was outlined against the last rays of the setting sun. The boy or man entered inside, letting the door close, glanced here and there, and then stopped still… just like Naina had.

Naina watched the person walk over slowly disbelief etched on his face, just as it must have been etched on her face too. He stood by the side of the table, gazing at her with incredulous recognition, and then they both glanced down at the number 3 placard kept on the table. Immediately next moment their gaze moved up to each other again, a moment passed and another, before they both exclaimed together, “YOU!!”