Knot So Matched Preview #2
“I didn’t,” I say, miffed that his friend cast me and his son in the same mold. “I wouldn’t have agreed to Veer’s proposal if I had.”
My father shakes his head slowly, his neck hung low in shame, when there is absolutely no reason he should be ashamed for what Veer did. He lets out another deep sigh. “But...”
“But we will not talk about it anymore,” I interrupt my dad. “I’ve really had enough of matchmaking and proposals. I want to go home.”
“This is home.”
I swipe at a tear before it spills down my cheek.
“I want to go back to Bangalore. I cannot stay here.” I also cannot tell him how suffocated being here after this betrayal slash fiasco has made me feel.
Vijaya Aunty said I needed to lose weight since I had lost the guy.
“Maybe that’s why—” She swallowed the rest of her sentence, but Shaila Aunty jumped in. “These days, boys like slim girls.”
I have always been conscious of my size.
I was not slim by a pole. When I saw myself through these aunties’ eyes, I hated how I looked. But my best friends rubbished such negative comments. “You’re beautiful, Khushi,” Kiara maintained. “You have sexy curves,” Kavita added gleefully.
I miss my friends all of a sudden.
“But...” Dad says, “All your stuff is here.”
True. I had shipped everything I owned back here. Because I was going to London, remember?
Vijaya Aunty’s voice booms in my ear. “You must look beautiful to your husband, no?”
I shut my ears. I don’t want to hear that anymore. I may have my issues with the mirror, but today, I won’t blame that for what Veer did. That’s on him.
***
I am crying as my best friends, Kiara and Kavita walk out the gate at the airport. They run toward me when they spot me, and then we all circle into a hug. God, I’ve missed them. I’ve missed this.
Kiara pulls back and lifts my chin. “Hey, we’re here for you.”
I snort-cry. “I know. You should have canceled your tickets.”
“No way,” Kavita says. “We wanted to be here with you.”
I had messaged them on our group chat and told them that the wedding was off. But they’re still here despite that. I love them for it.
“We thought we could spend a few days with you,” Kiara says.
“Like the old times,” Kavita adds.
I nod. We pile into my dad’s old car, and we’re zipping toward home. I tell them what happened in Jaipur.
“What a schmuck!” Kavita says. “If Neel had been there, he would have punched him in the face.”
We all laugh at that. Kavita has been married to Neel for a year now. Though he’s much older than her, they share an enviable rapport. They had met when Kavita was designing a wedding dress for his sister, and they clicked. I’ve never seen her so happy as she looks after marriage.
“Marriage looks good on you,” I tell her. “You’re glowing.”
She blushes and covers her face with her hands. “I think there may be another reason for that.”
Kiara and I look puzzled. “What!” Kiara says, understanding dawning on her face. “You are...”
“Pregnant,” Kavita says, beaming. “Just found out.”
“Oh my god!” Kiara shrieks. “Look at you, making us aunties already!”
“Neel and I aren’t getting any younger. We both wanted this.” She blushes again. “I’ve been dying to tell you guys, but I wanted to wait until after the wedding.”
This is the best news I’ve heard since the Fiasco (yes, with a capital F, because that’s what it deserves).
“Then it’s a good thing we’re here,” Kiara says, laughing.
“Guys, I’m not ready for a baby yet, just saying,” she adds.
Kiara is a wedding planner, and she’s married to Arjun, a photographer who was once a thorn in her side.
They now run the wedding planning business together.
They seem to have no time since their business picked up so I can see why Kiara wants to take it slow.
Nevertheless, I’m excited I’m going to be an aunt for the first time.
“I’m glad I’m not going to London,” I scream. “I can be here when the baby is born!”
“Oh, Aunt Khushi is going to be the baby’s favorite aunt, I can already tell,” Kavita laughs.
The laughter fades. “London,” I say softly, staring at my hands. “I gave up my whole life for London. And you know what’s crazy? This isn’t the first time I trusted the wrong guy.”
They both grow quiet. They were there for the Rajesh disaster in college.
“Remember how I thought Rajesh was this perfect boyfriend?” I try to keep my voice light but fail. “Then I overheard him telling his friends how ‘useful’ I was to have around, even though he wasn’t physically attracted to me. That he was ‘settling.’”
Kavita makes a sound of disgust.
“God, what is it about me that attracts these users? First, Rajesh using me for grades, then Veer…”
“Hey,” Kiara squeezes my hand. “Stop that. These men are the problem, not you.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “At least Rajesh failed that semester. Turns out you need more than just copied notes to pass.”
“So, what happened with Veer?” Kavita leans forward. “You said you caught him with someone?”
The memory burns fresh. I tell them about finding him behind the pillar with his friend, about the kiss, about what followed.
“What a jerk!” Kiara’s eyes flash.
“He let you quit your job, give up your apartment,” Kavita’s voice rises, “and then pulled this? The day before the wedding?”
“At least his parents were mortified,” I say. “His mother couldn’t even look at anyone.”
“Good,” Kavita declares, one hand over her stomach. “Now, enough about these losers. Help me pick a name that will make my child proud.”
Soon, we’re pulling up baby names and arguing about the ones we like all along the ride home.
Every time someone suggests a particularly terrible name, we all groan dramatically.
Kavita vetoes anything that rhymes with Neel, and I suggest we name the baby Veer just to see everyone’s horrified faces before breaking into laughter. It feels good to laugh again.
I am so glad Kiara and Kavita decided to come despite the canceled wedding, I forget my troubles for the next three days that they’re here.
We visit the beautiful temple, where Kavita insists on praying for her baby’s future—“Please God, don’t let my child inherit Neel’s tone-deaf singing”—which sets us all off giggling in the middle of a very serious puja.
At the waterfall, we hike up the small hill just a mile away from my parent’s home, with Kavita taking frequent breaks. “The baby needs rest,” she says with a dramatic sigh, making Kiara roll her eyes affectionately.