*Rimsha's point of view* "Mum, I want to talk to you." "Rimish beta, not now. I'm going shopping with Mrs. Kaushik." "Mum, it's important," I said seriously. "Why are you in hurry? We will talk at dinner, I'm getting late for now." "But mum..." I called out, but she was already gone. "Ma'am, the pizza which you ordered," the servant called out, but not sparing a glance I yelled, "Throw it in the bin!" Marching towards my room, I slammed the loud after me in anger. What's going on? Mum doesn't even have time to talk to me! Mumbling in anger, I threw the pillow. "Hello?" I called my friend, and she received it on the first attempt, which was nothing but a miracle. "What are you doing today?" I asked her. "Nothing! let's go shopping!" she replied in excitement. I agreed, considering shopping is the biggest stress-buster for me. "Done! I am coming to your place within half-an-hour, be ready!" I said and hung up. I spent the entire day in the shopping mall, simply roaming here and there. I didn't need anything, nor was I interested in shopping, but still, I had to kill time. I went home at dinnertime, where my parents were waiting for me. Without bothering to greet anyone, I took my seat. "How was your day?" Mum asked me, but my mind was on something else, so I didn't bother to reply to her question. "I have to say something," I stated. Surprisingly dad spoke the same sentence in unison, and mum froze. She first looked at me, then at dad. "What?" Mum asked Dad. "No. First let me say, it's very important," I told them in my usual stubborn manner. "Rimsha, it must be some demand of yours," Dad said, and I nodded. "Then it's not that important as compared to what I want to say," Dad said. He didn't let me speak. "But it's very important!" Dad lifted his hand in a gesture for me to stop, which I had to. "You know Ameen Aazam?" Dad asked mum, and she nodded. "I know. Your friend, isn't he?" Mum said "He is not my friend, we just have a good bond in business," Dad said arrogantly. Mum says that I'm arrogant, just like my dad. But according to me, if I have a river of arrogance, dad has the entire ocean. "Ameen insisted on his son's proposal for our Rimsha," Dad said. I felt someone snatch the earth from beneath my feet. "What you think about it?" Dad asked mum. "Did you meet the guy?" Mum asked dad, and he nodded. "Umar is the only son of Ameen, and he handles his father's business. He is a great man in every aspect," Dad described. I had already decided to put my point in front of mum and dad. "Dad I'm not interested in-" Dad didn't even let me complete. "I already know your answer, you are not interested in marriage and you don't want to think about any proposal," Dad repeated. I might've given him the same answer about fifteen to twenty times. "Mum, Dad, please! Let me say something!" I said. "Say, but don't say that you are not ready to marry," Mum said as she took a bite. "I want to tell you something clearly," I said and they both rolled their eyes. Perhaps they thought that I'd repeat the same phrase I've been repeating all this while. "You are not interested in marriage- right?" Mum asked. "I'm interested in marriage," I said in a single breath, and both of them looked at me with a shocked expression. Even the spoon slipped from dad's grip. "Really!" both asked in unison with amazement. "First let me complete," I said with determination and they both gave me a nod. "I'm interested in marriage, but with only one guy," I said confidently, as I knew dad and mum won't deny it. Ever since childhood, I got each and everything from my parents because I am their only child. They never refused to fulfill any of my demands. "Are you serious? " they both asked in unison. Shock marred their expressions. "What do you think? Is this a prank, or something else? Of course, I am serious!" I said as I nodded. Both of them looked at me with determination. "Why didn't you tell me?" Mum asked me. "I'm telling you now, na!" I said without wasting time. "Who is he? Let me tell you one thing, I'll never compromise with the status and wealth," Dad said to me, and I nodded with a smile. "He is very educated, wealthy as well as belongs to a very reputable family," I informed him, and mum nodded. "Is he a businessman?" Mum asked and I shook my head. "His father is a businessman, who owns three factories. But he didn't want to join his father's business, he wanted to be independent. He is an employee in a multinational company." I informed Dad proudly. "What? Job? Are you out of your mind? Will you marry a man who earns his monthly income!" Dad yelled as if I were to commit suicide. "Dad, please don't be so materialistic!" I said to him while furrowing my brows. "You are more materialistic than me. Do you know about your credit card bills? You spend almost seventy to eighty thousand on your shopping every month. How will a man with a little income afford your expenses?" Dad put forth his point. "But I'll be happy with him, and he also has a share in his father's business. Don't think so much!" I tried to convince him. "How long do you know him?" Mum asked. "Since four years," I said slowly without looking at them. Mum and Dad both looked at each other, then stared at me. "Where did you both meet?" Mum asked in a scolding voice. It was the first time I was facing this kind of situation. "In a party." "Call him with his parents, this weekend," Dad said and got up from the dining table. I ran to him and hugged him. "Thanks, dad!" I whispered and looked at him. He looked angry. "Dad, please don't be angry with me. I'm your doll, right?" I said to him with a pout. "Don't talk to me!" He said without looking at me and walked towards his room, but I ran to him and held his hand. "Dad, he is very nice, you will like him," I tried to convince him. "Rimsha I'm telling you. If I didn't like him, you'll have to marry Umar," Dad said angrily. "Dad, you will never refuse him, I'm sure!" I said lightheartedly. Dad didn't look at me and walked to his room, followed by me, but I was stopped by mum's call. "Rimish? Wait, I have to talk to you," She said and I looked at her. It was clear from her expression that she was about to ask many questions. I nodded and we both walked to my room. "Tell me everything about him- but first tell me where did you meet him? How you know each other?" Mum instantly asked, and I sat quietly, too shy and embarrassed to tell my love story. "Mum... first meet him..." I tried to drop the topic but my mother... "Tell me everything!" She scolded. It was the first time I tolerated such kind of behavior from my mother. "We both met four years back at Kinza's birthday party. You know Arhaan?" I asked mum. "What? Arhaan! Kinza's cousin! Are you mad? Are you in love with that Arhaan?" Mum yelled in a single breath. "Mum, I'm not talking about Arhaan bhai. He is Arhaan bhai's friend. He was also at the party. We didn't know each other, but...I can't tell you my love story," I told mum and she glared at me. It was the first time when my parents were giving me deadly looks. "Mum, will dad agree?" I asked to reassure my heart. "I don't know. You are not telling me anything about him. If you tell me, maybe I could help you," mum told me. I looked at her with a pout on my lips and hope in my eyes. I felt shy, but I didn't have any other way, so I began narrating my story to her. "We both met at a party for the first time. He was the new face, so everyone was asking about him. Arhaan bhai introduced him to everyone, that he was his collegemate. We never paid attention to each other that night, but after that, we met several times at parties and movie outings. Eventually, we all became friends. We never talked to each other except greetings, but we still felt a friendship bond between us. One year passed this way." One day, when I was shopping with Nataliya, I bumped into someone- it was him. I was about to slip and fall, but he held me. We both were surprised to see each other. I tried to walk, but my ankle was sprained. Nataliya tried to support me but we both had a lot of bags in our hands. He held my hand and took me to the car, but there was another problem. Nataliya didn't know how to drive, and I couldn't because of my ankle. He dropped Nataliya at her home, and then took me to the doctor. After the bandage, he dropped me home, and it was the first time we talked other than hello. He took my number and called me every day to ask about my ankle." "After nearly fifteen days, my ankle was better, but-" I hadn't the courage to tell her further, that my ankle felt better, but my heart did not. "Then what? Did he make calls regularly?" Mum asked and I shook my head. "He never called me after recovery of my ankle," I replied seriously. "Rimish," Mum glared at me. "Did Kinza and Arhaan help him?" she asked while scolding.