Sushi was happy that she could help Shahma in getting to know Professor Salahuddin better. She sincerely wished that Shahma would be happy forever and she would never repeat a mistake like the one she did on Valentine's Day.

She was happy for her best friend but she was not happy for what her parents had decided for her.

She was informed about an upcoming bride seeing ceremony as soon as she and Sayanth reached their house. However, unlike the other times, this time, her father had already fixed the marriage even before the bride seeing ceremony.

The guy was her father's friend's son. The family was well educated and had a very good background. He was working as an engineer in Dubai. He was handsome and everyone had good opinions about him generally.

Sushi wanted to whine or atleast put up a fight with her father for deciding about her future without even discussing about it with her but she was tired and her energy was no match for her furious father.

May be her life was destined to be like that! Marrying someone her parents showed.

She did not want to lie anymore, she was tired of everything.

Her phone rang just when she lied on her bed for a good sleep. It was a call from Shahma. Sushi kept the phone on the table beside her. A good sleep was what she needed the most then.

A good sleep was what Shahma could not find that night. She felt good by getting to know about Professor Salahuddin. He was a really good man who loved traveling just like her. She could visit many places after their marriage, nobody would stop her.

She had always wanted to go on a trip to north India. She wanted to visit Tajmahal , gateway of India, the golden temple and a lot of other places.

She was in her own world when her phone rang for the first two times. She facepalmed with a smile when she realized that she was lost in her own world. She took the phone with a goofy smile that had never adorned her face before.

Shahma never attended calls from unknown numbers but she was lost in North India at that moment.

"Hello," the caller said. It was only when she heard the soothing female unfamiliar voice and looked at the caller ID , that she realized she had attended an unknown number.

"Uh...hello?" Shahma said as she shot up and sat on her bed. The caller could not see her but she felt it weird to speak while on bed. She sat on the chair beside her study table.

"Shahma, I am Thomas's aunt" Shahma looked at her phone's screen again. It was already 10.30 . She wondered why Aunt Anna was calling her, that late. She could not remember about doing anything wrong to Thomas or Aunt Anna.

"Are you busy now?"

Shahma shook her head as she wondered what Aunt Anna might be wearing. She looked at her own red and white pajama. She tried to imagine Aunt Anna in her own dress. The dress would have looked more beautiful on her milky white skin.

"Hello... can you hear me Shahma? " Shahma just realized that shaking head was not a reply which was suitable for a telephonic conversation.

"No...I meant No,"

"But you just replied and that means you can hear me , be frank if you are in the middle of something, dear?"

" No, I meant... No, I am not busy but yes...I can hear you," Shahma brought her knees close to her chest and held her toes with the hand that wasn't holding the phone. She was acting like a total mess.

"Oh, so can we discuss about your case?"

Shahma wanted to say no. She wanted to say that she felt uncomfortable while talking to Aunt Anna. She did not want to discuss about her decision to marry. She wanted to say that she was not interested in having a part of her life be published as a character in Aunt Anna's book bit she could not. She just could not say a 'no' when someone asked for something.

"Yes,  Aunt Anna"

"So tell me, how could you decide to marry that stranger?"

She did not want Salahuddin to be acknowledged as a stranger even if she knew it very well that he was one. Then again, every lovers were once strangers. There was that goofy smile,again on her face.

"Marriage is not something that someone should take so lightly, it is a trust to be by each other's side till death and trust is something that can only be built with time,"

"Aunt Anna,I thought that the conversation was for you to build your character but your words make me feel like you want me to back off from the marriage," Nobody liked advising. Shahma too hated advising. Suggestions given during a friendly conversation was acceptable but Aunt Anna's tone was that of an advice.

There was a short period of silence, throughout which Shahma wished if she could take back her words. She leaned on to the headboard of the bed and looked at the wall opposite to her.

"Aunt Anna," She called out and waited.

It was going to be a total embarrassment if anyone else knew about her outburst at Thomas's aunt. Aunt Anna had only said something, she shouldn't have talked like that to an elder person. She wished if Salahuddin and his family would never know about the incident.

She hadn't even met Salahuddin's mother. Her future mother in law might have bad assumptions about her if she knew of it.

"Aunt Anna...I am sorry, I was just..."

"Give me a minute, Shahma, just a few more words" Aunt Anna's voice was still soothing and calm. "Just a few more words..."

Shahma raised one of her eyebrows as she looked at her phone once again.

"Aunt Anna, I did not mean what I say...I am very tired and I just-"

"Shahma dear,  it's only when someone feels themselves to be wrong or wronged that they are provoked, I don't think that my words would enter your scale of being wronged, you are too good for that...it only means that you feel yourself to be wrong..."

That was not the case and Shahma knew it. She was just tired of Aunt Anna prying about her life, nothing more. Aunt Anna was speaking like she was a psychologist or something.

"And if you are wondering, I do not have a doctorate in psychology but I am a writer, I have studied a lot of people,"

Shahma felt a little threatened but decided to blame it on her sleepiness.

"Aunt Anna, I know that marriage is not a simple matter.  My family has done a serious case study about him and all that they got were good comments. Moreover, I, myself, have checked his f.b account to know that he loves traveling. I too love traveling, we would be perfect,"

"You don't need a man to travel if you loves it so much...don't you think that you are just being desperate to find common interests?"

Aunt Anna was right. Shahma wondered if she was actually just trying to know about bits of Salahuddin that would fit into her own puzzle rather than knowing all the bits that would be a part of the puzzle called her life, they fitted or not.

Shahma had never given herself a chance to explore the traveler in her. She was accompanied by her mother or Sushi for even the half an hour rides to Kannur city. She felt vulnerable  whenever she did not have them beside her when she was at the busy Kannur bus stand. The bustling people, the shouting conductors, the inviting  tea shop owners...everything had made her lost.

"Shahma, I am writing about your thoughts and ideas, so you have the right to tell me the truth," Aunt Anna sighed before continuing her question " Are you really ready to explore life with someone else before exploring yourself?"

Shahma was speechless. Aunt Anna's words were sweetly sour.

"I have a daughter and I would never want her to merge her sea of life with someone else's when she hadn't found an island in her own world, there would be hurricanes and Tsunamis and if you do not even know about where your safety lies...you are going to drown,"

Shahma did not quite understand what she meant by that metaphor. However, she did understand that Aunt Anna had succeeded in planting seeds of doubt in her.

"You said you are not being forced by your parents to marry him but are you sure that you were not forced by those around you into the concept of marriage?"

This was supposed to be a conversation between the two but it felt like only Aunt Anna did all the talking. Shahma did not feel offended. She only felt confused.

"Tell me Shahma, would my character still move on with the idea of  marriage, that was forced onto her by those around her?"

"Yes, Yes I would and please don't call me anymore," Shahma sighed as she hung up and kept the phone on the table.

On the other side of the telephonic conversation, a sly smile bloomed cautiously on Aunt Anna's face. Annoyance meant agreement when it came to debates... always.