The Wedding Tamasha

‘I mean it! I gave him a black eye,’ he said, lifting his hand and
showing his bruised knuckles.
He looked like such a sweet puppy when he said that. ‘I’m sorry,’
she said, and leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek. ‘I missed you.’
‘Ow!’ Max’s hand went up to his cheek.
‘Sorry!’ Shweta smiled. ‘That bad?’
He nodded sheepishly.
She put her arm around his shoulders. ‘Drink up and let’s watch a
movie tonight. You pick. I can’t wait to celebrate, now that you’re back.’
Max emptied his cup and gave it back to her looking more cheerful
already. Once again, Shweta was reminded of how cute he looked
despite the swollen nose and how she loved everything about him,
including his love of colour and his discerning eye for style which was
apparent from his pink striped shirt and trendy tan pants. But most of all,
she was glad he was back. She placed the empty cups back on the
kitchenette counter and went back to join him.
Now that Max had gathered himself and was going to spend a
peaceful night with her, Shweta realized she’d really been looking
forward to a movie and some company tonight. She headed to the second
hand TV on the wall beside the front door and switched it on. Then
taking the two movie CDs Max and she had picked up together at the
sale last weekend, she showed them to him, giving him the choice. She
held the CD for Queen in her right hand and the one for Lunch Box in the
left, waving her hands excitedly.
He pointed to her right hand and picked Queen.
As Max settled under the sheets, Shweta told him all about her
mother’s call that morning and that Simbu had planned to get married in
December. ‘I’m not ready to tell them about Raj. Mum would be
devastated and Dad would send me right back to him.’
‘So, your brother’s getting married and you don’t want to tell them
about Raj. Then what are you going to do?’
Shweta wished she knew. She’d hoped to hold off telling them for
as long as she could but now with the wedding, they were bound to find
out. ‘I don’t know, Max. I’m really at my wit’s end.’ She wiped her
clammy hands on her jeans before she inserted the disc into the player
and settled back beside him, sharing the fluffy, warm duvet with him.
‘You could make up a story about Raj, no? Say he’s busy or
something?’ Max said.
‘But for how long? They’re going to find out sooner or later when
they call him for the wedding.’