Run away

August 2011, India

She slowly got up from the bed and looked at the time in her watch. The radium numbers glowed showing that it was 2.00 am. Two more hours for her flight. She had already packed the basic necessities in a duffel bag. She neatly combed her hair with her fingers and put on her coat.

She walked towards her parents room as her heart thumped inside her chest. It was beating so loud that she feared the sound might wake her parents up. She reached for the door. It was partly closed. She pushed the handle bar slowly and tiptoed to the dressing table, placed a letter on it, took the hair cream box and placed it over the letter. She glanced at her parents who slept peacefully, the rhythmic movement of their chests going up and down and the sound of her dad's snore made her want to stay there and watch them because she was seeing them for the last time.

" I'm sorry dad, sorry ma." She whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She came out of her parents room and walked towards her sister's room. Leaving Ayla was the hardest. She sat by her side in the bed and stroked her hair. She remembered the times she would braid her sister's hair and how Ayla always complained about pulling her hair too much or not making the exact front partition. She wouldn't be able to hear her complaints anymore not would she be able to braid her hair and the thought pierced through her heart. Anya had felt all kinds of pain that she became somewhat of an expert in managing them.

She placed a ring on Ayla's palm and closed it.

"I'm sorry, Ayla." She said kissing the top of her palm. She got up to leave, when Ayla caught her hand. Anya gasped.

"Close the door when you go." Ayla mumbled in her sleep.

Anya let out a sigh of relief, closed the door to Ayla's room, carried her duffel bag and headed towards the front door. She looked back at her house for one last time and closed the door behind her and left once and for all.

Thirty minutes later, she was at the airport. She walked through the busy lines of people and wondered if her parents will ever be able to find her. Never in her life did she imagine that she'll run away. Never in her life did she expect to turn out to be divorced at the age of twenty. Fate was playing games with her and she decided to leave the game, forever.

Anya was scared if she will pass through immigration. She knew her documents were fake and every normal glance that came her way was only percieved as scrutiny. Luckily for her, there were no problems and she was cleared.

She took a deep breath and got inside the plane. The air hostess collected her boarding pass and greeted her with a smile.

"Welcome aboard, Ms. Anya. Enjoy your flight. "

'Ms.Anya'. She liked hearing it after a long time. She wasn't married for long but to her it seemed like it was a never ending charade.

She took her seat by the window and looked at her phone. It was brand new with a sim card of the country to where she was travelling. She threw away her old phone in the sewer. She had a new passport with a father's name that didn't exist. She took every measure, planned every step, to completely disappear. A new life in a new place.

She sat back and thought about the day that had completely changed her life.

January 2011, India

"What? You're telling me this, now?" Anya asked her mother in disbelief.

" Well, I'm telling you now. Get ready soon. They'll be here in two hours." Her mother replied sternly. "And be-have. " She warned as she left the room.

Anya groaned. She wasn't ready for marriage. Not so soon. She was only nineteen or turning twenty in three months. Still, it was too soon. She banged her head against the wall and looked at her sister.

" Please talk to dad for me, Ayla. You know he has a soft spot for you." She pleaded.

Ayla shook her head. "It does break my heart that you'll be leaving us soon, but I'm super excited about your marriage. I won't ruin it. " Ayla clicked her tongue mockingly.

"This not the time for jokes, Ayla. It's my life that we're talking about. My life." She stressed.

" I know, but dad says the guy is really good and handsome. Most importantly, he is super rich. I mean isn't that the gold standard for a potential groom? Handsome and rich." Ayla rolled her eyes.

"I don't care about all that, okay." Anya sighed. " I want to study and achieve something big." Anya's voice lowered as she spoke.

"Isn't that every Indian girl's dream before they're pushed towards a man, a handsome and rich man,mind you and you're assured that if you're lucky, he may help you realize your dreams. So there's that." Ayla shrugged.

"Okay, I'm not so clear on who you're supporting on this?" Anya asked looking bewildered.

"I support no one. Look, Anya the point is, its pointless to protest because mom is going to blackmail you into accepting this proposal whether you like it or not so I don't see why we're discussing it because it's not even up for discussion and even in the tiniest, most wildest possibility that they do listen to you now, they're going to bring up someone else in a few months time. It's a vicious cycle, Anya so you better avoid this cycle." Ayla exhaled.

"What are you planning to do when this vicious cycle comes to you?" Anya chortled.

"I'll run away. Simple as that." Ayla winked.

Maybe Ayla was right, she thought but what if the groom's family didn't like her. They can look at many of her flaws which she might subtly display like how clumsy she was or how she didn't have the perfect hair or a perfect face or the perfect figure because that's what they look for in a bride.

She chose to wore a yellow saree for the occasion. It was traditional in India to wear saree on special occasions.

She looked out her window and saw two men and three women walking towards her apartment. One among the two men must be the groom, she thought.

A few minutes later she heard the door bell ring. Her stomach churned, her head suddenly ached, her whole body grew restless. She could sense her heart beating faster. She paced around the room, not able to sit down when her mom entered with a tray full of tea cups.

"Come, they're waiting for you." She beamed with happiness. She nervously picked the tray from her mother's hand and entered the hall. It was funny how in the most tensest of situations, one was handed a tray full of hot tea cups. She wondered who thought of this stupid, stupid tradition.

She could sense that everyone was looking at her which made her even more nervous. She looked up to see her dad sitting near a young man in the front couch, the groom, while the three women and the other man sat on the sofa in the right.

She walked towards her dad and bent forward with the tray, her dad smiled and picked one of the cups. She placed a step forward and looked at the man in front of her. He smiled, picked up one of the cups and whispered,

" Thanks."

She blushed. She didn't mean to, it was her body reacting to the testosterone. She looked away and served tea to the rest of the people in the hall.

"Anya, this is Rahul, his dad, his mother ,his grand mother and his aunt." Her father motioned towards everyone and introduced them.

She smiled and greeted them with a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards and closely positioned in front of the chest.It was traditional in India to greet people this way.

She sat next to her mother and fixed her gaze on the ground. She didn't want to but she was instructed to not lift her eyes unless she was spoken to. Her mother called this the respectful way of talking to people but she knew real respect was in the heart.

She would occasionally nod and smile at their remarks. They talked about Rahul owning a private consultancy firm, two cars and an apartment.

After what seemed like eternity, they finally got up to leave. Rahul's mother walked towards her and kissed her in the forehead.

"You look beautiful, dear. I know my son's choice is always the best," She said before walking out the door.

Anya looked at her confused. She caught Rahul looking at her who immediately averted his gaze towards her father. Rahul stayed a little longer after his family left. He was finally about to leave when he turned back and hurried towards Anya. Anya took a step back but he caught her hand.

"I don't know if your dad told you this but we've met before. I mean not officially but I've seen you at your aunt's anniversary and," He sighed. " And I just fell for you, you know." He looked straight through her eyes and she didn't blink. "I know you don't believe me and I know this sounds crazy, believe me, this is crazy, I'm crazy, crazy about you." He smiled and she froze.

She realised how handsome he looked. She studied every feature on his face, and they all looked beautiful. She felt something new build inside her, a feeling so new that she wanted to keep feeling.

" I know you're not ready to get married yet and I know you want to study, but if mom didn't have cancer, then I wouldn't have rushed this. I want you to know that when my mom asked me to get married, I honestly couldn't think of anyone else other than you and that's why I approached your father. It's her wish, her last wish to see me get married. Please think of this as a favor, Anya. A favor to me to fulfill a dying mother's wish." He exhaled expecting her to reply but she didn't.

" If there's any way I could convince you, please let me know. I'll be waiting." He released her hand and walked towards the door. She could feel a lot of eyes on her at that moment as she saw her dad follow him to send them off.

" What was that all about?" Ayla mouthed. She didn't respond. Ayla waved her hand in front of Anya's face. "Off to dreamland, huh?" Ayla laughed.

" Huh?" Anya looked at her as if she woke up from a momentary trance.

Ayla burst out laughing. " Seriously, the guy saw you at some place and fell for you? I bet he watched some cheesy Bollywood drama before he waltzed in here."

“Ayla, one more word about your brother in law and I'm going to lose it.” Her mother warned.

“What? He's my brother in law already?” Ayla scoffed and left the room.

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"Which aunt's anniversary ? " Anya asked looking at the mirror, removing her earrings.

" Don't tell me you don't remember." Ayla raised her brows.

" I don't." Anya shrugged.

" Of course you don't. When have you ever cared about boys, you don't even groom yourself well." Ayla complained. She was two years younger to Anya.

" Yes, I do!" Anya protested. " I just don't remember seeing him, that's all." She confessed. “Did you see him?” She raised her brows.

"Aunt Jyothi was raving about him the whole evening to everyone and I mean everyone.” Ayla stressed on the last word. “Next time, keep your eyes and ears open." Ayla mocked

Anya rolled her eyes."Do you think he meant what he said?" Anya turned and looked at her sister. “Ofcourse you don't.” She shook her head.

" What I think or don't think should not be your concern. Please, the guy literally begged you to marry him." She said walking towards Anya. "What does she think?" She said pointing to Anya's reflection on the mirror and Anya blushed.

“There you go, sis.” Ayla winked.

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Anya finally agreed to the proposal after incessant phone calls from Rahul and his mother, not to mention, her parents' pleadings as well. The marriage was scheduled to be on March, as Rahul's mother's condition worsened.

The following weeks went busy in planning the wedding, shopping, choosing the venue, picking out dresses,furnitures and the whole enchilada.

Rahul was absolutely considerate of Anya's choices and wishes with regard to the wedding. Anya was totally impressed by his behaviour and attitude that she actually started liking him.

March 2011, India

The wedding took place as planned on March and Anya had grown very fond of Rahul over the day. She looked stunning and happy that she forgot about her dreams, her dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur in life. She smiled at the cameras and realised that this was the ultimate purpose of life, and everything else were just supporting pillars. She was happy that she got married, happy that it was Rahul.

Eventually everyone liked Rahul, her sister, her relatives, teachers, friends, even their security guard except Anya's best friend.

" He looks like a character from one of those fairy tale books." She had said.

" Why, what do you mean?" Anya asked curiously.

" He just doesn't look real to me, I think he's hiding something and this is all some kind of an act to go with it." She said blatantly.

"Calm down, Rima. What can he possibly hide? It doesn't even make sense. He is the rich guy and he is the one helping dad financially. What can he possibly gain from all this?" Anya questioned.

" I don't know. It doesn't make sense, does it, Anya?” Rima bit her lips.

"Aren't you happy for me?"Anya asked concerned.

"Of course, I am. I'm just looking out for you is all." She smiled and hugged Anya.

Anya thought about this while Rima walked towards the diaz. Rima hugged her and congratulated her.

"You're the most beautiful bride,I've ever seen." Se said brushing a tear from the corner of her eye.

" Thank you, Rima. You're the best friend I ever had."Anya gleamed with happiness.

Rima nodded curtly at Rahul with a smile and left the diaz.

" I think your friend still doesn't approve of me." Rahul whispered into Anya's ears.

"No, she does."Anya said smiling at the cameras.

The wedding ended with lots of rituals and traditional practices, in the evening. Anya left to the groom's house with tears after bidding farewell to her family.

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This is it, she thought. It was their first night together. She was nervous and excited at the same time. She entered their room with a glass of milk in her hand. It was traditional for the wife to drink milk after the husband from the same glass. She could hear her heart pound and could see her hand shake.

She walked slowly, her gaze fixed to the ground and handed the glass to Rahul, who was wearing a dhoti and a shirt. He stood up, taking the glass from Anya and placed it on the table. He lifted her chin and smiled.

" My, my, look at my beautiful wife. " Rahul whispered.

Anya looked away and smiled, her heart was beating even more faster. He took her by her arms and made her sit on the bed. He lifted her right hand and placed his palm over her's.

" They're cold." Rahul chuckled. " Are you nervous, my love?" He asked looking at her.

My love, her heart skipped a beat. She smiled and shook her head.

"I want you to enjoy this as much as I do." He said stroking her hair gently. " So we can do this, whenever you're ready. I don't want to rush things. The day we make love, should be unforgettable because it's the day when our marriage will be fulfilled." He said and arranged the pillows in the bed. "But you might have to act in front of the elders, especially my mom."

Anya smiled and nodded. Her mind was completely blank, no thoughts, no questions.

"And Anya?" He called her. "You can sleep on the bed with me. I guarantee you, your chastity." He chuckled.

That night, she fell in love with him or so she thought.

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