Life ahead

On Monday Reema returned to her weekly routine. She was back in office. Her eyes were puffy. She looked visibly distressed. She tried to act normal. At that moment she was glad that her global team worked at different locations than her own.

The weekend had been a disaster. After the dinner Reema went to her room. She wanted to cry herself to sleep. Her mother followed her to convince her that everything they had done was in her best interest. While leaving she made anothet heart wrenching remark, "enjoy your last few days in this home. Very soon you will return as a visitor". Reema felt that she was among strangers and not her own family. She felt suffocated.

Next day she was forced to meet the man. She met him with no interest. She barely spoke with him. She came home with a rejection that elevated her mood just a bit. However the atmosphere at her home had shifted. Her parents were upset, "he was such a good man. How could you be so immature? You could have spoken well to him".
"I did speak well. Besides I did not like him one bit. He was too domineering," Reema responded.
"You realised in one meeting that he was domineering? You are so intelligent. We would have loved to see this intelligence in your exams," her mother made another sarcastic remark that felt like a stab to heart.
"You realised that he was a good man even without meeting him. You guys are way smarter than me", Reema was angry enough not to hold back.
"You are ruining your life, Reema. You cannot have this attitude while getting married. Learn to be courteous," her father warned her.
"This is all because of that big city job. We should not have allowed you to take it," her mother found a way to blame her job.
"Enough now. Reema I need you to understand your parents are doing this for you. They want you to be happy. All of us are getting old and we want to see you get married," her grandfather inserted himself in the conversation. Though he portrayed himself to be on her side but she knew he was with her parents.
"This is just so cruel. You want me to blame me for everything just because I did not like the man you selected. You all are angry because you realised that you cannot control my life. Not even once you tried to understand my side of the story. But you decided to stand by an unknown man whose photo you have seen. You want me to believe that you want me to see happy. I see it the other way," Reema broke down in tears.

Reema felt uneasy staying under the same roof where her parents had turned against her. Reema packed her bag and decided to return to the city. At that moment she needed to calm down and she knew that the city will give her the peace.

At least the city would not force her to do anything that she did not want.