People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

 Isaac Asimov 

Chapter 29: Red Tomato

   The car ride was once again silent.

   Madhan kept fidgeting, trying to find the right words to say, but everything seemed so wrong.

   "Do you want to marry her," Riya asked, breaking the silence. They were waiting at a signal. She saw a family crossing the street. A family of three, a mother, father, and a little son of three years. Was there no chance of her starting a family with Madhan? It was something that didn't alarm her anymore. She knew when the time was right, they would be as happy as that family. When the time was right. It appeared so bleak at the moment.

   "I uh-" Madhan stammered.

   No! his heart screamed.

   His mind tells him otherwise.

   Riya honked the moment the signal turned green. It startled Madhan, and she received a few dirty looks from the other drivers. She accelerated a bit too quickly, making Madhan hit the front dashboard as she slowed down.

   "Yes, or no," she asked, again, looking at Madhan this time.

   "No." When pressured, it was the heart that always speaks.

   "Okay, will you marry her, though? Yes or no?"

   "No."

   "She asked me to convince you to marry her. I don't want to be guilty of splitting you two up because of my selfishness," she said. As she slowed down and took a left into her apartment, she spoke up once again. "I've asked her for six months. I intend to keep my part of the deal. I expect you to, as well. After that, you're free to d-" Riya was stopped by Madhan, who covered her mouth with his right palm.

   Riya switched off the car after she expertly drove it into a narrow parking spot. She turned to look at him, her mouth still covered.

   Madhan leaned towards her, inching closer so that his eyes leveled with Riya's.

   "I promised you that we would never bring up the topic of the word that must never be mentioned again. I promised you many things, Riya. And I intend to keep it. I'm going to sort things out now. Please trust me. I need to see it for myself. I really can't believe it. Especially because I l-" he stopped himself just in time. He leaned even further, kissed her forehead and got out of the car.

   "You go on ahead. I'll meet you for lunch. We have a deal, remember that." He winked and walked towards the opposite side of the apartment.

   Riya watched his gait from the back. It appeared to be more confident than it used to. When Riya admitted it to herself, it surprised her that she didn't mind him kissing her. The forehead, she corrected herself. She rather felt comforted, and it was what she needed the most.

   "Madhan, I really hope you keep your promises," she whispered to no one and got out of her car.

   Riya's mood improved tremendously when she entered the kitchen. She remembered wanting to impress Madhan with her newly learned dishes. She, after all, didn't have anyone to share it with. Right now, all she wanted to do was forget everything that happened. She would brace the inevitable only when she needed to.

   Riya checked the fridge for ingredients. There were plenty of vegetables and fruits. While trying to decide what to cook, she realized she needed a proper plan.

   She surfed the web for optimized vegetarian diet plans and made a rough plan of what to cook weekly. She noted down the ingredients that were required and checked out the recipes of the items she didn't know.

   Once her last plan was drafted, she set out to cook something spectacular for lunch. Half an hour later, she smiled at her effort. She hoped it would pay off. It was now time to plan what is was she really wanted to do in life. 

   Meanwhile, Madhan was walking towards Armaan's apartment. He got out of the lift and jogged towards his door, but stopped when he heard some bickering. Sheila was sobbing, and Armaan was shouting something.

   He pressed his ear towards the door to hear the conversation more clearly.

   "Sheila, stop crying. Just tell me what really happened." Armaan appeared very agitated. "I spoke to the nurse, and she told me you have the papers, and she also told me she was very sorry. What the hell was that about?"

   Sheila broke into even heavier sobs. "Iswitchedthepapers.youarethedad."

   "What?"

   "I switched the papers. Madhan isn't the father. You are."

   "Why the hell would you switch the papers? Can't you just tell me?"

   "If he was the father, he said he would marry me. I tried so hard, and I can't give it up now."

   "Yes, you can, Sheila."

   "See? This is the problem! You aren't shocked that you are going to have a kid. You don't even care! You are keener on getting me to tell Madhan the truth."

   "I'm shocked. But we can't do this to Madhan. How can you even think of wrecking his marriage?"

   "I love him." she whispered.

   Madhan was stumped. She what? How could he have been so blind? Everything made sense now.

   Apparently, everything made sense to Armaan as well.

   Armaan slapped his forehead. "How could I have been so dumb?" he groaned.

   Sheila's sobs reduced as Armaan cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears.

   "I'm not going to lie. I don't love you. I'd no intention of getting children now. But we can't do this to Riya and Madhan. I'm dismayed that you even thought of wrecking their marriage. But I'm sure of this, Sheila." He ran into his room and took out a little box.

   "Marry me," he said, kneeling down in front of her, and opened the box.

   Sheila's sobs quietened.

   "That has to be the worst proposal ever, so no," she said, eying the empty box. She smiled a little, however.

   "Okay, how about this. Sheila, we slept together once, and we knew at that moment things wouldn't work out. But here we are. If Madhan and Riya can make it, so can we. Besides, I'm more charming," he winked, but his face was just as serious.

   Sheila completely stopped crying. "We need to work on your proposal mister," she said, tapping him on the nose. "But I'll play along. So yes, Armaan Rajput, I will marry you."

   Sheila bent down to kiss him. She broke apart and stared into his eyes. "Thank you," she said.

   Armaan stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Of course, Mrs. Rajput." He was about to bend down to kiss her again when he saw the door open, and Madhan fell flat on his face. He couldn't hear the conversation. Unfortunately, the door was unlocked when he pushed his ear even further to the door.

   Madhan, turning red as a tomato, looked up from the floor, and said quite sheepishly, "Uh Hi!"

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