The Agreement

My phone lit up.

It was her. Anushka. My best buddy. We had known each other for 5 or 6 years, not too long. We met at college. We shared the same class. She was insanely pretty. And so clever.
Guess someone else saw it too and well, before the first semester was over, she was in a relationship, That lasted for four years. Insanely long in my P.O.V. We were good friends from start. Then she broke up and then she dated a few guys. And somewhere along the way, we became best buddies.

She would tell me about all these guys at her office and how hot they were. I would tell her about my struggles at home, work and all that stuff. We bonded. She was my coach in many ways. Kinda like a guiding light, you can say.
Then she got a new job in Dubai. She met this guy we knew, Rohith. He was in my same school, college, my senior by an year. And their relationship lasted for two years.

She broke up with him last week. She has been taking it surprisingly well, or so I thought, until I saw her message.

'Wanna get married?'

My mind went into overdrive.

'What?', I replied back, confused.

'Will you marry me?', she asked back.

'Are you crazy?'

'Well that bastard is getting married next year.'

'So?'

'I want to get married before him.'

'So you propose to me? You sure you have the right number?'

'Yes, Dumbass. I want to marry you. Well, Fake Marry you.'

Okay, this was turning into an interesting conversation.

'What?'

'Stop saying that so much.'

'Ok. What?'

'Man just meet me tomorrow at 5. Starbucks near your home.'

'Make it 6. I got work till 5.30'

'Allright'

She went offline after that.

And now I couldn't sleep. What did she mean by all this?

I mean sure, I had developed feelings for her while in college and then briefly during her relationship with Rohith. I had talked to her about it, we were cool. My mom teased me all the time about me falling for her and well, I had stopped catching that bait. That was just to ask me to get married.

I definitely did not want to get married. I valued my privacy and space more than anything.

So, I waited for it to become the next day. I could not sleep. I worked through the day, looking like a zombie. We were going to have to talk for a long time to clear this up.

I reached at 6, on time, another first for me when meeting anyone, at the Starbucks near my home.

She had already reached. And she looked like the bomb.
Cute knee length patterned white dress. White heels. Her usual handbag. So chic.

We went in together. I noticed a lot of people staring at her and then at me. And well, I think the first question that came into their head was,'What does she see in him?' 

Or maybe that was my inferiority complex speaking. I wasn't exactly John Abraham... more like Boman Irani.

We ordered cappuccinos, a cake and a croissant. We found a cozy spot and sat down.

Now, it was time to talk.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she said,'You know about my past. And how it was with Rohith.'

I stared at her blankly.

'I feel real lost now that he walked out of my life. And mom is pressuring at home, that my age is high, I need to get married soon and what not.'

She continued,' I really don't want to bring someone else into my life. I think, you might just be the right person to marry now.'

'But, I don't want to marry. Ever. I am not ready for that sort of commitment to anyone - I mean, it sure is nice when you meet someone for a couple of hours every week or once in a while, but what do you do with someone for a lifetime?'

'I wasn't done.', she said,'I do not want to actually marry you.'

I stared blankly at her. Here were those same words, again.

'Well, have you heard of fake marriages? Marriages that couples get done to avoid their parents and society sitting on their head?'

'I have read about it happening in China or something like that'

'Well, I propose the same thing. Think about this: You and I, in the same house. Separate rooms. We have our own space, like room mates. You don't need to share a bathroom. You have your life, I have mine - like an open marriage. In front of society and our families, we are married. But, deep down, we know, we are not.'

I sat, dumbfounded, for a while. My silence was clearly getting to get as she grew fidgety every passing minute. She kept fidgeting with her cake. It now lay in ruins.

'Do you want to live a life of lies in front of everyone?', I asked, finally speaking what had been in my mind for a while.

'Yes. Anything to get my parents to back off. I am 27 now dude. They are anxious.'

'I am 27 too. I know what you're talking about.'

'Not as much as me. And also, this is great for you too. Your mom is not going to pressure you into marrying if you already are.'

'What kind of logic is that', I asked, laughing.

'Think about it. I have. A lot.', she said.

I did not say anything back, eating my croissant in silence. 

She leaned over and wiped off a few crumbs that were stuck in my beard.

We talked for a while after that, but nothing about this.
While I was walking her back to her car, she said to me, 'Consider what I have said, will you?'

I just nodded.

I couldn't sleep that night either.

What was she proposing? A life of lies, acting in front of family, friends, relatives, colleagues and who else? What about children? What about my life? What about hers?

I was so confused. I looked at the clock. It was 2.

I called her.

'You up?'

'Yeah. What?'

'I wanna meet. Come down.'

I went over to her place and we drove to the beach nearby.

'Do you have any idea what you proposed to me today?'

'I do.'

'You do? Really?'

'Yes.'

'Why this. Why?'

'I...', she paused,'I cannot forget him da. I cannot. I think about him all the time. I am miserable. He is a nice guy too. But we are not- were not compatible. It was hell with him.'

'How do you make this lie believable? People are gonna start expecting kids and it's gonna be rough.'

'Well, we can always have kids without having sex, if that is what you are asking about.'

'Well...'

'Dude. This is a fake marriage. We get married so that everyone get's off our backs. We sign pre-nups so that in case any of us wants a divorce, neither of us has to pay the other anything. We want kids? We have IVF kids using a surrogate. We hire nannies to look after them. We have separate rooms and once the kids come, we can just make two rooms into one and share the room so that it looks like we stay together. You will have to adjust on the couch tho. I'm not letting you get into the bed with me. I can't imagine having to watch your morning wood poking through the sheets. We both work so that we can make a living. You don't have to get me anniversary presents, just birthday presents. Just think of all the freedom you get. Not a real wife, so not gonna poke my head into your business. And you, will also do the same for me.'

I just stared at her. She was an evil genius and she knew it.

And the truth was, I could see some sense in her plan.

I did not tell her that, just that I wanted a few more days to think it through.

I proposed to her in a few days. Things happened so quickly after that, it was all a blur.

Our parents had our stars checked out to see if they matched and everyone was relieved when it did.
Anu was really tensed that this was gonna throw a wrench in her plans.

Our friends, all of them, mutual and close were shocked when we announced our marriage. No one saw this coming.

And suddenly, I was looking at my wedding invitation.

"Anushka weds Sharan"

Wow. That was quick.

And in a month, I was married to my best buddy. It was huge. Our friends came. Our close friends came. Families. Relatives. Our Exes came. Imagine the look of jealousy on my Exes face when she saw Anu. Well, I did not have to imagine, because well, 1. Anu was glowing that day. She was so beautiful. 2. My last Ex did not take a photo with us. Her face was literally green with envy and purple with hate. So, I guess not exactly a good combination.

We met my family lawyer the week after we married. We signed Pre Nups. Even though they are supposed to be signed before the wedding. We thought, well, why not wait until the wedding is over to sign it.

And it was registered and wills were written.


A couple of days after that, we went on our honeymoon. I had always wanted to tour Europe and U.S.A, so that is where we went.
It was a beautiful trip. I acted as her wing-man and she as my wing-woman. We went everywhere as a couple, did a ton of couple activities. We specifically asked for two single beds in the rooms we went to, not that it mattered. Most of the places had been booked by a company that specialized in honeymoon packages and had been a gift from my sisters. They were, naturally, overjoyed that their only brother had finally caved in and accepted marriage after so long of fighting against it.

Things were usually smooth. We had our disagreements. Some days, she had this odd look on her face. I could never read it.

One day, we were hanging out at our hotel pool and she was in this beautiful one piece.
I stared at her and for some reason, my mind said, 'Damn Son. You are one lucky bastard. Look how fine your wife is.'

I caught myself thinking this and I was shocked.

We had agreed not to develop feelings for each other, even though we had agreed that we would tell each other if we did.

I took her aside and talked to her.

'Dude. I think we have a problem'

'What? Let me enjoy my swim.'

'Dude. I think I am developing feelings for you.'

'That's just the bikini working its magic on you. All the alcohol does not help either.', she said.

'Maybe.', I said. I did not want to look like a wimp in front of her.

'Look. You just need to get laid. Let's try hitting the bar tonight, try to find someone for some fun.'

And she went back to swimming.

We went to the bar as promised. Found a beautiful woman. Played the cards right and well, went back to my room with her. This was a separate room we had taken, just for romps like this.

I played all the cards right and while I was deep in her, I came to the realization that this is what my life is going to be like for a long time. I was going to be banging random women as my libido said so.I also realized that she had not had sex for a while either.

I came soon after that. She looked disappointed as she left.
I raced back to our room.

I barged in to find Anu in a robe, eating cake, drinking wine, watching TV and sobbing.

She jumped at my barging in.

'Dude! What the fuck?'

'Sorry. I just had to.'

'Over so soon?'

'It's been over an hour dude'

'Oh yeah. Guess you don't last very long'

'Well, beats eating cake and sobbing at the TV.'

'27 Dresses does that to you, Dumbass.'

'Oh.'

'So? How was it?'

'It was fine. Mind if I join you?'

'Just come here man. All this formality.'

I jumped onto our bed, grabbed the glass of wine she offered me and settled down.

And she snuggled close to me, I realized something.

Maybe, marriage wasn't so hard after all.

I looked down at her. Her hair smelled wonderful.
She was sobbing again. I patted her arm, trying to soothe her. She snuggled closer to me.

It felt amazing.

And then I decided. Tonight was going to be my last fling. My next goal was to make her fall in love with me. And that, was something I am going to do, no matter what happens. Damn the agreement we made. I couldn't care less about it now.