VOID

29th August 2021; Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

04:39 p.m.

Prabhas was perched on his bean bag, reading, and occasionally popping dates into his mouth.

He had returned home, slept soundly for a while, and had woken up when his mom came up to have one of her conversations with him. This was a practice at home, whenever he had a day off, she'd learn all about his work and advise him on many things he was oblivious to.

Oh how he loved her.

She had been a tad too silent today, contemplating on something unknown to him. And though he had a vague idea what that was about, he chose not to question her.

She then told him to be extremely careful of his health and his work management, and mainly, she reminded him her motto; "Never forget your roots".

He smiled, his mother was such a headstrong woman, and was the person who brought him down to earth, whenever he flew high in his successes. He was known to be a humble man, but no, he knew he naturally wasn't that. His mother's continuous mentoring had made him so. 

She never let success go to his head.

She had simply smiled and had kissed his forehead before heading back down, her pride for her child in her heart, than in her habits.

She was the ultimate epitome of humbleness. 

He buried his nose in his book, and for some reason, Sweety's words were on loop in his mind.

"I haven't seen you read in a really long time."

Prabhas sat up. He was uncomfortable.

He couldn't comprehend this sudden phase of change he was going through. His goofiness was going down, his principles were changing, he kept thinking about his future for no apparent reason, and was unexpectedly intimidated by Sweety.

It must've happened recently, he didn't know when. He had been a person who congratulated people, not a person who idolized others.

He was more of a colleague than a fan. He appreciated talent and preferred getting appreciated for his hard work.

He wasn't comfortable with being idolized and celebrated either.

But lately, he had actually started idolizing Sweety, he had watched a couple of movies from the mid 2000s, and very weirdly, he had felt awkward to see certain movies promoting the waist lines and midriffs of the female leads.

Even he had been in such movies, but till date it was a job and he didn't feel the cringe. But right now, he was embarrassed.

He had watched two films of Sweety's, and he couldn't stand it when it was all about her body, and not her talent.

Then Arundhati  had happened.

He had been there, in 2009, when the whole industry had been blown off with Sweety's performance.

Many of his colleagues were crushing on her, tweeting about her, singing bhajans of praise about her.

He had simply called and congratulated.

But now, he felt like he would blow a whistle at her entry, shout out at the high octane action sequences, post stories about her brilliance on screen.

He was fanboying over his bestie. After a decade. For no reason.

He face palmed.

Such a brilliant way to spend his day off.

Fed up with his thoughts, he went down, to his garden, his safe haven, he could do with some digging and planting for now.

05:38 p.m.

When he returned with muddy hands and soil all over his shorts, Prabhas was quite shocked to see his mother getting ready to go out.

"Amma, heading somewhere?" He asked, scrubbing his hands clean.

"Going to meet someone" she replied, with a warm smile.

He was having a woah moment right there.

His mother RARELY went out to meet people. And never this energetically. She wasn't a person who spoke a lot either. What was she up to?

After she had left, he went upstairs to his gym, and began working out, given that he had nothing else to do.

It was almost an hour later, when he was leaving his gym, his cousin called.

"Yo bro" she spoke, with a mischievous tint to her voice.

"What's up P?" he asked, chugging a whole bottle of water in one go.

"Should I get my outfits from Sabyasachi's?" She asked with a subtle giggle.

"What's with everyone and Sabyasachi's? Are y'all getting paid to get married or what?" He asked, this was the second time he was hearing about designer clothes in the same day.

"Who's getting paid to marry who Annaya?" She returned his question with a smirk.

"Cut to the point. Why are you asking me, of all people, to get outfits for some event?" He asked her, he was losing interest.

"Didn't you hear or what?" She asked him, discomfort evident in her tone.

"Spill" he said, and settled on his hammock, by the balcony, breeze ruffling through his sweaty hair. He was yearning for a hot shower.

"Okay, they've found you a bride" she sighed.

"OH" he said and went silent for a moment.

"Bro?" She was feeling very uncomfortable, she hated being the one to break this to him. He should've heard it from the elders.

"So this was what Amma was up to?" He asked her, his voice dangerously low.

"Yeah, I guess so?" She was not certain.

"LMFAO" he snorted and started guffawing like crazy.

She was very perplexed now. Had he tipped over? Gone bonkers? Finally?

"You dumbass, of course she must've gone to meet someone regarding marriage" he still kept on laughing.

His cousin had confirmed that his mental health was gone.

"Bro you good?" She asked him meekly.

He calmed down and said, "Why do you sound so guilty P? Yes, I didn't realize mom was out to plan my marriage, but then, why shouldn't she? Everyone's been looking for a bride all this time right? I'll be 42 in a few months and this shouldn't be a surprise."

She smiled. She was always in awe of the respect he had for his family. He would always be unparalleled in that field.

"Sorry for breaking it to you like this Annaya" her apology was genuine.

"It's fine idiot, chill. And you can wear whatever you want, y'all can turn up in your PJs and I wouldn't mind" he told her, to which she laughed and hung up.

He headed to his room, for the much needed shower.

Only one thought kept running through his brain the whole time, 

Would he be good enough, a perfect husband, and a better half, to this woman his family had chosen?

Note: 'Annaya' & 'Amma' are Telugu phrases used to address an elder brother and mother, respectively.

:)