VOID

21st September 2021; Mangalore, Karnataka.

02:54 a.m.

"How do I ask her?!" Prabhas exclaimed, worry lines across his forehead.

"Simply ask her if she's happy with the alliance" Sweety replied, smiling at his concern.

It had been two weeks since Prabhas had first met Apsara, and he still couldn't stop gushing over her brilliance.

They met up way too often for a new pair, and it was cute, the way Apsara treated him, and the way he held her so high in respect.

He had fallen hard, and now was trying to chicken out, from asking Apsara if she would actually marry him.

"I don't think I can" he muttered through the phone, to which Sweety smirked.

"Then don't" she replied, "even if you don't ask, your family will marry her off to you."

She knew he didn't want that.

Prabhas was one of a kind, he was adamant that he had to personally propose, and ask his would be wife, if she was actually okay with marrying him.

He would never be satisfied with two families shipping a man and a woman together, for the sake of getting married.

Apsara was perfect for him, Sweety mused, they were having so much fun together.

If Prabhas had come forward and decided she was the one, in merely two weeks, then Apsara must be the one!

But Sweety had this small nagging doubt, in the back of her head, she hoped he wasn't being spontaneous like he always was.

He wouldn't be strong enough to handle things, if anything unfortunately went wrong.

Pushing this disturbing thought away, she told him to ask her out like he usually did, and propose in a way Apsara would be touched emotionally.

A woman looks for an equal in her husband, Sweety reminded him, not a superior personality with the leadership syndrome.

He went silent for a minute, processing what she had said, and then, "I don't know" he muttered, "I don't know how she'd liked to be proposed."

Sweety's doubts resurfaced, to her dismay, refusing to leave her mind.

"Pubsu?" She asked him silently, "are you heading too fast?"

Prabhas' world stopped for a whole moment, when her words actually made an impact.

But then, he switched back to normal immediately, "No I'm not, I'm just confused, I can picture how she'd want to be proposed but my nerves are getting the better of me."

For some reason, it sounded more like an excuse than a valid reason, to Sweety.

She tried her best not to worry unnecessarily, and failed miserably.

She kept getting a negative vibe about him not knowing enough about Apsara, her subconscious repeatedly kept saying that this was going to be a disaster.

She shut her brain down with effort, and told him he should figure this out carefully and do it properly. She couldn't keep talking to him more, she didn't want him to realize her weariness.

She didn't want him to think she was against this.

She hung up and went back to her room, she needed to sleep to get this over with.

*

22nd September 2021; Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

08:41 p.m.

"How about dinner?" Apsara asked Prabhas, she had come over at his insistence, his mother desperately wanted to see how well they synced.

Not much yet, he knew, but they were still learning about each other.

He wasn't worried about this as much as Sweety, of course he had heard the weariness in her voice.

But he knew better than to blame her, Sweety had been genuinely concerned for him. He trusted her enough to not be stupid.

He nodded yes to Apsara, he loved going out to dinner with her.

She smiled at him innocently, a sweet pure smile, which distracted him for a moment from his askew thoughts.

He came back to reality when his mother knocked, she wanted to know if they'd be eating at home.

He opened the door, and let his mother in, smiling as she looked so eager to see what was happening.

He was amused at his mother's excitement, she couldn't be happy enough that he was finally getting hitched.

He stood there, by the door, watching his mother conversing with Apsara, patting her cheek and hair, looking at her with so much unidentified love, that his heart literally broke for his mother.

He hadn't realized till then, how much his mother had gone through, over the years, with his pending marriage.

"Son, are you two going out?" She asked him with gleeful eyes.

"Yeah" he replied, still tongue tied with sudden emotions.

"We're going to have Italian aunty" Apsara piped in, she could see how restless he was.

"Nice, make sure to be careful and have fun" his mother replied and ruffled his hair, to which Apsara smiled.

At that moment, Prabhas felt that something was out of place, something was wrong.

He couldn't feel that Apsara would be standing beside him for long, he couldn't see her in his future, beside him. He suddenly felt empty, he was questioning where his life was headed.

He was astounded at this revelation.

But then, his mother and Apsara both smiled at him, and Apsara walked over to stand beside him.

When his mother looked at them both with those eyes, the worry subsided in Prabhas' mind.

Maybe this was actually meant to be.

Concluding that his nerves were messing up his thoughts, he followed Apsara to his garage, and soon, they were zooming past the night lights, giggling at random jokes.

Half an hour later, Apsara looked at him while he dug into his pasta hungrily. She couldn't help notice his distracted face.

Prabhas looked up, to find her staring at him questionably, he couldn't figure out if she knew, she could predict things so easily.

"Are you okay?" She voiced her question, to which he didn't reply immediately.

"I hope I am" he couldn't bring himself to tell her everything, his mind and heart held back together.

"Will it help if I tell you it'll be fine?" She asked with an innocent smile. It helped him at that moment, he lost his worry and felt like patting her head.

He smiled and continued with his pasta, his hunger wouldn't die down in any situation.

Nothing ever lasts, if it wasn't meant to be :)