Chapter 11: chapter 11

Arnab,was deep in thought. It had been a strange day not to say an interesting evening.His mother had grilled him about his time with Mowri,but he had refused to divulge any information and then his father had stepped in asking Sarla to give him some space. She had. Later when he had told them he wantedto meet her again his mother had beenecstatic. She had called beeji and arranged for them to meet the next day at some coffee shop. She had been all smiles after that. Hisfather had been exasperated with his wife's enthusiasm. They had had dinner together and Jay had teased him about Amrit. Arnab,had initially thought to ask his parents about Amrit's past but then had decided to give her time to open up to him and tell him all on her own. Maybe it would take time but it was worth the wait.Coming back to the present he was feeling uneasy. The last time he had married he had been happy, looking forward to his life with Natasha. He had been in love with her. But this time if he decided to get married it wouldbe more for his family's sake. For somereason he couldn't help but compare the two.Nisha,had been beautiful she had been a beauty queen for God's sake. Delicate almost flower like and her personality had matched her physical attributes or so he had thought before she had changed. Maybe she had always been that way wilful, arogant,and proud. But when he had been in love he had never seen this aspect of hers. Or maybe he had ignored it. With that kind of beauty who wouldn't be proud. But her pride had bordered on vanity. Her voice had been very sweet with a tinkling quality. It was only later much later he had realizedhow irritating it was. That childlike quality he had found attractive became grating to his nerves. Her  self-centeredness becameunbearable. But the turning point in their two year marriage had been her deceit, her lies and her final betrayal. That was when he had decided he had had enough and they had parted ways.Mowri,on the other hand was not a classic beauty. It was more of her personality that was attractive not her looks. Even her perspective on things. She was much more levelheaded and clear in what she wanted out of life and if she was to enter into a relationship with him what she wanted outof that. There were still some concerns that needed to be addressed and he hoped to do that tomorrow. She had a strong character there was nothing shallow about her. And she was witty, sarcastic too but he had enjoyed her company. Though her past wasstill a secret but after her initial reaction to his status she had relatively calmed down. In fact she had made it a point to not consider that as an issue for her acceptance or denialof his proposal. He had to give it to the girl she was very unassuming. He smiled when he remembered her comment on how to make the most of his experience with a non-smiling girl. There was nothing fragile about her she was pretty solid and verygrounded. An exact opposite of what Nisha,had been.He sighed. He was so lost in his thoughts he never heard Jay come in."Thinking bro," he asked.Arnab,turned to look at his brother who had made himself comfortable on his bed."I thought you were sleeping," Arnab,said."I had thought that too then I thought maybe you would need my expert advice so I came to check," he said jokingly."Your advice," Arnab,said with his armsacross his chest, "I will take it the day I lose my mind. Till then thanks," he said."You know being the youngest in the family is no fun at all," Jay said, "no one takes you seriously." he complained."Okay" Arnab,said and walked to the bed and stood there looking at his brother who was now lying on his back looking at the ceiling, "so what would you advice me to do?"he asked."Seriously." Jay asked.And Arnab,nodded."You should say yes," he said seriously,"barring what she was wearing she really needs to have a wardrobe revamp, you yourself said that even after knowing the truth about you she did not judge you. Tell me, in all the girls you have met one personwho didn't judge you over that," he asked,"tell me honestly," he said and sat up crossing his legs."Jay, it is not that simple," Arnab,said a little reluctantly, "I know what you are saying and I really respect her for her thoughts and am grateful she didn't judge me on my past but there are so many other things that need tobe measured too," he said."Look bhai," Jay said, "not a lot of girls are clear with what they want in life or how they think," he said, "so when you meet one trust me you say 'I do' or keep searching. They are so rare and far in between you wouldn't findanother for the next five years," he said."Thanks for the advice Jay." Arnab,saidknowing full well what his brother wastelling him, "I really appreciate it and I will have a decision by tomorrow any way," he said."Suit yourself," Jay said and shrugged getting up, "sleep over it. I love you bhai and I want you to be happy just like everyone else so choose wisely," he said, "had I been in your place I would have said yes but my reasonswould have been different," he said and smiled slyly."And what would they have been," Arnab,asked with a mock frown."Well, at least I would have boasted that I was surounded by beautiful sister in laws," he joked."That is the last reason why anybody should say yes," Arnab,said shaking his head."Yeah I know besides it was a joke," Jay said seriously."Is there a particular one you have taken interest to," he asked."Maybe," Jay said then shrugged, "but that is irrelevant. Think about what I suggested earlier," he said and then hugging Arnab,left.Arnab,thought over what he had said and he couldn't agree more. You did not find a girl like Amrit. They were rare. He raked a hand through his hair. This was a big decision andhe didn't want to end up regretting it. After all he was a classic case of once bitten twice shy.***************