"If you're done looking at the directions, let's go inside," came a deep, bass voice. When I looked at him, he was glaring at me angrily. "Oh God, how did you create this human? He never smiles and always looks like he's burning with anger," I thought to myself, and said, "Ah, sir, let's go."
As he grabbed my hand and took a step inside the threshold, a woman's deep voice called out, "Stop right there!" I instinctively took a step back in fear, but he remained frozen in the exact same position, without moving an inch.
Frightened, I lowered my head and started twisting my hands together, when he said in his deep voice, "Mom, what is this?"
"I'm not talking to you, my dear son . Look here, I need to talk to this girl you brought," she said, looking right at me. "Hey girl, lift your head up," she commanded in her deep voice.
Immediately, out of fear, I raised my head. Standing right in front of me was a woman of about 35 years old, looking as gorgeous as Goddess Lakshmi, dressed in a saree, but wearing an angry expression. She was his mother.
"What is this, girl? Why are you staring at me like that? Are you trying to trap him in your net? Wasn't it enough that you caught my son in your web? Are you plotting to become the daughter-in-law of this house and the queen of all this wealth?" she asked angrily.
As soon as those words left her mouth, I couldn't hold back my tears—they just kept flowing whether I wanted them to or not.
"Mom, what is this? That's enough now," he said.
"Swapna, that's enough. It's not right to make the future daughter-in-law of our house cry like this. Look how poor Hasini is crying!" said Devendra sir—the former CEO and our chairman, who is that guy's father—walking up beside Swapna madam, dressed in a kurta-pajama.
Then this madam looked at me with an intense, angry glare and asked, "What, did you get scared?"
I had no idea what to say. With tears streaming down my face, I couldn't even nod yes or no; I just kept staring at her. Suddenly, she burst into a loud laugh, as if she had gone crazy. Not understanding anything at all, I looked at this human beside me, and he was just looking at me with a side-smile.
"Oh God, what kind of punishment is this for me? Why, oh why, did you drop me right in the middle of these weirdos?" I thought to myself, keeping my head bowed down in fear.
"My dear Hasini, look at me just once, child," she said softly, lifting my chin up. This time, Madam was calling me gently and looking at me with a warm smile.
"Did you get scared, my dear? Forgive me, , I just wanted to tease you a little bit for fun, that's all. Besides, don't I know all about you? Your Devendra sir, my husband, is always talking about your goodness. Any house that gets a daughter-in-law like you is truly blessed, and my husband and I always used to talk about how that home would stay filled with joy forever. But because of this sudden surprise our dear son gave us, we realized that we are those lucky ones," she told me with a smile.
"That's right, Hasini! Your goodness, your perfection at work—everything about you is just so flawless, my child. Especially your playful nature and your words; not just me, everyone in our company is a fan of yours!" Devendra sir said, looking at Swapna madam and adding, "Right, Swapna? Am I right?"
Swapna madam smiled back and said, "Of course, exactly right."
I honestly couldn't make sense of anything. It felt like I was watching a 2D, 3D, and all-D movie all at the exact same time.