Complete the story: I looked at her face; it had hard work written all over ...

THE PROPOSAL

I looked at her face; it had hard work written all over. Her name was Mages. It was obvious to me that she had gone through a lot in life. She was about 25 years old and looked as if she was ten years older. I understood the reason immediately. She had worked hard for the family that her father and mother had left behind. Both of them had been killed in a road accident when she was only 15 years old. Her two brothers and sister had been in school at the time. Being the eldest Mages had to leave school and go to work in order to bring them up. She had worked hard and her two brothers were now engineers and her sister was a lawyer.

I looked at my mother beside me and she shook her head. It was obvious that she did not approve of the match. She had always wanted a beautiful daughter-in-law and Mages was far from that. The matchmaker talked incessantly. He was in it for the business. If I agreed to marry the girl, he would be handsomely rewarded – by both parties. He pointed out all the bride’s good qualities and kept asking her brothers questions, as if he did not know the answers. The point was that he knew everything about the bride. He was asking questions in order to highlight the bride’s good points.

My mother cut him short, ”We’ll leave now, and give our answer later,” she announced curtly. It was obvious to all present that she did not approve. She had not touched any of the sweets placed in front of her; a sure sign that she was not happy. I followed her to the lift with the matchmaker tagging behind still talking. At the lift she turned on him with a look of disapproval. “I think my son deserves better,” she said conclusively. Then she looked at me for approval for what she had just said. I sighed and then said, “Will you stop looking for a bride for me and let me choose my own?”

She seemed surprise at what I had said. “Of course, Ramu. Your happiness is my happiness.”

“You are sure?”

“Yes, I am. You can marry anyone you want to.” Then she turned to the lift, “The lift is here, let’s go,” she said. I did not answer but turned and walked back to Mages’s flat.

“Ramu, Ramu,” she called after me, but I kept walking. She kept calling out to me and then followed meekly. With exactly 23 steps we stood before the apartment again. I rang the door bell. By now my mother was silent. Only the matchmaker was still talking and my mother shut him up with one of her ice-cold stares.

The door opened immediately and one of the engineers stood there with a puzzled expression on his face. “Come in,” he said in a shaky voice and opened the door.

I stepped in. “I want to talk to your sister, Mages,” I said firmly.

Mages emerged from the kitchen to see what was happening. I was surprised that she had changed her clothes so fast. She was now dressed in a house coat. smiled and looked straight into her puzzled eyes.Throwing all conventions and customs to the winds I said,”I love you, Mages, will you marry me?”

She did not answer; she just flashed a smile and ran into her room. I looked around at the stunned faces. ”What’s wrong? Haven’t you people ever heard a marriage proposal before?” I said casually.

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