Writings / Fiction: Nirushan Sivagnanasuntharam

Of all couples I knew I’m certain that more than half are unhappy. At least two of my aunts are always bickering with their husbands. Kevin and Daniyal were pushed into matrimony from family and their would-be wives. Sam claims to be happy, but he is a private person and so it is hard to know what is really on his mind. He met his wife Elizabeth the same time I met her, at a summer job we all had working rides at a theme park. Toward the end of the summer they had become a couple. They seemed quite happy then and more so on their wedding for which I served as Sam’s best man. But I know that at that same summer job there was another girl who had first caught first Sam’s attention. I also know that if that girl hadn’t turned him down and if Elizabeth hadn’t pursued him it is highly unlikely they would have ever become a couple. And then there was Roger and Patrick, my coworkers. Never a week goes by when Roger doesn’t confess to me how much he would love to get out of his six year relationship with his girlfriend Sue. Patrick meanwhile has had the same girlfriend for over four years but that doesn’t stop him from pursuing other girls. I wonder how my life might change if I were to marry Sungitha? I’m sure she would want to eventually move into a bigger living space, a house in the suburbs perhaps with newly tiled floors and a basement and two bathrooms and a driveway enough for three cars. My commute into work would be longer, friends would visit less often because of distance and I’d be playing a lot less video games, but then with the larger space I could set up a pool table in the basement and a blue chlorine-filled pool in the backyard.

I’ve started to get emails and messages from people I’ve known and have lost touch with over the years, congratulating me on my upcoming nuptials. One such email even came from Melissa.

Hi Surrendon,

I know I’d said I didn’t want to keep in touch. You’d hurt me and I was really sad and couldn’t stop crying. But something has been bothering me lately and I just had to write to you. I’ve heard that you are getting married? First I need to know, is this true, because I’m still not sure if I believe it. And if it is true, that you’re getting or are married, can you please answer me this: why?

Melissa.

The initial reply I typed out for Melissa was similar to what I’d written to the others: I started by stating that there was no wedding imminent, and explained how I was introduced to a girl named Sungitha through friends of family and that it is still early and that we are not engaged or even boyfriend and girlfriend although we communicate often by phone and email (regular), and in person (occasional).

I saved the email to Melissa in my drafts folder in case I wanted to make to make any additions, in particular a request to meet in the coming days for dinner or coffee. I’d always assumed that she wanted nothing to do with me after our breakup, but after her email I could not help but think that maybe her mind was now in a different place. It has after all been over a year since we broke up, surely that was a long enough time for a girl’s heart to mend, especially in light of this recent and not insignificant development in my life. Then I sat back in my chair, my hands clasped behind my head with elbows out and eyes looking out the window, and thought: Why does everybody assume I’m getting married to Sungitha? I sent my email to Melissa with a request to meet for coffee and went to bed. When I woke up the next morning I found her angry response in my inbox:

Why are you so eager to meet with me huh? You are supposed to marry this other chic. What do you want to do, marry her and keep me on the side? I’m sorry but I’m not going for that arrangement. You can’t have you cake and eat it too. Don’t bother me again you got that you asshole?

I didn’t take offense to this email as I knew Melissa was known for sometimes responding in a rash manner and was often sorry after. Although the circumstances were much different this time around, I was sure it would be just a matter of time before I would hear from her again with an apology.

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