He doesn't understand, of course!

Here are a few lines from my upcoming novel 'You're stuck with me for life!'

Neeti is on a road-trip with her husband on their first wedding anniversary. Things are not going as she had hoped.

Neeti:

As the sun sets on the evening of our first wedding anniversary we are not gazing at the Taj Mahal together, real or replica. We are sitting in our broken-down car being towed into Kota city by a very questionable-looking van with a very scary-looking crew. We are moving very slowly, keeping to the leftmost lane.  As we approach the city, I can see the bright tail-lights of more and more cars ahead of us. Suddenly, my phone begins to ring. It’s my mother. 

“Hello.” I say in a measured tone as I pick up the phone.

“How are you beta?”, asks Maa, “Have you reached Kota? Have you checked-in at the hotel?”

She sounds quite tense.

“Yes Maa. We have reached Kota. We are right outside the hotel.” I lie.

No point in adding to her stress. 

I look towards Ronit. He glances at me with a questioning look on his face.

“Was the journey comfortable?” Maa goes on.

“Yes, it was very comfortable. Achha, Maa, I need to go and check into the hotel now. Can I call you later?” I say, wanting to bring the conversation to a quick end.

Lying to my mother is not easy for me.

“Yes of course beta. Take care.” she says.

I cut the call.

“It was Maa. I didn’t want to worry her.” I tell Ronit.

“What’s the big deal?” He asks “I told Amma and Baba everything. Why lie?”

He doesn’t understand, of course.