by KASI, MV
Later that night Samrat told his parents about his relationship with Mahi. They were surprised, but happy that he had opened his heart again to let someone into his life. They did make some comments about marriage and grandchildren, for which he promptly replied that he was still trying to woo Mahi.
He told his mother briefly about her abusive husband and also about how she lost a son when he was four years old. His mother sympathized with Mahi and asked him to not push her too much if she wasn't willing.
CHAPTER 23
Ananya was having the most horrible week ever. Two weeks ago her brother unpleasantly surprised her about his serious relationship with Mahi. Although she didn't hate Mahi like she did during their college days, she still found her to be a painful reminder on what was wrong with her own marriage.
And adding to the misery, Disha had sent her a message three days ago that she had seen Sidhu come out from someone's house very early in the morning along with a strange woman looking disheveled.
She would never suspect Sidhu of cheating on her, but she had probably pushed him to his limits. It had been almost close to five weeks since she had left Sidhu and their home, it was the longest they had been apart without having any intimacy. Maybe any man would be driven to cheat their irrational spouses who gave them a green signal to do so with their blessing. Sidhu had been visiting that house often according to Disha, who lived in the same gated community as Anita.
Letting go of her pride, she followed Sidhu the previous day and saw him enter the house just like Disha had informed her and saw a woman along with him. Even though she more or less caught him entering that house red-handed, she didn't confront him that day. She drove back home with a broken heart.
She was crushed and then outraged. She was outraged that he had given up on their marriage so easily and moved on. Sure he called her multiple times a day these past five weeks and she didn't answer his calls, but she wanted him to fight harder. Make her feel that she was worth it and make her feel that he wanted her.
"I'll kill him!" she choked on the phone while talking to Disha and her friends, who had eventually sympathized with her from the past three days. Before that, they called her silly and overdramatic for leaving Sidhu.
"Take some deep breaths and listen Anu. In through the nose and out from the mouth," they instructed through the speaker phone.
"You have got to confront him and demand him for answers," suggested Disha.
That morning Ananya was going to confront Sidhu once and for all. She would demand answers and maybe bring their never ending limbo to a resolution.
As she went towards the dining table, she saw that Mahi was already there with Samrat making disgustingly mushy expressions at each other.
In the past two weeks, Mahi had badgered her to form a somewhat reluctant friendship of sorts. She still didn't like Mahi like a best friend or anything, but for her brother's sake she extended that olive branch. And Mahi being Mahi, grabbed the branch and then sat on the tree, refusing to let go.
Mahi had been pretty good with Srishti as well. For some reason Srishti behaved very differently when Mahi was around, she behaved like the sweet little girl that she used be before all the tensions at home began. Srishti had spent a few days and weekends with her and they spent some quality mother-daughter time strengthening their bond.
Mahi often ate dinner with them. Last week something memorable had happened. Mahi had made her break a long term self-imposed restriction.
"Hey Ananya, you would like to try some of these and give me your feedback? I made my special ground chicken potstickers," Mahi asked her when she joined her brother and Mahi for dinner.
"I don't eat non-vegetarian food," she replied, staring longingly at them since they smelled very good.
Mahi looked thoughtful. "Really? That's strange, Samrat eats meat like it's nobody's business," she said looking affectionately towards him.
She fidgeted a little, seeing Mahi and her brother together. Although she hadn't caught them doing anything in front of her, she could not miss seeing some faint marks on Mahi's neck that were clearly hickies. She wasn't a naive fool to think that their relationship was platonic.
"I gave up eating non-veg food when I got married," she replied irritably.
"Wait. Sidhu made you give up meat? That doesn't sound like him. I literally used to try and order only meat dishes during college because those were the only things he wouldn't grab and eat from me," said Mahi with a frown.
Immediately Mahi's expression changed as though she realized that maybe a reminder of Mahi's and Sidhu's past relationship wasn't the best idea.
But she wasn't upset by the reference, and had seen Mahi and Sidhu at their college cafeteria often to know they shared their food. That had been more than nearly fifteen years ago.
"No. Sidhu didn't ask me to. I offered to do so, on my own," she said.
Mahi and Samrat looked at each other briefly.
"Oookayyy then. But hey since you are pissed at him, would you like to try some?" asked Mahi, tempting her by literally waving a fork with a potsticker on it under her nose.
She bit her lips and hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out for one and taking a bite. The hot, spicy and slightly chewy potsticker literally melted in her mouth and she felt so good. While the potsticker was tasty enough, she felt overwhelmed with happiness by the fact that she was able to break her self-imposed restrictions that wasn't even demanded in the first place.
Ananya shook her head at the memory and focused on that morning's mission.
"Hey Ananya. What's the occasion? You're dressed to kill this morning in your sexy sari," commented Mahi, grinning.
She ignored Mahi's comment about her attire, since she was embarrassed that she deliberately wore the sari knowing Sidhu went crazy whenever he saw her in low cut sleeveless blouses with chiffon saris. "No occasion. Just meeting some friends for lunch later," she said and greeted her brother.
"Then why do you look angry?" Mahi asked.
"I'm not angry," she said, sounding angry.
Mahi had a thoughtful expression and then smiled. "You are meeting Sidhu today, aren't you?"
She was annoyed at Mahi's deduction, which was accurate. When she got back from following Sidhu, she had spoken on her speaker phone to her friends from the living room because she was bent over on the sofa taking deep breaths through her mouth. Mahi could hear her from the dining room and asked her about it.
She had been too overwrought and confessed about what Sidhu had done. As usual Mahi scoffed her concerns away and told her that Sidhu loved his wife deeply.
"Anu, are you finally getting back together with Sidhu?" asked her brother, smiling.
Most of his happiness must stem from the fact that he was imagining having the house to himself and Mahi. Even though they had announced that they were in a relationship, Mahi didn't spend the nights in her brother's home. They spent all of them at Mahi's home. She found that somewhat sweet.
"No. I'm not getting back with Sidhu. I-I caught him cheating on me. I'm confronting him today to demand some answers."
"You caught him cheating? How?" her brother asked with a frown.
"Ananya followed her husband yesterday like a stalker,” said Mahi, smiling wryly.
“Like I had a choice.” Her tone sounded defensive.
“Yeah, good point. Simply talking or asking Sidhu would have been wa-a-y too complicated,” said Mahi, earning a scowl from her.
But Mahi grinned at the scowl. "God! Both you and your brother have the same matching scowls," she said and earned a mock scowl from her brother.
*****
After breakfast, Ananya drove to the house where Disha had confirmed again that Sidhu's car was parked outside.
She rang the bell and waited for it to be answered. She was surprised when the door was opened in just a few seconds, since she had thought that the occupants would be too busy to answer right away.
Sidhu stood at the door, watching her with
a hungry expression before dragging her inside and closing the door. She was furious at him and his betrayal and attacked him in blind rage.
When he caught her, he hugged her tightly and widened his stance so she couldn’t knock him off balance when she started to thrash.
Ananya fought him like a tigress. She cursed, screamed and flailed against him, but it was of no use. Even though he was only an inch taller than her, he was much stronger. He held her tightly until she calmed down. He wanted them to have everything out in the open.
When she stopped struggling, Sidhu breathed a sigh of relief, even though he suspected her calm to be temporary. “Are you done fighting me?”
She felt humiliated. In the past fourteen years of their marriage, she had never once behaved violently towards Sidhu.
“Let me go, Sidhu. Right now!”
“Why won’t you talk to me or meet me, Anu?” he whispered softly in her ear, and nuzzled her neck and then lower on her almost bare back.
She shuddered, but said, “Don’t touch me like that!”
“Fine. Why won’t you talk or meet me, Anu?”
“Because there’s no point. It’s over,” she sobbed out.
Sidhu remained quiet.
She took a calming breath and tried to pull herself together. When she looked around, she was confused seeing the empty home. Focusing on the purpose of her visit and finally gathering her dignity, "Where is she Sidhu? The woman you are about to sleep with. Is she in the house somewhere or are you still waiting for her to arrive?" she asked him evenly.
He didn't reply right away and saw her agonized expression.
"She is in the house," he said, making her heart break even more, and then, "And she is standing right in front of me."
"What?"
"I planned this with Disha and your other friends to get you to meet me. They suggested that I meet with an interior designer for suggestions and also because they said you would follow me yesterday," he said calmly.
She was confused and then angry. But she refused to behave like a violent lunatic. "Why? For what purpose?" she asked him nonchalantly, even though her heart was pounding.
Sidhu got angry with her response. "For the purpose of making you talk to me and see reason. For the purpose of me telling you that I love you and that I want you back!" he shouted.
She sighed. "No, you don't, Sidhu. You just settled for me. I manipulated you and made you settle for me. Did you know that?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked frustrated.
"That night in the rain when we were together for the first time...I knew you were distraught over Mahi's marriage, you had even told me that you were drunk a few hours before, but I still seduced you, because I had loved you for so long. I ended up pregnant by accident and destroyed your dreams or any chance of happiness," she said, feeling stricken.
Sidhu frowned. "I was in a bad place that night Anu, but I was aware of each and everything I did that night. You didn't seduce me. We made a mutual decision based on our attraction that night."
She shook her head. "No. You loved Mahi and you lost her then. You were not in your right mind—"
Sidhu held her arms. "Anu, stop. I admit that I did love Mahi during our college days and wanted to spend my life with her. But as soon as we both got married, I slowly started to forget about her. I was busy falling in love with you! I have loved you very much for a long time and I thought I was showing it to you each and every day by telling you that and also in my actions!"
She had tears in her eyes. "Do you mean all that?"
"Yes! I love you and only you. And if you leave me, I will chase you again and again,” Sidhu growled against her mouth. “And I mean that in the most threatening way possible. I’m not letting you go without a fight! I will hound you every second and in every way, until you are forced to kill me, just to put us both out of our misery.”
She laughed shakily at his declaration. "Oh Sidhu. I've been such a fool. When I saw Mahi, I started feeling guilty again about our first night together. I stopped you from pursuing your Master’s degree and made you take up your family business even though you hated working under your dominating father."
Sidhu sighed. "Anu, we both made a lot of sacrifices in our lives after what happened on our first night together, but I don't regret a single thing. I got Srishti and you because of it."
"Me too. I have loved you so much for so long that it was obscene. No woman should love her husband that blindly and stupidly. Even though you kept reassuring me that you were fine with whatever choices I made, I wanted to impress you and make you stay with me," she said, laying out all her past insecurities.
"Oh Anu. I knew you were trying too hard and I told you so many times. I loved you for it, but I love you unconditionally. I can be happy, only when you are happy and our daughter is happy," Sidhu declared, hugging her tightly.
She shed more tears and Sidhu stopped her.
"Anu, please stop crying. I wanted our first day in this house to be memorable in a happy way," he told her huskily, as he ran his fingers around her long and sexy bare midriff.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked around curiously. "Whose house is this anyway?"
"Ours, if you like it. I bought it two weeks ago when I couldn't take the environment in the house anymore. Srishti helped me to choose a house for us and she loved this one. So did I. It has enough room for the three of us and you already know that some of your friends live within the community."
"Show it to me," she told him.
They took the house tour and when they were done, "So? Do you like it Anu?" Sidhu asked her.
She looked at him expressionlessly.
Sidhu looked eager and slightly anxious, waiting for her reply.
She continued looking into his eyes and slowly started to remove her sari from around her. She saw his eyes flare up in both need and hunger.
She stood in front of him in just her low-cut blouse and inner lehanga. "Make love to me in our first home, Mr. Shah."
As soon as she said that, Sidhu pulled her closer. "With the greatest pleasure, Mrs. Shah," he replied, rapidly unhooking her blouse hooks and untying her lehanga.
They would never forget the first day they spent together in their very first home of their own little loving family.
CHAPTER 24
Mahi was celebrating both her one year anniversary at work and also her recent promotion. She was dressed to the nines, since she was meeting Samrat directly from work at a restaurant, where he was throwing a celebratory party along with her friends and their husbands.
After the office celebration, she was walking into the parking garage with Chithra, who was one of her team members. She and Chithra were laughing, remembering the antics of one of their coworkers, during the games they had played a while ago, when they saw a man waiting near Chithra's car.
The man looked angry and upset. "Chithra, I want you to come back home. I have had enough of your childish tantrums. Everyone is talking about us and our parents are not able to show their faces in the society. I have an unmarried sister too, and you are playing with her life."
Chithra looked at the man expressionlessly. "Pavan. I have already told you. I don't want to be with you anymore. I have filed for a divorce. I want you to stop calling me or turning up at my apartment. Do you understand me?"
"I don't care if you file for a divorce. I will never sign those papers. I married you against my parents' wishes because I love you. Why are you doing this to us?" he shouted.
Chithra maintained her calm facade. "Was it your love when you punched me hard in the stomach, and left me lying on the floor in pain?"
Mahi felt disgust as she recalled Dinesh shaking her or hitting her and then declaring the next day that he loved her so much.
Chithra had confided to her a few months ago that her husband was abusive towards her. He was jealous of Chithra's career since he felt that he wasn't as recognized or talented as her in the company. Chithra had also told
her that she left her husband a few weeks ago, when he resorted to abusing her physically.
Mahi was supportive of that choice and even recommended Chithra to seek counseling and help since it was no longer a taboo to do so in India.
Seeing Chithra calm, her husband got agitated and grabbed her arm to pull her towards him.
Mahi couldn't remain a mute spectator anymore. "Hey. Get your hands off her. She is an adult. As are you. She has already told you that she wants you to leave her alone," she told him firmly.
He sneered at Mahi. "Oh look the chairman's whore has spoken. Everyone in the office knows and thinks you are a whore. And I'm sure you must have instigated my wife to leave me after some minor marital tiffs. Maybe she thinks she can screw her way up in her career and end up with a rich guy like you did."
Mahi was angry, but she didn't want to argue with a small minded fool like him. "I don't care what you think or feel. Just leave her alone and go away right now, before I call the security. You'll be fired if this incident gets out. So, this is your last chance," she warned.
He looked furious, but he scoffed. "Yes, I believe I can be fired for simply wanting to speak with my wife. Especially, since you are the chairman's special whore."
Then he looked at Mahi insultingly. "You are not even beautiful to look at. But you do look and dress like a whore. You must behave like one too. Some men can't resist that. Most of your time must be spent on your knees in front of him, making him very happy."
He was being repetitive with the word 'whore' like a demented parrot, Mahi thought as she felt her temper come to a boil, but she still controlled herself.
Chithra looked nervous and scared. "Pavan. Stop it. Don't talk like that about Mahi. She has nothing to do with us. Just leave me alone. Please. I'm begging you."
But Pavan held Chithra's hand tightly and tried to drag her along to his car.
Mahi called the security on her cell phone and shouted for help. And when she tried to break Pavan's hold on Chithra's arm, he slapped her hard on the face.
