Chapter 3
I tried to look as nice as I could for Randhir. I wore a pretty dress and adorned myself with bracelets, earrings, and a locket. As I touched the locket, I smiled. It was the same locket that Randhir had gifted me for our first dating anniversary. We had been dating for two years before we got married. Our friend's called us college sweethearts.
Now I'm 26 years old and so is Randhir. We're not old... in fact, we should still be happy. I don't know what happened in the last year that had turned everything around, that made everything so different.
I worked hard on my hair and makeup... I really wanted to look nice for Randhir today.
I sat on my bed and waited for him from five. I knew he wouldn't come early... but in case he did, I wanted to be ready. Soon it was six, and he still hadn't come. Randhir wasn't a punctual person - even in his college days, he would show up twenty minutes late to take me out.
I smiled softly as I remembered how he used to give me a time and show up some time after... he always said it was to get me excited and he found it cute when I was excited.
I picked up my phone at 6:30 and dialed his number. He didn't pick up. Perhaps he was driving and was stuck in traffic, so I decided to keep waiting. I did send him a text though to ask him where he was.
At 8:00 PM, he still hadn't come home and I didn't know how to feel. That was when I allowed my heart to break and I stopped making excuses for him. He promised to take me out at 6:00 today - two hours ago, and he still wasn't here.
I felt tears roll down my cheeks, and I started to cry. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed uncontrollably. I had been so excited to go out with him tonight, but he couldn't respect my sentiments. Why did he have to do this? If he wasn't going to come, why did he have to get my hopes up and then step on them, shattering all my dreams?
I just sat on the bed, deciding that I would wait up for Randhir. I was not going to eat until he came home or at least gave me a call saying where the hell he had been.
At midnight, he came inside and into our room. He looked at me up and down and then guilt took over his features.
"Oh man... Sanyukta I'm so sorry," he said and ran up to me. "I completely forgot! I am not used to going out nowadays, so I just didn't remember.
"Randhir," I said calmly through gritted teeth. "Why didn't you respond to my call or text?"
"My phone's dead Sanyukta," he said to me and took my hand. "I'm so sorry... I really am."
"Prove it," I said to him, looking him directly in the eyes.
I probably looked like a mess right now, with makeup running down my face, but I didn't care.
"What?" he asked, looking confused.
"Show me your phone," I demanded. "Show me that it's actually dead."
"Don't you believe me?" he asked me, looking perplexed.
"No," I stated simply. "I don't trust you Randhir. Show me your phone... show me that it's dead."
Chapter 4
Randhir sighed and took out his phone from his pocket before handing it to me. I tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't turn on.
"Are you happy now?" he asked me.
I bit down on my lip and nodded.
"Sorry," I murmured.
He sat down next to me on the bed and took the phone back from me before glancing towards the door of our room.
"Did you eat?" he asked me softly.
I shook my head.
"No," I said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because I was too upset to eat," I answered truthfully.
"I didn't eat either. Come, let's eat together," he suggested.
"There's nothing to eat at home," I said to him and he took my hand in his.
Randhir rubbed small circles on the back of my hand using his thumb and I couldn't help but feel my heart leap with excitement as he did that.
"We'll go out somewhere... to a 24/7 place, there are tons of dhabas around," he told me. "Come on, let's go."
"I don't want to go," I said stubbornly. "I'll make maggie noodles, we can have that."
"As you wish," he said.
I removed my hand from his and then went to the kitchen to boil the noodles. As the noodles were boiling, I went to the washroom to look at my face. I did have black marks on my cheeks from the way I had been crying.
I removed all of my makeup using makeup remover and then went back to finish making the maggie. There, a surprise awaited me. Randhir had already poured everything into a big bowl and had put in a spoon and a fork.
He took the bowl to the couch and placed it on top of the coffee table.
"Let's watch a movie," he suggested to me.
"You should eat and then sleep," I told him. "You have work tomorrow."
"I'll take a day off," he said to me, and I looked up at him, almost smiling, but stopping myself in time... no I didn't trust him to actually follow through with it.
I sat down next to him on the couch and he picked up the maggie noodles with a fork. He took a bite off the ends of the noodles and then thought for a moment.
"Too hot," he murmured. "Let it cool down for a bit."
I nodded and looked at him with awe. He just tasted the noodles first to make sure it wasn't too hot for me?
Was my Randhir really back?
"I don't want to watch a movie," I said. "I just want to talk. We haven't sat down and talked in a long time Randhir."
Then my eyes filled with tears again. Randhir looked up into my eyes and wiped the tears from my cheeks with his fingers.
"I care about you a lot Sanyukta," he said to me softly. "I really do... that won't ever change."
I rested my head on his shoulder, and he caressed my arm slowly. Then I couldn't take it anymore, I wrapped my arms around his body, and clung onto him so tightly, it was like my life depended on it. I pulled myself on his lap and just hugged him as I sobbed.
He hugged me back and kissed my ear.
"Don't cry," he whispered, and then he started to rock me back and forth, as he stroked my hair. "Please... I can't see you cry."
"Randhir please tell me why you've been avoiding me," I said, my heart hurting. "Do you love someone else? Just tell me, and I promise I'll back off."
"Are you crazy?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Sanyukta, I love you... I told you, I've just been busy."
"Don't lie Randhir," I said to him, feeling insecure. "Is it because I might never be a mom? Is that why? Or is it because I don't look pretty anymore?"
"Shh, Sanyukta... you're still the most beautiful girl to me," he said to me, and I felt myself melt in his arms.
"Then why have you been avoiding me? Please answer me Randhir... please," I begged.
Chapter 5
Randhir reached towards the table with me on his lap and picked up the bowl of noodles. He tasted the noodles again and then seemed satisfied with the warmth. He brought the fork to my lips and I opened my mouth to eat the noodles from his hands.
"Please answer," I said to him as I chewed on my noodles.
He put a forkful of noodles into his mouth and then chewed thoughtfully. I took the bowl of noodles from him and he caressed my cheek softly.
"Sanyukta, I haven't been intentionally avoiding you, so I really don't know what to say," he told me, and I felt my heart drop.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked him. "You've been saying you're too busy to even speak to me."
He kissed my forehead and I set the bowl of noodles down on the table.
"You're over-thinking it," he said simply. "Sanyukta, I don't know what else to say to you."
I looked at him suspiciously, somehow thinking this was too good to be true.
"I smelled ladies perfume on you last night Randhir," I told him, feeling my heart drop at the memory.
"What?" he asked, sounding shocked. "Are you suspecting me for cheating on you?"
"No... I'm just saying... I smelled it," I lied.
The truth was that I was suspecting him for cheating on me.
"I don't know why there was ladies perfume on me," he scoffed. "Your nose must have smelled it wrong."
I got up from his lap and placed my hands on my hips angrily.
"I didn't smell it wrong Randhir!" I snapped. "I smelled ladies perfume on you last night, and because you're not admitting it, I'm going to assume you're cheating on me."
Randhir breathed sharply.
"Alright fine, then assume whatever the hell you want," he argued angrily and then stood up too.
He was about to storm into our room when I ran after him and grabbed his arm from behind.
"Why are you hiding?" I asked him angrily. "Just tell me the goddamn truth."
He grabbed my arms and pushed me off.
"Don't touch me," he said.
That annoyed me... how could he tell me not to touch him? I was his wife. He couldn't just tell me not to touch him! His body was practically my body! I had all the rights over it.
So I stormed towards him and slapped him hard.
"What the -" he snapped.
"You're cheating on me!" I yelled, getting angry.
He grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back, making me squirm. That hurt.
"You want to hear me say I am cheating?" he asked me angrily. "Fine, I'm cheating. Are you happy now?"
Then he let go of my wrists and I fell backwards. I felt my eyes fill with tears and I ran after him and started to punch his chest.
"How could you?" I shrieked, tears streaming down my face.
Then I raised my arm to slap him. Not once. Not twice. But over and over again... in fact, I couldn't stop slapping him.
He grabbed my arms angrily and pushed me backwards on the bed. He climbed over me and held me down on the bed as I tried to struggle against him.
"Tell me you're lying!" I said to him, sobbing.
"No, I'm cheating on you," he said simply.
I felt my world come crashing down as he said that... I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wanted to run away. I wanted to die. I didn't know what I wanted to do... even dying seemed like it would be a trap.
"You're not!" I denied, through sobs. "You can't be... you're my Randhir, you can't cheat on me!"
"Make up your mind," he said angrily, his lips not far from mine.
Oh how I craved to feel his lips on mine again. It had been so long... maybe weeks... or was it months?
I grabbed his hair and pulled hard, causing him to yelp in pain. He turned around on the bed so that I was on top of him. Then I started to throw punches at his chest again.
"I hate you," I said through tears. "I hate you! You just needed to tell me! I would have happily backed off."
"What the -" he said angrily, as he rolled us over on the bed again.
"I hate you," I said again, tears streaming down my face. "You're a cheater!"
"Shut up!" he commanded darkly.
"I hate -" I was saying, and then he interrupted by pressing his lips against mine, causing me to gasp.
I bit down on his lip to make him back off, but I couldn't deny that the feeling of his lips on mine again after so long was enticing.
He removed his lips from mine and glared at me.
"You've gone nuts," he said to me. "I didn't cheat on you. You need to chill... it's like you won't even listen to me. If you aren't going to hear my answer then why ask?"
I sobbed and he wiped my tears away with his fingers.
"Now stop crying," he said, but I sobbed louder.
"No," I said. "You cheated on me."
"God, woman!" he said, sounding irritated. "How many times do I have to tell you I seriously didn't cheat on you!"
"You did cheat!" I cried.
"Sanyukta, how do I prove to you that I didn't cheat?" he said.
"You're willing to go through an agnipareeksha?" I asked him curiously, feeling myself stop crying for a moment.
"Sure, if that's what it takes for me to prove my innocence, I will," he said to me and I burst out laughing, after imagining Randhir playing the role of Sita from Ramayan.
Randhir then smiled when he saw me laughing. As soon as I saw him smile, my expression turned stony again.
"I don't trust you," I said simply.
"Then you're hurting yourself," he replied just as simply. "Because you're believing something that's far from the truth." 
Ishaani
