“Bachpan se aisi hi hai.” Raavi was completely aware that she had committed a blunder with accusing Rishita but Shiva’s public reaction was unwarranted, and frankly she had no intention of letting him get away with it this time. She had half a mind of buying a human-sized watermelon and beating it with a belan again. However, she had decided that the bhootnath himself would face the consequences this time, in a much milder sort of way of course.
She poured the chai she had been making into individual cups and placed them on the tray along with a bowl of sugar and container of biscuits. Once in the aagan, she passed out the cups while stirring in the specific amount of sugar that each person preferred. The bhootnath reached out to grab what he presumed to be his cup, but she moved the tray out of his grasp and moved onwards towards Krish.
Raavi grabbed the last cup of chai and sat down next to her favorite devar, smirking into her cup after witnessing Shiva’s shocked expression. He looked at her and then back at the tray and then back at her, wondering why she had only made seven cups of chai. “Ae Maami Ki Behen Ki Beti, tujhe ginti karni nahi aati kya? Ek cup missing hai aur tune jaan mujh ke mujhe nahi di na,” Shiva huffed out in anger while observing everyone happily sipping on the chai that he had been so rudely denied.
Only his Dhara Bhabhi seemed fazed, and she was about to get up to offer her cup but stopped at Raavi’s reply, “Oh sorry Shiva, mein toh bachpan se aisi hi hoon. Tu adjust karle.” Dhara realized that Raavi was retaliating to Shiva’s earlier comment and remained in her seat, she had no place in the quarrel between the couple.
Anger coursed through Shiva at the chipkali’s words, and he wanted to give her a piece of his mind but noticed that no one was the least bit bothered by her behavior and had carried on with their sipping. He looked at his Dhara Bhabhi for consolation, but she just shrugged her shoulders before turning towards Gaumbi and he let out a sigh of exasperation.
He slammed the newspaper he had been holding onto the ground to illicit some sort of reaction but all he received were some blank stares before they went back to ignoring him and carrying on with their conversations. He stormed back to his room in irritation and waited for somebody, anybody, to come pacify him but no such thing happened.
Over the next few days, Raavi refused to do any of the things she had begun to do for him out of care and ignored him whenever he tried to engage in an argument. She would simply respond with some variation of “sorry, bachpan se aisi hi hoon,” and would move onto something else. Shiva had gotten used to her taking care of his needs and he desperately craved for the attention she had been showering on him just a few days ago. He was growing frustrated with her antics and his family’s support for her actions to say the least, but guilt had also begun to settle in.
He realized that yet again, he had projected his insecurities onto her, and it had been in front of everyone else. He always felt irritated when she aired their dirty laundry out to the family, but he had done the same exact thing. Yes, he was hurt, and his pain wasn’t something that he could get over in an instant, but she didn’t deserve to face the brunt of his anger. She had always been his personal target, whether it was her fault or not. Any normal person would have ran away the second they saw his anger bubbling over the top, but she somehow managed to stay every time. He knew it was purely out of obligation for their marriage and perhaps, he had to take a step to fulfill that obligation as well.
Maybe it was time to give into her advances and sit down with her to have an honest conversation. Since she was so adamant on staying in the house with him, there had to be a semblance of amicability between the two of them. He was finally willing to reach some sort of understanding between them but wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle his heartbreak that was sure to follow.
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