Ratneshwari

Chapter 28

Next morning, Shivan woke up on an empty bed. He placed his hand on the other side of the bed. It was cold. It was the first time in several months that he had slept without Ratneshwari. He sighed. He got up from the bed and went to take a bath.

On the other hand, Ratneshwari was sitting on the floor near the door. She did not sleep. Her eyes were red partly due to the lack of sleep and partly due to anger. She waited till it was 8 o'clock in the morning. But, Shivan did not arrive. So, she got up from her place and started her daily chores.

(That afternoon)

Shivan decided to have lunch in a restaurant. He did not like the taste of the food that was served to him. But still, he continued to eat silently. He wanted to divert his mind away from Ratneshwari's thoughts but, he could not. He thought,"I should have returned home last night. She must have been worried." He took another morsel of food and then thought,"Why will she worry about me? She must have thought that I am a heartless and arrogant man. After the phone call, she must have decided to remove me from her life completely. Why will she wait for me?"

Ratneshwari was sitting in the balcony. She went to her room and took out the box where Shivan had kept Sheetal's photos. She looked at the photos and said,"What is so special about this witch? Why does he love her so much? If he did not want me in his life, then why did he marry me? Why did he make me fall in love with him? Why did he come in my life? He loves her....and not me. Why? What is the reason? Is it because she is beautiful and I am ugly?" She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She started scratching her face. She kept saying,"I am ugly.....I am ugly..... That's why he doesn't love me.... That's why he left me alone that night..."

(That evening)

Ratneshwari had cooked food and was sitting in the drawing room. She thought,"It is getting late. He should have returned. Where is he? Oh God! Did he just leave me forever? Will he never return?" Just then, she heard the doorbell. She felt relieved and went to open the door.

Ratneshwari opened the door and saw Shivan. He stared at her briefly and then, entered the house.

Shivan was changing his clothes. Ratneshwari entered the room. She looked at Shivan and said,"Why didn't you come home last night? Do you even know how worried I was? Whole night, I was waiting for you." Ratneshwari burst out in tears. Shivan could not say anything. He just stared at her with his helpless eyes. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Ratneshwari wiped her tears and said,"If you ever feel like doing the same thing next time, stab me, kill me and then do whatever you want." After saying this, Ratneshwari left the room. Shivan shed a few tears of helplessness as he was incapable of doing anything to make things better.

Shivan went downstairs and sat at the dining table. Ratneshwari also sat beside him. They started eating. Shivan noticed Ratneshwari's cheeks. They were red and quite swollen. He said to her,"What happened to your cheeks?" Ratneshwari sighed and said,"Nothing."

Shivan did not question her further and said,"Apply an ointment before sleeping."

(Later that night)

Shivan was lying on the bed. Ratneshwari came and slept beside him. He looked at her. Ratneshwari looked at him and said,"Sleep here. Don't go anywhere else. I will not do anything. That night......It was different that night....I just got carried away......For a moment, I just thought that, you love me. For the first time in my entire life, I had felt a man's touch. I just wanted a normal life. I wanted to be loved and cherished. When you touched me that night, my emotions had overflown. They took over me and I could not control myself any longer." She smiled slightly and a few drops of agony escaped her glittering eyes.