Poles Apart

Chapter Sixty-One

Arjun

I wake up to a cold bed, a result of heavy air conditioning to beat the Dubai heat and the lack of a certain someone to keep their side of the king-sized bed warm.

The emptiness of the bed makes me sad.

Janaki, what have you done to me?

I check my phone to see if she has left any texts or calls but see none. An indescribable feeling settles deep in my chest, making me feel like shit even before I can get my feet on the ground.

Is it too much to expect a text from your wife?

I force myself through my morning routine, choosing to skip breakfast instead of having it by myself like a bloody loner.

The traffic on the way to work just makes life harder, while the sweltering heat reinforces my already crappy mood.

As soon as I settle down in my cabin, I hear a knock on the door. I consider letting them assume I'm not at work but decide against it. I'll have to deal with it at some point.

"Come in," I call out.

Sai peeks in before opening the door to enter. He lists the meetings and works for the day before mentioning, "Arvi ma'am's PA called earlier, sir."

"What about?" I ask, not realising how excited I'd come off as until Sai chuckles.

I glare at him, and he coughs as he tries to put on a straight face. "About her doctor's appointment today, sir," he lets me know. "It is at 11, IST."

"Did Arvi ask for me to know?"

"I'd asked to be informed on the day of the appointment, sir. I suppose she was following up on that," he answers.

I hold back a sigh as I nod. "I will give her a call after work," I note. "Please order a coffee for me."

We hadn't talked over the phone for two days now, excluding the occasional texts which also my wife seems to have forgotten to do now.

~.~.~.~.~

That evening, I go back to an empty house, filled with inanimate objects. I've done this before, I've stayed by myself so much I'm used to it.

Why do I suddenly feel like the main lead in a sad Bollywood song?

The emptiness of a fully furnished house has never struck me quite like today. I drop my jacket on the sofa, hearing the sound of the cotton hitting the leather louder than I should have.

I check my phone to see if my wife has had any time to leave a text, at the very least, but seeing that she hasn't, I sigh to myself, slumping down on the sofa.

~.~.~.~.~

Arvi

I drive myself home, feeling the fatigue of the day catch up to me as the thoughts in my mind slow down and everything else dissolves but my husband.

I woke up thinking of him, or rather his absence as I was jolted out of bed by my alarm for an extremely busy day. I had wanted to check up on him multiple times throughout the day, but one thing or the other kept coming up and interrupting me, leaving me to postpone my wifely duties.

I sigh to myself, twiddling with the rings on my finger. "Hey, Siri," I call out to my phone. "Text Junnu, 'hey, how are you?'"

"Your message to Junnu says 'hey, how are you?' ready to send it?" it replies.

Could there be something more impersonal than having my phone send out a text to my husband that I can write to myself?

"Cancel."