Vows of Misfortune

50.

***

"So stupid," I mumbled to myself later that evening. I got out of my car and locked it. I rushed up the stairs to my house only to freeze. Those exact flowers that Romir had bought were resting against my front door.

They were for me?

He had said someone special. This had to be a joke.

Taking it would be like forgiving him, which was probably what he wanted like Varun did—to be the better person—which only made my heart harden against him further. No matter how much my heart wanted him, I couldn't forgive him. Not when he broke it.

Anjali and Romir have so much history that you can never rival.

So even if I did forgive him, what then? I had to pretend to be happy for their love story as well when I couldn't be. Letting the rage drive me, it compelled me into grabbing it by the stems and storming over to the green bin and chucking it inside. I shut the lid and dusted my hands off, stepping back.

That felt good.

All of a sudden I heard a revving noise from behind. Behind the black gate was someone on a bike in their gear. That familiar dark green helmet with the black shield stood out. Without even seeing their face I knew who that was.

Romir.

And he'd seen me bin the flowers he'd bought. A pang of guilt and longing surged through me and to my toes but I stiffened. No more. So I whipped back around and headed back into my house without a second glance.

***

My doorbell rang over and over again. And no one ever used the doorbell. It was Anjali standing on the other side and she'd pushed past me, storming into my house uninvited.

"Hey!" I exclaimed rushing after her. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get out."

She gestured to the messy kitchen with empty boxes of Chinese take-outs and pizza boxes strewn. "Back to eating junk food, I see."

"You never even saw me eating junk food to begin with."

"I know you, Arshia. Mum and dad tell me things."

"I don't care. You're not welcome here."

"This isn't even your house. Mum and dad bought it."

"They bought it for me. And since I'm the one living here, I think I have a say in who stays and who leaves."

Anjali's lips thinned and she scoffed. "Okay, what gives you the right to hate me so much? Romir and I never got into a relationship thinking about you. It was never a thought of 'Oh, I might get married to your sister in the future so let's not date'. The world doesn't revolve around you."

"What part of 'you two lied to me about it' don't you understand? Why didn't you tell me? Why do you keep hiding things from me? And then when things get found out, you blame me. You did that in the past and you're still doing it. When Romir found out, he could have told me. You could have told me. You two made me look pathetic."

"Because none of it fucking mattered!"

"If it didn't matter you would have told me! You two hid it from me because you felt guilty for making me a pawn in your game."

"I wasn't guilty, Arshia, I—"

"Of course you weren't. You don't even know what that word means. You didn't waste a fucking second even when you were with him to betray him. And you didn't bat an eye when it came to me, either. You never did. You hated me for no reason when your other boyfriend died because it was easier for you to blame someone than yourself. You left me when I needed a sister the most because you were selfish and now, you want to put this on me, too. You wouldn't know what guilt was even if it slapped you."