stitches

015

JHANVI

"How is it?"

"It's okay," I say eating the last slice of cake Aadhya made.

"Vomit everything. Come on," She says annoyed. I laugh running to the other side with the cake slice.

She is a great cook. As siblings we couldn't be more different from each other. She's soft spoken most of the time, she has long hair, she doesn't hate anyone and she's much more. She is sort of perfect.

"I'm baking the cake for Liya's birthday and I want it to be not bad." She says cleaning up the kitchen counter after washing the dishes.

Yes, she cleans and I hate that chore. If it weren't for my boy, because I want to raise him with manners, I would still be lying on my bed with unfolded clean clothes.

"You'll do fine," I say finishing the cake and running my hands under the faucet.

"That means?"

I groan. "Yes Diya! It's perfect. Fine? You pulled it out of my mouth."

She smiles proudly and I follow her as she walks to the living room. She and Rehan moved in to their new home more than a year ago. Since Rehan is in merchant navy, when he goes for months of duty on the sea, Adi and I come here most of the weekends or she'll come over to mine with Ryan.

"Aadhya!" Rehan comes running down the stairs holding his keys and searches for his wife. He stops when he sees her. "Sanjay is in his apartment! I'll be back!" He kisses her cheek and waves me a bye before running out of the door.

Sanjay and apartment.

Those two simple words made my legs freeze. Not two. The first one.

I have not heard from him in three days. We usually meet more than a few times a week and most of the time he's the one who asks if I'm free. Our meetings never interrupted our professional lives and our, what do I call it? Thing? Whatever it is, that went smoothly.

I look at my hand and I see the goosebumps. I can hear the moans in the back of my head. I rub my hands together and look around.

"Why do you look so red?"

I look at Diya and shake my head. "I don't-- How would I know if I'm red? I can't see myself!" I blabber fast and look at the door. "Why is he in a hurry?" The moment the question comes out of my mouth, I mentally slap myself. I just indirectly asked her what's up with the guy I'm sleeping with.

Diya has a worried look on her face as she looks at the door. I shake my head before she speaks.

"You don't have to say..."

"You remember Anu? Anvi, Sanjay's ex?"

I nod. I have seen her mostly during Diya's marriage. I nearly smile at the irony. Sanjay was with Anvi and I was with my husband. I don't want to talk about Sanjay's relationship but I can't pull out of this conversation without making me act weird.

Diya sits on the couch and I sit at the other end of the couch. "She tried to attempt suicide."

I cannot avoid the shock on my face and it pursue Diya to continue the conversation.

"She has not been doing good since the engagement broke. She has tried two times and this time she was nearly successful. Sanjay doesn't know anything so her father called Rehan and informed him about this,"

Is this why Sanjay has not contacted me? Because he went back to the love of his life and was afraid to tell that to his fling.

He is not afraid. He just didn't think it was needed. And why would it be? We don't owe anything to each other. We were two broken people and now he is healed. Healed because of her.