LOYALTY

Peace

"What is that?" He asked as if he saw an alien.

"Kadhi Chawal. The rice is in that bowl."

"Ka-ka what?" She pursed her lips in an attempt to stop her laugh.

"Ka-"                                                       "Ka-"

"Dhi.".                                                   " d-dhi"

"Hm." She hummed, satisfied by his pronunciation. " and Chawal means rice. It is a very famous indian dish. Made by curd or lassi with besan."

He kept nodding his head as if he was understanding everything she was saying. He couldn't even register some of the words she uttered.
What is lassi? I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right.

She served him with the boiled rice with the turmeric yellow curry on top. She placed the plate infront of him, folded her hands infront of her chest as she leaned on the chair beside him. She wanted to see his reaction. For the first time in her life someone other than her brother was about to taste her food.

This was the first time he was going to eat an indian dish. He kept inspecting and analyzing the dish for a few seconds.
The longer he took the more irritated she got.
Its not like its a bomb! Just put it in your mouth.

Her last thread of patience snapped as she took the spoon full of the food and shoved it in his mouth. He tried to protest as she did her job but ended up opening his mouth.

He glared at her as he chewed the food, his fingers wiping the small amount of curry around his lips. His expressions soon turned blank as he kept chewing.

It was heaven.

So thats how homemade food felt like. It was the first time in his life. He had seen his mother cooking a few times but refused to taste the food she cooked. He knew he'll ask for more if he did even if it didn't taste good because it had the most important ingredient. Care.

All his life he ate the food ordered from restaurants. Most of those Chefs cooked because it was their job not because they liked or enjoyed cooking.

He wordlessly took more bites from the plate. Akira tilted her head down to stare at his face in anticipation. He wasn't saying anything, just eating the food looking down.
Is it good or bad? Why isn't he saying anything? Shit, I should have tasted it first. Did I put too much spices? Nah. If that was the case he would be coughing by now.

He could taste how Lovingly she prepared the dish. It was filled with care and passion for cooking.

It gave him a feeling of peace.

He could get addicted to it.

                               ..............

"WHAT?"

The girl sitting on the couch stood up with a jerk as she read the headlines of the newspaper.

'Kim Jaison, The Businessman finally got  married.' The headlines written in bold letters.

"How- how- is that possible?" She was is a state of shock. She couldn't digest the image of Jaison holding hands with a freaking nobody in a wedding dress. The picture on the newspaper was haunting her.

"He- he can't do this. He can't do this." The paper started to get crumbled by the amount of force she was applying on it.

"No. HE SAID HE COULD NEVER FORGET HIS FIRST LOVE! THEN WHY??" she tore the newspaper into shreds and her body shook by the rage that was running through her veins. Her chest was clenching with unbearable pain.

"You lied! You fucking lied to me! How can you just move on like that? HOW?"
She gripped her hair into her fists not minding the pain shooting through her scalp.

She suddenly started laughing like a maniac.

She turned to a photo frame hanging on the opposite wall and pointed her index finger to it. Her laugh echoed in the empty room as she walked towards the photo.

"Di-d did you see that? He moved on." She stopped for a moment combing her hair back with her fingers and a wide smile spread across her face." He fucking moved on. Oh- oh my god. Hahahaha."

"He-he married some hoe in just a year. A YEAR!!"

She walked closer to the frame and removed it from the wall. She cleaned the dust away with the sleeve of her sweater.

The photo was quite old. The two girls hugged each other with their cheeks glued and their faces radiating joy.

Unknowingly a tear rolled down her face as she reminisced the past. The nostalgia hit her hard. Then she remembered the time when she was with Jaison.

He treated her like she was the only woman in the world. He pampered her with gifts, took her on dates, made her feel special and worthy.
More tears fell as her lips started to tremble. They were so happy together.
Then everything changed. He changed.

She gritted her lips recalling his words.

"Leave. Leave before I do something to you. Don't ever return because I'll never look at you the way I used to. You're not worthy of it."

She left.

She left with the hope that he wouldn't love anyone ever again. That his first love was his last. She was fine as long as he didn't love her. He wouldn't love anyone else either. She was ready to be away from him forever but not share him with someone else.

He's mine. MINE. No one in this world can take him away from me. Not even YOU. I don't care who that bitch is but she just got herself into a mess. A mess she wouldn't be able to come out from.

She angrily threw the frame across the room as she growled. The frame broke into pieces and fell to the ground with a thud, the glass shattering.

She breathed heavily as she closed her eyes and let her neck fall back. Her breath became steady.

She took deep long breaths still facing the ceiling. She opened her eyes wide staring at the ceiling with red eyes.

"I'm coming Jaison. I'm coming to ruin the temporary peace you found."
             

                              ..............