The mirror reflected a woman in a yellow saree, hairline filled with vermillion and a nuptial chain she had hardly worn in months. The goosebumps on her skin were hidden behind the half-sleeve navy blue chickankari blouse.
Licking her lips, she averted her gaze from the woman who looked married to her but, in reality, she wished for nothing but divorce.
"Ready?" The voice got her moving, she didn't wait for him but walked past him with her clutch and phone.
"Stop." Fingers caught her arm. "You will walk with me."
She kept mum and waited without looking at him. Each day, all she had gotten from him was ignorance for the past two years, and seeing him suffering the same, calmed her heart to a certain extent.
They silently walked down the stairs and a servant passed her an Aarti thaal which she took with a polite smile.
"Where is Rakshit?" The matriarch asked a servant.
"He is asleep, madam." The staff bowed.
"Wake him up and ask him to bring Shreya to the temple in the next half an hour." Her demand had the staff scurried on his feet, running to deliver the order.
"Vidyut and his wife will join us in the temple. Come on we should leave." Rashi announced with distaste, glaring at Dhwani for her lack of jewelry and others start moving.
"Your radio silence does not affect me, Dhwani." His voice halted her midway yet she didn't glance at him and settled in the passenger seat, while Anirudh took the driver's.
She could see his jaw clenched and his knuckles tightening in the steering wheel yet his face remained calm.
She kept watching outside not meeting his gaze once. The phone rang and he talked through the Bluetooth air buds.
She chuckled to herself mirthlessly, his efforts ended the moment his work or his family topped his priority list. She was never a priority.
Not waiting for him to open her door, she jumped out the moment the car stopped.
Her eyes searched for Uttara, and a genuine smile ruled her features as she hurriedly walked towards the girl who stood talking to Vidyut who looked irritated although interested in everything she said as he pretended to scroll his device.
He listened to her every word yet did not let her know.
"Uttara" She called for her attention and the girl squealed seeing her, the thaal thrust in Vidyut's hands ignoring his scowl.
"Bhabhi" She was engulfed in a tight hug. Dhwani finally felt at peace as a tear rolled down her cheeks which she quickly wiped. "I missed you so much."
"Me too." Dhwani cupped her face "How have you been?"
"Great. What about you?" Uttara grinned widely. "How is your orphanage doing? I missed volunteering last to last week. I had an urgent sequence to shoot."
"You can make up for it any day you want. All you need to do is give me a call." Dhwani giggled at her pout, she glanced at Vidyut who walked near them, and teased "How are you, Vidyut ji?"
"Bhabhi." He deadpanned, shaking his head he murmured. "I am good." He shrugged, his eyes on her making her feel exposed to any secrets she stored. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," She tried smiling. "Come, we will be late."
She turned to find Anirudh watching her, her eyes met him for a second and she rushed past him while he joined, matching her pace as she ascended the stairs to the temple.
She adjusted the veil on her head which kept slipping, a hand helped her do it when she stepped back as if his touch burned her.
His black eyes stared darkly into hers, which she soon averted and focused on Aarti.
She stared at the idol praying for what she has been yearning for all her life, someone who would be hers.
Pure love.
"May the lord fulfill all your wishes, dear children." The priest blessed them.
"He won't." She whispered back to no one. "He stopped long back."
Turning her back to the idol she performed her duties of the elder daughter-in-law. Feeding the poor and distributing prasad along with Uttara who earned scornful looks from their mother-in-law.
"Why does she hate me so much?" Uttara grumbled.
"She doesn't." Dhwani cajoled her "She hasn't come to know you yet. Give her some time."
"It has been 6 months." She whined with a sad pout.
"And you have spent not even 6 weeks with her." She supplied defending her mother-in-law "She loves Vidyut the most in three brothers and seeing he married you against the family, she will take her time to assess and accept you as his wife."
"It is all because of my stupid husband. He hates the idea of family time." She grumbled like a child.
"Come again." A voice demanded.
"What? That it is because of my stupid husband who is against family time that my mother-in-law hates me... Oh shit!" Uttara cupped her face spinning on her place realizing her words and seeing Vidyut and Rashi standing behind them, one amused and the other glaring at her. "I am s-sorry, Mom. H-he isn't stupid."
Dhwani clamped her lips shut seeing Rashi glaring at Uttara who flushed in embarrassment.
"I am not stupid?" Vidyut raised a brow questioningly and she shook her head fervently.
"You mean he is?" Rashi cross-questioned and Uttara's eyes widened comically and she shook her head again.
"Poor child." Dhwani thought to herself as she could see a hint of a smile on Rashi's face.
"NO! No, he isn't." Uttara defended and sighed watching Rashi giving her a single nod. "He is smart. A doctor so he is very smart."
"Do not call my son stupid or else no one will be worse than me." Rashi threatened and stepped near her.
"Never again, Mom."
Taking her chin, she took in Uttara's face which was laced with a pout. "You are prettier in real than you look in camera. Not a bad choice, Vidyut."
Vidyut looked away shaking his head in annoyance.
"Shift back home, it is Rakshit's wedding in two months and I want my daughter-in-law to help me with the arrangements," Rashi announced earning an immediate grin from Uttara and a shocked look from Vidyut who opened his mouth in protest.
"I am not shifting back."
"You will, at least for the marriage functions." Rashi glared at him meaning it. "There are no negotiations. Make any excuses and you will not hear from me again."
"Mom!" Vidyut scowled and walked away.
"That's him surrendering his weapons," Rashi commented making Uttara giggle. "Now go, calm him down, or else he will be an angry bird soon which throws fire around."
Uttara giggled nodding at once and ran away in the direction where her husband left.
"Silly girl." Rashi chuckled focusing her attention on her. "I hope you remember you are the eldest daughter-in-law of Chauhans."
"I cannot forget it," Dhwani whispered back looking down.
"It will be good for you." She commented, taking a long look at Dhwani before leaving her standing there.
Dhwani smiled to herself recalling the interaction with Uttara. Rashi was a sweet soul who loved her sons like a protective mama bear and anyone who made them happy came in her favorite list automatically.
The sad part, Dhwani never made Anirudh happy neither she was his choice to make a place in her good books. She was only a resident of Chauhan Niwas like a piece of furniture that was remembered when it was needed.
Feeling her heart aching with these thoughts, she settled down the stairs of the temple on the east side, letting her shoulders sag as she felt the burden on her getting heavy.
"What can't you divorce me and let me go?" She asked silently hearing the footsteps.
"Because I cannot." He answered sitting beside her at a distance.
"Even when I can no longer tow this loveless marriage? I'm tired, Anirudh." She glanced at him with tear-laced eyes "Give me a good enough reason to stay."
"I want to make this marriage work." He replied after a long-stretched silence.
"Now?" She scoffed "What is remain to work on?"
"Yes, now. Give me 6 months to make it work." He said holding her eye contact "Please."
"I have given you 2 years of my life and you kept ignoring me as if I never existed for you. Now when I wish to leave, you want 6 more months to make me realize how much of a charity case I am that you wish to work on. Why am I always a project to save your family image or enhance it? First, your family arranged for me to marry you out of pity, then you discarded me and this marriage saying it meant nothing to you, and now? Now you do not want to divorce me because it will ruin your reputation, your family image. What about me?"
He did not answer.
"You have the audacity to ask me to give you a chance when you didn't get one from your ex? Were you not with her sitting in that café that day? Tell me if I did not catch you having a date with the girl who dumped you years before we got married. You are still in love with your college sweetheart and you cannot let her go. Tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me if you do not love her." She steeped a finger on his chest. "You cannot. You cannot because you aren't even guilty of being caught with her, of being accused to be in love with her. Yet here you are asking me to give you a chance, I'm as much of a human as you are, Anirudh and it hurts. It hurts so much to see you as my husband when I can never call you mine." She chuckled mirthlessly stood up and turned to leave.
"Dhwani..." He tried stopping her from leaving.
"You want 6 more months, right?" She stopped and looked at him past her shoulder "I will give you nothing. You lost all your chances and I have nothing more to give you, not even time."
■ ■ ■
"Marry me."
The words haunted her each time she closed her eyes. The image of him standing in front, with messy-sweaty hair, a cheering crowd, and the end of an adrenaline-high car race marked a proposal.
Technically not a proposal but a command.
She sat against the headboard making a pillow fort around her, blocking any intrusion from the world but the soft toys she sat hugging tightly as sleep never touched in the last 8 hours. The early morning sunrays played peek-a-boo with her curtains yet she didn't get up to close them.
"Shreya"
The loud voice belonging to her mother could not make her lift her gaze from where she stared at, her to discharge phone which pinged with another text.
Brat: Get ready in 15, fam wants you in the temple.
He left it for her but she will kill herself then get up and doll up to meet him.
Brat: And answer your phone or you won't like the consequences.
To Brat: Do your best.
She replied scoffing.
Never in this life was she giving in to his demands, not until he apologized for his words and actions towards her.
"Shreya, Wake up. You have to go to Temple with Rakshit. The poor boy is calling you for the last 10 minutes." Her mother banged the room door. "Wake up this instant."
"I am not going anywhere with him. You can tell him that, Mumma." She screamed for her mother to listen.
"What? You are going and that's final." Her mother threatened "Open the door."
"I won't and I'm going nowhere." She announced.
"Shreya!" Tuning out her mother's yelling she snuggled back in her pillow.
"She has no idea what that poor boy is planning and she is already eating out of his palms. Only God knows what happens when she gets an idea of his plans." She grumbled to herself and threw the blanket off, entering the shower. "I will take an hour-long shower today, let's see what that man is capable of."
Doffing her clothes, she switched the shower knob and did what she planned. An hour-long bath until her skin wrinkled in the water.
With all the time in the world, she dried herself and wrapped the towel around her frame, tip-toeing inside her room.
The loud bangs were long gone, and so was the demanding tone of her mother.
She rejoiced happily and wore a pair of jeans and a checkered shirt. Blow drying her hair, she applied a layer of sunscreen, foundation, and other products to get ready.
She glanced at her blinking device which lightened after every notification.
Her phone rang and she swiped to answer Swati, her friend she had initially planned to meet.
"You bitch!" The loud squeal forced her to remove her cell away.
"Are you even human? Who screams like that?" She chided to her friend who kept screaming profanities at her.
"One whose friend is marrying a billionaire playboy." Swati rebutted "You bitch, how dare you say yes to him? Him, Shreya! How can you not tell me about him? God damnit that could have been an exclusive for me!"
"W-what are you talking about?" She stammered as her throat parched at the words. "I...I...don't know what you are speaking about."
"Oh, shut up! It's all over the news. An official statement released 15 minutes back and it's blowing all over." She exaggerated "You are marrying Rakshit Chauhan."
"I am not." She whispered to herself as the door unlocked and she looked at the face she has come to abhor.
"You are, meri jaan." Rakshit smiled charmingly continuing "....when I'm done doing my best, you will be mine."
"You bitch, it could have been my weeks' worth of scoop if only you had let me have any idea." Swati kept ranting.
"I will see you later." She murmured leaving her speaking.
"You did this?" Shreya was accused of scrolling through the notification dots blowing up in her device. The reporters called one after another but she silenced the device and slammed it against the wall.
"No fault of your phone." He winced, feeling the anger radiating from her.
"Get out" She glared menacingly.
"You don't want that." He argued.
"You don't want to know what I want" She took a dangerous step near him, "Get out of my sight this instant, Rakshit. If you stay any longer, I won't be responsible for my acts."
"Do what you want but I'm... Oh fuck!" His words ended in a whimper as she slapped him hard, breathing hard she charged at him.
Taking a swing at his gut, she knocked the air out of his lungs.
"Shreya, what the hell?"
He flipped their position, holding her hostage against the now closed door restraining her hands and legs as she breathed like an angry bull.
"I told you to get out!" She sneered screaming. "You ruined my life and you have the audacity to stand in my place daring me? You are despicable!"
"Calm down, Woman." He treaded with calmness "Breath and calm down."
"Shut the fuck up, Chauhan!" She wiggled in his hold. "You useless fucking..."
"You are responsible for this." Her words died down as his lips caught hers, shutting her from any more insults she was throwing his way.
Her eyes widened for a second of shock but soon her nails scratched into his skull, punishing him harshly.
He groaned feeling her nails but he bit into her lips and earned a moan muffled between their lips.
Riding the high of her anger, he parted. Breathing into her skin as he calmed his own racing heart.
Stepping back from her, he watched her leaning against the door panting, lipstick ruined and just showered hairs a mess.
"Change into something traditional, we are still due to meet my Family in the temple." He announced watching her jaw clenched "Now, you do not want another dose of my efforts to bring you with me, do you?"
Gritting of her teeth and the glare from those almond shape eyes made him fear his neck but nonetheless, she stomped her way to the wardrobe and was ready in the next 5 minutes.
Retouching her lipstick and pulling her hair straight she pushed him away while yanking the door open and down.
"Save me, god." He grimaced and followed her down.
He took in the wide smile of Mrs. Thapar watching them together laced with an unknown excitement.
"Why did you not tell me, Shreya? How could you keep this a secret from your parents? You are getting married to Rakshit." Her mother gushed "This is the best news I have heard in years."
"Mumma, not now." Shreya pried her hold away, glancing at him "Aren't you getting late?"
He passed her mother an apologizing smile and quickly followed her who did not wait for him but opened the door and settled herself inside.
"Never touch me ever again." She announced as soon as they exited her house and drive away.
"You sure about that?" He cocked a taunting brow at her, smirking.
"I mean it, Rakshit Chauhan."
■ ■ ■
Her smile was wide, almost blinding as she sat on the passenger seat. Grinning from ear to ear, humming into the soft song which played in the background, swaying.
Vidyut glanced at her again and felt his world freezing, every time he looked at her so happy. Her eyes met his and he looked away, a hand on the steering and another on the gear, while she played with her saree ends, fingers pushing her hairs back and gathering them to be tied in a bun as they tortured her, him too.
"Can you stop smiling?" He finally gritted, having enough of her happiness which he couldn't place a source to.
"Why?" She asked, her grin widening as if already knowing the answer. "Is it distracting?"
"No." He rolled his eyes, grunting in denial.
While her eyes accused him of lying, he rolled the steering and accelerated towards home, something he had started calling the place they had lived for the last 7 months.
"You aren't a good liar, Mr. Chauhan." She pointed playfully and pulled her legs up, the heels discarded as she watched him driving with an adorable smile. "You know, I'm so happy today. Finally, I got to spend some time with your family and your mother, well she is so cool."
"You called me stupid." He mentioned the grudge he held against her.
"I did." She laughed cupping her face. "But you know I didn't mean it. You cannot be stupid, not when I married you."
He shot her a quick challenging look to which she poked her tongue out.
"I can act like a prude sometimes, can I not?" Her eyes twinkle "Well, everything apart, finally we will be going to stay in your family house. I have always wondered how it would be to live in a joint family and you will be fulfilling my wish. Thank you for agreeing to it."
"We are not staying there."
His declaration dimmed her smile.
"I never said yes, nor I will do. Don't dream much." His words were like a bucket of ice water on her.
"Why not?" She tried.
"Because I don't want to." He said with finality.
She stared at him for a good two minutes and smiled to herself, an understanding curve which she blinked away and settled back, looking outside.
Her silence was unnerving and he itched for her to talk. She had never shut up, not when he asked her to, and kept talking even when he acted uninterested and rude to her.
But today she seemed to be extraordinarily quiet after his statement. No protests, no cajoling, or comebacks.
He wanted to say something, anything to get her talking but doing that will start a session of her knowing grins and goading eyes.
Seeing her not watching, he switched the radio off.
The lack of music had her attention snap to the box, which she tried switching on but he smacked her hand away.
Her smile was gone and pout took over.
He mentally groaned, that smile was better.
She tried to touch it again when he blocked it.
"Vidyut" She whined, "Let me hear music. Not that you will be talking to me the entire way home."
"Did I bound you not to talk?" He pointed questioning.
"It's different." She pouted and sat back sulking, he frowned and she got the hint to elaborate. "Me speaking to you and you talking to me are two different things. I will say something or make a demand and you will shoot it down like always. It is just me speaking and not you, if not for putting off my hope, you don't say a word."
Was she making any sense?
He thought about what she said but couldn't deduce the meaning of it.
"What? Say something, will you?" She complained and huffed looking away.
"Are you on your period?" He asked skeptically and earned a bashful glare from her.
"I don't want to talk to you." She declared and maintained the silence the entire way home.
He parked themselves and she jumped out of the car to announce her anger, he sighed not understanding a thing as her moods flipped from one end to another.
He followed her and observed her. Her shoulders sagged, that pout making a permanent residence on her face and her glaring at anything possible.
She dashed out as soon the elevator came to a stop, unlocking the door and running to their room.
He looked at her leaving and followed, closing the main door behind him and making his way towards the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and nursed it as she strode out. Now changed into tantalizing short cotton shorts and a t-shirt he very well knew.
"You stole my T-shirt." He pointed, knowing it will irk her.
"Only if I could steal your heart too." Her whisper had him frozen, it wasn't meant for him to hear but he did.
She took another bottle and was leaving when he yanked her to him, caging her between the kitchen slab and him.
Arms blocked her way out as she wiggled out of his hold.
"Uttara?" He stared at her while her eyes glared at his torso.
She hummed in response making his lips curve, never she would ignore his call for her.
"Are you upset?" He questioned, she shrugged huffing silently. His finger touched her chin making him look up to him. "Are you?"
She blinked in agreement.
"What happened?"
She shrugged, making him bite his smile back.
She was adorable when she acted like she was sulking, not that he hasn't seen her doing this at times but he never made efforts to get her talking before.
"Fine, you can stay there for a day or two but I'm not going back to that place." He gave up but she didn't rejoice. "I cannot stay in that place. It will be going back to everything and I am not doing it."
She sighed and nodded, ducking down and escaping his cage.
Silently, not saying a word and it irritated him to the core.
"Tara" He called and her eyes snapped to him in shock, almost popping out comically as she spun on her feet.
"What-what did you call me?" She asked him.
"Uttara?" He played stepping back and drinking a sip "Isn't that your name?"
"No, No. It wasn't that. What did you say right now?" She probed him all excited, he wondered how she could be all happy because of a little thing, the slightest effort from him.
"I called you what you heard." He deadpanned, shrugging.
"I heard you call me Tara" She was back to grinning.
He rolled his eyes playfully, turning to keep the glass in the sink when two arms wrapped into his neck, making him lose a step and he quickly supported their weight on the counter.
"Hey!"
"You called me Tara!" She was hugging him, jumping on her toes, snuggling into his shoulder, laughing in her happiness. "I didn't know you had a nickname for me."
"Uttara, you are choking me." He balanced them and secured an arm around her waist behind to pull her away.
"Sorry." She giggled parting but her fingers still held his shirt fabric. "You can call me that, and keep calling me that only. I love it."
"Are you not upset anymore?" He asked with a furrowed gaze.
"Nope, I cannot be upset with you." She chimed happily "Never! If you do not want to go there to stay, we won't."
"What about your wish?" He questioned silently.
"I need family time, that's what my wish is." She reiterated "We cannot stay there but we can always go and spend the day and come back home at night. You don't have to spend all the time but only a few. You can agree to that, right? For me, please?"
He stared at her changing mood and sighed, giving up.
"And the rest of the time I have you with me, you are more of a family to me than anyone else."
She cheered loudly, knocking the glass in the sink.
"Oh no!" Her jaw dropped and her grin wiped off immediately. "I will clean this mess."
"No need." He stopped and took charge.
She shrugged and grinned again. He glanced at her as she talked about everything she wanted to do, the same excitement returned as if she wasn't upset 10 minutes before.
He shook his head at her changing emotions and concluded.
"She is definitely on her period."