Love Happens

Chapter six

Mumbai
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I went into the room at the wrong time. I wasn't aware she had just showered. It was very uncomfortable for me to see her naked shoulders. I turned to leave her alone when the devil in my mind intervened. It was my room. If anyone must leave, it should be her, since she has no right to stay with me there.

I entered deeper while trying to avoid her magnetic stare. I wonder if she thinks I'm some attractive illustration, because I'm not. She's checking me out without shame. The women of today's generation

The sound of droplets of water from her skin continuously tried to draw my attention to her. I looked, and our eyes met. For the first time in so long, I saw the familiar sea. The sea I used to tell Supriya she had inside her eyes. It was a long, beautiful sea you could look at forever without getting bored.

I blinked and instantly diverted my gaze while being angry again. She looked at me intentionally to enchant me. What was she trying to get out of that?

Instead of going to the bed, I went to her and pushed her small figurine against the wall. She flinched by surprise because I also didn't know I'd react like that.

I couldn't hide the blush on my face. It was the first time a man was so close to me, and thank God he was my husband. Everything we do is legal. Allowed. I've waited for this since last night, for him to look at me with love. Finally.

I shyly lowered my gaze and blushed more.

Anand was taken aback as he realized what he had done and what she had defined the scenario as. He wanted to tell her to leave the room, but maybe he used the wrong means. He could hear the race her heart was in and how it was waiting for him. Was she expecting something like that to ever happen between them with such a big age gap?

"Don't you have shame for thinking something can ever happen between us? Aren't I old enough to be your uncle?" He let out I looked on, shocked by his remark.

"U..u..uncle? You're not my uncle?" I said it quickly. "You're my husband." I added.

"I'm Supriya's husband. I'm giving you ten minutes to get dressed. I'll return, and this is the last time you'll come out of the bathroom without being dressed. It's not your room. If you want to stay here, you have to adapt to my rules." He exclaimed coldly and dashed outside without giving me room to understand what he said in such a short time. As I processed it slowly, I sighed disappointedly. For a moment, I really thought things were good between us. So foolish of me.
I slapped my forehead, ashamed of myself.

The urge to cry over being rejected once again pricked my soul. However, I tried hard to remain strong. I changed into a comfortable cotton saree and freed my hair from the shackles called ribbon. Anand returned inside. He went directly onto his bed and covered himself.

"Find somewhere else to sleep." Came his cold tone.

I inhaled a long sigh as I moved to the other side of the bed and dipped on it. He jerked up while clutching the sheets around him like a woman who was invaded by a stranger, mostly a man.

A laugh naturally escaped my lips.

"How dare you?"

The frostiness in his voice and face erased my laugh.

"I...I..."

"Stand up." He commanded. I found myself obeying him. He said it with such an intense, lethal tone that I felt that had I not gotten up, maybe he'd have strangled me to death because the disdain I see in his eyes for me has no bounds.

"Go somewhere else. Maybe the kids' room or anywhere. I don't care."

He went back to his resting posture.

"How can....." I wanted to ask him how I can go somewhere when the only place I can be is here, but again, his ferocious voice, which is enough to break a person's spirit of courage, spoke.

"Leave!"

I accepted his demand. I turned and began going out.

"Make sure you close the door on your way out."

I did as he asked of me. I went out of the room and closed the door, but I stayed outside and found myself some place on the floor to sleep on. After closing my eyes, my mind drifted to my mother. What must she be doing at the moment? I couldn't help it; a sad tear rolled from my eye before sleep took me away to its wonderland.

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I tossed left and right on the bed, not being able to sleep. My conscience kept bugging me because I could see Shraddha's reflection still outside. When I asked her to leave the room, I thought she would maybe go to the guest room if she didn't want to be with the kids, but she stayed outside. And I can never sleep in my comfort after depriving someone of theirs.

I propelled my foot into the slippers resting on the tiles before getting up. I opened the door, and out there, Shraddha was sleeping on the naked floor, curled in a ball. She was shivering tremendously from the cold. Why wouldn't she? The tiles must be cold since there's no carpet there. Why would she even sleep there when there are so many rooms in the house?

I gobbled up my anger for her at the moment and allowed humanity to reign in my heart. "Shraddha!" I called out

She didn't move, nor did she respond.

"Shraddha!" I called again. I didn't want to touch her. It would be overstepping boundaries because she'd mistake it for the wrong thing. She's still young. She has expectations from me, and I can never give her the go-ahead to misconstrue something occurring between us.

"Shraddha!" I said it a little louder. She spruced up and hugged me the next instant. I drove her away quickly and got up.

"Anand ji?" She looked at me with unbelievable eyes, as if she weren't expecting me there. I watched her clean her eyes, and she stared at me again. "Are you here?" Her brows slowly reduced as she asked.

"Come inside." I said that and returned to the room. She hugged me because she was sleeping. I'm sure she doesn't even remember what she did.

I exhaled a tired sigh as I moved nearer to the window. I observed the city and the people living life, although it was very late at night. I heard Shraddha's footsteps coming inside, and another sigh escaped my lips.

"Sleep here. I'll leave the room for you in a while."

Shraddha barely managed to keep her eyes open as her mind was still deeply asleep. She tried to remember what happened earlier when Anand pushed her away. She couldn't remember. All she could remember was that he pushed her away, but why?

Although there was a strong wave of sleep evolving in her mind, she still made sense of what he said about leaving in a while.

"Why? Can't we stay together?" she asked.

He flouted her. He continued to marvel at the city.

Shraddha went into the bathroom. She washed her face with the shower water because it was the only tap she learned how to turn on, and she came out. Anand hadn't left the room yet. He was still there, and she was finally fully awake.

"Did you shower in one minute?" he questioned.

"No, I washed my face." She replied. She went closer to the window and stood beside him. He turned and went towards Supriya's picture. Shraddha sadly breathed out as she turned too.

"Why did you marry me?"

He remained silent because he remembered the chaos that happened before his parents convinced him to remarry. He chuckled while suppressing the pain in his heart. "Go and ask Father or Mother."

"Why can't you tell me? We've been bound together. At least, I have this much right to know why I was brought here."

"You got married...." He paused and changed his mind. He looked at her. Outrage barraged his eyes as he remembered what she and her mother did. His father wasn't even at fault. Her mother sold her to them, and she accepted being sold. He saw no purity in her again. All that was there was filth, like her background. He left the room in rage.

Shraddha beamed with a smile on her lips while happily going to bed. She was glad Anand welcomed her into his room. He took the first step toward fixing their relationship, and now she would take the next step.

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