Wedlock By Fate

48~ My God! Aranya what a beautiful surprise!

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~Aranya Iyer~

"My God! Aranya what a beautiful surprise!" My mother hugged me as soon as she opened the door for me.

"Mumma let me breathe! You're squeezing me." I uttered spontaneously.

"My kiddo!" She slapped the back of my head ushering me inside. "Wait a minute! Where's Vihan?" She asked looking over my shoulder.

"Mumma he has some important meeting. So he couldn't come." I smiled making an eye contact with her in order to assure her that I didn't lie to her.

Well to be honest, it was a big lie. I didn't want to stay after what had happened between us nor did I want to sadden my parents with my complicated married life.

The word "complicated" had been gnawing my head since the time I left New York. The word itself was so difficult to comprehend that ruminating over it n number of times gave me jitters everytime. Where was our relationship headed to? Did we marry again to see such a blow to our warm, tangy relationship? I mean it was tangy in the sense that we mostly faught on trivial things. But what happened wasn't trivial at all. It was such a massive blow to my expectations that it compelled me to leave the place where I had happily decided to spend my entire life.

"Earth to Mimi!" My mother's voice snapped me from my ruminations that I was deeply engrossed in the past one day.

"Sorry mumma! I had zoned out. What were you saying by the way?" I asked taking a sip from the glass of cold water.

"I was thinking to visit you guys but thanks to the Almighty that you came yourself. But you should have informed me Mimi. I would have made you your favourite sambhar vadas." She said taking a seat across me in the living room.

"It's okay mumma! It's already night time. I didn't want to bother you." I said giving her a side hug.

"My little Mimi has grown so big that making food for her would bother her mother!" She mocked and I pouted.

"Okay now enough of your drama! Have some food and go and rest in your room. We will chat in the morning." I nodded and went upstairs to freshen up.

The moment I entered my room the memories of my unmarried life flashed before my eyes. The room decor and every little things concerning me was taken care of. Everything was prim and proper like I had left, not a speck of dust was visible. The only change that happened in this room was the picture frame of Vihan and I hanging on the wall just a few inches above the headrest of my bed.

Coming back to India, to my parents's house was like a fresh breath of air. It was the best decision I took. It felt good to get back here but that picture of us brought back some unpleasant memories. I preferred to take a cold shower to ease my raging thoughts.

The water cascading down my naked form seemed to wash away all my stress down the drain. I felt renewed and refreshed in a matter of few seconds. My disturbing mind finally relaxed after a beautiful cold shower. Stepping out from the shower, I had my dinner.

To ease my mind, I listened to some music as it's said music heals broken souls. No matter how hard I tried, but saddening thoughts did make it's way through my mind.

Argh! I need to sleep now! I said it louder.

"Mimi do you need something?" My mother's voice sounded outside my room.

"No mumma! I'm fine. You go to sleep!" I yelled back.

I didn't want my parents to get an inkling of my state. Unlike the past, I was dealing the situation with maturity. As it's said its easier said than done. This facade of keeping up a smiling face all the time was damn tough. Only my heart knew how hurt I was from within. No matter what I couldn't erase those disturbing thoughts from my mind.

'I need to sleep! I need to sleep!' I repeated these lines as a mantra when I plonked down on my bed. But sleep was far away from my eyes.

Anyhow after a lots of tossing and turning, I fell into a gentle slumber owing to the jet lag perhaps.

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Ma'am would you like to have another cup of coffee?" The waiter asked waking me up from a short nap. I checked the time. It was already midnight.

"No thanks!" My phone went off.

"Aranya did Vihan come?" Stella spoke on the other side of the call.

"Not yet!" I replied with a yawn.

"He has seen the picture of Dylan and you kissing each other." She added with a sigh.

"What?" The sleepiness in my voice disappeared all of a sudden.

"Rosalie saw it from some singer's and the restaurant's collaborative post that she didn't want to share but unfortunately I did and we were forced to show it to Vihan. I'm sorry Aranya." Stella stated glumly.

"And you believed it?" I enquired.

"It's not about me. It's about Vihan. We left him alone in the office." I gave out an exasperated sigh.

"Bye Stella!" I disconnected the call.

Taking a last look over the vacant seat, the lighting and the decor I decided to move out of the restaurant. My heart sank recalling the excitement I had for this date. Swallowing the lump formed in my throat, I turned on my heels.

It was difficult to wait for hours while asking the waiter to send coffee a number of times but deep in my heart I knew he would come. But he didn't and that broke my heart. Now that I came to know the reason, my hope turned into despair and of course hurt and anger made its way into my mind. All I wanted was to confront him and say that it wasn't like what he had seen.

I reached Vihan's office after an hour. I barged into his cabin. It was dark enough to scare anyone except the lights of his washroom was left illuminated. The mirror was shattered to pieces with things scattered on the floor. Dry blood was visible on the cracks of the mirror. It took no rocket science to understand that he had punched the mirror out of anger. I left the cabin and made my way towards our penthouse.

To my horror, his car wasn't parked in the parking lot. Where was he? My heart started racing a mile per hour.

Ignoring, all inauspicious thoughts, I raised my hand to ring the doorbell. It wasn't needed as the door was unlocked. Last time I had remembered I had locked it. Anyways, maybe he was home or a burglar broke into our home. Argh! I hate suspense in my personal life.

There was pin drop silence everywhere. Not a single thing was missing. That meant Vihan was home. A small smile appeared on my lips thinking that he was safe. But since he stood me up on our first anniversary date, the rage returned.

Sipping a glass of water I marched towards our bedroom. I pushed it open. There he was lying wrapped in the sheets. But what I saw next was inconceivable.

"Aranya you there?" A whatsapp notification sound disturbed my trail of flashbacks. It was a message from Dylan.

I had woken up around ten in the morning. My mother had left a sticky note stating she went to offer pooja in the Shiva temple. And here I was chatting with Dylan after having a yummy breakfast. Flashback of our confrontation surfaced up with the mention of Vihan during our chat.

"Yeah!" I texted back letting out a deep sigh.

"What happened between you two?" He texted after a few seconds.

I didn't send a reply. I just switched off my mobile data.

~•~•~•~•~

Cliffhanger after a long time!

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