Mésalliance (Completed)

Chapter 16

"One week is over," Vikram reminded his grandmother suddenly. Madhu, who was busy with the magazines, turned her head in his direction. She managed him for seven days and that was the best stint of her life. He looked into her black eyes for a second and deviated his attention back at Rati, "I am leaving this place."
Madhu wondered about herself and stood from the chair. Sooraj crossed his hands and questioned on her behalf.
"If she wants to join me, I will leave in an hour..." Vikram informed and returned to his room. Madhu stormed behind him and latched the bedroom door, "What was that?"
Vikram frowned, "Did you not listen to me? You have one to vacate your trash from this room."
"Trash?" Madhu whispered to herself and noticed that he was referring to her dresses and toiletries. "How could you decide to leave this house?"
"We are leaving in a week as planned," Vikram told her, arranging his bags near the doorway. "If you don't want to leave this place, stay here. I don't care."
Madhu knew he didn't care and he won't tolerate her tantrums. "Should I quit the work too?" She questioned him in shock.
"No need. I work there once a month," he informed her. She nodded her head and looked at the things that needed to be packed, "Okay. Could you help me?"
"By leaving you here?" he turned to her and stood calmly. She gritted her jaw, "For packing."
He rolled his eyes and saw her messy stuff, "Where do you need my help?"
She shrugged, "Anywhere possible."
He took her trolley from the stand, "Alright... My work is done." He then napped on the couch and Madhu couldn't believe the sight. She scratched her head and started to pack the folded clothes in the trolley.
She had a feeling to return to the place soon, so, left a stock of essentials in one of the cupboards. At the lowest rack, she found a rumpled diary and turned to Vikram who slept like a sloth. She tucked the diary inside the trolley and closed the zipper. She hoped for the diary to have his secrets.
The servants reached their doorway and took their packed luggage downstairs. She didn't feel melancholic as nobody in his family was kind or jovial as she wanted them to be. Vikram also promised her a private bedroom in his house where she had planned to fill in Ankitha.
Vikram woke up from his nap and checked the time, "Let's leave."
She nodded, "The bags are downstairs." 
He didn't acknowledge her words but made his way downstairs. She sighed at the empty room and tamed her mind to accept reality.
"-thank you for your hospitality," Vikram was speaking the exact words as Madhu stood at the last set of stairs. Rati looked disgusted at her grandson, "Stop your game. You need not go to that shack."
Madhu witnessed the drama silently.
"It's a three-story bungalow," he snorted back. "I miss that place already!"
"Aww. You, cute puppy..." Rati mocked him. "This is your home. Not that place."
Niyati, for a second, looked at Madhu and rolled her eyes. She already witnessed lots of drama like that.
"I don't miss this place," Vikram said in a brave tone. "It means that I don't want to be here."
Rati questioned Madhu directly, "What about you?"
Madhu stood like a statue. If the only guy she knew in that place didn't want to stay there, how would she stay back?
"Don't taunt my wife," Vikram said, standing in front of her. Madhu released the breath that she held for a minute. Rati peeked behind him and commented to Madhu, "Your grandparents were amazing souls. I thought you knew family values like them. I was wrong."
Madhu gulped.
Vikram glared at the old lady, "Don't open your mouth again. She will do as her husband likes." And he dragged her out of his house.
Madhu felt paralysed under his touch and followed him like a doll.
Rati walked behind them and warned Madhu, "This Vikram is an idiot. He doesn't know how to distinguish between good and bad. He trusted a girl and she tricked all of us. Don't trust him."
Vikram stopped in his tracks and gave a stern glance to his grandmom. Madhu looked at the old lady and decided to shut her mouth, "I was brave enough to marry this stranger and leave my parents to stay with him. He might've faltered in his past days but I wasn't a part of those days to judge him. I trust him completely and leave this place."
It dawned upon Vikram that she would defend him even though they weren't cordial in any terms.
Madhu couldn't say her goodbyes to the new family as she wasn't attached to anyone there nor was happy to leave with her husband. She didn't deserve that hostility just because his ex created a mishap. As he never planned to get married, he couldn't see her as a companion. Added to the punishment of marriage,  Madhu too was rude to him. He couldn't stop the punishments of his fate.
The servants loaded their luggage in the car and Vikram, without another glance at his home, took the driver's seat. Madhu followed him to occupy the front seat. His eyes were red in anger and his lips were tucked between his teeth.
The engine roared its way out of Rao's mansion. Madhu heaved a huge sigh and closed her eyes.
*

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It must've been ten minutes since he parked the car in front of his bungalow and Madhu snored into the front seat. She had been sleeping like a toddler since they started from his house and he envied her peace. He opened the front door in anger which made her fall on the cobblestone.
She wobbled to stand up with the tremors of the fall and the effects of slumber. Her neck pained a little, owing to the bad posture. She frowned at him, "Bastard. Can't you at least wake me up?"
"I am not your driver or servant to do those. You are staying under my charity," he seethed at her. She arched her eyebrow, "I will pay the rent. You are not my boss here."
"Oh! Vikram is here..." an old woman exclaimed to them. She shouted for the maids to bring garland and welcome the couple. Madhu and Vikram broke their argument and straightened themselves near the entrance. The servants waded off the evil spirits with aarti and wore garlands to the couple.
Madhu stepped inside his house with her right foot as instructed and found herself in an anxious state. The living room was small compared to her home and Sooraj's home. Vikram walked inside the elevator and went MIA for thirty minutes.
Madhu broke the ice with the servants and occupied the dining table, helping them with lunch preparations. She was garnishing the curry with coriander and that's when she saw Vikram who was keenly observing her near the dining table. Her cheeks heated with shyness.
He never thought of her to help with chores and move smoothly with the servants, owing to her way of luxurious family. Though he was disappointed with her attitude towards him, he was glad about her kindness to his servants.
She might be a pure personality.
"Good afternoon..." he greeted the servants and Madhu noticed him smiling for the first time. She understood that his bungalow was in his comfort zone. The servants commented on their wishes for the new couple and said that Madhu was angelic. He never thought that his maids would support that demoness.
"Madhu prepared this in twenty minutes..." The maid served him a square-shaped sweet. He looked at Madhu cautiously and took a bite of it. He was astonished by the taste and devoured the rest of the sweet immediately. "Can I have two more?"
Madhu chuckled at him. His heart missed its beat, hearing her laughter.
He eyed her questioningly and ate another sweet in one go, "What is it called?"
"It's Mysore Pak. Haven't you heard of it?" she seemed to be surprised.
He shrugged and nodded negatively.
"It's the most famous dessert of South India..." she informed him and ate a piece of sweet.
"You got lots of blessings from others, sir..." a maid told him. "That's why you have such a kind wife who treated us like human beings."
He bobbed his head disinterestedly. "You can do other chores while we eat."
When they sat alone, Vikram asked why she acted like a good person to his servants. She placed the spoon on the plate, "I mirrored their kind behaviour just like the way I imitated your egoistic attitude."
He frowned at her, "I treated you correctly."
"So did I..." she replied. "And just because I am friendly to them, I need not be cordial with you. I hate you from the bottom of my heart."
"Let it be that way..." He told and placed five hundred rupees on the table. "It's my tip for the sweet."
Madhu looked at the note and said, "That's your salary as my car driver for today."
Vikram gulped his throat as she kept her plate in the sink.
"It's just a deal between us. You are an ally to me, nothing more," he reminded her. She agreed with a nod, "We are obligated to live together. Nothing more."