Three days had gone by since I had shifted to my dad's place. Amit never even tried to contact me once. It was my duty to give him time to heal and that was exactly what I had done. Instead, I took refuge in my books. I stayed in my room, away from the nosy neighbours. I knew that eventually I would have to come out; I was not ready for that yet.

I got distracted from the book I was reading when my phone rang. It was Amit.

"I called the pandit today." He said as I attended the call.

"Oh, I had not thought about that." We were to offer food to the poor on the twelfth day after the death of a family member.

"I also talked to your father today. We decided to offer food to the children of 'Little flower
Orphanage'."

"Okay."

"He said that he'll come there with you and your brothers. We will meet there."

"Okay. I will see you then." We both had nothing more to say to each other and so we ended the call.

My heart warmed up when I saw the kids at Little Flower. How could people abandon sweet kids like those? I could not stop thinking of my Rishi that day. If only he was there with me, I would not be in the pain I was in.

Days passed by and I was learning to live without my son. I also felt like Amit was trying to learn to live without not just him, but also me. It was as if he had forgotten about me, he never called. I had called him a few times and he gave me the cold shoulder.

"Hi" I spoke into the phone.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No Amit, I just wanted to talk to you."

"Well, if it is not something important, then I am going to end this call. I am in the middle of something here."

"Just wanted to know how you are? You know after all that has happened."

"Well, everything is happening for a reason right? I had better go now. I will call you later."

"Okay, take care."

He did not bother saying anything and cut the call.

That night I cried myself to sleep. What did I do wrong to deserve such a hard life? Wasn't losing my son painful enough that my husband had to start acting like this?

"How long is she going to stay here?" I heard my dad ask my brother.

"What is wrong in that dad? This is her house."

"No Karthik, I did not mean it like that. I do not have a problem with her staying here But.."

"But what dad?"

"People have started talking. Mr. Sharma asked me last day why she was staying here?"

"Since when do you care about what others think?

I felt like I should not be listening to them, but I could not move from the spot.

"I do not."

"And you should not. Coming here was her choice. If she has to leave, that should also be her choice."

"I get it son, but."

"No dad, we should not be even talking about this"

"Fine son."

Thankfully, both of them had not noticed me there. I decided to call Amit, again.

"What is it now Kavya?"

"I was just checking up on you."

"I am not a baby who needs checking up on. Didn't I tell you I would call you?"

"Yes you did, like a week ago."

"So? That doesn't give you an excuse to call me."

"I do not need an excuse Amit. I am your wife."

"Yes you are my wife, not my mother. I have to go now anyways."

I was shattered when he hung up on me yet again.

Maybe it was entirely my fault. I should not have left him like that. I had to fix things with him; I could start by moving back.

"You are leaving?" Dad had a shocked expression on his face.

"Yes dad, I think I have overstayed my welcome. It is time I moved back."

"I knew you heard us talking earlier. Is this because of that?" Karthik asked me.

"No bhai, that is absolutely not the case. If I have to fix my marriage, I have to go now. Amit and I have been apart for a while now and I think it is more than enough."

"Are you sure beta, I did not mean for you to leave. I am sorry you had to hear that. I was just concerned for you."

"I understand dad. As I said, I have to fix things with Amit. That is why I have to leave."

"Alright then beta, Karthik will drop you there."

I agreed and he carried my bag to the car.

"You are okay right?" Karthik asked me on the way.

"Of course, bhai."

"About what dad said earlier, look, he was just being protective. You know him, do you not?

"Haan bhai, I understand where he is coming from. I assure you that decision of mine had nothing to do with the conversation I overheard."

"We are here. He told me some time later."

"Oh, thanks."

"Don't you want me to come in?" He asked feigning hurt.

"No, I want to work things with Amit first. You understand, don't you?"

"I do. Well, take care."

"Will do."

After I waved him goodbye, I turned to my house. The door was open, so I went in.

I had expected Amit to be home, but what was unexpected was his condition.

"I need you the most now. We only have each other. Please talk to me Amit." I pleaded. My cries seemed to fall on deaf ears. He had distanced himself from me after the huge loss we had recently endured. The one month I had been away from him hoping things would change for the best was a complete disaster. That was what I felt on seeing his attitude. He sat with a bottle of Whisky in the dining hall. The house was in a horrible condition and he did not even care.

How could fate be so cruel to me? First, I lost my only son and now my husband started behaving as if I did not even exist. I could make this right, or so I thought.

"You are back Kavya. I was not expecting you." My husband said to me, minutes later.

"What is this Amit? What has got into you?"

"What is wrong with me? Nothing. I am just enjoying my newly found freedom."

"What do you mean?"

I regret having asked that question. I got the answer to my question the next moment when a half-naked woman came out of our bedroom.

"Who are you?" We both asked each other at the same time.

"I am his wife. The real question is, who exactly are you?" I said.

"I am sorry. I did not know he was married." She ran back to the room from where she appeared, gathered her clothes and left.

"Oh, I never told her I was married."

"What happened to you Amit? You were never like this."

"No. I was not like this. However, this is who I am now. I enjoy being like this. I do not want anyone to control me."

"Control you? Are you saying that I used to control you?"

"Oh yes, that is all you did. You are a self-centred woman with no regard for others."

"You are not in your right mind now Amit. I think you should get some sleep. We should sort things out later."

"See, you are trying to control the situation again."

"That is what you think of this situation? The way it appears to me is that I am trying to look past the infidelity on your part in this marriage."

"Why don't you understand that I do not want you to look past that? Why cant you leave me alone. Just get the hell out of my life."

"What? Tell me you did not mean what you just said."

"Oh I did. I do not want you in my life. Please spare me the drama and get lost."

I could not believe my ears. Amit was however pretty sure about what he had just said. He went to the bedroom and shut the door to my face.

I did not have any other option than to leave. Should I go back to my dad? What would the people say?

Something my mom used to say came back to me then. 'You have to act for yourselves. No one else is going to make decisions for you. And never let what others think of you alter your decisions.'

She took her phone and hit the call button.

PIC: Kavya Gupta