We both said, ‘I do!’ and we haven’t agreed on a thing since.” -So I Married an Axe Murderer…
I slam on the breaks and look at abhi’s house over the tops of my shades.
It’s hard to believe that I’m here again after all that has happened between him and me. This is another twist of fate in my life and I’ve decided to live with it placidly because I don’t want to endure more drama. I have already had enough.
Only one month to bear the pain.
I text abhi and put my phone back in my lap, and wait for him to come out.
While he comes out to help me pick my stuff up, I scroll through a few texts.
“Just useless promotional texts,” I mutter.
A few seconds later someone knocks on the window and I turn my head to find abhi leaning forward.
I open the door, getting out of my car.
“Where’s your stuff?” he asks.
A simple hello would’ve sufficed, but people have become too straightforward these days.
Instead of replying, I move past him and open the back door to take out one of the two cardboard boxes.
I turn around and abhi’s staring at me, his arms folded across his chest.
“There’s one more box,” I say, tilting my head in my car’s direction.
As soon he takes out the other box, I put my box down to lock the car. When I bend over to pick it up again, it slips through my hand, but somehow I save it from dropping on the ground.
I frown when I notice abhi walking ahead of me. He could’ve at least waited for me, but no he has to act immature all the freaking time. I have to jog to catch up with him. I don’t know if I’m too slow or if he’s trying to run away from me; whatever the reason may be, I couldn’t care less.
Abhi climbs a small set of stairs, but I stay back when my eyes land on the plants in our yard. They have all turned brownish yellow and look dry like a desert.
“Abhi, when did you last water the plants?” I ask, gazing at those poor plants.
He raises his brows at me. “What plants?”
I take a deep breath, shaking my head slightly, “Nevermind.”
As soon as we step up on the porch, I straighten up my back. Too bad for me, I have the heavier box.
“Abhi..pragya..”
Abhi and I snap our heads at the same time to locate the source of that squeaky voice.
Could this day get any better?
Raina hurriedly opens the iron fence gate and speeds towards us with two of her kids running after her. All her kids are in the age group of five to ten.
I groan inwardly.
“How are you raina?” Abhi asks, smiling for the first time I arrived here.
“I’m good, abhi, in fact great! I thought I was hallucinating when I saw pragya, but she’s here! I can’t tell how much I missed you,” she says, her round face glistening in the sun.
Automatically, my eyes scan her body. Last time I was here, she had only a small baby bump, but now it has grown big.
“Thank you,” I say.
I can’t lie and say I missed you too, so I guess I
responded in a better way.
“Looks like you’re going to give us good news soon,” I say, pressing my lips together.
She smiles, her eyes shining bright,
I’m so excited, pragya. By the way, where have you been for so long?”
I furrow my brow and stare at her for a little too long. “Um, a trip.”
“Wow, that’s great!”
“Yeah…” I nod.
Abhi puts the box down and picks up one of raina’s kids in his arms. I can’t seem to remember this little boy’s name; well that’s not my fault.
Abhi pinches the boy’s nose. “Hey, how’re you arav?”
“I’m fine, uncle. .” he says, swinging his tiny arms.
Abhi throws his head back, laughing at something arav whispers in his ear. Raina and abhi continue their chat, completely forgetting about me standing alongside them. The other one children stare up at me and I focus my attention ahead, trying to ignore them, and suddenly, I feel like all the eyes in the neighborhood are on me, as if I’m the eighth wonder of the world. These people have a serious problem of not minding their own business.
I look down to find the kid still staring at me. Unwillingly, I give her a small smile, which lasts for only two seconds. Now, they’re all grinning back at me.
What? Are we friends now?
Sighing, I walk a few steps away from them and make myself comfortable in the rocking chair. The kid followed me, standing next to the chair and I can’t help rolling my eye at them.
“Why are you sad?” the little blonde girl asks.
I frown. “No, I am not.”
“Then, are you angry?” She asks.
“No,” I say, my fists clenched.
“Then, I guess it’s just your face.”
I cock an eye at the blonde girl.
“Come on, it’s time for lunch!” Raina yells, as if she was standing one kilometer away.
Both of them saunter towards their mother and follow her, jumping up and down as if they don’t have a care in the world.
“Finally!” I mutter under my breath.
Abhi kicks the door open with his foot and walks inside with the box in his hands.
As soon as I enter the house, the aroma of brewing coffee greets me.
Something happens to me, and all of a sudden I start feeling quite nostalgic. I want to accept the fact that this is not just Todd’s home; it’s my place too. Despite all the bad memories, this place makes me feel homey and I can’t help but smile a little. It’s just strange.
Abhi stumbles, almost dropping the box in his hands and I let out a squeal.
“Be careful, there’s my laptop in it.”
“I’m sorry.”
As I look around, I realize our photos that used to adorn the walls are no longer there. Every frame is gone. I don’t know if abhi has kept them somewhere safe or if he has thrown them away. It just feels a bit empty, not that I actually care.
I can see abhi in the kitchen, which is like five feet away from the living room.
“You know, abhi, I’ll be in debt to you for life, if you at least offered me a glass of water.”
*****
I spend the whole day unpacking and arranging my stuff. Moving in is not easy, especially when you’re moving in with your soon to be ex husband. Earlier today, when I was leaving my parents’ home, they were ecstatic about it and even told me to try my best to mend fences with abhi. Obviously, I’m not here for that. I’m here to put an end to the things that have been bothering me for a long time. Somewhere, I feel I’m betraying my parents and it hurts like hell, but I have no other choice.
After brushing my teeth, I finally get the time to sleep. Now, abhi and I are lying on the bed in such an awkward position where if we move an inch here or there, we’ll end up on the floor. There seems to be room for two more people between us. I could’ve told abhi to sleep on the couch, but I didn’t because I can’t behave so mean, not that I’m usually not mean; it’s just that I didn’t want to piss him off the very first day.
And this is what I get for being nice: a headache, two sleeping arms and an awful fear of falling flat on my face.
We have been sharing bed for two years, but now things are oddly different. I’m just staring blankly at the ceiling and I assume he is too because he’s not snoring yet. As always, his bedside lamp is switched off while mine is not.
Shortly later, I sit up straight, put the soft covers over myself and let myself fall on the bed once again. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Abhi turning his head and rolling in the opposite direction, and after a few seconds I do the same.
I sigh, fidgeting with my covers. Neither one of us bother to start a talk, which I guess is better because most of the times we end up shouting at each other. I want to sleep to stop these thoughts from clogging up my mind, but there’s no sign of sleep in my eyes.
Soon, I start to think about my parents. Honestly, I didn’t want to leave my home and come here. I just want to call Dad and confirm if he has taken all his medicines on time or not, but I can’t because it’s past midnight and he should be asleep by now. I know Mom is taking complete care of him, but I can’t stop worrying about him.
Things just don’t feel right. I’ve nobody to talk to, nobody to listen to and this silence is torturous…
Hope they will fall in love again…
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