The Ideal Wife
The man was busy with his monologuing, when he heard a knock on his door. He quickly hid the picture he had been holding in his hand, knowing that only his wife had access to this room. His wife, the love of his life- the most beautiful and compassionate woman he had ever met. He cleared his throat, and said loudly, "Come in! The door is open!"
The lady entered the room and noticed the picture on the desk, she then turned towards her husband and asked "You are missing baba ['father'] again, aren't you? But don't worry dear, I'm sure he will be at peace, no matter where he is."
The person had been looking at the woman with his eyes full of affection, but as soon as she completed her last sentence, it quickly changed from an angelic gaze to a demonic stare.
"No, he is not at peace. How can he be at peace, when his dream is yet unfulfilled?"
The man growled out; but he quickly tamed his voice and said, "Don't worry, love- I will definitely fulfill his dreams! I don't know exactly when, but someday for sure."
She stepped forward and hugged him; she patted his back, saying, "Of course you will fulfill each and every dream of his. I believe in you completely; and I am blessed to have the most caring and empathetic human by my side, as my husband…"
She took a pause after her sentence and then continued, "By the way, I got a call from Sonu. He wanted to come home, given that his project might get completed in another fifteen days, and his college will probably be closed at that time."
The person stepped out of her embrace and turned away, facing his desk. He spoke, clasping his hands behind his back, "No, I don't think that he will be able to come back; he will be getting even more busy after that. But tell me one thing: when did he call you?"
"Oh, he called me just this afternoon. He was saying that he had been trying to reach you earlier, but your number was apparently out of network coverage range."
He quickly pulled out his phone to check the network connection and panicked as soon as looked at the screen. Trying to hide his panic, he asked breezily, "Did he happen to mention anything to you?"
"Not really, he was just talking about his boss and some petty troubles at the office, nothing more. He disconnected the call after asking when he could talk to you- I thought I should inform you about this, as it is really late."
The man looked at his watch and grunted, "Hmm! Thanks darling, let me call him back. I will be joining you for dinner in a while."
"Okay dear, take your time!" She smiled and continued, "What would you like to have for dinner?"
"Anything cooked by your beautiful hands would quench my appetite thoroughly!"
"Alright then. Come downstairs soon, I am almost done with the preparation; but I will make something else if you have any special demands?"
"No, don't stress about it. Just go, and I will see you in a few minutes."
She nodded, smiling and then turned to leave the room, waving sweetly. As soon as she left the room, he took the picture out of his pocket once again, saying "See? She knows how a wife should behave- she should never question her husband's orders, and follow whatever his command is. Unlike you, who always raised doubts in everything I did! But anyway, you have received your punishment, and your sister will get her share soon! But your niece...yes, your niece...I will keep her here for a bit longer, she is really helpful as well as necessary for me. And as for Sia, I'm sure you must be curious- but we will talk about her later!"
************************
The doctor was busy examining Manya, while both Arjun and Ishaan were standing outside, in the lobby.
After a few minutes, Ishaan approached Arjun and spoke, with his voice cracking up. "Arjun, I need to apologise to you!"
Arjun looked at him and a smirk appeared on his face as he replied "What for, I wonder? For putting me in that tough spot and making me choose between my love and justice? Or for providing me with fake proof?"
Ishaan looked at him, his face white with shock. He asked, stuttering "You know about this? Since when? But how?"
"Does it matter? Here I was, trying to make myself believe that you are not as bad as I imagined you to be. But no, you are actually even worse- the worst person here!" Arjun completed his sentence and looked at Ishaan, who had broken out into tears and was now kneeling on the ground.
"I must seem very pathetic in your eyes, don't I? But trust me, I am not a bad person- at least, not as bad as you assume me to be. I just care for her...and love her. And this is the only reason that I wanted to keep her away from you, as I already knew that you are her childhood best friend, and she trusts her best friend more than anyone else. But then again, I was blind with envy; the fear of losing her was lurking beneath every step I took, and I was being surrounded by the darkness every passing second. My jealousy made me choose the path I never wanted to choose, as I was thinking for myself alone; never considering your feelings, even for once, and blaming everything on destiny. After all, there must have been some reason that she had forgotten you, and she was still leading a happy life, so I convinced myself that there was no need to remind her about you. But today, when she forgot about me...it made me question myself again! So please forgive me, I know that it is not an easy task, but please try…"
Arjun's anger had vanished the moment Ishaan had knelt down in front of him. He lowered himself, sitting on his hunches and spoke softly. "Don't worry buddy, I don't have any hard feelings for you. Or to be very honest, I can't decipher any of my own feelings at the moment. I can't isolate any voice in my head, apart from the one that is screaming about how we are supposed to tell her the true story! I haven't been able to come up with a way to tell her that everyone is dead by now. How will she deal with everything all over again?!"
Ishaan looked at him and patted his shoulder, and said "Don't worry, brother. You have me now...we will find a solution together."
************************