I continue, ‘Are you wondering if you should answer that?’
‘I’m thinking how unfair it would be to complain about life after what you have told me . . . after what has happened.’
‘C’mon. The last time we met, I bitched and complained about Sameeksha when your life was hanging in the balance. All problems are relative. You can start complaining, I won’t mind.’
She looks at her tea and exhales deeply. Crease lines form on her forehead and she looks deeply unhappy.
‘I don’t want to be with Vicky any more. But I can’t break up with him. That’s what is going on with him . . . Anyway, there’s nothing left in that relationship but anger.’
I see a window of opportunity. I want to smash through it and take her away from Vicky.
‘Why are you together then?’
‘. . . because he still loves me as much as he hates me. He would never let it end.’
‘Aanchal, you’re the smartest person I know, but this is a dumb thing. You can leave anyone at any time. Who’s stopping you? Just walk out. People break up all the time.’
She shakes her head like it’s not even an option. It makes me furious.
‘I’m not putting Maa through it,’ she says. ‘Gaurav’s doing whatever he’s doing and then me. It would be too much for them.’
‘So? You will get married to him eventually because you can’t tell your parents that you want to leave him? Say that sentence in your head and see how crazy it is.’
She waves me away. ‘How bad can it be? People are in loveless marriages all the time. It’s pretty much the hallmark of marriage: unhappiness,’ she says.
‘I disagree. Getting married to someone is the holiest thing you can do. It’s a promise like none other,’ I tell her. ‘And how you’re dealing with this is the worst possible way.’
She shrugs as if it’s no big deal. ‘It’s a piece of paper.’
‘It’s a life together,’ I respond, shocked at her nonchalance. ‘Whoever you’re thinking will judge you or your parents for breaking up doesn’t matter. The world moves on, Aanchal. They don’t care what we do in our lives. And those who truly care, they won’t mind.’
‘I’m trying to make him break up with me.’
‘What did he do?’
She catches my gaze. ‘Why could it not be something I did?’
I know Aanchal can do no wrong. ‘You would be forgiven for everything.’
‘I cheated on him.’
I want to ask her who she cheated with, but that’s none of my business. I am jealous but also angry with both Vicky and the nameless guy with whom she cheated. How could they have ruined the opportunity of being with her?
‘Again,’ I ask her, ‘what did he do?’
‘He did what guys do,’ she says with finality. ‘It is what it is. I don’t have the luxury to leave. He’s not going to be my entire life, just a small part of it. Anyway, I won’t be the first person to get married to someone they don’t like. Big deal.’
‘That’s just nonsense.’
‘You wouldn’t get it.’
‘Of course, how would I get what’s really important in life?’
‘I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.’
She touches my arm. ‘Daksh, I didn’t tell you this so you could solve it for me. That you listened is enough. We should stop talking about it now. I will manage, it’s not a big deal.’
