He bats his eyes at me like a puppy, and this is exactly the reason why I don’t like him sometimes. He always takes the dramatic route before getting to the point, and it’s aggravating.
“Get to the point,” I grumble, pinching the bridge of my nose as I take a calming breath.
I don’t have the patience or the time to deal with his antics.
“I thought by now your wife would have put poison in your food,” he says sweetly. “I mean, who would want to stay with a husband like you?”
I roll my eyes even if his words hit my heart like a dagger. I know his words hold truth. If it were me in Aisha’s position, I would have left me.
I am still grateful she hasn’t. Yet.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence in my marriage,” I reply, sarcasm dripping in my words. I don’t like his honesty, particularly at the moment. “But I am still alive and married.”
“I can tell from the ring on your finger,” he says before getting up so that I can finally sit at my place and start working.
I stare at the golden band resting on my left finger. Even when our relationship has maybe lost its meaning in the long run, I have never had it in me to take off this ring. Nor has she, and these rings on our fingers give me the hope that maybe we can repair what’s long been broken.
“Got your answer then, I hope,” I smile bitterly at him. “You can leave now. I have work to do.”
He, as usual, doesn’t leave. Instead, he raises his legs and places them atop my table, right by my laptop’s side, and I glare at him.
Why am I friends with him again?
“What?” I ask.
“Are you sure you’re not forgetting anything?” he asks in return
I narrow my eyes at him, wondering why he is asking me that. If something important was today, then Aisha or my PA would have reminded me of that.
My memory sucks—I can’t help it.
My dad says to drinkbadam roganfor it. But it tastes worse than shit itself.
“Would you cut to the chase and just tell me? I don’t have the time for your bullshit, Aarav.”
“It’s your wife’s birthday eve, Rey,” he says, sounding done with me at the moment. “She turns 28 tomorrow. Don’t you remember?”
My fingers halt on the keyboard as my mind registers his words. Fuck. I cursed under my breath.
How could I forget?
While birthdays have never mattered to me so much, they have always been a special day for her. She loves her birthday even if that day gives her so much anxiety. Not only that, but she hates when the people she loves and cares about so deeply forget her birthday.
While a lot has changed between us, I have always made sure to remember her birthday.
Now I forgot that too.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“I forgot,” I admit out loud, hating myself as the words leave my mouth. My wife remembers every single thing about me. Yet I keep forgetting all the things related to her. “I will make it up to her.”
“How?”
I grit my teeth together. How is what I need to figure out at the moment?
“Don’t bother your little brain over it,” he rolls his eyes. “I have arranged for a small birthday party at my place tomorrow for Aisha. You and a few of our friends and business associates are invited. You better come with an apology and a gift worthy of her attention.”
I sigh even though my heart burns with the knowledge that instead of me, my best friend is preparing for my wife’s special day.
