As Chhavi goes and takes her beauty sleep in the guest room,Maaturns to me and Aisha.
“If you’ve welcomed her in your house, treat her with respect.”
“If she treats me with respect and stops commenting on my choices, then sure, I will treat her with respect too.”
“She is right,” I back her up. “I hope she realizes that we are doing this for you,Maa.If she wants the respect of a guest, she has to act like she deserves it.”
Maashakes her head, probably thinking it’s fruitless to argue with us. I kind of agree with Aisha that she won’t argue with me on stuff. Maybe I do have some leverage for being her son-in-law.
“I hate when kids grow up,” she says to Mom, who just shrugs.
“Maybe listen to them, Meher,” she says. “I mean, if Aisha doesn’t like her staying here, then you shouldn’t have forced her to. If you were my mum, I would have argued till you heard me.”
Maagasps, and I can’t lie. Even though I have terrible anxiety at the moment, I am severely entertained by their conversations.
“Well, guess what, Margot?” she says, “If you were my kid, I would beat your ass.”
“You guys fight like kids,” Aisha says, done with them.
“Shut up.” Both of them speak at the same time.
Aisha chuckles and gives me a look, but for the first time I don’t meet her eyes.
I won’t pretend that I feel fine. Past me would have done that. Past me would have plastered a fake smile on his face and acted as if nothing had happened. Like someone’s words or someone’s actions didn’t just pierce through my heart and make a pit in my stomach so hollow that I wanted to puke my insides out.
But not this Reyansh. I promised myself I would change for the better. For her and for myself.
I aim to keep that promise no matter how difficult it makes me feel.
* * *
AishaKapoor
I sense that something is wrong. The conversation we had before Chhavi came made me feel warm. It felt like I could maybe let go. That maybe I wouldn’t have to take the gut-wrenching choice of leaving him.
But after that moment, he has changed as if something or someone is bothering him, and I can’t pinpoint what it is.
It only sucks that I hate having people be mad at me. My extremely sensitive self acts as if the world is ending, but I need to get over it. Reyansh has put up with that habit of mine for a long time, but if he is putting in efforts to change his habits that don’t sit right with me, why shouldn’t I?
So I get off my high horse and tell myself to calm down, internally, and take a step towards him.
He is lying down on his side of the bed, scrolling through his phone, and I go and sit down beside him. For the first time in these months, he doesn’t pay attention to me, his eyes focused on his mobile, and I suddenly get this impending urge to take that phone and break it.
“Reyansh?”
“Hm.”
“Can we talk?”
He nods, and I bite my lip to stop myself from losing my calm. I hate when he answers in monosyllables. It gives me the itch to do something.
“Are you mad at me for something?”
My heart thumps louder than thedholsinside my chest, and I gulp hard when he shuts his phone down and looks at me.
He looks me straight in the eyes, and no matter how overwhelming it is under his gaze, I don’t let myself cower down.
“If I ask you something, will you answer truthfully?”
