The No-Strings-Attached Call

"The trust has broken down. It will take some time to change attitudes and attitudes are going to be needed to develop trust."

After I got fresh, Vandisha showed me the home and I was once again engaged with rituals. The next time when I came in the room, I was surprised. The room was decorated with scented candles and pearl white satin sheet was neatly spread on the bed with rose petals all over it.

"Don"t gawk! Now it"s your room as well." Vidhi bhabhi chuckled as she helped me in sitting on the bed.

"Not only the room but also Abhimanyu." Vandana Di teased me and I just got one shade more red.

"We will send Abhi in a moment." Bhabhi winked at me and I chewed the insides of my mouth.

"All the best." They giggled and I just lowered my lashes, playing with my bangles. The smile wasn"t leaving my face because finally I was going to talk to him.

Abhimanyu"s Perspective

I drank another glass, lost in my thoughts. Bharat squeezed my shoulder, "Dude! We kept this party so that you can be relieved from your stress, so chill! You don"t have to drink so much."

"Relax! My ass!!" I muttered, looking away and sipped beer and Kartik clicked his tongue, "Move past what happened and inaugurate your new life with her."

"Go, she must be waiting for you." Mehul pushed me, winking and I swatted off his hand. "I am going to tell her that this relation means nothing to me."

"What??" They yelled in unison.

"She will stay away from me after it and in the meantime; I will sort out my issues." I continued.

"You mean you will not leave her?" Bharat queried and I nodded. "No, she is my wife. I have certain responsibilities towards her. Though, as much as I don"t want it to do, I can"t neglect her. I just need some time."

"I have this sudden urge to kick you hard." Kartik groaned.

I snapped hotly. "I did what you guys said but now I will do what is right."

"Why are you guys standing here?" I drew my eyebrow together when I saw all my sisters standing outside my room.

"Oh here you come!" Vandana di purred "Come on give us neg and go inside, she must be waiting."

"Neg?" I asked with disbelief, my wedding will leave me bankrupt!! "Sorry! I have no money." I showed my empty wallet.

Thank god! I"d removed cash. I grinned within my slurring mind.

"That"s not fair. Lend some money from anyone and pay us." Paridhi whined.

I snapped at her, irritated. "Why the hell should I pay you to go in my own room?"

"Because that"s a concept." Di intervened but I scoffed. "What rubbish!"

"Give us money Abhi. Fast. We are tired."

"No way. I am not giving a single penny now; you guys have already robbed me enough." I refused straightforward.

"Fine then sleep here only." Vandisha showed attitude and I smirked, "Sure."

Their expressions were priceless. I bit back my laugh. The walkout started, two hours rolled down but I sat unmoved with them outside my room. They were too stubborn to get up but I bet two more minutes and they would be running to their room.

"Dada!" Paridhi whined, rubbing her feet. "Please, give us money I am tired."

"How much?" I bargained.

"12k only." Vandana Di chimed and I shook my head. "6k. Not a penny more than that, alright?" She looked ready to argue but Vandisha pressed her palm. "Fine."

I smirked and handed cash to them. They trudged to their room glaring at me and finally I twisted the knob, dragging my feet inside. My eyes involuntarily moved to Shree, she was sleeping in a sitting position propping pillows in her lower back. She got changed into a simple sari.

Uh oh...she was really tired. I will talk later to her, perhaps tomorrow. I took a towel and my casuals before ambling to the bathroom.

Shree"s Perspective

I blinked as my sleep broke by the chiming of wind bells. I stretched my limbs as sleeping in an awkward position had brought cramps in my back muscles. I felt cool breeze wiping the tiredness off me, my eyes widened in realization and I sat back in a jerk. I looked at Abhimanyu as he was standing by the window and surprisingly, he looked at me back.

"I am sorry I think I broke your sleep." He turned to me and I stood up to walk near him. "No. You didn"t wake me up."

He turned back to gaze at the moon.

"I didn"t see you coming." I premised.

"I figured. You were sleeping." His tone was calm and his eyes fixed on the glazing moon. I frowned at his negligence. "Are you alright? Is everything fine?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I find your behavior weird lately. You looked zoned out throughout the wedding. Is something bothering you?" I asked, extremely worried and each passing second just added on to my restlessness.

It is a twisted way of fate to procure experience for us but what I failed to speculate was the experience my life wanted to present me within the confines of the present scenario. I wish I were a clairvoyant to assess his inner turmoil, it would be easy on me to be able to connect to him and prove out to be his aid in any way. He wasn"t giving me his words and that was upsetting me because I was failing to get a glimpse of his mind.

"Abhimanyu...." I took measures and calculated steps to eliminate the distance between us, "Why have you been so distant to me?"

"Shree...." He exhaled laboriously, his words left me wondering about the depth of pain he was in. It hindered my progress towards him. His back was facing me; he had his fist curled over the iron railing. "This marriage happened only because of my parents."

I was in a state of numbness. His words fell in my ear shots but my brain repudiated to process over them. I was extremely slow in grasping the explicit meaning of them. It left such an impact on me that I had to retreat. How can he say that on our wedding night? Like the rituals we performed held no value in his eyes.

"How can you say that? I am your wife."

"You are my wife for the whole world to see. I wish to keep no strings attached " to it. I hold no responsibility for you." His lips were uttering what was in his mind and now I didn"t want a glimpse of his profaned brain.

"What?" A mere whisper slipped past my lips, my eyes brimmed with tears, I wanted to shout, clamor and hurt him with my actions but I was fixing the broken pieces of my heart that were being crumpled under his feet.

"No strings attached? What do you think you"ve done? We are married for god sake; you do hold responsibilities towards me." I forced him to see eye to eye but his eyes were shut long back. If not, then we wouldn"t be here.

"Do not force yourself on me. I have done it for our families." He exasperatedly snapped, "I should"ve told this to you in the beginning itself."

He didn"t want me whereas I had already accepted him, he didn"t even want to share his heart with me and I was ready to present my soul bare to him. I believed there was no point of persuading him to accept me when he clearly didn"t look abreast at me.

"I want an answer now." I bit back a whimper that was choking my throat and looked straight at his back. "Will we ever find love in this?"

Tears spilled down on my cheeks and I had this clenching pain in my heart. My hopes, my dreams all of them could be shattered by his answer and still hoping against the hope, I expected him to not disappoint me.

For the first time tonight, he glanced at me. It was my turn to move to stare at the illuminating moon now. He faced me and stepped closer. His tawny orbs moved to and fro and rested on mine. There was ocean of pain in them; his eyes were not twinkling alike the days we"d met before.

I opened my mouth to say something but his words were the final nail in the coffin.

"I don"t know." With that, he left leaving me shattered and heartbroken, I kept zooming in at the space where he was standing a few seconds ago. I couldn"t decide what to do? My dreams were broken, my hopes robbed and I was left with a cruel, despotic husband who was very much uninterested in me. I sunk down to my knees and sobbed for the way my life had turned up.

A question kept rebounding in my psyche; will we ever going to find love in this relation or will it end up before the commencement?

***

After crying so much, anger bubbled up in me. Abhimanyu had left me to cry for him. He really did not respect me. I stood up wiping my tears and dash inside the lavatory. I came out wiping my face with a soft towel. He was there, taking out some files from the cupboard when I came back after crying my heart out. He didn"t notice me and I was too angry to let him notice me. I quietly took a pillow and the only blanket kept on the bed.

"Where are you going?" He asked me as I stepped outside in the balcony. I didn"t bother to reply and fixed the pillow on the huge lounge chair. It was a curvy one, good for relaxing.

"I have asked you something." His cold voice came.

Go to hell Mr. Husband. I care a damn.

I again didn"t reply and moved inside his room to take my cell phone and earplugs. Yes, it was his room only. When he didn"t accept me, when he didn"t see me as his, how could I see and put my rights on him and his belongings?

"Are you deaf? I asked, where you are going?!" He screamed, covering it with whisper, tugging my arm.

"Are you blind? Can"t you see I have taken a pillow and blanket? I"m going to sleep there." I retorted equally, freeing my hand.

He looked dazed. ESV jibed, pushing her tears back. Oh you didn"t know I"ve gotten a mouth."

"You can"t sleep there." He stated.

"You can"t rule me around." I hissed and he looked at me, shocked.

"I am going my home tomorrow and I will not come back ever again." I glared him before sliding the glass door between his room and balcony. My tears fell from my eyes like an open tap and slow sobs spurted out of my lips. I bit my lips and remembered my family. I wish I could go to them immediately and told them what Abhimanyu did with me. I lied on the chair but as I tossed on that the heavy leathery curves ping me in my curves. I was irritated.

MY LIFE SUCKS!!!

I looked at him, trying to peep inside. He was sleeping peacefully on his monarch bed. Moron...

I strode towards him and shook him hard. He didn"t budge. I again shook him but he squirmed a bit before covering himself with the blanket properly. I tried once more and this time, I pinched his arm. He sat up with a jerk and his sleep drunken eyes frowned at me. ESV eyed him furiously, How can he sleep after doing such damage to me."

I will ruin your life for this prohibited crime. I took an oath.

"What?" He asked, irritated. I was aghast at his audacity. He wasn"t regretting even. I pursed my lips and looked away.

"I can"t sleep there." I replied, frostily.

"Who asked you to sleep there in the first place?"

ESV boo-hooed, Rascal making fun of my situation."

"Listen... I am not going to sleep there and it clearly means that you are going there." I stated as a matter of fact, crossing my hands.

"Excuse me... I heard you wrong. What did you say?" He made his eyebrow squint, sitting cross legged. I rolled my eyes.

"I said you are going to sleep in the balcony."

"And what made you think that I"ll go there. This is my room and I"ll sleep here only." He rapped out and lied down, covering him again.

ESV and I both fisted our hands at his audacity, You"ve got the guts to challenge me, you punk!"

I quickly snatched his blanket and adjusted the AC at the lowest temperature. He glared me and I returned it with full justice.

"What do you want?" He huffed.

"You...Out of the room." I glared at him and he frowned.

"Go to hell." He cursed and fell down again after adjusting the temperature.

"I can"t... I can"t go to hell because it"s here. Just, in your room." I pressed a fake smile but he didn"t budge. I stomped my foot and ambled to the balcony, grabbed my things and strode towards the door when his voice again interrupted.

"Now where are you going?" He asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Aunt"s room. I"m sure she will lend me some space." I smirked and moved forward.

I sneered as I heard him. "Sleep on the bed. I"m going out."

He took his pillow and blanket and moved out of the room not before glaring at me. If looks could kill, I would be dead by now but guess what? I cared least. I sighed and settled on that plush bed and covered myself with the blanket inviting the sleep.

Abhimanyu"s Perspective

I winced for the umpteenth time as I tossed on the sofa. I had to think of something because I was definitely not going to spend my upcoming nights tossing in this sofa.

"What happened?" It was the first sentence that came out of Kartik"s mouth as he picked the call.

"I just got kicked out of my own room."

"Good!" Bharat sneered. "I told you not to open your mouth but you didn"t hear it."

"Why"d you believe that Divya? You are ruining your life yourself." Mehul preached.

"No use of telling him. He will do what comes to his mind." Kartik butted in and I rolled my eyes. "Stop taunting."

"What you have decided to do?" Bharat queried.

"I am blank. I will maintain distance from her."

"Physically or emotionally?" Mehul teased and my friends laughed.

"Both!" I groaned, rubbing my face and Kartik grinned. "Let"s see how long!"

"If you guys are going to discuss my sexual life, I warn you that I will cut the call." I warned and they chuckled. Talking a little, I cut the call and closed my eyes.

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