I dedicate this chapter to teeeemarh You're awesome 😘

•

Adhika lay in their bed, pondering over the day's event. Tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. In spite of how hard she tried to wrap her head around the reason Sameer had treated her in such a manner, she could not. After a whole month of being apart, she never imagined the day that was very much anticipated by her, would turn out to be so sour. She swallowed the huge lump that suddenly got stuck in her throat and her mind took a walk down memory lane.

Flashback

"Are you sure this is what you want, Adhika?" Her aunt, Ila inquired; worry laced in her voice. "You don't have to do this."

"But I want to do this." She smiled and held her aunt's hand in hers. "Ever since my childhood, you've always been there for me. You've been the mother I never had. You've always supported me in all of my endeavors. Won't you support your daughter on her big day?" Unshed tears glistened in her eyes.

With her fingers, Ila wiped away the tears from the corners of her and drew her into her embrace. "As long as I'm alive, I'll always support you. You know that, don't you?"

Fiercely, she nodded.

"I'm only concerned for you. Sameer obviously doesn't love you. If Aaliyah had not left him, he would never have looked your way. I know this may be painful to hear, but I believe it's not something you're oblivious about; Sameer is only using you. I don't know for what reason. Perhaps to get back at Aaliyah."

Adhika smiled, painfully. As horrible as that sounded, it was nothing, but the absolute truth. Sameer did not love her — she was aware. He had always just seen her as his fiancée's best friend and proposing to her the next day after his wedding was called off, made his intention even more glaring. Even a blind person could see that. It was not as if she was not aware. She was. But she just could not bring herself to say no to him. At that moment, her heart seemed to have a mind of its own. Her lips moved without her consent — on their own accords.

Right from the onset, she knew she might be making the biggest mistake of her life, but it was a journey she was willing to embark on. She had been secretly in love with him for three years — the man she admired from afar. Perhaps, destiny had something in stock for her.

"I know." She gave a tight lipped smile.

"And you're still willing to allow the wedding push through? Are you crazy?" Ila asked in total bewilderment.

"Perhaps I am." She chuckled, humorlessly. Crazy in love with a man who did not feel the same about her. It was insane, but there was nothing she could do. The heart want what it wants. "I'm going to be fine, aunt." She ensured. "Please don't worry about me. What will people think? Huh? Her daughter hasn't even been taken to her matrimonial home and the mother is already crying her eyes out." She held both of her aunt's hands in her and gazed directing into her eyes. "Today is my wedding, aunt. Please be happy for me. If you're not, then I'd never be happy, knowing I went against you. Please smile for me. If you don't, I'm going to call this wedding off and I'm never going to speak to you. Never ever." She threatened.

"Bless you, my daughter. Be happy always."

"That's more like my favorite person in the whole wide world. I love you, masi."

"Promise me, Adhika. Promise me you'd not allow yourself to be stepped on. Do not tolerate any disrespect from him, because it would only make him think it's okay to do that to you. If you ask me, you deserve much better than what you're getting. I was thinking of forming an alliance with a nice man for you, but since you've decided you want to throw your happiness in the ocean, there's nothing I can do to stop you. Had my sister, your mother been here, I'm sure she wouldn't ha—"

Before she could finish her statement, Adhika placed a hand over her mouth. "Please don't say that, aunt. You're my mother and you always will be. Had my mother been here, it wouldn't have made any difference. And aunt, I might be throwing my happiness in the ocean for now, but I will definitely go back and search for it someday. No matter how hard it is, I'll swim to the depths of the ocean and get my happiness back — this, I promise you, aunt."

"It'd not be easy. I hope you know this."

"Of course, aunt, but with God's blessings, it'd be easy."

Flashback ends

Adhika snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of the door opening. Spontaneously, she shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Shortly later, she heard the space beside her dip a little, due to Sameer's weight. "I know I have been nothing, but a jerk to you." He paused. "I know and I'm sorry. You don't deserve this." He planted a lingering kiss on her temple and caressed the side of her cheek. "I will make it up to you, I promise." With that said, his hand left her and she felt him turn to the other side of the bed.

Automatically, Adhika's eyes opened and more tears escaped. She did not know what to feel at such moment — one moment, he was being rude and unfair to her and in the next, he acted like a caring husband. His attitude gave her mixed feelings. She wanted to believe he was truly sorry for the way he behaved with her, but for some inexplicable reason, she could not bring herself to. She had been foolish for far too long. She did not want to get her hopes high again, and then have them come crashing down. To be on the safe side, she gathered it would be best if she did not take his words seriously. In just a matter of few hours, he had broken her heart not just once, but several times.

That night, she could not bring herself to fall asleep. She kept on turning and tossing in bed. She gazed at her husband, whose face was now turned to her. He looked so peaceful while asleep — like an angel from above. She smiled. He was lying there in the same bed as her, but was he really there? She doubted.

•

"Wake up! Wake up! It's morning, sleeping beauty." Adhika heard Sameer's voice, from what seemed like a distance.

Her brows furrowed in perplexity, as she opened her eyes to Sameer, in front of her, with a tray of breakfast in his hands. She shook her head —  surely, it must be one of her illusions. She shut her eyes and shook her head to get rid of the image.  But when she reopened them, surprisingly, he had not disappeared. Her brows furrowed even more.

"Good morning, queen of sleep." Sameer smiled brightly at her. "Sit up and eat. I made breakfast specially for you."

Puzzled, she sat up and gazed warily at him. Was he perhaps suffering from bipolar disorder?

"I made toasts and tea for you. You should eat, before it gets cold."

"Why are you doing this?" Out of the blue, she questioned. She just could not keep her questions bottled up anymore. She needed answers. Why was he giving her mix signals?

He arched his brow. "What? I'm not allowed to cook for my wife, but she's allowed to cook for me?"

Wife. The word still sounded strange to her. It had been six months since their marriage and she still hadn't gotten used to him referring to her as that. Maybe because it happened only in rare occasions. "You've never done this before." She voiced.

His demeanor instantly contorted in an emotion Adhika could not pinpoint. Was it sadness or guiltiness? She was not sure. "I know." Came his curt response.

"Then why suddenly?"

"Because..." He trailed off and heaved a sigh. "Because I want to make it up to you for the way I behaved last night. I had a terrible day. It's not an excuse for what I did, so I want to make use of this opportunity to apologize to you. I'm sorry, Adhika."

The way he called her name had butterflies erupting in her stomach. Her name had never sounded so pleasant before.

Like someone hypnotized, she smiled, letting go everything that had happened the previous day. Not like she could even stay mad at him for a long period of time. Even if he did not apologize to her, indubitably, she would still have forgiven him. "Okay."

"So...are you going to eat or should I feed it to you myself?" He teased.

She blushed and remained quiet. She hoped he would do the latter, but she found him putting the spoon in her hand. "Eat up."

"How about you?" She rushed out her words. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I will after I have showered. I have asked Divija to heat up the left over biryani in the refrigerator." He did not wait for her response, before going into the bathroom.

Adhika could not contain her happiness. Without even knowing, his words made her feel delighted. At least, not all of her efforts had gone to waste.

When she was done eating, she was about to return the used plates to the kitchen, when Sameer's phone began to ring on the nightstand.

She walked towards it and was about to pick it, when Sameer emerged from the bathroom, with his bathrobe on and swiftly picked up the phone before she could.

"It's an important business call." He excused and ambled out of the room to the balcony to receive the call.

•

Assalamu'alaykum/hello!

Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? 😋

Do you think Sameer is hiding something from Adhika?

Please don't forget to vote, comment and share. I'd really appreciate that :)

Follow my account for updates.

deey_jah
Ciao