Ever since Sameer returned from his business trip, Adhika had noticed something usual about him — something she couldn't pinpoint. It seemed as if he was a total different person. In the past, he usually didn't pay much attention to her, but recently, things had begun to change. She thought she was only imagining things and getting her hopes up — as she usually did, until Divija decided to bring up the topic.

Sameer had left for work early and Adhika was left alone in the room. She was busy flipping through pages of a fashion magazine, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in, Divija." She permitted and put magazine aside.

Divija pushed open the door and walked in, with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Good morning! I brought you coffee, since you've decided not to step out of this room."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help you with the chores today. I had a migraine." She informed and collected the outstretched cup from her. "Actually, I still do."

"Really?" Divija beamed.

Adhika's face scrunched up in confusion. "What's exciting about that?"

Instead of giving a response, Divija hugged her. "Mum is going to be so excited to hear of this awesome news."

Realization suddenly hit Adhika. She shook her head in disbelief and pushed her away. "You better get rid of that thought from your mind. It's not what you're thinking."

"But what if —"

"There's no 'what ifs' in this situation, okay?"

Divija looked unconvinced and Adhika didn't know how she was supposed to tell her cousin that the relationship she shared with Sameer, wasn't the same as other couples. At moments like that, she was always tempted to blurt everything out to her...or to anyone else, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. Everyone would judge Sameer and she she didn't want that to happen. In spite of how stupid it might seem, she understood his predicament. She was willing to wait for him, no matter how long it would take. She loved him that much.

Divija hummed and fixated her gaze in her cousin's. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Adhika shook her head. "There's nothing to be worried about, Divija. All is good."

"We grew up in the same house, shared the same bed, ate from the same plate and literally did everything together. There's no one who knows you better than I do. You're hiding something from me." She stated, matter of factly.

"It's nothing I can't handle." She opened up. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything is going to be alright. Time is what is needed."

"It's about Sameer, right?" She probed.

"Like I said, everything is going to be alright. Just have trust in your older sister."

"If he hurts you, I'm not going to let him off the hook. I'm serious about this!"

"Really?" Adhika laughed. "The last time I checked, his presence intimidates you. You're just a scaredy-cat when he's around. 

"That's not true." She huffed. "I just respect him, that's all. There's a difference between the two. Your husband may look intimidating, but I'm definitely not intimated by him."

"Keep telling yourself that." Adhika teased.

"That's the fact." Her expression then detorted to a serious one. "On a serious note, Adhika, you don't have to keep your problems away from me. If your husband is treating you wrongly, you shouldn't tolerate it. Not at all. I'm always here to render my supports to you, so don't hesitate. You know you can always rely on me."

"Of course." I smiled. "Thanks, Divija. I'm grateful to you for many things."

"That's what sisters are for." She smiled and stood to leave. "You don't have to be grateful to me for anything. It's my responsibility."

After Divija had left, Adhika began to ponder over what she had said. Sameer was not exactly treating her wrongly, but at the same time, he had never given her her rights as a wife. He was near, but at the same time, always so distant. The lack of intimacy between them made her feel unwanted. They had been together for six months, but they didn't have the type of closeness she could gallantly boast about to friends and family.

•

Later in the evening, after Adhika had finished preparing dinner, she decided to give Sameer a call and find out when he would be returning home. She hesitated for a while, for he didn't appreciate being 'disturbed' while at work. But nonetheless, she went ahead and called. The highest that could happen was him, not picking her calls.

Surprisingly, he picked at the second ring.

"Hello?" Came a feminine voice.

Her brows instantly furrowed. "Who are you?"

"This is Pooja speaking, I'm Mr. Khan's secretary. He is currently out of office, at the moment," she informed. "But you can leave a message."

"Without his phone?" She frowned. She might not know him well enough, but she knew he always moved about with his cellphone. "Where has he gone?"

"It's confidential. I'm sorry I can't disclose. If you have something important to say to him and you're not willing to leave a message, then you can come to the office and wait for him."

"It's fine. I'll just call him again later." She remarked and ended the call.

For some inexplicable reason, there was this eerie feeling in the atmosphere. She had a hunch something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. "I'm just over thinking." She convinced herself and then shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the awful feeling that was sprouting in her mind.

Just as she dropped the phone on the nightstand and was about to leave for the kitchen, her phone began to ring.

She was surprised when she picked up the phone and saw the caller's ID. "Sameer?" She clicked on the receive button and brought the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Adhika." Sameer's masculine voice filled her ear. "My secretary told me about your call. I'm sorry, I couldn't pick, I was in an important conference meeting and I forgot to take my phone with me."

His explanation only rose more doubts in Adhika's mind. He was being oddly defensive.

"I told you not to call, while I'm at the office. Is something wrong over there?"

"No." She responded; trying so hard to sound as normal as possible. "I just wanted to know when you'd be coming home tonight."

"I really can't tell." He exhaled. "I have work piled up. I don't think I'll be able to return home tonight, so don't wait up for me."

Adhika swallowed the ball of nerve that suddenly got stuck in her throat and ended the call, before he could say anything else. Her heart tightened at the possibility of what her husband was up to. It wasn't her intention to doubt his fidelity, but it was the picture his actions painted. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get rid of the feeling anymore. It was too much for her to take. In all the months they had been together, she never made any demands from him — not even a single one. Was wanting him to be faithful to her, too much to ask?

Her grip around the phone loosened and it dropped to the phone with a soft thud. She wiped the tears that gathered in her eyes and took a seat at the edge of the bed. "I should have expected this when I decided to get married to him. I thought I would be able to make him have some sort of feelings for me over the months, but masi was right, this isn't as easy as I thought it would be."

After a while, she made sure to properly wipe all traces of tears from her cheeks, before sauntering to the room Divija was temporarily occupying. 

Divija was watching a movie on her laptop, when she knocked and opened the door. "Are you busy?" She inquired.

"No. Why? Do you need me to do something for you?"

"Yes, please. I want you to give out all the food we made to beggars. Sameer isn't coming home and we won't be able eat all those foods alone."

"He isn't coming home?" She sadly asked. "Why?"

"Work." She curtly responded. "I'm going to go to bed early. Please don't forget to take out the food."

"Are you okay?" Divija asked, concerned.

With a closed lipped smile, she nodded. "Goodnight, Divija."

She returned to her room and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Afterwards, she ambled to the walk-in closet to change into her nightie.

Emerging from the closet, her eyes dilated at the image of Sameer, seated on the divan; his legs spread out and his head, lying against the headrest.

Momentarily, Adhika found it hard to take a single step. Believing it was merely an illusion, she closed her eyes. By the time she reopened, she thought he would have diminished into thin air, but astonishingly, he was still there. Not even a muscle moved.

"Sameer?" She called and went to stand in front of him.

His eyes opened and he adjusted his posture.

"I thought..." Her voice trailed. "I thought you weren't coming home tonight."

"I had to." He sighed. "I was worried when you ended the call without a word. I tried to call you as well, but I couldn't get through. I thought something bad had happened to you."

Adhika gazed meticulously at him. When did he begin to worry that much about her? And besides, instead of rushing home, after he claimed to be so busy, he could have easily given Divija a call to confirm his intuition.  Without mincing words, she knew he had a skeleton in his cupboard.

Before she could give him a response, his eyes darted to the phone, on the ground. "What happened to your phone?" He asked and then walked over to the foot of the bed and picked it up.

"While I was speaking to you over the phone, it slipped out of my hand and now it's broken."

"Remind me to get you another one tomorrow." He remarked and got into the side of his bed.

For a moment, Adhika stood in her spot; her doubts about him increasing by the second. "I didn't know you were coming home. I gave out the food I —"

"Don't worry about that, I have already eaten." He responded and shut his eyes.

She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but ended up deciding against it. There was no way he would come clean with her, she knew. The best way was to catch him red-handedly.

In the middle of the night, when Adhika had made sure Sameer was fast asleep, she carefully got out of bed and tiptoed to the his side of the bed. She looked again for confirmation, before picking up his cellphone from the nightstand.

Fortunately for her, his phone wasn't secured with a pin, pattern or password. She went through his call logs, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. She then went ahead to ransack his messages. Her heartbeat tremendously thumped in her chest, as she saw several messages from 'Pooja'. Afraid of what she might discover, she hesitated, before clicking on the newest message.

I have made reservation for dinner tomorrow.

A lone tear slipped out of her eye. She found it extremely odd for a secretary to converse so informally with her boss. To top it all up, he also saved her contact by her first name. How atypical of a professional relationship!

"What are you doing?"

Flustered, her eyes dilated and she let go of the phone.

•

👋 everyone!

HAVE YOU EVER SUSPECTED YOUR PARTNER BEFORE? 👀

What do you think? Is Sameer indeed cheating?

Don't forget to vote, comment and share 💕

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