"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
―Albert Einstein 

Chapter 17: Broken Ties

   Madhan crept into his house at four in the morning. He and Armaan were discussing a lot of things. They were neighbors for two years, but it was only now that Madhan felt he could truly connect with Armaan. It was only now that he trusted and treated Armaan like a brother.

   It was Saturday, and Riya woke up at six. She crept into Madhan's room and into the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a quick shower. Even by the time she came out, he was still sleeping. Riya found that odd as he was always awake when she wakes up.

   Maybe yesterday's fight took a toll on him, she thought, sadly. He didn't deserve all this, but she was glad it was out in the open.

   Now she could be herself totally and Madhan would understand.

   She wore a blue salwar kameez, and kept a bindi on her face. It was time she stepped out of the house today.

   She opened the front door and walked to the postbox room. She checked the postbox to see if she got any mail, and was pleased she found one. Unlocking the box, she took out the manila envelope and locked the box again.

   She was upset when she saw the mail being addressed to Madhan but nevertheless took it inside. Curious about it's contents, she opened it and found a letter. It said,

            Congratulations Mr. Madhan Roy on getting promoted. Looking forward to meeting you on Monday as Assistant Product Manager.

An gasp escaped her lips. That was why he came home early yesterday, she inferred. She didn't give it a thought before that he came earlier than usual.

   Smiling to herself, she felt really proud of Madhan. A man like him definitely deserves that, but she was going to wait for him to tell her the news if he ever was planning to tell her.

   Carefully sticking the envelope back, she kept in on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. When she opened the fridge, she was dismayed to find it empty. The only thing left was milk.

   Taking out a mug, she poured milk into it and took it to the hall. She wanted to talk to her mom since the previous day.

   Riya checked the time and guessed that it would nine in the night at India. She took the landline from the handset and dialed the number.

   "Hello," Mrs. Sharma said, sleepily.

   "Hi Ma," Riya said, in a cheerful voice.

   "Riya! Beta, how are you darling? I was expecting a call yesterday. "

   "Sorry, a lot of things happened yesterday," she sighed. "We fought." Riya braced herself for the next few words.

   "I knew it was going to be hard to handle you. What have I told you about fighting? If you keep fighting like this, you're going to be husband-less. You already know I've warned you about this," she said.

   "Ma, relax. We are okay now."

   "Oh. Okay. Good. What was it about?"

   "Do I have to tell?"

   "Well, you're gonna tell me some time or the other. Why not now?"

   "You're right. He found out about Aakash," Riya said, quietly.

   "Oh my, did you tell him?"

   "No, that's what makes it worse," she said, dejectedly.

   "But you said you two were okay."

   "Yeah we are. At least sort of. I made it clear to him that I needed time."

   "Oh no, Riya, bad move."

   "Ma, I'm sorry, but it's all your fault. Don't put the whole blame on me. Anyways let's talk about something else."

   "Fine..," Mrs. Sharma said, and went on to drone about what happened in the house that day.

   Finally after an hour, she hung up, and placed the mug in the sink. Madhan was still sleeping, so she wrote him a little note telling him that she was going grocery shopping, and closed the door quietly.

   The grocery shop was a five minute walk away, and there was so much to buy. Overwhelmed by the amount of food, and delicious snacks there were, she ended up buying a month's supply of food. But she knew it wouldn't last longer than a week. Two hours later, she paid the bill. But there was a problem.

   She came in empty handed, but there were four fat bags she had to carry. There was no way she could carry it all alone. Having no choice, she rang up home, and Madhan came in two minutes with his car.

   Needless to say, Madhan's eyes bulged when he saw how much she bought. Over the phone he was aware that there were four bags, but she omitted the part where the bags were almost as big as a garbage bag.

   "I hope you don't expect me to eat all that, since I don't even like half of what's there in it," Madhan joked.

   Riya gave him a weird look. "I'm sorry, but was I expected to buy anything for you?" And that shut Madhan up for a while. He was insanely jealous. How was it that she could pig out, and not become fat, while he ate two hundred calories extra and it showed.

   Once they reached, Riya took two bags, but Madhan insisted that he bring all of it. So he made two trips up and down, and helped Riya place everything in the kitchen.

   "Honestly, my kitchen has never been this full before. It's good to have company," Madhan said, smiling wistfully.

   Riya smiled a bit, but the awkwardness was clearly shone on her face. She poured the coffee powder into a cannister, and made coffee for him.

   "Here you go," she said, as Madhan sat in the dining table, reading the newspaper as usual.

   Riya took the mail from the coffee table, and handed it over to Madhan. "I think this is for you," she said, and was about to walk to her room, when Madhan stopped her.

   "We didn't finish our conversation yesterday."

   "I'm pretty sure we did."

   "No, you did, Riya. You didn't hear me out."

   Riya paled. Was he going to ask something impossible of her?

   Madhan folded his newspaper and looked into Riya's eyes.

   "I'm not going to say I was happy that you hid something as big as that from me. But I'm really glad I found out now, instead of a year later.

   The way you reacted to everything really hurt me, and I was so scared that it was something I did that made you react that way.

   But I finally understood it wasn't. I also understood that this marriage is probably the hardest thing you've ever done.

   And I really appreciate your courage.

   The way you would do anything for your mom.

   You can take all the time you want, Riya, to get used to settling here.

   To get used to us.

   I don't mind if we are only friends for life.

   I don't mind if we don't have any children.

   All I want is your happiness.

   And I promise you I wont ever let you go. Unless you ask me to."

   Riya was speechless. She couldn't believe what she just heard. There was one thing she knew though. Madhan had started falling for her. She wasn't ready. She wasn't ready for another relationship already.

    He said being friends was okay, but he was obviously going to expect more. No one can be that good. Not even him. She was really grateful to him, but she didn't want to be friends with him. Not when he was in love with her, and she didn't feel anything for him. In the end, he was the one going to feel hurt.

   Riya laughed bitterly. Girls thought these things before marriage. Not when they were IN their marriage. What she was going to do next was horrible, but it was the only thing that would save Madhan from being hurt in the future.

   "Thank you, Madhan. You are really sweet. But I'm sure I was crystal clear when I said I needed time. What you said just now made me sure that I didn't need anymore time." Riya said.

   Madhan couldn't believe it. Armaan said this would make her like him a little bit. He just couldn't believe it worked too fast.

   "I can never be friends with you, ever. You overdid it, Madhan. I know you meant well, but now you pushed me away even further. I'm sorry. But don't think anything can happen between us ever. Not even friendship," Riya said, coldly. "I will however perform my duties as a wife. You'll be taken care of."

   What the hell just happened? Armaan was cent percent sure that Riya would have a little soft corner for him.

   Why put Riya through more hell? With great difficulty, he choked out the next words. "You take care of yourself, I'll take care of mine. I relieve you of all duties as my wife. But I'll stick by my words. I'll provide you with food and shelter, and wont leave unless you tell me to."

   "Okay," Riya said, and rushed to her room. Once she was sure Madhan was out of earshot, she cried till she could fill up an ocean.

   And when she was so exhausted, she crashed onto her bed. But the last thoughts that were running around in her head was,

   "I'll never be able to love Madhan the way he wants me to. I must stay away. For his own good." 

Oh my gosh!!! What was that?! :P What are your thoughts about Madhan and Riya?! :) Do you want them to make up, or do you think Madhan deserves someone better?! Please vote and comment! Hope you liked the chapter! <3