Relationship Status - It's complicated

Chapter 5 - Relationship Status : It's complicated

Anjali

It was an exhausting day at work after my visit to Little Angels Orhpanage. All the random images from the time I was married to Manish flashed before me as I tried hard to concentrate at work. 

"Manish! You can't torture me like this. I can file a case against you"

Between his gritted teeth, he replied "and I will pour hot oil all over myself and tell everyone you did it on purpose. "

On another occasion, he had let his mother insult me 

"I am sure you are responsible for his changing behavior. It's because of you he has no interest in women."

On yet another occasion, 

"aap mujhe divorce kyu nahi de dete asaani se" 

"What is it that a woman like you wants from a marriage. I am giving you a place to stay, two meals to eat and good bedroom to sleep. What else do you need?"

"Manish, I feel suffocated in this relationship. Why don't you understand? I am expected to behave like a normal couple, a normal wife infront of your social group and family during weddings."

"I am warning you Anjali."

At that very instant, he had pulled my hair so bad that I winced in pain "Shut up , will you ? You utter a word to anyone about me and I will this time burn you alive. You know I am capable of doing that just like I burnt my hand last time. Don't you dare play smart with me Anjali.Either I burn you or I burn myself and put the blame on you. You won't survive any way, you will be thrown behind bars"

"Stop it Manish! Stop it please!" I pleaded as his hold on my hair tightened.

"I will only stop if you give me something to make me believe that you won't spill my secret"

"Promise, I won't tell .."

Cutting me off he mumbled in my ears "A promise won't do this time. "

"Manish, please.You are hurting me. I won't tell"

That was the tipping point. After he had left, I had contacted Pooja. All his threats would be about hurting himself but this time he threatened to hurt me. The man needed help and I needed help to get out of this mess. 

Around 4pm, my work colleagues wanted to grab a quick coffee and head home. I had a lot of work still pending. I did grab coffee with them. I stayed to myself mostly at work. I would only interact with my immediate next cubicle neighbor Leena who had introduced me to two other friends. The good thing was we all would be so busy with our hectic schedule that we would rarely be indulged in each others lives. When we met, we mostly talked about weather, work or environmental issues. The reality of my marriage and divorce was only known to my boss Mr. Ravi Kulkarni only because I had to take too many leaves at once. He was a kind hearted fellow, didn't ask too many questions on my personal grief but granted me leaves when necessary.

After Leena and her friends, I went back to my cubicle to now tackle the workload so that my next day wouldn't be affected as much. I usually exited office by 5:30 pm and reached home by 7 pm. Today, it was 6:30 pm and I was still working. I decided to get off from work at 7pm. 

Sometimes I really do feel stars are not in my favor. As I got off from work and headed towards the company transport, the transport co-ordinator informed me that the none of the drivers were reporting for the late shift (after 5:30 log off is considered as late shift) today. All of the cab drivers had gone on some sort of strike propagated by the Mumbai Taxi Driver Union.