I Wanna Be Yours

Chapter 1

Priya's POV

Cock-a-doodle-do!
Cock-a-doodle-do!
Cock-a-doodle-do!

I woke up and rubbed my tired eyes. I moved away from my "Matty baby," which is what I call my floor mattress, and walked over to the bedside table at the other end of the room to turn off the phone alarm. I purposely put the phone there to make sure I would have to get up to turn off the loud ringtone.

Despite having a proper bed in the room, I always preferred my "Matty baby" because I had bought it with my own money. This room and mansion were built by my husband who is staying in two rooms from me.

Yes, I've been part of the family for four years as a daughter-in-law, but I've never been treated as one. Why? Simply because I wasn't deemed beautiful. My overweight body and dark skin don't meet society's or my husband's standards of attractiveness.

After shrugging my thoughts, I started folding my mattress and putting it in the corner of the room, I went to the washroom to freshen up and start the day.

At 6:30 am, I started preparing ginger tea for my mother-in-law and father-in-law and a black coffee for my husband.

"Priya, where is our tea ?", my MIL shouted sitting on the sofa while reading the newspaper.

"Just 5 more minutes Madam.", I replied, while pouring the tea into a teacup and putting biscuits on the tray. I am not allowed to call her maa or aunty. She doesn't accept me as her daughter-in-law, she thinks of me as a servant. She wanted a beautiful daughter-in-law for his son but she got me. But, I treat her like my own mother which I have been craving for my entire life.

"Madam, here is your tea", passing the tea to her and my father-in-law and i started feeling anxious. When she took the first sip, she started glaring at me.

"Why does this tea taste so bland?", she asked me angrily.

"Mine is perfect", my father-in-law replied.

"Madam we received your sugar report today and your numbers are off the chart, so your doctor suggest to reduce your sugar intake, that's why I substituted your tea from sugar to sugar-free, I apologize I should have informed you before serving the tea" I replied looking here and there.

"Yes, you should have informed me. Now, go do your work", she said to me. Even though she tries to act arrogant, she doesn't have the bone to say hateful things.

I brought a black coffee to my husband's room and placed it on the bedside table. I knew that the smell of coffee would wake him up, and when he started to stir, I quickly left the room. He had told me many times that he didn't like to see my face in the morning.

As I started preparing breakfast dosa and idli, I saw my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and Reyansh (my husband) take their seats at the dining table. When I first got married, I thought I would eventually join them, but as the years passed, I lost hope. People would ask why I stayed with them, and where else I could go since I am an orphan and don't have much money. Reyansh would give me money for grocery and household expenses, but I never used it. I earned money by freelancing at night after finishing my housework and used it to buy all the necessary groceries and my stuff.

I started serving them breakfast one by one with chutney. Once they finished it, they left the dining room without caring if I ate or not.

After cooking the lunch, I called my in-laws to have it and sent the lunchbox to Reyansh via driver. After cleaning the dishes I had a chapati and dal near the sink, that's my eating spot.

After that, I began cleaning the rooms one by one. Following this, I gathered the dirty clothes for washing. I hand-washed the delicate clothes and used the washing machine for the rest. Once cleaned, I took all the clothes to the terrace and started hanging them on the clothesline.

By 5 p.m. Reyansh returned home, I collected his coat, lunchbox, and office bag from his driver and put them in his room while he freshened up.

I made some evening snacks and coffee for my in-laws and Reyansh and served them in the drawing room, where they talked about their daily lives. I left from there to our garden and started watering the plants and flowers. This is the only place that gives me peace. Whenever I touch the rose petals I feel that they are so delicate and need constant care to enhance their beauty, I wish Reyansh could also treat my heart like that but it's an impossible wish I know.

Then, I left for the terrace to collect the dry clothes for ironing and once it was done I placed the dresses in the respective rooms and started preparing for dinner. After serving the dinner, I again collected the dishes and after cleaning them I put them in their respective place I ate my dinner near the sink after cleaning the last utensils and then went to my room and in my phone, I could it was almost 12:30 a.m.

"Happy Birthday Priya, Finally you are 28 years old and I hope one day you can be happy", I wished to myself. Today was also the day I lost my parents 18 years ago, but if my parents were alive they would have celebrated my birthday as festive.
So I am gonna celebrate my birthday with them on my way.

"Dear Sir,
I wanted to remind you today is my off, so I won't be at home. So, I have arranged for a maid, she will be here from 7 am till 7 pm. Please do pay her salary for today. Have a nice day
Yours sincerely,
Priya"
and I place the note on the bedside stand

I created a similar note for my in-laws and placed them near a magazine that my MIL read daily.

I started my freelancing work around 1 am and completed by 4 am.

When my alarm clock started ringing, I got up and put on my mother's saree and my father's wristwatch to feel they were with me.

"I miss you mama papa", I whisper.