Forget-Me-Not: Taste of Freedom

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

     Give them the benefit of the doubt, Ananya's words rang in Dia's mind as she stared across the restaurant and caught sight of him. At first, she was sure she was mistaken, that she'd just imagined seeing him. But a second glance proved that she wasn't... it was him, alright. He was laughing... his head thrown back, his eyes twinkling with mirth. She'd never seen him laughing like that before. The sight of him, so open, so unreserved, so... alive, sent a streak of warmth through her. Then her eyes slid to his companion, and the warmth faded. Dia paused, a small frown covering her face. He was with a woman—a woman she did not know.

      The woman was laughing, too. They were sitting across each other, sharing something that only the two of them knew, and for a moment, Dia felt like the rest of the world couldn't touch them. They were aloof, in their own separate bubble, in complete sync with each other. Jealousy stabbed through her, burning like acid in her veins, surprising her with its intensity. It should have been her on that table, sitting opposite him while he laughed like that. It should have been her he was looking at... with solid brown eyes not offering comfort anymore, but sweeping her into a cauldron of awareness as they regarded her with that knowing glance. But it wasn't her... it was someone else who was getting all that. She tore her gaze from their table, swaying a little, and realized that her heart was pounding.

     I'm not affected by them, she told herself. If my husband wants to spend his evenings at a fancy restaurant, laughing with some other woman, he is welcome to do so. It's none of my business.

     She wasn't here to spy on him or to join him. In fact, she hadn't even known she'd see Varun here. It was eight o'clock on Tuesday; Varun was supposed to be at his office, winding up with his work, preparing to return home. Not having dinner with some beautiful woman, sharing his life story and laughter at The Punjab Grill. Unbidden, Dia's gaze was drawn once again to their table. She scowled as she saw the woman regarding him with interested eyes as she leaned ahead on the table, probably teasing him. She was awfully good looking, Dia had to give her that. She looked like she was trying to make him laugh again.

      Or trying to introduce him to her chest.

     With a bitter glance, Dia looked down at her own modest endowments. She wasn't curvy or luxuriously beautiful as his companion was. She was just... she snapped out of her inappropriate thoughts, and shook herself.

     Idiot, she scolded herself. What are you doing, acting like a crazy, jealous wife? There's no reason to be so mad and to compare yourself with a random woman. He's just eating food with someone.

     Not just someone, the voice inside her grumbled. Dia slapped it down, annoyed with herself for being so bothered. Since when had she started feeling so possessive about Varun? There was nothing between them, even though they were married.

     Nothing? The voice piped up again, torturing her. Really? Then what about the fact that he told you he was in love with you?

     "It was all him," Dia muttered under her breath, as if trying to reason with the wayward voice inside her head. "He said he loved me, not I. And I'm not having dinner with some hot guy sitting across from me at a fancy restaurant... he is. If he loves me, this isn't really the best way to show it."

     She didn't want to think about Varun or his date or the fact that he was not in the office but here, with someone else. He hadn't told her he was seeing someone tonight... he'd just said he was going to work. But it didn't matter, because it was none of her business. She wasn't here to see him anyway.