The Arrangement by Chauhan

The Arrangements

 PROLOGUE

Dhwani looked at her husband with utter disappointment. Her eyes burned holes in his frame as he ate his plate of breakfast without a word or an emotion. She was yet to see one on his poker face in the last 2 years. The face which seemed to be designed with utter time and details lacked colors of emotions and feelings.

The only one she had witnessed in his eyes is hatred, an emotion so powerful that it had her inside clutched with resentment towards herself. She cursed her one weak moment which led them to this.

Married, yet strangers who shared an apartment but never exchanged a word.

He looked up but his eyes darted towards the clock hanging on the wall behind her, never they rested on her for more than a second.

She doubted if he will remember her face if she ever bumped into him on a deserted road.

He wouldn't acknowledge her, she was sure about it.

Letting out an inaudible groan she nibbled on her plate of fruits and let her fingers play with the nuptial bracelet she had carried for part 2 years. She didn't wear the chain, not when she didn't feel married.

Though for the sake of the tiny guilt, she felt for bringing this unwanted bond on both of them, she wore it as a sign to remind her of her weak moment.

She watched him leave the door and the feeling came back. The place felt cold and empty, even with his presence or without it, it was the same.

She shook her head as she marked another day on the calendar.

Another day of this miserable married life.

She took a small glance at her face in the mirror, adjusting the black bindi in the middle of her eyebrows, and moved out.

She had to make her mandatory visit to all three of the orphanages under the Gayatri Devi Foundation – CSR project of Chouhan Industries which was managed by her husband.

The one and only, Anirudh Chouhan.

The eldest of the three Chouhan brothers.

She scoffed seeing his face plastered on the magazine cover, once again the photographer had tried his best to make him look less serious and approachable but she knew the truth.

The man was a sleeping anaconda, touch him and he will swallow you whole.

Paying the taxi driver, she walked past the iron gates of the orphanage – the place she had spent her early life until at the age of fourteen she was offered a scholarship from a local boarding school and then onwards, she had never looked back, she only returned here as a management representative, in the hope of giving back what she had received.

She nodded with a smile towards the caretaker and quickly divulged her checks.

This place made her feel alive. The small smiles of toddlers had her waking up, running, and kicking each day for the last 2 years that she started working in the Chauhan industries – managing the CSR department and making sure the people knew how big-hearted the family was, and how kind her husband was to the deprived souls.

Just like he was kind enough to marry her, yet make her regret it each day.

It was almost evening when she reached the lawyer's office, the glass doors parted and the cool AC air hit her with force, calming the sweat bids from the scorching sun.

"Evening, Trisha." She tapped at the reception smiling, earning the attention of the familiar receptionist she had met before.

"I am here to meet Kaushik Agarwal." She gave the name and the girl switched between the tabs on her desktop.