Shreyas 2.0 was better than the original in every way. He still had his crooked smile and his curly hair, but Anita had made so many improvements. He would no longer be weak or frail. There would be no more constant summer colds and winter flus. He would be able to run a mile without losing his breath. They'd be able to have cats now, his allergies a thing of the past.
"I'm back?" Shreyas asked. "I thought I was dying."
"You were," Anita said cautiously. "But I managed to bring you back."
She had done more. She had made him death-resistant, in all the ways she could imagine. It was bad enough, having their planned out life cut short abruptly once. She wouldn't let it happen a second time.
"Thank you, Anita," Shreyas said. He sounded so sincere. He was grateful. But he did not step closer to her. He looked down at the outfit she had dressed him in, smoothing down the fabric of his polo shirt and taking a look at the smart watch on his wrist. "I think I should go home now."
"Home?" Anita asked.
"This is our home, Shreyas," Anita said, pointing to the living room around them. She had arranged the house for them both, decorated it to his taste, and now he wanted to leave it. She had fixed his myopia, but he seemed to not notice all of the personal touches she'd put together.
"No, I mean, to my parents. I should go and see them."
One flaw she had not fixed was his inability to lie. Even now, he was lying. He was not going to his parents so much as getting away from her.
"Shreyas. Your parents aren't here. They moved to Panama after you passed away. They didn't believe that I could bring you back."
Anita smirked. She wouldn't have believed herself either. She had worked inhuman hours to do the near impossible. She had broken several laws, become a frequent customer of the dark web, and risked her life to get what she needed. She didn't know if what she had done would be called science, black magic, or alchemy. All that matter was that it had worked. She had made a wish, and she had willed it into existence.
"I was thinking, Anita. I think we should spend some time apart," Shreyas 2.0 said. He ran a hand through his curls, now thicker than before.
"Some time?" Anita asked. He meant forever.
"I've gotten a new chance at life," Shreyas said. "It's a brand, new, life, Anita."
She scoffed. It was a life better than his last, where he would better than he had in his previous life.
"Look, Anita. I loved how you took care of me, before. I loved that you got my allergy medication for me, that you made me soup when I got sick. I loved how you were with the entire time I was in the hospital. But the thing is..."
"You loved the things I don't need to do anymore," Anita finished for him. He had never loved her, only his self-interest.
"I'm sorry," Shreyas said.
Anita shook her head. "No, you're not."
She walked over to the coffee table and sat down. She looked towards Shreyas. "Have some tea then, before you go. For old time's sake."
She took a seat on the wicker chair and pointed at the tea set. "It might have cooled down a bit, but you never liked piping hot tea."
She had fixed that flaw of his, but he didn't need to know that just yet.
She poured them both cups of tea and sipped her own. She watched as Shreyas prepared his own cup, mixing in two spoonfuls of sugar into the lukewarm drink.
"I never understood how you could drink sugar water and call it tea," Anita commented. "Guess I'll never know, now."
"What?" Shreyas asked. He started to cough as the poison started to act.
It had been meant as a mercy, in case her first attempt did not go well. If Shreyas had turned out ill, or if he was resurrected being in more pain than before, she had intended to give him a kinder end than the first time. Instead, she had done her job too well. The Shreyas who was in front of her was too much.
Perhaps, if she was a kinder person, she would've let him go. But she had poured years into him, first into his care and then into bringing him back. Anita sighed as Shreyas started choking. The next time, she knew what to fix. She would make him vulnerable like before, dependent on her like before. She would accentuate the sources of his insecurities and eliminate the thought of leaving her behind.
Next time, she would succeed. Next time, she would be careful what she wished for.
