The Right Match

II

♪♫ Muskurata ye chehra deta hai jo pehra,

Jaane chhupata kya dil ka samandar,

Auron ko to hard dum saaya deta hai,

Dhoop mein khada hai khud magar...♪♫

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Meera had no idea what she had expected from Veer but this was far from any of her expectations.

Veer had come to her house unannounced with his family. He told her father everything and to say her father was angry would be an understatement.

He was furious.

But it was her stepmother who spat venom at her like always. "What the hell have you done, Meera? What were you even thinking? I have always been right about you. You are irresponsible and love to ruin everything that's around you. You ruined your father's reputation, his name—you ruined everything! It's good that your mother is not alive to see this day or she would have been so disappointed."

Meera tuned her out after that. Her words had cut her numerous times but never this deep. Her step-mother might be wrong about a lot of things but Meera couldn't help but think that she was right today. Her mother would have been disappointed but she wouldn't know that for sure. Her mother died of cancer when she was young, she still has some memories of her but they too, are a little hazy.

Her father had loved Meera but then he married Sangita—her stepmother. He had become distant from Meera in the years that followed and eventually, their relationship was left only for namesake.

She came out of her thoughts when Veer took her hand in his. "It's time to go home, Meera."

Home.

The word sounded so foreign in her ears. She hadn't had a home for so long that she had even forgotten what it felt like.

She looked at her father for answers but he averted his eyes from her. "You have done enough, Meera. You are married, so you should go and live with your husband. Sangita is right, you have ruined everything and now there is no place for you in this house. Take your things and leave."

With that, he left for his room, and his wife trailed behind him.

⪪⨳⪫

Meera came out of the walk-in closet that was attached to Veer's room when something shattered on the wall near her. She was shocked but after a few seconds when the shock wore off, she felt a sharp pain in her arm.

She saw as Veer's eyes widened and he ran toward her, "Meera!" he cradled her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him and not at her arm.

He took her hand and sat her on the bed. "Sit here, okay? Don't move! And don't look at it."

She could feel blood dripping from her arm. But her eyes were stuck on him. She had never seen Veer—her boss—like that.

He was running here and there in the room; finding something. He took out a first-aid box and came near her.

"It will sting a little, okay?" he said like he was talking to a child.

Veer had never been like that, concerned or attentive. He didn't talk to her about anything but business.

But this man—this man wasn't her boss—this was her husband who was tending to her wounds with the utmost care and concentration that she was forced to contemplate if they made the wrong decision by not accepting this marriage for so long.