Middle Class ✍️

E.31.

Ridden by guilt, instead of returning home, Sidharth went straight to his friend's house. As soon as the door opened, Sidharth sauntered through the door without uttering a word, while his friends observed him.

"How are you Sidharth?", asked Adith

"I met her today.", Sidharth mumbled holding his head in his hand. Her words echoed in his ears. Her eyes, were like a mirror to his soul. It reminded him how egoistic he had become.

Adith and Shiv looked at each other. They both occupied place beside him and placed their hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?", Shiv asked.

"She knows the reason..", Sidharth mumbled faintly audible to others.

"What?", his friend asked in unison.

"She knows the reason for my behaviour.", Sidharth muttered feeling ashamed. Both the friends look at each other in shock.

"She said she won't come home until I get a job which would pay me more than her.", Sidharth said.

"You wanted the same, Sidharth. Didn't you?", Shiv asked.

"I do. But.. (pauses) I NEED her..", Sidharth said hiding his face into his hands that rested on his knees. They patted on either side of his shoulder to console.

Sidharth got up and walked up to the little drawer where his friends kept the alcohol. He returned with a glass and a bottle.

"Hey, what are you..", Adith was cut short by Sidharth's words.

"Please Adith. Let me.. I will pay you for this.", Sidharth said struggling to open the liquor bottle.

"Pay?", Both his friends glared at him followed by a stare at each other over his shoulder and nodded their heads in disbelief.

"Wait, I'll help", Shiv offered taking the bottle from his hand.

"Sidharth, what has happened, has happened. Why are you losing hope? Look at the positive side. She didn't say she won't come. She said she will come when you get the job. If being a lady she is not ready to give up. Why should you? Don't give up. Get a job and show her that you are a male.", Shiv said making a fake attempt to open the bottle.

"What? Are you nuts? This isn't a Bollywood movie or Wattpad fanfiction where you shift the focus or turn pages and the scene changes. It's a bloody real life. It is not so easy to find a job. That too which would pay you higher than her. You don't know how long it would take to find such a job. Plus, what if, by the time you find this job, she gets another pay rise? Instead, go convince her, say sorry to her. Tell her how guilty you are and how much you love her.", Adith said snatching the bottle away from Shiv. Sidharth looked at Adith's face.

"What are you saying Adith? Why should he say sorry? He is a male. If he says sorry now, she will rule over him for the whole of his life. Plus, do you think she would listen.", Shiv said placing the glass on the floor away from Sidharth's reach. Sidharth stared at the wall in front blankly while his ears and mind were grasping his friends talk.

"Why wouldn't she, Shiv? Have you forgotten? They've been through much more difficulties before. Sana trusted and married him against her parents will. Sidharth was literally ready to marry another girl in front of Sana, his legally married wife. Yet, she forgiven him. And how can you forget, that she with the help her mother supported him financially without her father's knowledge so that they can afford to rent a house and stay together. She was always standing with him.", Adith reminded Sidharth as he tightened the lid of the bottle and secured it away from Sidharth's reach.

"That's all in the past. I know all that and I also know that last time Sidharth had assured her that she meant a world to him and he would always be with her. But situations change, people change. At that time, he hadn't expected that she would earn more than him in future. He hadn't realised how powerful the male ego is in real life over the so called overrated love. Moreover, what's the guarantee that if she forgives him now and returns to his house, his male ego will not resurface again? So I think he should get a job first.", Shiv said.