Her Husband's Rival

two

I wait.

It’s been two weeks since my marriage and tonight is the first time my husband will sleep in the same bed as me. Hell, he'll sleep in the same house as me even.

After that debacle between Janki's brother and Neil at our wedding, my best friend became scarce. She texted me she was sorry to have left the ceremony early but I couldn't blame her. Neil crossed a line that day by talking to her disrespectfully and I was proud of my friend for standing up for herself. I would do the same if I were in her place.

Later, after we had lunch, Neil got a call from our Juhu headquarters and left as soon as we entered our suhagrat suit after changing his clothes. There was no kiss goodbye or 'I'll be back in a while.' Absolutely nothing.

And then I did not see him for three days on a stretch. I didn't know where he was or what he was doing. When I tried asking my mother-in-law, she simply told me not to care about the men and focus on my household chores.

Even now, my back aches from having cleaned this entire mansion all alone. Even though my family isn't as rich as the Rajans, we still have maids at our place that help us around. The Rajans Mansion is two-storeys with a sprawling backyard and a garden, twelve rooms, excluding a gaming room and a gym, and yet, they have no helping hands.

I didn't know this earlier so imagine my shock when my mother-in-law walked up to me and handed me the cleaning tools, ordering me to have the house shining before lunch.

And because I didn't want to be named a lazy daughter-in-law, I did the work. For the past two weeks that I've been here, I've dusted the entire house at least thrice and my back and legs are paying for it as they hurt like a bitch.

And still, my excitement is at an all time high.

The door to our room clicks, the door knob turns and my heart races with anticipation as the door slowly pushes in. My eyes take in my husband's legs first, clad in brown suit-pants as I move further up, taking in his white linen shirt as he discards the jacket and throws it on the dressing desk.

I cringe, stopping myself from telling him to put his laundry in the basket. I don't want to upset him now that I have him with me until God knows when. He hasn't noticed me yet but I watch him. His eyes are tired and there are slight wrinkles on his forehead. He looks like he's aged ten years in the past three days since I last saw him.

Is work giving him trouble? I wish he would ask me for help. I may not have studied a lot but I have a pretty good footing with accounts because of my father's business. I would love to help him if he ever ended up asking.

Slowly, too slowly, his eyes shift to the bed I've been sitting in. They widen comically as if he's seen a ghost and he stumbles back with a hand on his chest. "What the fuck are you doing here?”

I flinch. I'm not an old-fashioned prude who scares easily at the use of swear words. Hell, I used to swear like a sailor back in University but the way Neil used that word, laced with contempt and disbelief is what has me recoiling.