Raabta

Lunch

सबकी रोक है, टोक है, नोक है, झोक है
पर दिल में फ़िर भी hope है, है ना?
Life थोड़ी hard है, अनदेखे card हैं
पर हम भी तो star हैं, हैं ना?

Lunch

"Anokhi… kaha khoyi hui hai?” Reema asked, snapping me back to reality.

“Kuch nahi… tu chal, mai aati hu” I replied quickly, trying to mask the confusion and frustration swirling inside me. I needed a moment to myself, so I headed toward the canteen to grab some breakfast.

It had been a couple of weeks since everything changed, since that day at the temple that turned my life upside down. I had taken two weeks of sick leave from college, using the time to prepare myself to face everyone again.

Part of me was relieved that our marriage had taken place far away from Chandigarh, in a temple that few people knew about. At least here, I could pretend it hadn’t happened. For now, I could still hide from the truth.

Arsh was still in the same college, doing his MTech, and the thought of seeing him made my stomach turn. And that fucker—my so-called husband—was a professor. Nope he is also the HOD of Mechanical Department. Fuck.

What a twisted fate!

These days, I tried avoiding him as much as I could and also helped him with household chores. I don’t believe in genuinity.

All I know is that people pretend to be nice. But they are not! I still couldn’t digest the fact that he was a professor at my college and I didn’t even know it.

After some quick research on the college website, I discovered that my fucking husband taught in the mechanical engineering department and had joined almost a year ago. It felt like a cruel joke.

I made a new plan. leave for college early in the morning and return late, just to avoid seeing his face as much as possible. Maybe that way, I could pretend none of this was real.

So this morning, I woke up at 6:30 a.m., while the sky was still a mix of orange and pink hues. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet. I quietly grabbed my clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom, taking a quick warm shower.

I made sure not to make a sound as I left the room, praying he wouldn’t wake up. But, of course, just as I was about to leave, my luck ran out.

“Kaha jaa rahi ho tum?” he asked, his voice breaking the silence of the morning.

“Morning,” I said curtly, not bothering to answer his question directly.

“College jaa rahi hoon.”

“Lekin CSE department ke lectures toh 10 se shuru hote hain na…” His interrogation was already grating on my nerves.

“Meri marzi,” I shot back, grabbing my bag and storming out, not even bothering to take the spare keys with me.

“Anokhi… wait…” he called after me, but I ignored him, slamming the door behind me.

“Fucker,” I muttered under my breath as I hurried away, my anger boiling over.

I tried to push thoughts of Shaurya out of my mind, telling myself I didn’t care about him and that he shouldn’t care about me. But I knew I had to make things clear to him soon.

Whatever he thought was going to happen between us was never going to be. I needed to find a lawyer and arrange for divorce papers. The sooner I could get out of this mess, the better.