ᴇx-ʙᴏʏʀꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ, ɴᴇxᴛ ʜᴜꜱʙᴀɴᴅ

Chapter 34

Yuvaan

I looked at myself after having a warm shower. Today had been eventful. Dad has managed to put this in an even more awkward state, but somehow I was not offended by it. I was fine.

It had been a day since Nishtha's family's dinner and today, the whole day was spent at work. As Nishtha left YuBM, I didn't see her around. I offered to pick her up after her work but she declined saying she had plans.
What plans? I don't know.
It better not be Aryan.

I reached home by 6.
I noticed Nishtha's bag laying on the couch. She's home.
"Nishtha?" I said. I heard a voice coming from above so I followed the sound upstairs and went into her room.
It was painful to see that room.
There was nothing which spoke Nishtha.
There was no color, no spark, no nothing. I saw her sitting in front of a temple she created and was praying with her hands folded. I smiled at the sight and then sat next to her, prayed and got up. She opened her eyes seeing me.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Can't I enter the room?"
"I didn't say that. I just meant..."
"I called you, you didn't answer, so I came and checked."
"Oh."
"By the way, what plans did you have that you couldn't come home with me?"
She froze.
Is she hiding something?
"I'm asking you some Nishtha." I said, coming closer to her.
"I... I had to meet a friend."
"Oh really. Who?" I said, anger creeping up.
She backed away and I came closer.
"Yu...Yuvaan... it's none of your business.."
"What my wife does is my business."
"And now I'm your wife? What happened to 'you not making that mistake again'" She said.
"Nishtha, don't push my buttons. I'm already tired." She didn't reply so I continued, "You have to take a 3 day leave from your work."
"What? Why?"
"Because we are going to Mahableshwar."
"What? Why so soon? I thought we were going next week."
"Yes but... I have a few commitments next week, so I need to be back."
"What commitments?"
I looked her. I felt the old Nishtha was in front of me as she stood and questioned me about what I was doing. I was about to answer when she suddenly spoke again, "Never mind. Okay. I'll apply for a leave." She said and left.
Strange.
Why didn't she let me talk?
I watched her leave the room and go down. I didn't move. Looking around, I noticed her table was filled with her stuff, her medicines and her laptop and work materials. I saw a family photo framed, but what I saw later shook me.
My family's photo.
Why did she keep my family's photo as well?
I felt my heart do a somersault.
No, Yuvaan. She's a gold digger.
Is she, though?
What if I was wrong?
You know what you saw. She even agreed to it.
She didn't agree to everything.
Doesn't matter. Stay away from her.
I can't.
I sighed, got my phone and made the bookings. Then, I made my way outside and saw her sitting in the balcony, on her phone... smiling.
Who's she talking to?

"Who are you talking to?" I said, reaching her.
She startled as she looked up, "A...Aditi."
"Aditi. Why? What happened?"
"Do I need a reason to talk to her?" She asked.
I looked away, "No. You don't."
We stayed in silence until she spoke again, "The office has given me a leave for a week."
"Starting?"
"Tomorrow."
"Okay then, I'll book the tickets." I said and I was about to leave when she stopped me.
"Yuvaan."
"What?" I asked, turning.
"I'll book them."
"Why? I'm doing it."
"Let me book them, Yuvaan. Please."
"Nishtha. Don't irritate me. I'm not letting you book anything. Now, I'll go book."
"Yuvaan. I'll book something. If you're booking the hotels then let me book something."
I sighed, "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing."
I came closer to her and she slowly backed away until she was pressed against the wall.
"I asked you something. What's this behaviour?"
"It...it's nothing."
I chuckled sarcastically, "I know you better than you know yourself. Now spill."
"You don't know me." She said, looking down.
That hit an old wound. I felt my blood boil but I tried to control it.
"Nishtha. Just give me the answer."
"Yuvaan... I... I just need to... get dinner..."
"What are you doing Nishtha. This isn't you. Where are you? Who is this?" I asked her.
She looked at me, "I'm not your Nishtha anymore."
I felt a tight knot in my stomach. Very tight.
"So you're saying that I don't have an effect on you anymore?"
"No.... You don't." She looked away.
"Sure, I don't. You can't rid of my effect or my marks on you, Nishtha. No matter how much you try."
"I got rid of everything." She said.
Meet my eyes and talk, Nishtha.
"Did you?"
I took my hand and slowly traced over her right hand. She looked at me in shock.
"What... what are you doing?"
"Confirming your statement." I said causally and pulled down her jacket, revealing her spaghetti top. I let the jacket fall on the ground and traced my hand over her arm.
There it was.
I looked back at her, "Got rid of everything?" 
She looked down, "it... it's not for you..."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"Fine. I'll get rid of it." She looked me in the eye.
Why is my anxiety acting up hearing that?
What do I even say?
"You will not be playing with your skin."
"Why do you care what I do? Plus wouldn't you want all your marks gone from me?" She kept yelling but I couldn't focus.

All I could see was the Nishtha I loved. Staying with her had made it hard to keep hating her. I tried, but seeing her hand pressed an old wound.
Our Tattoos.
We had gotten them together, right under our elbow on the front of our palm, just under where blood is drawn for the blood tests. Nishtha's fear of needles became her biggest motivator to get her tattoo there.

We got our tattoos, we got ourselves inked on each other. My left hand had Y N inked on it whilst her right hand had N Y inked - at the same place. It was a way to keep ourselves with each other always.

I remembered our convo from the past:

"Yuvi! This looks beautiful!" Nishtha said, checking her tattoo out.
"It really does!"
"Come stand here!" She said pulling me up, "if you stand to my right, looook!"
She pulled us up.
"Seee Yuvi!"
"I don't understand why you were so ziddi on this very positioning Nishu!"
"Because..." she kept our arms next to each other, "we complete each other! YN NY... a perfect symmetry, a perfect cycle."
I stared at her in awe, "You, my love, are amazing!"
Saying so, I took her in my arms.

I brushed my thoughts as I looked at her. She was yelling at me. What did she even say?
"Nishtha! Shut up!" I said.
She stopped talking.
"Don't make me angry. You know the result of that. You're not playing with your skin and I don't want you thinking about such stupidity again. Now, go pack your stuff. We're leaving tomorrow morning and we're going for 3 days. Pack accordingly. It'll be raining."
She stared at me.
"What?"
"N...Nothing..."
She was about to leave when I grabbed her hand and stopped her, and without turning her around, I said, "Don't ever thinking of removing what's on your arm Nishtha."

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