Married But...

Chapter - 17

"Anand" I almost shouted when I found him in the hall, resting on the couch.

"Huh?"  He looked around.

Without uttering a word I showed him his phone .

Looking at the phone he hurriedly reached it "Mom's call?"

"Five missed calls already" I sighed.

Giving a horrified look he answered the call and moved away from me.

When I decided to marry him instead of running away or something, I was blank I had no idea about my future then but when I noticed the caring side of his, I expected​ something from him . A friend or at least someone to talk sometimes.

Staring at him , who was busy with the call I remembered the day when my in-laws left . The day from when Anand started ignoring me , he acts as if I don't exist in this house but at the same time he cared me  secretly . It has been a week , a week , never felt soo long before. It's not that I didn't talk to anyone, I call my parents and Nikki atleast once in a day but I feel empty.

Sliding his phone into his pocket  he looked around. I stared him blankly. He stepped forward looking at me . Finally he is going to talk to me -  I thought  . My lips took a curve when he came close to me , I looked at him expecting him to speak something. Smashing my hopes he lifted water bottle from the table besides me , taking a sip , completely ignoring my tears filled eyes he moved away.  My tears filled eyes followed him who was  sitting on the couch.  My eyes turned red out of anger. How could he ignor my tears?  I'm I that bad? I couldn't tolerate this anymore.

"Anand" 

He gave a horrified look  "um. Are you.."

"Breakfast is ready" I said . Instead of arguing  I decided to treat him the same way he treats me.

"Anu"

"You can have your breakfast and leave for office , ignoring me. Like everyday" I said looking away from him.

He remained silent. I didn't expect any reaction from him so I moved towards my room shutting the door I threw myself on the bed.

I couldn't hold back tears anymore. I didn't want to cry silently, I wanted​ to scream, cry loudly. I wanted someone to hug me tightly and say - I'm there for you!

______
I felt  pain in my neck. My phone rang again and again but I was too lazy to wake up . What if it was an important call?  I quickly sat up on the bed  wait! Important call? Really? Is there anyone who gives importance to me ?  The image of my parents and crazy friend, Nikki flashed.

"Are you mad? Why don't you answer the call"

"I wish you was a boy then I would have married you blindly." I said. Nikki is the only person who always takes care of me and treats me like a baby .

"Aww"

"Miss you. More than anything!"

"You don't have any idea how much I'm missing you"

"Hmm. How much?"

"More than you can imagine"

I smiled.

"Anu. Is- is everything ok between you and.." we fell silent for a minute.

"Nothing to worry" I sighed.

"Are you happy? I mean. Anand is being good to you right?"

"Hmm.. "

We fell silent again.

"You-you can share anything with me"

"Trust me I'm fine here."

"Okay. Shall we meet? Today or tomorrow?"

"Let's meet tomorrow"

"Ok " she said happily.

"Nikki..  "

"Hmm."

"Take care"  tears filled my eyes. 

I checked my phone there was nine missed calls six Missed calls from Nikki and surprisingly 3 missed calls was from Anand. Anand? Why did he call me ? Did my words affected him? Shall I call him back? No. I'm ​not going to call him or talk to him . I will ignore him like he did to me.

Since a week TV has become my best friend. I started watching TV whole day covering almost all shows in Telugu and Hindi channels. I love to watch cooking  and reality shows.  Not only watching I also love cooking. Daily I try a new recipe and serve it to Anand. He always eat without​ any argument and never say a word about it, he only widens his eyes or smiles​ . From my observation, when he smile after first bite that means he liked whatever I had cooked but when he widened his eyes , umm.. well his horrified face explains how it tasted.
I remember one day I wantedly served him the dish which tasted horrible , expecting him to react or fight but surprisingly after tasting it his eyes widened to the maximum size he looked at me and back to the plate several times I gave a innocent look he silently finished it.

________
Iike always I was ready with my new experiment or I can say food waiting for Anand . I noticed he came home at 9:15 and I acted like I don't care but today he looked at me with care in his eyes which he never did before .

"What did you cook?" He asked looking straight into my eyes.

I already started flying but it was my turn to ignore him this time.

He raised his eyebrows looking at me when I didn't reply.

I served him the food silently.

"Please say something . Why are you not eating with me today?" He asked sitting on the chair.

Ignoring his question I said  " tomorrow I'm going out to meet Nikki"

"Ok. Let me know before you leave . I will drop you"

"Thanks but no need for that I can go by myself" I said rudely.

"I know you can but I want to drop you"

"Why ? "

"Um.. because you cook tasty food for me"

Hearing that I felt good. I don't want to end the conversation  so I said " I didn't cook anything for you. This is just leftover food"

He smiled in reply.