Separated Love

Chapter 23: Kaira Fight Over Swarna

I try to signal to Kartik to turn the phone off from speaker, but he wants me to listen to their conversation. I know that if she talks bad about me, I'm going to feel awful. That's why I don't want to listen to this conversation.

"Hi Ma. How are you?" Kartik looks just as nervous as I do.

"Kartik! You used to call me everyday and now you barely talk to me. It's all because Naira is back into your life." She says the last sentence with so much hatred.

"Ma, why do you blame Naira for everything? How is it her fault if I'm the one that hasn't called in a while?" He says in a very sassy tone.

"Stop it Kartik. Don't fight with her." I whisper to him.

"Oh so she's listening to this conversation too. Let me guess, she told you to put the phone on speaker so she could listen." Kartik and I both roll our eyes. I knew this was going to happen. I told him not to put the phone on speaker. I shake my head and grab my crutches to go to the washroom.

"Ma, Naira was the one who told-"

"Enough Kartik. If you called to take Naira's side again then I don't want to talk." I start making my way towards the washroom.

"Fine. I won't call until you learn how to respect my wife." I  stop and look back at him. He angrily cuts the phone.

"Kartik! ACHOO!" Ugh this cold isn't even letting me get angry properly. "Kartik, why did you say that to her? You know how she feels about me. What did you expect?" Kartik looks at me in shock, and I'm not sure why.

"You're fighting with me...over her?"

"Kartik, I told you first to not put the phone on speaker, right? Then she heard me and all of this blew up. If you had just listened to me before, this could've been avoided!"

"So basically, I don't defend my wife before, and you get mad at me for it. Now I'm fighting for your self-respect, and you're getting mad at me for it." He says this with a total straight face. He doesn't even raise his voice. "Well Naira, once YOU decide what you want out of me let me know. If you want people to walk all over you, tell me so next time I can stand there mute when Ma talks awfully about you."

"Kartik..."

"No Naira. I'm done. You just yelled at me for DEFENDING you. Do you understand that? You fought with me for the person that hates you for no good reason." The doorbell rings and Kartik gets up to go get the food we ordered. I sit at my desk confused. I know I put Kartik in a tough position. I literally just got mad at him for defending me, but he could've defended me without losing his temper on Ma. I don't want her to feel worse because of me entering Kartik's life again. I shouldn't have fought with Kartik over this though. I decide to go wash my face so I can feel fresh and think with a clear mind.

"Kartik, can we talk?" He's sitting at the dining table waiting for me. He stays silent. Well, it's not a no. I sit at the table, and I can see the annoyance written all over his face.

"Look Kartik, I know how hard this must be for you because you're stuck between me and Ma. I shouldn't have fought with you over Ma, and I'm sorry for that. It's just that you spoke so rudely with her and-"

"Naira, if someone spoke like that about me, would you tolerate it?" His question makes me silent because the honest truth is that I would've reacted the same way. "That's what I thought."

"Kartik, I don't want you to spoil your relationship with others over me. Especially since it's the relationship between you and your mom."

"Naira, I love how much you care for the happiness of others. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you, but it's also a big flaw of yours. Do you remember how many times you hurt me during all of the ceremonies leading up to our marriage? All because you wanted to make others happy. What about me Naira? What about us? How is it fair that you put keeping others happy OVER keeping the two of us happy?"