In Her Eyes

Chapter 14 - Punishment

Dev returned to their table in a rush to find Pari gone. He received her sms but wished she had hung around a bit more so he could check on her. What family emergency? Did her parents also live here now? He hoped they were all well and it wasn't a medical emergency. He sat down to resume lunch and replied back to her.
Hope everything is okay. Let me know how you are going. Worried.

Pari couldn't handle seeing Kabir during working hours. It scared her so much that he would come charging at her like a lunatic that she just decided to go home. He wouldn't be able to find fault in her if she was at home. Driving as fast as she could she reached their two storey house just outside of New York City. She quickly got out and realised she had left all her project material at work. Silently cursing herself for her immense fear she decided to just work on it tomorrow, Dev would understand. She was such an idiot, she felt so weak and helpless and wished she could face Kabir instead of running away. It wasn't like home was any nicer for her. The hold he had and the control he exerted over her at home made her feel like a prisoner. She kept hoping someday soon everything will become better. How naive!

Pari was napping when Kabir returned home from work. He called out to her but she kept pretending to nap even though his bellows instantly woke her.

"Pari? Why are you home?" He stormed into their bedroom. She couldn't pretend anymore, although she wished she could ignore him. But ignoring him never ended well for her.

"I felt sick, so took half the day off" it wasn't a complete lie - she had felt sick immediately after seeing Kabir roaming around. "How was work?" She tried feigning a smile.

"Tiring! What's for dinner?" He said without even enquiring about why she felt sick or how she was - this was the norm. She wanted to say his change was due entirely to alcohol but she knew somewhere inside him, he was always like this. The guy she had fallen for wasn't here.

"I haven't made anything yet. What would you like?" She said getting out of bed.

"Maybe some fried rice." He said grabbing a towel and retreating into the bathroom. She didn't hesitate and went down to the kitchen to start preparing his dinner. If his dinner wasn't on time then she would be in trouble. After about 20 minutes of cooking she heard Kabir calling out to her again. She didn't like his tone - she felt her body ache in anticipation of what may be coming. She went upstairs as slowly as she could, trying to delay the inevitable. He had of course found some reason to be angry at her - she knew it. When she entered their bedroom he was holding her phone with a vicious look in his eyes. Her heart dropped.

"Who is this that you're telling about a family emergency? I wasn't aware we were having an emergency? Why is he so concerned?"

She didn't know what to tell him. It was of course Dev but she hadn't added him as a contact so Kabir couldn't see his name. "That's my friend Sara. I was catching up with her for lunch today when I felt sick so I came home and told her that." She lied. She had to lie.

"Sara eh? Maybe she's worried about you, let's give her a call shall we?" His eyes glistened with malice. She knew he didn't believe her. She could barely keep her heart from pounding right out of her chest.

"She's probably still at work" she had to make up a reason why they couldn't call that number.

"I'm sure she can spare a moment for her friend." He said as he pressed the call button. He put it on speaker and she could hear the rings - please Dev please don't pick up! 

"Pari? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Devs voice came from the other end and he sounded genuinely worried. "Is your family okay?"

Kabir looked monstrous. He gestured for Pari to answer. She didn't know what to say, the fear of repercussion was overtaking her mind, so she kept silent. 

"Hello Pari?" Dev said wondering where she was.

Kabir grabbed Pari by her hair and it took all her self control not to cry out in pain. She didn't want Dev to hear any of this.

"Answer him" he whispered in her ear. "Or I swear I'll kill you." He tightened his hold on her hair. Tears were threatening to escape from her eyes and she was shaking. But she took a deep breath and answered - she had to get Dev off the phone as soon as she could.

"Hey I'm fine don't worry everyone is fine" she blurted out trying to not betray the fear she felt, through her voice. Kabir cut the phone at that moment and threw it hard against the wall, it shattered. He then let go of her hair and grabbed her arm, the same place where her previous bruise was. He dragged her out into the TV room next to their bedroom and pushed her into their glass coffee table. It shattered into a million pieces as soon as she collided with it. She fell onto the glass and their jagged edges cut her in multiple places.

"You lied! Was that your boyfriend?" He said barely able to control himself. She didn't answer - she didn't even want to look at him. She was in so much pain physically and emotionally. "Answer me you bitch!" He grabbed her and forced her up. The glass cut into her skin where she put pressure onto it as she stood. "How dare you live under my roof and cheat on me!" He slapped her hard and she felt her lip crack as she was flung into a wall.

"I didn't cheat Kabir. That is my new work colleague." She said through tears grasping her cheek as it stung with the force of his slap.

"Then why did you lie to me?" He said taking a step toward her. She stepped back but found herself hitting the wall.

"Because you always accuse me and I didn't want to give you a reason to." She tried pushing herself into the wall - oh how she wished the wall would engulf her and never let her out again. This pain would all be over by then.

"How dare you! I don't accuse you without good reason you ungrateful cheater!" He grabbed her again and dragged her downstairs. "I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. He will never want to look at you again!" He let her go near the stairwell and walked to the kitchen. She watched transfixed in place as he searched in the drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors. He stampeded back, grabbed her hair and began hacking at it with the scissors. She begged for him to stop and tried to run away, the pain was immense as her hair ripped out as he forcefully cut at it. But he was too strong and he overpowered her easily.
Once he was done he walked out the front door without a word or second glance at her and drove away. She sat in a pile of her own hair, afraid to look at herself in the mirror, blood, sweat and tears running down her entire body.