She Can Be Toxic Too (Completed) √

"So is this revenge?"

Aashi woke up to some bright sunlight, her eyes heavy and swollen because of all the crying from the previous night. She got off the bed, leaning to her sides to get a nice morning stretch. After cleaning up, she lazily walked out of her room to fetch herself some coffee. Her mind faltered at the eerie silence of the house, but she decided to ignore it. Abhinav must still be sleeping. Or he might have left for work. The latter suggestion seemed to be more possible. Shaking her head, she walked into the kitchen to start her day.

After making breakfast, she took out a cup of coffee into the balcony to enjoy the morning view. She was startled to find Abhinav's car parked inside their complex. So had he not left for work? Then why wasn't he out? He never slept this late. Aashi stopped drinking her coffee as she pondered over her thoughts. You were not supposed to think of him, her mind chided. Ignoring the voice in her head, she tiptoed to his room, wondering if she was doing the right thing by checking on him. What if he had fallen sick? She had to be prepared to answer their parents if something went wrong. Gaining courage from her reasons, she slowly turned the knob and pushed open his door, only to find an empty room. Even the bed was made and there was no evidence of any crease over it. Aashi walked in, looking around to spot him somewhere. The washroom door was wide open and she peeped in only to check an empty shower cabinet. Where did he go? Her questions were interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone from the kitchen.

Putting aside her thoughts, she rushed to pick her phone but froze after seeing the caller id. Papaji. What was she going to tell her father-in-law if he asked for his son? She stood still, trying to think of an excuse when the phone went dead. She heaved a sigh of relief but almost immediately, her phone started ringing again. Knowing there was no escape, she slowly picked the call,

"Hello papa. Good morning" she wished trying to sound as cheerful as she could.

"Hello Aashi. Good morning. Where have you been? Anyways, I just wanted to ask you if you would like to come over and spend some time with me today" Sanjay asked brightly.

"Sorry papa, I was in the kitchen and had left my phone in the room" she lied. Well, she had been lying often these days. "I would love to come over papa, but is it something special today? Any occasion?"

"Oh no issues, dear. Ah well there's no occasion but I thought since Abhinav won't be in Mumbai for a week now, you might get bored. So I thought I must call you over for the weekend. We can cook, play cards and get on for a walk with Julie to the Marine Drive, maybe?"

Aashi froze on hearing to her father-in-law's words. He had gone on a trip and didn't bother to inform her. She was very upset and felt her eyes welling up already. All her self-talk from last night was failing as she felt new tears roll down her face. Tears were traitors.

"Sounds like a plan! I'm looking forward to spend a great weekend with my daughter, then" she heard a fond voice over the phone.

"Abhinav's gone on a trip?" she couldn't help but voice out her question, ignoring everything else her father-in-law had said.

"Yeah, he's gone to Delhi for some board meeting. He said he'll be back in a week. Wait, didn't he tell you?" she heard Sanjay's disappointed voice.

"Oh yes, he did tell me papa. He told me last night. I forgot. My bad" she chuckled lightly, hoping she had convinced her father-in-law into believing her. The past six months had been only about this. Every time, she would manage Abhinav's rude behaviour with her childish talks and stories. Now, she felt like she was fighting a lost battle. She was tired of fighting all alone. So much for being a husband, her mind mocked.

After promising her father-in-law to be at his place in an hour, she decided to take a bath and leave. Now that her husband didn't care much to inform her anything, she decided not to miss out on her share of fun. She loved spending time with Sanjay. She remembered how Sanjay had always adored her even as a kid. He had always wanted a daughter and Aashi became his pretty little princess. Sanjay had always loved Aashi and was happy that his son had such an amazing friend. Their bond had deepened over the years until Aashi had gone to Delhi for her higher studies. And by the time Aashi had finally decided to settle back in Mumbai, Abhinav's life had turned around for the worst. Sanjay couldn't think of a better solution to save his son than to get him married to Aashi.