Keerthi stood in the same place, tears streaming down her face at an alarming rate. She was scared. She waited for Vikram to say something, anything.
A part of her was relieved though, that she expressed her biggest fear to him. She hoped and prayed her husband understood her and wasn’t physically abusive.
Though Keerthi cherished silence, she badly wanted to hear something, a Yes I understand or even a , How dare you say something like that followed by a slap.
But she was positive she was deaf when Vikram opened his mouth.
“Here. Drink your milk”, Vikram offered her the glass of milk.
Keerthi was confused, though this time she accepted it reluctantly.
Is this the calm before the storm? , She wondered as she gulped her milk in a go, hungry as she was.
She waited, as she placed the glass on the side table.
“Keerthi”, Vikram sighed, walking towards her.
Keerthi cowered away in fear, in response.
Vikram was irritated. Why did his wife judge him so easily without even knowing him.
He stood in front of her with a blank face until she removed her hand from her face.
Keerthi blinked at Vikram, not understanding what was happening.
Vikram sighed. He was tired and sleepy. Talk about his wife turning a thirty minutes conversation into a two hour one.
“Come on, have a seat”, he gestured her to sit on the bed, while he pulled a chair from his table.
Keerthi obliged, looking at Vikram expectantly.
“Keerthi, I know you have issues. That’s alright. It’s your personal problem as of now”, Vikram started out gently,”But I promise you I am never going to raise a hand on you. But of course, as a couple I know we will have arguments and fights. We will deal with them as and when they come, without any kind of abuse”, Vikram promised.
Keerthi sighed in relief, giving Vikram a small smile.
“I will give you all the time in the world for you to get adjusted , be comfortable. But at the same time, I don’t want to be the only one trying to work our marriage out. I want you to do it too.”
Keerthi frowned, what did that mean.
“What?”
“I want you to put in as much effort as I am going to , to make our marriage work. It’s just not me going to try to be in your good books. I want effort from your side too. Is that too much to ask? Do you want to make our marriage work or you want out?”
“I want to make it work”, Keerthi answered, her voice firm,”I understand what you are trying to say. I am not going to burden you completely in making our relationship workout. I am willing to try too, just like you want to.”
Keerthi wanted to be careful. His offer of divorce was tempting, definitely. But she didn’t want to. Not yet. What reason would she even give.
She didn’t know if Vikram was as good as his word. But she had decided, she would think of divorce only when the moment would raise, when he would abuse her.
Until then, she wanted to try. There was nothing wrong in Vikram’s suggestion. If he turned out as good as his word, she had nothing to lose but everything to gain, a good husband.
Vikram sighed in relief,”Okay. That’s good to hear.”
“Yeah”, Keerthi wipes her face, yawning.
“Let’s go to sleep?, Vikram suggests.
“Yeah”, Keerthi repeats getting into the covers, not as scared this time.
She knew it was foolish of her to believe Vikram easily, just because he said he wouldn’t do anything. But she just wanted to trust him, on his word.
It wasn’t even a minute later that the peaceful silence was disturbed by a loud sound.
Keerthi’s growling stomach.
Vikram smothered a laugh as he turned to Keerthi’s side, who was desperately hoping Vikram didn’t hear.
But Vikram’s amused eyes told a different story.
“Are you hungry?”, Vikram’s guilt resurfaced.
“No. It’s alright”, Keerthi answered when her stomach grumbled in protest again, making her cheeks redden.
“Come on. You can have something”, Vikram stood up.
“It’s really fine”, Keerthi insisted.
“Just come”, Vikram rolled his eyes.
Vikram and Keerthi quietly tread towards the kitchen, not making any noise.
“Go and see if there is anything in the fridge?”, Vikram whispered.
Keerthi hummed , distracted as she went through the items in the fridge,”There are only sweets from our wedding.”
“Take it then. What are you waiting for?”, Vikram grumbled when he saw Keerthi shuffling the items.
“I don’t like sweets.”
“You are hungry. Doesn’t matter right now”, Vikram tried talking sense.
“Oh look! There’s a pastry here!”, Keerthi took it out.
“Isn’t that sweet?”
“Pastry is not classified under sweets!”, Keerthi exclaimed as they made way towards their room.
Vikram rolled his eyes. “Will that be enough?”
“What do you take me for?”
“That’s just one pastry. I thought you were hungry”, Vikram shrugged.
“It’s enough”, Keerthi said as Vikram shut the door.
“Um.. Do you want some?”Keerthi asked out of courtesy as she sat on the bed.
She desperately hoped for Vikram to respond in negative. There was just one spoon, and she didn’t want to share spoons yet.
Vikram laughed,”No need to show manners now. You are hungry and there’s barely anything there.”
Keerthi sighed internally, quietly having it.
“I am Sorry I didn’t let you eat”, Vikram broke the silence after sometime.
“It’s alright”, Keerthi smiled.
They called it a night, relaxed smiles on their lips as sleep embraced them, the future full of hope and colour.