The Wrong Woman

20. Dhruv

The wall of silence locked itself between us from the ride home and to the moment she went inside to take a nap. Despite wanting her to take a break from work, none of it seemed to be sticking in her head. In the end, it was her choice. Even if she was warmer than before, ultimately, I wasn't going to be anyone of importance to her anymore.

As I got out of the shower and roughly dried my hair with a towel, I saw that I had a few missed calls from Anish. Crap, I thought. My thumb hesitated to click his name and call back; I knew what the conversation would be about and I wasn't in the mood for it right now.

But then again, maybe it could help take my mind off everything that's been happening lately.

"Finally," he said in my ear as it clicked. "How's Rani doing?"

"Great. Apparently, she'd forgotten things because she was a little drunk and disoriented." I hated lying but if that's what I had to do...then all right.

"Thank goodness. When you said she had no memory, we were freaking out."

I cringed. "That was my bad." I chucked the towel onto the couch and flopped onto it. "Is that all, Anish?"

"Come on, I can't see how a mate is doing now?"

"Not if it isn't for personal gain."

"Ouch. You're really coming at me with those insults." I laughed, still a little constrained. "Fine, you caught me. My manager's been on my ass about getting you to come back. I know how much you hated it when I used to bring it up—"

"You're right," I said, ice lacing my tone more than I had intended. "Why're you bringing it up then?"

"You need to come back. We want you back. You were the best, Dhruv." I shut my eyes, trying to will the darkness to cloud over me entirely so I didn't have to deal with a repeat of this conversation.

"Why now?"

"We've been short on staff lately and the employees aren't...the best."

"I can't," I said after a brief silence.

"And why not?"

"You know why." I sat up, scrubbing my palm against my short beard. It felt rough and scathing against my palm mimicking exactly how I felt in that moment. "Plus Rani hasn't been feeling well these past couple of days. I need to be there for her."

"Do you really need to be there for her when she doesn't want you to be?"

He was 100% right, no doubt about it. But no matter what anyone said or the truth that was so blindingly obvious, I couldn't turn my back on her when she needed me the most. Regardless of how things were going to turn out and how miserable I felt, I made promises to her when we got married and I would see it to its end until she said she wanted me to sign those papers.

And when that day would come, I'd do it.

Until then, whether I liked it or not, I needed to be there for her at least until she was back to being herself.

"I quit my job as a chef for a reason," I said, changing the subject. "I'm not coming back."

Going back was only going to remind me of why I had become a chef in the first place, and it wasn't something I wanted to go back to.