You and Me | ✓

01

The loud chitter-chatter at the dining table was anything but annoying as everyone wished each other, youngsters touching their elder's feet, wishing them a good morning.

The Mehrotra family was always lively in the mornings, except for one person who was rarely present there, the first child of the family, Amrit Mehrotra.

"Where's my omelet bhabi?" Ishani asked, looking at the dishes being served, Avni turned to her while serving her husband.

"Nita aunty is making it," Avni replied with a soft smile, that's how she was, always smiling, and polite with everyone. That was the first thing Rahil noticed when he met her in college, they stuck together ever since, slowly falling in love with each other which resulted in a marriage.

They got married a year ago when everyone was tired of pursuing Amrit, the eldest one in the family to get married but does he ever do something he doesn't want to?

"What happened to Roop bhabi?" Ishani frowned, not getting the chance to have her breakfast made by her favorite cook.

"She's sick," Mihir replied, always knowing the whereabouts of his new bestfriend.

"When is she not?" Nandini murmured under her breath, not hiding her dislike-ness for the badi-bahu of the house, at the same time Roop joined everyone at the dining table.

Her nose was red due to the cold she had, and a slight hue on her chubby cheeks. "Good morning." She mumbled shyly, feeling all the attention on her. She hated, the unwanted attention, she was happy being part of the crowd instead of being the center of attraction for the crowd but her position in the family didn't help her much.

She took a seat beside Mihir, who formed a new habit to save one for her, the lack of her husband's presence is one of the main reasons, he didn't want to admit it but he felt bad for her, but he felt worse for his brother who was missing out on having such a beautiful person as his other half.

He had her but at the same time, he didn't.

"Here, I saved the most stuffed paratha for you." He whispered to her, passing a thick aaloo paratha on her plate, knowing how much she loved it.

"Thank you." She smiled in gratefulness, serving herself some dahi and achaar before digging in. Her wedding chooda made sounds as she moved her hands.

"Aisa lagta hai humare Amrit ke naam ka bhi Roop hi kha leti hai." Nandini bua giggled, making an unprovoked jab at her as a joke just as she took a bite. (It feels like Amrit's part of food is eaten by Roop too)

Although everyone heard it, they decided to ignore her, not wanting to give importance to the useless comments she made on daily basis but Roop already lost her appetite. Her aaloo paratha didn't look as delicious as it looked before, tasteless now.

How much she wished her husband was here to defend her, to make all her unwanted comments stop, three months into their marriage and they both didn't share more than three words, that wasn't how marriages worked in the books she edited as her job, It was better than that, better than reality.

His ignorance made her lean towards the other family members, Mihir being the one who loved her the most, for him she was the sister he always tried to find in Ishani and Saanvi but failed to, they weren't as bad as their mother but they were jealous, jealous of them having a perfect family when they didn't.

"Haan toh humari bahu healthy achi lagti hai, iss baat ka dar to nahi rehta ki hawa ka jhoka aaya aur use kuch ho gaya to, nahi?" Ritika Mehrotra smiled sarcastically at her nanad, casting a glance at Saanvi who sat oblivious, eating a dry toast. (Yes, our daughter-in-law is in good health, so there is no fear of a gust of wind and something happens to her, isn't it?)

"Ji ji." Nandini chuckled, clenching her jaw. (yes, yes)

But all this fell deaf to the one's ears who was the cause of the jabs, she played with her food till everyone was done with theirs. She picked up her plate full of food, walking to the lawn where she knew the family of stray dogs would be present in the corner.

A plate full of everything she loved was fed to the dogs, she smiled at the little creatures, atleast someone started their day with a full stomach.

"Roop?" She turned her head quickly listening to the voice, her father-in-law stood there, with a wrapped paratha in his hand, she stood up, patting the dust away from her suit.

She loved dressing up, and although her outfit everyday mainly consisted of sarees, she picked that on after seeing all the women in the house except for those three wearing it, she switched it to anarkalis on somedays but the one she dresses up for barely paid attention to her, his work being his first priority of maybe the excuse to stay away from her.

As a child who grew up being the unwanted burden on her parents, she expected very less from the marriage but it still hurt her the way he lived his life like she didn't exist.

"Papaji." She bowed her head a little, a display of respect she had for him.

"Aapne breakfast nahi kia." He looked at the plate being licked by the puppies of the dog. (you didn't have breakfast)

"Bhook nahi thi.." She trailed off, shaking her head mentally at her pathetic excuse, by now everyone in the family knew how she could eat even when she wasn't hungry. (I wasn't hungry)

Mehul shook his head at his one and only daughter-in-law, he was helpless, as much as he hated seeing the strained relationship, he was bound by a promise he made to his son.

"You won't interfere in my married life or tell me what to do." Those were the exact words his son spoke to him before getting married and he agreed, thinking that he will be good to her, only he knows how wrong he was.

"Eat this." He handed the foil-wrapped paratha in her hands, "Don't give this to the dogs." He warned before leaving from there.

She looked at the wrap, wondering if her husband cared even one percent of how much his parents did only to shake her head at her thoughts later.

It was better to have no expectations instead of getting hurt, again and again, one could only fake happiness for some time, adding more misery would just hurt more.

•••
Sheesh, done with the first chapter!
I hope it was good and did y'all like the third person pov? It's my first time writing in third person so I just hope it gets better with time!
Have a good night/day! <3

Also, do you want translations for the hindi dialogues?