Shape of the Sun

Diminishing returns

Early the next morning.

Choti nervously bit her lower lip, eyes the color of olives darting back and forth between the clock on the wall and the screen of her phone which was on her lap. It was 2 am and Mahesh was yet to return home. She hated when he did this.

It wasn't anything unusual for her husband to suddenly disappear for long time stretches to return at odd hours. Choti was used to it, their marriage built around it, the weird dynamic their union sustained from his absences. Truly, it was difficult to love a man like Mahesh if he was too available and she secretly suspected that more hours with him would have made her more open to her father's request.

But she could only suspect, the reality so different. Mahesh was almost never around and so, Choti loved him. And because she loved him, her body was used to having his beside her at night, in their matrimonial bed.

2 am was not the time a wife was supposed to be lying alone, years of marriage had told her that. This useless man was finally going to kill her and not through a heartbreak, but a heart attack. Choti didn't need her brother's medical degree to tell the difference.

She picked up her phone with one hand and the car key on the bedside table with the other, ready to head out to the police station. Of course, she would call her father on the way there to make things go smoother upon her arrival.

It was not to be though, because her husband stormed through the bedroom doors so that they made a loud noise, upsetting Choti. It was so early and not only had he come in without as much as an apology for his absence, he was risking waking up the children with all that noise, the same ones she had worked so hard to put to bed all because their father was not around to kiss them goodnight. She opened her mouth to scold him but held back her words upon seeing his face.

Mahesh looked terrible, like really terrible. Eyes bloodshot, hair a scattered mess, his clothes disheveled, his wife was now in the position to worry. Choti scooted across the bed to where he had plunked down, head in hands. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Baby, what's the matter?"

He suddenly sprung at her touch, scrambling to kneel upright so that Choti found herself startled, her shoulders held by a desperate spouse.

"Love, you need to help me! I beg of you!"

His uneasy appearance caused her to panic but she tried to keep it under wraps. Someone had to be calm if he was like this, a role she found herself playing more than often. Perhaps, too often that it was always.

"Tell me what the problem is. Do I need to call dad?"

"No no! Don't do that!"

His fearful outburst on mention of her father shocked her enough not to insist. Choti felt on edge having to embody her role as a wife in such a situation. Mahesh never made anything easy.

"Fine, I won't do that. Calm down, Mahesh." she held his right hand, gently rubbing it in a bid to calm him down, as well as herself in a way. "Just tell me what the problem is and we would deal with it together, okay? We'll work on it together like we always do, babe."

At her words, Mahesh visibly relaxed and he placed his left hand atop hers on the right, so it was like a sandwich between them.

Then, he talked. And as he went on, his words scared the shit out of Choti. They drove the living daylights out till there was no more and she pulled away, a mix of fear and anger.

"What do you mean you lost the 2 crores dad gave you in two days?!" Was she an idiot?

"Choti..."

"Shut up, Mahesh! Just shut up!" she pointed a shaky finger at him, "Do you know how much money that is? Do you know the meaning of what you are saying to me?"

Her breath hitched, voice quivering, her eyes stung, a lump forming in her throat.

"What is the meaning of all this? Why? Why?"

Choti sat back on the bed, now crying, hands over her eyes. This was her husband, the man she was fighting her father for. Where did all the blessings go? Where was her reward for staying by his side?

She felt Mahesh cautiously scoot over to her side and she calmly waited for his words, a bit expectant. Choti thought that if this man apologized to her right now, she would take it. She would take it without any inhibitions because at this moment, Choti was spiraling, her decision staring at her in the face and seeming like a lie.

She didn't want it to turn into that. But of course, Mahesh never failed to disappoint her. In fact, it was the one thing he excelled at.

He placed a hand on her stiff shoulder.

"Love." he began and she listened for the forthcoming apology, but none came. Instead, his words sent her straight to hell.

"Why don't we sell the boutique? We can get the 2 crores." Along with the 3 crores that he owed Vishal and the casino, of course, he didn't tell her that. Mahesh was afraid that if he did, she would listen to her father and divorce him, which he couldn't allow. Choti was his lifeline and even if he didn't like to admit it, she supported him and his mother's current way of life with the company almost hollowed out.

Understandably, he never expected that support to slap him right across the face, stunning him. Choti had never hit him in the past, despite their tumultuous union. Mahesh held his left cheek with her palm print on it, dazed. He could only manage a few words.

"Y-you...you slapped me?" His voice conveyed shock and disbelief, a little way to denial that his wife had just raised her hand on him.

But Choti did not regret it, not even a little bit. Instead, she looked at him with red eyes, ferocity on her face.

"I would do it again, do you hear me? I would do it again!"

Mahesh saw red at her words. This crazy... He'd kill her!

"You bitch!"

But Choti was having none of it.

"Mahesh Sharma, I swear if that hand touches me, my father would be the first to hear." she held up her phone, "Don't you test me."

Choti couldn't deny that she was a little shaken at what had just happened, but she wasn't going to allow a man to hit her. Never.

He slowly dropped his raised hand to his side, fully aware of the consequences her threat held. Of course, he was still angry but Choti didn't care. His actions emboldened her and she kept on talking, a hand quickly wiping her face.

"Now, you listen to me. I will not be selling my boutique and I don't care what you think about that, do you understand? And as for that money, forget about it, Mahesh. I don't even want to know if it really got lost, if it was stolen, or if you gambled it all away. It could have developed wings for all I care, damn. Now, you forget about that doomed business of yours, sit at home, and care for your children. Actually do something instead of messing around with things you shouldn't! I am tired of spending so much money because of all your nonsense!"

Regardless of the expression he had on, Choti couldn't care less as she stood up from the bed and charged into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. This was her last attempt to save this dying marriage. Any more shit, and she was out!

Because she was in there, she couldn't see the look on her husband's face behind the door. He had a hideous expression on, hands clenched into a fist. How dare she talk to him like that? So because she came from a wealthy family, she could say such things to him? Was this how she met him? Every good thing in his life had slipped away ever since he married her!

Mahesh believed that he was the one who switched up her useless life and gave it any meaning. But what did he get in return? That bitch actually dared to insult him! She slapped and insulted him, something that Malaika could never have done.

He'd show her. Didn't she think she was better than him, her nose all turned up? Fine. But Mahesh wasn't going to let it slide. He would teach her a lesson that she would never forget in her stupid life.

There was only so much that a man could take. Any more, and it was due for a state of emergency. Mahesh was pulling out all the stops.