Wrecked - An After-Divorce Romance✨

Chapter Two

     Dhruv stood at the platform waiting for Kushi. Through the buzz and the crowd, he could feel Rian was on edge and he would start wailing any minute now. Dhruv himself was anxious that Kushi was going to ditch him at the last minute.

         The train was announced and yet Kushi was nowhere to be found. He felt lead settle in his chest. What had he expected? There was anger brewing in him, more towards himself rather than her. He felt like a fool for trusting her again. Hells Bells, he thought how could he have ever trusted her again? Was once not enough?

       Before he could admonish himself further, he caught her rushing towards him wading through the sea of people. She waved to him to wait. It was almost astonishing how she could catch his eye even in a crowd of people. It was as if his eyes were made to seek her out.

     "I'm sorry I'm late. Traffic. I slept late."

She said huffing and taking deep breaths. Then she looked at the baby strapped to his chest and he felt her turn to stone right that moment. Her face held a passive emotion and she looked as if she was going to throw up any minute now.

     "Are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask. She snapped out of her daze but then the shutters were still up. She curved her lips in a pretend smile and waved her hand as if to say that she was fine but he knew she wasn't.

    That was what had made it painful. They knew each other inside out, hadn't they? They had loved each other once. They had shared their breaths and now it was awkward once again to pretend like they were strangers.

    The train rushed past them and they waited until the crowd rushed in. They boarded in and to his surprise, Rian was fast asleep already.

      While they say in their seats, he saw Kushi who has opened a book and began studying. He wasn't keen on making conversation with her so he just put on some earphones and closed his eyes. If this was before their separation, he would've made a quip or started a conversation. But those days were long gone. There was a great deep chasm between them.

     As he was nodding off, Rian began to squirm. He began to give out soft cries. Dhruv looked at his smartwatch, it was close to 5 which meant it was time for his dinner. He stood up adjusting the straps of the baby carrier and bobbed to calm Rian.

    Dhruv cringed as Rian started wailing loudly. He made a shh sound and tried to look for the bag where he had kept the milk bottles. Rian wailed louder and he looked helplessly at Kushi. But she was staring down at her book with a pencil in her hand. He was about to ask her help but she seemed deliberately avoiding him.

     "Kushi..." He had barely called out her name and she stood up abruptly, her face gray and sickly.

    "I have to go to the..." She said and rushed away from him as if she was running away from a predator.

    "Do you want me to take him?" There was someone who called out to him and it was a woman who pointed at the baby.

    Dhruv let out a sigh of relief and loosened the straps and handed the baby over to her. He immediately turned to look at the overhead compartment. He dragged the bag down and took out the milk bottle.

     Shaking the bottle, he sat down beside the woman who was bobbing Rian up and down. "Are you hungry baba????" She cajoled him and Rian looked at the stranger, teary-eyed.

     "Can I?" She looked at the milk bottle and he handed it to her. Rian grabbed onto the bottle immediately, "There you go. You must be hungry." She whispered and Dhruv felt his heart pang.

   There were certain times he didn't know what he was doing with Rian. All his friends had tried to discourage him from adopting because they thought that children needed moms more than dads. And there were times when he wondered if he had made a huge mistake by adopting Rian.