365 DAYS 365 TALES

Something Beyond Romance

The truth of the matter was that, Jay was not easy to deal with. Kriti had known that even before she told her parents to go ahead with the wedding plans. It wasn't a hard deduction, considering the fact that he had glared at her all through their first meeting.

To this day, she couldn't understand why she had said yes. She should have run for the hills, taken the coward's way out. It shouldn't have mattered that his mother had been sweet and friendly. She shouldn't have gotten distracted by his sister's puppy dog eyes.

She should have listened to the silent clenching of it's teeth, and said Hell, no!

But she didn't.

And now, here she was, staring into those same black eyes, filled with a familiar distrust.

"What do you want?" His words broke the silence of her thoughts.

"I live here too, you know? What do you mean?" She stared him down, big brown eyes challenging the black abyss.

"That is not what I meant, but we will get to that. I don't know why you agreed to this marriage. Maybe, like mine, your family didn't give you a choice. But now, we do have a say in our lives. You can get a divorce. Find yourself your love story." He said it like he was discussing yesterday weather.

She gaped at him.

"What?" Her voice was a croak, a surprised gasp.

"You don't love me. Hell, you don't even know me. My family is desperate to see me married. They think a woman is the solution to everything wrong with me. Your family probably thinks something along those lines. You needn't stay for some platitudes of eternal love. I know divorce lawyers, if you need," he explained carefully, looking away from her.

Her eyes softened. All that angst, only because he didn't want an obligated bride. She almost laughed at herself for being nervous.

"Are you insane? Why would I do that? Getting a divorce for no reason is not something I would encourage," she chided him, taking care to keep her tone lite.

She saw his eyes narrow at her, the way something sparked at the back of his mind, scrambling to figure her out. She didn't mind, and she smiled at him.

"Is that it? You want me to give you a reason to run? You want to see a monster, a sinner, an intolerable blip, so that you can shine like an innocent victim in this society?" he barked at her, warily eyeing her.

"No, I want to give this a try. Do you think if I get a divorce, I will remain divorced? No. My parents will find another man for me to marry. This country, for the most part, wants their women married. Why shouldn't it be you?" She held his gaze, trying to show her earnestness through it.

He stared her down, before turning away. He walked up to the bed and took a pillow and some sheets, before settling on the couch.

"You can take the bed." He didn't turn to look at her, and shut his eyes.

Sighing, she turned the lights off. Making her way through the dark, she waited for her sight to adjust. Softly running her hands over the sheets, she smiled. She pulled them down, looking into her husband's face.

"I don't know why you don't trust me. I don't know what is running through your mind. All I know is that you are stuck with me forever. All I know is that there isn't any fault in our stars. So decide. What do you want your life to be like? There is more to this than romance," she whispered in his ears, before straightening up.

She went to the bed and got into it, smiling to herself, feeling two black eyes staring at her in the dark. She closed her eyes, knowing what she wanted.

Maybe tomorrow, he will take her advice. Maybe.

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deepsealife (21/04)

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