"Life was too hard on me and now I am broken. Crushed. Smashed. Bleeding."
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A wedding is one of the most exciting and unforgettable experiences of a person's life.
There is so much effort and hard work done by the family into planning the special event and making it incredible. Family, friends, and loved ones share the couple's joy, standing by their side as they exchange vows to support each other through highs and lows and spend the rest of their lives together.
And Atharva's wedding wasn't any different. However, unlike others, Atharva wasn't thrilled; there was no emotion of nervousness, excitement, or happiness throughout the wedding and not even the next day at the reception party. For him, everything was soulless. He did not even bother to glance her way.
In Hindu tradition, several auspicious rituals and ceremonies followed the wedding and were considered to be very meaningful. One of which was to cover the face of the bride with a red veil called ghoonghat, while the bridegroom wore a sehra, a veil made of a curtain of flowers and pearls on the wedding day to prevent them from having a view of each other's faces. He could have seen Aahana while applying the vermillion to her forehead during the sindoor daan, or when tying the mangalsutra around her neck, but he made sure to keep his gaze fixed on the parting of her hair and the knot of the sacred thread. Then came the wedding night, where Atharva chose to stay at his office rather than return home. And although they had their wedding reception the next day, he avoided her at all times and pretended she was not there.
With that, a week had passed already and there was no interaction between Aahana and him, all because of his routine of going home late at night after she was asleep and leaving the house early in the morning before she was awake.
He was quite happy that Aahana hadn't bothered or questioned him. He still got to live his life the way it was before and that was all he wanted.
Glancing at his watch, he stood up from the chair with his keys and walked to the elevator, down to his car, and drove off to his house. It was 2:00 AM, so he knew she wouldn't be awake as usual.
He pulled into the driveway and unlocked the door to his house before entering inside.
Everything was silent, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Loosening his tie slightly and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, he went straight to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water from inside. Gulping down the water, he relaxed as the cold liquid soothed his throat.
Placing the now empty bottle on the table, he made his way to his room, stopping dead in his tracks when he heard her voice. His whole demeanor changed and his muscles tensed instantly.
"We need to talk, Atharva."
"Yes?" he asked, not bothering to turn around, very well knowing how the conversation was going to end.
