Treat You Better

Chapter 14

Radhika stared ahead into the vacant night. Raghu drove the car in silence even though all he wanted to do was scream.
After Eeswari revealed Raghu's secret, Radhika excused herself from the table and spent the next 20 minutes in the bathroom, during which Raghu and Eeswari whispered furiously at each other.
Eeswari was stubborn and refused to take responsibility for upsetting Radhika. Rather she scolded Raghu for keeping His and Revathy's relation a secret from Radhika. Raghu knew it was futile arguing with Eeswari and Sateesh wasn't a big help either.So he thanked them for their hospitality and left their house as soon as Radhika emerged from the bathroom with red rimmed eyes.

Now they were travelling back home in total silence, neither of them making any eye contact. Raghu always sensed the awkwardness between them, even when Radhika tried to forcefully make conversation. But her silent treatment was way painful than the conversations she tried starting.

For some reason, Raghu didn't want to be the one who wronged in front of her eyes.  He wanted to clarify his mistake and apologise. But then again he had to remind himself that he didn't owe her anything since his marriage to her was based on the mere convenience of both their families and also it was not like he was in love with her. He had only loved one person whole heatedly in his entire life and he didn't even know where she was. But He hated seeing the feeling of betrayal in Radhika's eyes and He certainly didn't want to be the cause of it.

Radhika , on the other hand, was stumped by Eeswari's revelation. But then again she was not surprised. Revathy always found ways to destroy her happiness even when her life was not totally ruined as it was now. As long as she could remember Revathy was always the favoured child amongst the both of them. Anything and everything Revathy wanted was always given to her otherwise she would throw tantrum and would go on a hunger strike. Radhika on the other hand was shy and never made any demands of her parents. Revathy only fell off grace when she had ran away with her college boyfriend and that was when Radhika became the centre of attention for her parents.

But the question that haunted her was that did her parents know Raghu was Revathy's boyfriend? If they knew, didn't they care enough about their other daughter or did they only care about their own reputation.
The more she thought about it, the more she became sad.
They soon reached their apartment. Radhika went directly into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Raghu watched her from the doorway.
He cleared her throat to fain Radhika's attention and said,' I was going to tell you about us. It is not what you think. It was a long time ago and I have moved on with my life. She is a chapter in my life that I wish never happened.'
Raghu was agonised by how smoothly he could lie about his feelings but it had to be done to reduce the damage Eeswari had done.
'Where is she now?'
'I don't know and I didn't accompany her to wherever she went like your family claims. In fact, I had believed that she had left for Chennai with your family until the day I found you.'
'Then,with whom did she elope?', Radhika asked with a sudden surge of panic.
All this while she had imagined her sister leading a happy life with the love of her life but now she was worried for her. Where did she vanish off to and How was she surviving? Revathy was not qualified enough to even get a job with a meagre salary.
All these thoughts were troubling Radhika. She looked up at Raghu and said firmly , 'I need to be alone now. I need some time to process all that is going on.'  Raghu nodded and stepped aside from the doorway to give space for Radhika to walk out of their small kitchen.
Radhika retreated into their bedroom while Raghu stayed back in the living room, giving her the alone time she had requested for.
She picked up her phone and dialled her father's phone number. It was high time some of her questions were answered.