Unveiled vow

Chapter 3

Akansha: Just change your clothes and go out and talk to your husband. Trust me.

Kriti: How can you be so sure of that? Kamini, It's me here dealing with this, not you. Can I stay with you tonight?

Akansha: Trust me baby, he's not that kind of a man. I know him. And I believe in him, so just go out and talk to him.

Kriti: Ah please! I don't wanna hear that 'he's different' crap.

Akansha: You're mental. Go to sleep, Kriti.

The b***h sent about 200 kissy faces. I changed my clothes and opened the door, only to, once again, come face-to-face with Arnav. He was standing there. Right there outside the bathroom door. What was he trying to do? Was he trying to peep inside and watch me change? This man, I will kill him if this is happening right now.

"What are you doing?" I screeched. He paused for a moment and just looked at me with assessing eyes, from top to bottom.. which made me feel even more awkward. He quickly looked away from my gaze when it met him.

"Nothing," he frowned at me. "I was just getting some water."

"Water? For what?" I asked in that same irritated tone.

"For drinking "He looked at me like I had grown an extra head. His eyes holding a mixture of alarm and annoyance. As if he were being accused of some crime he didn't commit.

"Oh really? From the restroom?"

"From the table," he spoke slowly, like I was a confused child, and pointed toward the small table near the washroom door.

"Okay." I felt guilty instantly. I turned back to my suitcases and went about stashing all my stuff in the cupboard. As I turned away, he muttered something under his breath. It sounded like maybe he'd said 'beautiful.'

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. One hundred ten percent sure. I think you have some kind of hearing problem. You need to get your ears checked. I know a specialist, should I help you with that?" he said with a sneaky smile. I've noticed that he often gave me that smile while he insulted me.

"I heard you! And my ears are perfectly fine."

"So what exactly did you hear then?"

"I...I heard you..."

"You heard me...what?"

"I heard you...nothing. Just drop it."

"As you wish." He turned and went to the table to pour himself a drink of water with a smug grin on his face.

"Kriti ji, you can sleep on the bed, I’ll take the sofa."

I was relieved, he was offering to let me sleep alone, which meant he had no intentions of getting intimate with me. Finally, he’d said something which I actually liked. Thank God!

"Okay," but I immediately felt bad about it. This was his room after all. "Actually, Arnav ji, you can sleep on the other side of the bed.

It's okay. I don’t mind.”

He searched my face before he replied. “No. I’ll be comfortable on the sofa. Don't worry.”

I tried to read his face, but, as usual, I was clueless about what he must have been thinking. The awkwardness he felt about sharing the bed, however, was clearly visible on his face. “How could you be comfortable there? It’s too small. You’ll be half on the floor all night. It's fine,” I assured him. “You can sleep in the bed. Waise bhi, it's large enough to share.”

He paused to consider this.

“Okay,” he said slowly as if expecting me to rescind the offer. “Thanks.”

Only sleep, mister, nothing else!

I don’t know why I'm never able to tell him what I’m thinking. I can debate with the whole world, but can’t even begin to stand up to him.

I’ve never had anyone else insult me like this. I sat on my side of the bed and left the other half for him, and I watched him as he sat down on his side, grabbed two pillows, and shoved them between us.

“What are you doing?”

His reply dripped with sarcasm. “Can't you see what I am doing? Do you need your eyes checked, too?”

“I can see just fine. But why, exactly, are you doing this?”

His reply contained that same punch of wickedness he was so good at. “Because I don't want you to kick me all night long.”

I saw red, and just barely kept myself from shouting at him. “I don't kick!” But I thought of my sister, and how she used to tease me about my energetic sleeping habits. “Actually,” I could feel the embarrassed blush creeping over my cheeks. “I do. Sometimes. Kavya, my sister, always complains about how much I move around in my sleep.” I stared intently at the bedspread.

He smiled in an amused way as if adoring a five-year-old’s cute little face, “I think I'm better off with the sofa. And, I know who Kavya is.”

“No, you can sleep here.” I didn’t want his back to hurt in the morning, and I didn’t want to be responsible for him having a terrible day because of it. “Right, of course you know about her, stupid me.”

“You said it, not me,” he mumbled. Again with the sarcasm.

“What did you say?” I hissed

“Nothing. Just praying that I’m able to avoid blunt force trauma,” he added, sweetness in his voice.

“Waise, relax. I also move around when I sleep. Everybody does.” His smile took the sting out of his words.

“Well, at least I’m not alone.” My deadpan tone didn’t quite hide the giggle that erupted from my mouth.

“Let’s try to get some sleep. I need to be in the office tomorrow morning.”

“Right. Alright then. Good night, Arnav ji.”

“Goodnight, Kriti ji.” He climbed into the bed beside me, disappearing behind his wall of pillows, and switched off the table lamp. The room was thrust into complete darkness. I couldn’t just lie down and sleep like this. I could never sleep in such total darkness.

“Arnav ji, I, um...there's just one problem with this.”

He sat up quickly, as though expecting me to kick him out and switched on the lamp. “What’s the problem?”

“I...um, actually, is there a night light? It’s so dark here,” I requested keeping the panic out of my voice. I had always been scared of the dark, it had always made me

feel unsafe. A night light often came to my rescue.

“A night light. Yeah, there is one. Should I switch it on?”

“Yes, please. If you don't mind.”

“Yup. Sure,” he accepted as if he had been entrusted with the protection of a child and this request didn’t bother him at all. He was now acting like a completely different man, with all that teasing gone, just trying to make me feel at home. He went to switch it on. When he sat back down on the bed he began searching for something in the nightstand.

“What are you looking for Arnav ji?”

“My sleep mask.” He pulled the mask from the drawer and turned toward me with a smile. He was sweet, at least then I felt relaxed.

“I’m sorry for the trouble I'm giving you.”

“No. It's okay. It's nothing.” He shrugged.

I paused for a long while, until the reality of our marriage struck me again. “I suppose you'll have to bear it for a long time.”

He looked at me and crumbled my whole world. “I suppose either your fear of darkness will vanish with time or I’ll learn to love these lights.”

This wasn't that wicked smile he so often used to cut me. This was a genuine smile, a real smile, filled with something one could mistake for affection. His eyes smiled at me. There was something in those black eyes I’d never seen before. Something new and good.

“Now let me sleep, Kriti ji. Good night.”

“Good night,” I said as I slid under the covers. We laid there, both facing opposite sides.

Maybe he’s not that bad.

He irritates and teases me, but maybe, somewhere inside, he’s a decent man. As usual, I just wasn’t sure. In just a few minutes he’d gone from grating to sweet, and I didn’t know how it all fits together. He was mean, but caring. He scared the s**t out of me, but also comforted me. I was married to him but I didn’t know if the man

lying next to me was actually the one made for me or not. In the end, I didn’t know even a fraction about who he actually was.