Broken Vows ( Chapter 9 )

Lakshya never before saw his wife drinking more than two pegs but when he came home, she was 2 bottles down and laying on balcony, speaking something in quivering voice. He lifted her up in arms and went to bedroom. He decided to ask her the reason in morning, now she needed rest only. Somewhere he knew was could be the reason of Vaidehi’s condition but the only question was, How?

There was a time when he used to give a Good Night forehead kiss to Vaidehi every night, now he sends kissing emoticons to Richa. The good time was when his life had only one girl, his desperation, excitement and Richa has brought chaos in his life. Lakshya is mere a spectator now. A spectator who knows the ending, who knows the climax, but is unable to change it. So, watching his own destruction has become the only option and he might have physically geared himself for it but this devastation was meant to be more emotional than physical. Emotionally, he couldn’t even expect the level of damage he is up to face.

Sun rose an hour ago, but none of the three were ready to leave bed, Vaidehi still devastated with a mere thought of suspecting on her husband, Lakshya staring at ceiling with mixed feelings of guilt and pleasure. Guilt of betraying his wife and not having the guts to ask her why she drank so much last night? And pleasure of butterflies in his stomach because another day has rose to bring another bunch of happy moments with his girlfriend. Richa, day dreaming and creating unrealistic scenarios based on her first visit at Lakshya’s place. Making love has become a breath for their relationship, this breath is surely a fresh air for Richa but hints of storm for Lakshya.

Lakshya got up from bed, he knew his wife was awake but he spoke nothing, how will he? This guilty burden has made him mute. He got freshen up and left to office, without exchanging a word. Vaidehi’s suspicion only got stronger by this act of Lakshya. She needed someone to detox her mind. She picked up her phone and typed a message, “Hey, I want to meet you today. 6pm, wherever you want.”

And send.

His hands were shivering, his chat window with his girlfriend was open, a good morning text has already come from her side, but Lakshya is not feeling like replying. He locks his mobile screen. He takes out his engagement ring from drawer and looks at it. The weight of ring was barely 10grams but the feelings, the rituals, the memories and happiness attached to it were way heavier than his entire newly-formed love life. He impulsively grabbed the phone and typed a message “I want to meet you now.” And sent it to Richa.

An hour went by but she hasn’t seen his message yet. His anxiety meter was going up and up only but what else can he do. He dialled her number, she picked up in the first ring, “hello, where are you?” he said. “Busy with work. What happened?” she said. “Nothing, just wanted to see you” he said calming his mountains of anxiety. “Aww… meet me at terrace in lunch break. Okay?” She said cutely.

“Okay” the first smile of this morning.

He was waiting at terrace, walking, fidgeting with spare bricks, kicking in the air, lunch time was over now. He called her, call went unanswered. He called again, unanswered. He opted to wait for her or for her text or whatever comes first.

Why would Richa send Vaidehi a friend request? How do they know each other or do they really know each other? Was it a click mistake from Richa? Vaidehi has started to age but Richa looks so young… how they could be related to each other? Vaidehi is indeed beautiful but not as much as Richa. A wondering session that started with questions to relatedness, turned and took way towards extolling Richa’s beauty. Richa maintains herself a lot, unlike Vaidehi. Richa is the girl any man between the age of 15-60 would fall for. She is so god damn beautiful.

Lakshya was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard a voice calling out his name. He turned around to see Richa standing there with a bright smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile back at her, forgetting all his worries for a moment.

"Hi!" Richa said, walking towards him.

"Hey," Lakshya replied, his heart racing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come up earlier. Work was crazy," Richa said, looking at him apologetically.

"It's okay," Lakshya said, trying to keep his cool.

Richa walked towards him and gave him a warm hug. Lakshya's heart skipped a beat. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. It felt so good to hold her in his arms.

They sat down under tin shade and started talking about their day. Richa told him about the project she was working on and Lakshya listened intently, trying to sound interested. But his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't stop thinking about Vaidehi and how he was betraying her. He knew he had to end things with Richa before it was too late, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was addicted to her and couldn't imagine his life without her.

As they talked, Lakshya couldn't help but notice how beautiful Richa was. Her hair fell perfectly on her shoulders and her eyes sparkled in the sun. He felt a pang of guilt for thinking this way about another woman while being married. He tried to push the thoughts away and focus on the conversation but they kept coming back. He realized that he had fallen too deep into the rabbit hole and didn't know how to get out.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. Lakshya went back to his office but couldn't concentrate on his work. He kept checking his phone every few minutes to see if Richa had messaged him.

But she didn't. And that only made him more anxious.

He knew he had to talk to Vaidehi and figure out what was going on with her. He also knew that he had to end things with Richa before things got worse. But he didn't know how to do either of those things.

He felt trapped and lost. He wished he could turn back time and fix all the mistakes he had made. But he knew that was impossible.

The only thing he could do now was face the consequences of his actions and hope that he could make things right somehow.