Five Weeks by Shruti Omar (any book recommendations .txt) 📕

She was walking behind him, puffing her cheeks out and hurt that he didn’t pay a compliment for the sake of humanity. She deserved that to say the least. She kicked a pebble and twitched her lips.

“Anahita,” she glanced up as he called her name and watched him still involved in his phone, “Though I dislike the dress but your lip color is the only thing that is making you beautiful." He snuck a quick look of hers and shrugged, “but, of course, it is just your lip color that makes you look good.”

“Whatsoever!” she stuck her tongue out and strode past him. Since she had worn shoes, it wasn’t difficult for her to take some leaps just in order to leave him behind. Yuvraaj snickered at her smuttiness and finished checking his mails before shoving his phone back in his pocket. He paced up and clasped her arm in his, “Relax, we’re not in a race.”

“What?” She frowned, continuing to walk with the same speed and Yuvraaj encircled her waist, halting her. “Oh ho, slow down you Ms. Usain Bolt. You are leading to wrong direction. This is not the way to the coast.”

“As if you know the way to the coast,” she snorted, covering his hand, “To remind you just a little, I will have to say that you were so busy in your phone that you might not have noticed who just crossed you let alone the route.”

“It was a heavily pregnant woman.” he enumerated, “then a tourist couple and just now, you were about to hit yourself in a pole,” he gestured at the nearby lamp post; “therefore, I impeded you. Did I leave anything?”

“Don’t be so snub,” she chided, escaping from his clutch and waved ahead, “This road leads to the local market. Let’s do some shopping for families.”

“There’s a lot of time left for that. Right now, we can visit some places.” He suggested and she shook her head, “I want to get done with this first so that we can invest the remaining time on adventure. We can go to the coast any other day, right? Probably, tomorrow!”

“Fine,” he surrendered, an evil idea entering his brain. “I just hope you've taken your credit card with you."

"Why? Shouldn't you be the one paying for your wife?" She smirked, cocking her eyebrows up and he nodded, “Yes, I shall pay for my wife. After all, I am earning for her and all my fortune belongs to her."

She grinned, encouraging him with a nod. "Yes. That's absolutely right. Since I am your wife, pay my bills."

“You are not my wife,” he refuted, passing her a once over and explained, “I mean you're temporary, just for five weeks. I was talking about my real wife, in every sense."

Her smile dropped and her heart thumped at the notion of anyone else being his wife. She wasn’t familiar with the idea, “I am your wife, Yuvraaj." She emphasized.

"Of course, you are but not for too long and not to mention, you have a boyfriend out there who's making fortune for both of you." he just grind her totally to mess with her. She pursued her lips and reasoned, “But you are my husband. You should take care of me and my expenses."

The possibility of him dying to get rid of her trespassed her brain and even if she came out as desperate, she didn’t find the idea of adding someone’s name with her fascinating. She wasn’t about to think that he wanted to leave her. It was her birthright to reject him and when the subjects switched, she hated it.

"Sometimes, I think you just forget that this marriage is out of convinces from your side. I am not your ethical husband, though I am your legal husband but since you've a boyfriend, I am null and void." Yuvraaj clarified. It was his way to save him from falling for her. The way their equation changed, he was afraid to go far and then end up empty handed.

Anahita was still not serious for him. She was just resorting to him to get through the loneliness and to minimize the hurt Mukund had made her subjected of, but this was not a tip-off that she was ready to give their marriage a chance.

"Then why did you say that you're earning for your wife?" she got back with her query as soon as she found her voice.

"By wife, I meant my real wife whom I will marry in somewhere near future." He stated as a matter of fact.

"You will remarry?" she didn’t bother to hide the shock evident in her voice and her eyes widened. She began to regret asking him to go out, he was better being coiled in their suite.

"Yes." He nodded, nonchalant, "I mean a fail marriage which is not the marriage in first place is not something I want to mourn upon my whole life. Won't you do the same?"

"So you mean when I will go, you won't waste a single second had get married, right?" She gnashed her teeth together, sinking in the fact that he wasn't considering to live with her. She was becoming a burden again and the mere thought was unwelcoming.

"Yes, what's the problem? Won't you spend your life happily ever after leaving me and get marry to your boyfriend? Then why not me?"

"That boyfriend has a name, Mukund Acharya." She snapped, pissed off and Yuvraaj shrugged, "Whatever but are we really having this conversation now? Leave it. When the time will come, we will get through that."

He moved past her, effortlessly taking the lead and Anahita lost her interest in short itinerary. Her face ashen, traces of jubilance wiping off and her confident strides reduced to slow dragging steps. Wrapping her arms around her, she kicked a pebble unknowingly disappearing into the crowd.

How easily he said that? Will it really don't affect him? Does it really not matters if I stay or go? Am I a burden for him? Is he tired of handling me? She found herself dueling with the contrasting emotions. She should be happy that he wasn't forcing her to stay with him as this was her plan since the beginning but now, she was against it. She wanted to be with him.

"Am I not wanted?" She mumbled, soaring up high in her misery. Her eyes pooled with pain as she forcefully dragged her feet to follow him for the rest of journey but she halted. Her eyes scanned around her to trace him but he wasn't there.