Reha had had it enough that day. It was a sunday, the only day off for her from her regemented office routine so all that she wished was a cool relaxing afternoon but Shabd was getting on her nerves now.  He was upset on her for a disagreement they had and was yelling at the top of his voice. ” GO AHEAD! do whatever you feel like and yell out every abuse you have for me.” , Reha shouted back at Shabd and left their bedroom to take abode at the lovely cozy sofa set they had put on the sitting area in the drawing room.

Reha and Shabd met as college friends and with time, they fell in love. By the time they got their first job they were already dating each other. Marriage with Shabd seemed like a dream come true for Reha.  They were happy as they called themselves in times when they were in a cheerful mood but in times like this Reha really felt as if marriage is the end of love. Love meant magic where life seems colourful and dreamy but with marriage comes in Responsibilities. You are suddenly dragged into each others’ family where the partner has a set of expectations from you towards his family which may not seem okay to you. Reha picked up the month’s Femina issue and started reading reclining in the sofa. She remembered of their college days  when they used to bunk classes and visit Shabd’s place for some quiet moments together. She had so many fond memories of theirs in this sofa but now, life seemed so different , Shabd seemed strange too . Usually, the whole week they remained busy coping up with their demanding corporate lives. More for Reha as she also had to do the cooking and cleaning at the same time.  By the time they returned back home it was cleaning and cooking time for Reha and by 11 pm she crashed on the bed. They hardly found time to catch up and on a sunday afternoon like this they had picked up a fight over a disagreement on parents and soon Shabd was shouting at her.

Reha had dozed off but she woke up at the sound of glass breaking from somewhere. She took some time to figure out the origin when she realised that it was coming from their bedroom. She rushed inside only to discover at her wits end that the room was in a total mess. Shabd had thrown all her books from the study table on the ground and to top it he had broken the glasses she had kept on the bedside table too. He was fuming in anger and to take his frustrations out on her he threw everything he found on the table top.

“Okay! so you have made the whole room a mess. Who do you think will clean this up? For sure I wont.”, said Reha.

“Dont’ clean. Let our bedroom be a complete mess. I dont mind. Life with you is a mess so a messed up bedroom will hardly make any difference.”, yelled out Shabd and left the room.

Reha followed him till the sitting area. By now she had lost it too., ” Now look Shabd, Nitin and Priya are coming here this evening and I’ll make sure I dont clean the bed room till then. Priya and Nitin never stops praising Shabd Bhaiya. For them Shabd Bhaiya is the most sweet, gentle creature existing on earth. All faults are with me, right? ‘ Reha the vamp’, isn’t it? Well! I dont have two faces like you Shabd that i’ll project to the world that I am gentle and break things at home in frustration. I shall keep the bedroom just like the mess it is  in till Nitin and Priya comes in today. Let them see for themselves what a monster their Shabd Bhaiya can be.”,  said Reha and went to the kitchen to make her a cup of tea. She needed some tea to soothe her now.

Nitin was a junior friend of Shabd. He used to visit them every sunday when he stayed alone in a flat in his initial working days. Reha also found him very decent and soft spoken so she had developed a younger brotherly liking for him. Nitin married Priya about a year ago and eversince then they visited Reha and shabd on Weekends to catch up on movies or dinner or even chat session on drinks.  They were expected this evening too and Reha felt good thinking that she could show them the real face of Shabd so that  they realise that their Shabd Bhaiya is usually not as sweet as he seems to be.

The door bell rang at around 7pm and Reha rushed to open the door. Nitin and Priya were there. Priya looked good in her new swanky top but her face missed the usual glow that it always had.

“Hi! Come on in.” , Reha said and welcomed them in. Shabd was watching Soccer in Tv and Nitin like a true friend joined him in. This was the right moment for Reha.

” Priya, Could you please follow me to our bedroom.” Said Reha and asked Priya to follow her.

” Now just have a look!! Everything that you see here, Books on the ground, strewn papers, broken glasses everything is what your Shabd Bhaiya has done. You guys think he is one of the gentlest creature on earth, right? Not really, you know….. This is how Shabd is with me. This is what he does to take off his frustrations on me. Look Priya, this is what i go through with Shabd.” Said Reha with vengeance pointing at the crime that Shabd had committed.

But by then Priya was laughing. She had broken into fits of laughter and had crashed on the bed. Reha felt very offended and humiliated like the little child who had  just complained to the class teacher about a truant classmate but the teacher was laughing.

“Shut Up! Priya”, I am in no mood of a joke.” said Reha.

“Sorry!”,  said Priya still laughing now tears of laughter trickling from her eyes.

” I had no intensions to be funny Reha and I was not laughing at you.  But the situation is such that i could’nt help but laugh.” ,Priya said with a twinkle in her eyes.

” You must have noticed that I seemed quite dull when I came in here today. This afternoon me and Nitin had a fight. We fought over a disagreement and Nitin got so upset on me that in his frustration he tore off the new net curtains that i had put on our bedroom. I really wept and was feeling so low while coming here.  But you lifted my spirits up Reha.”, Priya said bursting into fits of laughter.

Now Reha was laughing too. All her anger had melted suddenly. She laughed and laughed her heart out.

” May be marriages are like that!” said Priya.

“Yes! marriages are like that!”, said Reha and rushed towards the kitchen to get the vaccum cleaner to clean up her bedroom.

“Would you guys care for a cup of coffee? then I’ll get it for you two soccer fans with some fresh popcorns.” , said Reha as she passed by the sitting area.

” And… by the way boys take me and Priya shopping today. Priya needs to buy curtains and i need glasses for my bedroom.”, Reha said and winked towards Shabd.

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