Chapter 31
*****
The next day, she spent time handing all her San Francisco case work to her team. Work continued well into the night. It was past midnight when she told herself she had to take a pause. She probably had a few days before she had to prepare to go to Ashok’s native place.
Just based on how intense Ashok’s older sister was, Isha knew she would need to focus on the family.
Make them believe the marriage was real and to make sure the kids and Ashok can rejoin the family.
There was no indication from Aravinda when they could go visit but she knew it would be sooner than later.
She was just about to wrap up the work for the night when she saw Aman was calling. She smiled as she answered the call. He was in Europe for work and was only a few hours behind.
“Aman, I’ve been thinking about calling you all day.” She was excited to share the latest developments with Ashok’s family with him.
To her surprise, she didn’t hear his voice, but there was a lot of background noise. She held on, wondering if it was static that would just clear eventually. “If you’re talking to me, I can’t hear you.”
Then she heard him grunt and that made her smile. “I hear you but can’t make out a single word.”
Another sound and that made her heart drop to her stomach. She heard Aman grunt repeatedly and along with him, she heard a woman’s voice. She wanted to end the call but she needed to make sure she was not imagining things.
She then heard a woman call out his name and her stomach dropped. If she thought she had heard the worst thing, she then heard Aman. “Ohh, I didn’t know how much I love a fun one in bed. I have been stuck with a stuck-up bitch who is no fun in bed.”
She could not take it anymore. The scene had started to play out before her eyes and his words were ringing in her ears. Why was he even with her if that’s how he felt about her? She stepped out of the office like she needed the fresh air.
She walked past the kitchen, opened the side door and stepped into the patio. The distant beep of an alarm started going off but she didn’t care. It felt like she was going to explode. She entered the garden, a mess in her head.
What the heck did she just hear? The guy who she thought had a very balanced relationship was having sex with his coworker? What made it worse were his words. If that’s how he felt about her, why was he even talking to her? He could have told her it wasn’t working out and they could have moved on.
“Isha, everything okay?” It was Ashok and he sounded pissed.
She turned to face him like she didn’t want to show any emotion and she smiled at him. “Sorry, did I wake you? I needed some fresh air.”
His expression shifted but didn’t say anything. He took a few steps toward her but didn’t get any closer. He stood away from her like he wanted to give her space.
Isha turned away from him, processing her emotions. It wasn’t Aman’s actions that hurt her but his words. But to Chandini’s point, should it hurt her that he cheated on her?
“Let’s go back in.” Lost in thought she had forgotten Ashok was still outside with her.
She was not ready to return. “I’ll lock up before I go to bed.”
She heard footsteps as he approached her. “No. Now.”
Isha was annoyed with his domineering tone. “I’m not a child. I can take care of myself.”
His eyes bore into hers for a moment before he bent to sweep her off her feet.
“Ashok, put me down.” She wiggled her feet as he carried her toward the patio door. “Don’t be ridiculous, I just—”
He hushed her loudly as he was about to step indoors and she stayed silent. She knew it would be a bigger mess if the kids woke up then. He placed her feet back on the ground before shutting the patio door.
“Don’t treat me like I’m a child,” she hissed.
“You leave me no choice.” With those words he left her standing in the kitchen.
She watched him as he walked away and stopped at the foot of the stairs. He turned to look at her and she held his gaze in the dim light. She stood her ground as if in challenge and he just kept his eyes trained on her.
Moments passed and she realized he wasn’t going to budge. She let out a sigh and walked toward the stairs. As she got closer, he stepped aside to let her walk ahead of him and she did. Silently she walked back to her room with no words exchanged.
By the time she reached her room, she was in a much calmer mood. She knew what she had to do and it didn’t make sense for her to wait any longer.
Isha shut the door firmly and reached for her phone. She took a deep breath and dialed Aman’s phone number. It didn’t make sense for her to prolong this any further. Whatever she thought she and Aman shared probably ended a while back.
She was just being delusional about what she and Aman shared.
It had been hours since the accidental call he made to her, exposing himself.
“Isha, why are you still up?” He seemed surprised.
“Do you have a few minutes?” She managed to keep her voice steady.
“I was just getting ready to go to bed but I can talk for a few.” He sounded calm.
“It should not take more than a few minutes.” She paused like she wanted to compose herself. “Aman, the time has come for us to part ways.”
“What? What are you talking about?” He was worked up.
“You know what I’m talking about. I thought we were very clear about the dynamic we have. I don’t know why you wouldn’t talk to me if things weren’t working out for you.” She was surprised how calm she sounded.
“Why is it not working out?” There was genuine surprise in his voice.
“Aman, it is an insult to me if you pretend like nothing happened.” She took another deep breath. “I got a call from you, a few hours ago when you were with Denise. It was an accidental call. But a timely one.”
He went silent for a moment. “It didn’t mean anything.”
“I care less about what you did but more about what you said. If that’s how you felt about me, why the heck are you with me?”
“Isha, I was…it was nothing and what I said, I was drunk and—”
“Please. Do. Not. Insult. Me. We are through.” She waited for a moment. “I don’t want to ever see you or talk to you. Have a nice life.”
With that she slowly took the phone away from her ear and ended the call. She knew it was done. Exactly how she had envisioned the relationship.
She should be angry and disappointed about what happened but it only made her think. Aman had told her, her boldness and how goal oriented she was, what he had found to be attractive and yet, he said what he said.
With a sigh she placed her phone away and climbed into bed. She felt weird but was not sad and maybe that’s what made the situation odd. Did it mean nothing to her?