Without saying a word, Priya just glared at him in anger. Arjun, with nothing else left to do, moved a little closer to her and said,
“Alright madam, so now you want me to sleep here only, right? Fine. I’ll sleep right here, okay?”
Priya shot back coldly,
“If you have some crazy ideas in your head that just because you’re lying beside me I’ll be tempted and try something—keep those thoughts to yourself. Yes, I do love you, that’s true, and that’s why I married you. But I’ll share my life with you only when I believe you truly love me too. Until then, we are just husband and wife—nothing more. Don’t overthink. Switch off the light and sleep.”
Saying this, Priya turned the other side and lay down.
Arjun muttered in his mind with frustration, “She says she loves me, but then tortures me like this… to hell with her love.” With no other option, he lay down too and switched off the light.
---
Next Morning:
Ganga and Jyothi were helping in the kitchen. Priya was making pooris, while Jyothi stood beside her rolling them out.
“Jyothi, you have to go to college, right? Go freshen up,” Priya said.
Still rolling pooris, Jyothi looked at her and replied,
“It’s fine, madam. I’ll leave after finishing these.”
As Priya lifted a fried poori and placed it in the box, she casually said,
“When Arjun becomes your brother, that makes me your sister-in-law, doesn’t it?”
Jyothi looked at her nervously, blushing.
“Since childhood I’ve always been calling Arjun "brother", madam. It became a habit,” she said shyly.
“That’s okay. Then you can call me ‘sister-in-law too,” Priya smiled, noticing Jyothi’s discomfort. “Fine, forget it. Just go call Arjun for tiffin and then get ready for college,” she added.
Jyothi nodded silently and left.
Priya switched off the gas stove, carried the box of pooris to the hall, placed it on the dining table, then went to Ashok’s room, knocking on the door.
“Ashok, tiffin is ready, come out,” she called.
“Yeah, coming,” Ashok replied.
By the time she returned to the dining table and started setting plates on two chairs, both Arjun (coming down from upstairs) and Ashok (from his room) arrived at the same time.
Priya opened the bowls and checked. “Did I forget to bring idlis?” she wondered, going back into the kitchen to fetch the idli box. She served two pooris onto Ashok’s plate, then turned to Arjun’s plate to serve, when suddenly Arjun stopped her with his hand.
“No pooris. Just put idlis,” he said curtly.
Priya looked at him angrily.
“No pooris? I made them because you like them! Who’s going to eat all this now? If you don’t like what I cook, at least tell me in advance. Otherwise, why don’t you ust put a board outside saying ‘Tiffin Centre’, I sell it to whoever wants it when you refuse to eat!”
Ashok, shocked, glanced at Arjun and then at Priya, secretly amused. “This kind of girl suits him perfectly,” he thought, quietly eating his food.
Arjun, fuming, said,
“So now the problem is solved, right? I’ll just eat pooris. Fine—serve them.”
He angrily ate the pooris and then glared at Priya.
“Happy now?” he snapped.
Priya, staring back in fury, muttered in her mind, “As if his anger isn’t already too much to handle…” She started to walk upstairs but paused and turned back.
“Arjun, we need to go to the temple this evening. Come and take me to temple at 5,” she said firmly.
Still eating, Arjun replied,
“I’ve got work at the office. I can’t come. Ashok will take you.”
Priya shot him a deadly glare.
“I married you, not him.”
Arjun suddenly froze, looking at her.
“So I must be the one to take you to the temple, is that it? Damn it… my life is nothing but a football being kicked around. I can’t even argue with you properly. This torture is unbearable,” he thought bitterly, pitying himself. “What else can I do… just adjust and survive.”
Looking at Priya, he reluctantly said,
“Fine, I’ll come and take you to the temple. Okay?”
Priya stared at him seriously without answering and walked upstairs silently.
Arjun turned to Ashok with frustration.
“So this is what she calls love? Everyone said she’s crazy in love with me, begged me to marry her… look at her now! This isn’t love—it’s torture!”
He angrily threw a piece of poori onto the plate.
Ashok stood up and said calmly,
“Maybe it’s because you don’t usually talk, that’s why she tries to torture you.”
Hearing this, Arjun fell silent, lost in thought. “Is she behaving this way because she doesn’t understand how to talk with me?” he wondered.
Just then Ashok added,
“I’ll drop Jyothi at college and head to the showroom straight from there. "Don't wait for me.”
Arjun nodded faintly, “Okay.”
A few moments later, after Ashok left, Arjun too picked up his plate and started to go washbasin. At that very moment, Bongaram rushed inside, hands folded, respectfully greeting, “sir!”
He glanced nervously at the plate Arjun was holding.
Confused, Arjun asked,
“What happened?”
Bongaram said nothing, just kept staring at the plate.
Realizing what it was about, Arjun remembered Bongaram’s condition.
“Oh, now I get it. You just don’t want me to carry this plate myself, right?”
Slamming the plate down on the table, Arjun snapped,
“This house is filled with all kinds of strange creatures!”
Muttering angrily, he walked away, while Bongaram silently picked up the plates and took them into the kitchen.
