10-07-2025, 06:55 PM
She met his eyes.
“Do you know what that makes a woman feel like?”
Ravi didn’t answer.
He couldn’t.
“I’ve been asking myself all week,” she continued
Her voice trembling slightly,
“what kind of woman does that make me? I’m married. I wear this mangalsutra. I wait for my husband to call every night. And yet…”
She stopped herself.
Her eyes glistened, but she blinked it away.
“I hated you for what you did,” she whispered. “And I hated myself for not hating you enough.”
The words hung between them like glass threads, fragile and sharp.
“I never told Amit,” she said quietly. “I won’t. I don’t want to break things more than they already are. But Ravi…”
She hesitated.
“…please don’t make me feel unsafe in my own home. That’s all I’m asking.”
Ravi’s head dropped. “You never have to feel unsafe around me. Never.”
They stood like that for a while.
Then she turned away, poured tea into two steel cups, and placed one silently in front of him on the counter.
“Let’s not ruin mornings,” she said softly, almost to herself.
Just then, Ravi’s phone rang.
Amit.
- o -
“Do you know what that makes a woman feel like?”
Ravi didn’t answer.
He couldn’t.
“I’ve been asking myself all week,” she continued
Her voice trembling slightly,
“what kind of woman does that make me? I’m married. I wear this mangalsutra. I wait for my husband to call every night. And yet…”
She stopped herself.
Her eyes glistened, but she blinked it away.
“I hated you for what you did,” she whispered. “And I hated myself for not hating you enough.”
The words hung between them like glass threads, fragile and sharp.
“I never told Amit,” she said quietly. “I won’t. I don’t want to break things more than they already are. But Ravi…”
She hesitated.
“…please don’t make me feel unsafe in my own home. That’s all I’m asking.”
Ravi’s head dropped. “You never have to feel unsafe around me. Never.”
They stood like that for a while.
Then she turned away, poured tea into two steel cups, and placed one silently in front of him on the counter.
“Let’s not ruin mornings,” she said softly, almost to herself.
Just then, Ravi’s phone rang.
Amit.
- o -
.