It was our one month anniversary today!  I don't think he remembers.  I mean obviously he doesn't.  We had made such a great progress but all went in drain after that day.  The day where he told me that I wasn't allowed to study.

Ever since then,  I have tried my best to ignore him.  He will come home, have dinner and before  he enters the room, I'm  fast asleep.  Before  he wakes up, I get up  early and do my daily household chores. He has been trying his best to talk to me, but when it comes to ignoring, I have mastered the art.

My in-laws have gone to a wedding of our relatives,  Vihaan is in the office so the I'm  the only one in the entire house. I finish my daily  work and make some tea for myself.  When I was about to enter the garden to have some me time, The sound of Doorbell echoes through the entire house.

I walked towards the door wondering who it might be.  My jaw literally dropped when I saw who was standing by the door. I flew my hands around his neck and hugged him like my life depended on him.

"Neel!" I whispered.

"Riri, I missed you soooooo fucking much."

"I missed you too jerk face. Come in," I made my way for him and he came inside. 

"Make yourself comfortable. We have the whole house to ourselves. Everyone is out."

"Why?"

"Why are you so shocked? I am pretty happy, to be honest."

"Do you want to shag me behind your husband's back," Neel said in mock horror and settled on the couch.

"Oh shit! BUSTED! Now that you know my plan let us do it willingly, what say?"

We both burst out laughing. I left him in the drawing room and went to get water for him. I had missed this idiot so much. 

"So, Riri?"

"Hmm.."

"Come sit with me." 

I handed him a glass of orange juice and sat down next to him with one for myself. 

"So, Riri?"

"Fucking stop repeating the same thing," I smacked his head.

"Ouch. You have become very violent. Vihaan likes it wild, I guess."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. We have not slept with each other, yet and I don't think we will ever have sex. So shut the fuck up, jerk face."

"Piggy, you are a sewage disposal area when you are with me and in front of others you are like the sweetest chick. Why do you do this with me. This really hurts my feelings."

"You are hilarious, I am dying of laughter," I said in a monotonous voice earning a chuckle from Neel.

"You are such a baby you know," he poked my cheeks and shifted closer to me. I tried to maintain my facade but because of his pestering I eventually gave in and leaned into him making it look like we were a couple in love. 
I placed my head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Are you happy Rishita?" He whispered.

"I don't  know.  My happiness doesn't matter anyway!"  I said trying my best not to have a breakdown.

"I'm  sorry!  I really am!  I wish I could stop this!  Stop this wedding."  he said defeated.  For the first time I'd heard defeat in his voice.

"It's  not your fault Neel!  I guess I was born to be married! Every Indian girl is born to be married by their parents.  Whenever a girl is born in India,  it's  a ritual to regret and blame the mother!  As soon as a girl is born,  the parents start planning her wedding.  They don't plan their education,  their bright future!  No!  They want them to get married and serve their husband and in-laws like a fucking maid! "
I don't  know where this was coming from but it felt good to finally let things out.

"Riri! Everything is going to be okay!" Neel said wrapping his arms around my shoulder.

"I hope it does!"

"You know I love you right?" He said sincerity evident in his voice.

"What the fuck is happening?" A known voice boomed throughout the house making goosebumps erupt through my entire body.

I jumped away from Neel and looked at the source of voice.  A very angry Vihaan was shooting daggers at us  with his hands clenched. He walked towards us in angry steps and grabbed Neel by the collar.

"Who the fuck are you and Why are you getting all touchy with my wife?"

I stood up panicked and frozen as the scene unfolded in front of me.

"Your wife's ex" Neel smirked while pushing Vihaan back and freeing himself.

I gasped at Neel.  Only he can say this  Bastard!

"What the fuck?"  Vihaan's eyes turned pitch black and was about to punch Neel when I came in between them.

"Vihaan, calm down!  He is my best friend!  That's  it. Neel say the truth."  I said in a panic mode.

Neel rolled his eyes and said,
"Calm down dude!  She is my friend."
Neel was completely calm and collected where as Vihaan was burning with anger.

"See! He just came to visit me." I said.

He didn't  say anything, instead he just turned around and walked towards our room.  I sighed.

"Ex?  Really?" I looked at Neel with anger evident on my face.

"He loves you!" Neel said out of the blue.

"What? "

"He loves you Rishi!  He just hasn't realized it." Neel said.

I shrugged.

"Anyway, you go handle your hulk. I'll  leave."

"I'm  sorry for this."

"You're  kidding me?  This was fun! " Neel said laughing.

I smiled at him and bid him farewell.

I went into the room and saw Vihaan sitting on the  window sill looking somewhere.

"Vihaan... "

"You're  doing this on purpose! Aren't  you? "  he said cutting me of.

"What are you talking about?"  I asked confused.

"Do you love that bastard Rishi? Was he the  reason, you didn't want to marry me?" his face was broken as he said those words.

This infuriated me even more.  First of all,  he called Neel a bastard and secondly he had an affair with that bitch!  Not me!

"Don't  play the blame game here, Mister!  Neel is my best friend!  We have been friends for I don't even remember how long!  He is like a brother to me.  So never,  I mean never call him such things again. And secondly, I never had an affair,  you had one!  You called your girlfriend here as soon as the rituals were over." 
His angry face turned into shock when I screamed at him. I have never raised my voice in this house.  This was my first time and he didn't expect me to crack. But I'm  not going to just sit around when my best friend is being abused.

"Rishi.. I.. "  he tried to speak  but this time I cut him off,

"Save it! " I said starting to walk towards the door.
He caught my hand and slammed me against the cabinets.  Our faces were inches away  and I could feel his breath fanning my face. 

"Never cut me off when I'm  saying something or you won't like the consequences"  he whispered  against my ears. A chill ran down my spine making him smirk.

"What are the consequences? " I said before I could stop myself.

He smirked at me and closed the distance between us, crashing his plump lips against mine!

***