Sheela laid back on the bed and let out a sigh of relief, she covered her voluptuous body under the sheets with his body touching hers. There was nothing more she had ever desired for, but to lie next to the man she has always wanted.
“Just like old times,” he said and kissed her on the lips.
Sheela giggled and sighed and said, “Let the good times roll baby. Do you want to start over?”
Suddenly the alarm went off at 5:30 am. Sheela opened her eyes and realised it was another one of her dreams that made her feel whole again. It made her feel wanted, loved and fulfilled her sexual desires. She woke up and realised that she isn’t in her dreamland anymore and needs to wake up to reality.
Her husband, Rohit, was snoring in deep sleep. She tossed and turned in bed for a couple of more minutes. She closed her eyes and wanted to go back to her dreams. But soon enough, the second alarm went off. She thought to herself it’s alright. I will see my dream boy again tonight. She dragged herself out of bed and went to the bathroom.
It was like every other Monday morning, the usual routine. She organized breakfast and lunch. She didn’t bother waking Rohit up. She got ready and grabbed a quick bite to eat.
She had an important presentation that she had been preparing for over a week and wanted to beat the traffic. So, she decided to leave an hour early.
She met her colleague, Priya in the elevator.
“Hii!!” they both said happily.
“How was your weekend?” asked Priya.
“The usual, Rohit was out with friends,” replied Sheela.
“By friends, do you mean friends or the friend?” enquired Priya.
“I’m sure it was ‘THE FRIEND.’ Every time he has to meet her, he wears his Jean Paul Gaultier perfume,” said Sheela, rolling her eyes.
“Oh god! How do you live with it?” exclaimed Priya.
“You just do. There are some sacrifices people make, to stay together for their kids. If you think about it there are many unhappy couples out there,” expressed Sheela.
They both walked out of the elevator and headed towards the board room. Sheela took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself. She knew it was time to kick ass in the presentation. It was now or never to make her company grow. The final round of the investor’s meeting was her only option left.
Her company was all she had left in her life. Besides her mother, who lived miles away from her.
Her husband was a big shot of a telecom company. He spent most of this time traveling or at work. They had one son, Rajat who studied in a boarding school as they both felt he should be kept far away from their wrecked relationship. Ironically their son was the only reason they had decided to stay under one roof.
Sheela reached home at 9 pm. She was tired. She poured herself a glass of red wine, took off her stilettos and crashed on the couch. She turned on her favorite program wanting a bit of me time to unwind herself after a long hectic day.
Half an hour later, Rohit rings the doorbell. He stammers his way through the door.
“You’re drunk. Again!” said Sheela angrily.
Rohit starts to laugh hysterically and says, “Obviously, if I have to live with a witch, like you, I’d rather get drunk every day!”
“Why do you do this every second day? Who were you with?” expressed Sheela.
“If it makes you feel any better, I just dropped my girlfriend home. I can’t tell you how amazing she is in bed. And what a lovely person she is. I don’t know what got into me and why I agreed to marry you twelve years ago. You’re pathetic!” stammered Rohit.
Sheela controlled her rage. She was hurt. Again. But this was not the first time she had to deal with Rohit’s drunken behaviour.
Sheela got to know of Rohit’s affair two years ago. He pleaded for her forgiveness. The only reason she forgave him was that she genuinely loved him and of course for their son, Rajat. But as time went by, her love for him faded away.
He obviously claimed that it was nothing serious and it was just a fling. But the traveling and work excuses just kept increasing as time went on. Soon, everything was out in the open. Rohit was sloshed one fine day and blurted out everything to his wife. That’s when they came to a decision to just be cordial. They both looked like the ‘perfect couple’ from the outside, the real dirty truth on the inside was only known to both of them.
“Don’t you dare come and sleep on my bed tonight,” said Sheela in a firm tone.
“Who wants to? Main toh majburi mein sota hoon tere sath.” stammered Rohit.
Sheela wanted to get back at him and started describing her wild sexual dreams she has with another man. “I wake up feeling so satisfied. Who the hell needs you?” expressed Sheela.
Those words made Rohit’s head spin. The thought of his wife even thinking about another man brought shivers down his spine. He threw his glass of whiskey on the floor and slapped Sheela and said, “How dare you.”
Sheela’s ear was buzzing. Rohit had never raised his hand on his wife. Ever. She was enraged and deeply hurt.
Sheela left and went to her room without saying a word.
The next morning Rohit woke up with a splitting headache. He looked around the house but couldn’t find Sheela anywhere.
He saw Rajat’s childhood photo album lying on the bedside table. It then struck him what an idiot he had been all these years. All the good memories started flashing in his head. He realised how happy they all were together and thought to himself, ‘maybe we can do it again and start from scratch.’
Rohit tried his best to contact Sheela. This time he genuinely wanted to make things right.
But he was too late. Sheela had packed her bags and was gone.
Rohit found a note by his bedside. He nervously opened it, ‘Thank you for opening my eyes.’