“Hey, Aabru, let's get divorced.”

Aabru was engrossed in reading a book when she heard her so-called husband utter those words joyously.

“Rehaan, konsa sasta nasha karke aaye ho?” She asked him sarcastically while giving him disgusted looks.

“Please, yaar, talaak karwa lete hai naa. Hum toh ek dusre se pyaar bhi nahi karte. Aur tumhe toh mere bhai jaan se pyaar hai.” He mumbled the last sentence hesitantly, knowing very well it will trigger her worst side.

“Naam mat lo apne naa-murad Bhai ka. Koi pyaar nahi hai mujhe unse.” She threw her pencil at him which kissed his biceps and fell on the cemented floor of the terrace.

“Aabru, yaar, I agree that mera bhai bohat bada gadha hai. But that doesn't change the truth. And the truth is you still him.” Rehaan was confident in his words.

“Arrey, gadhe ke bhai khachar, dheere se bolo. Tumhari meesni dadi ne sunn liya toh hum dono ko apne shauhar ki bandook se thok degi.” Aabru whisper yelled at him.

“Khudaya, Dada Jaan chale gaye aur apni bandook chod gaye. Jab dekho Dadi unki bandook ko pallu ki tarah kande par tange rakhti hai.” Rehaan made a crying face.

“Mujhe 24 saal ki umar mein marne kaa koi shaunk nahi hai. Maine abhi PhD bhi karni hai.” Aabru added while hugging her book.

“Waise ho toh tum aur Arham bhai made for each other. Woh America ke piche lage rahe. Aur tum PhD ke piche lagi ho.” He said disappointedly.

“Purey America ko meri haye lagegi. America jane ke chakkar mein meri shadi apne langoor Bhai ke sath karva gaya.” And once again Aabru began cursing the man she loved and also the man who left her on the day of their Nikkah.

“Oye, bandar ki twin sister, mujhe langoor kehne se pehle zara aaina dekh lo.” Rehaan shouted at her with his hands on his hips.

“Dekha hai. Bohat haseen hoon main.” Aabru said back haughtily while fanning her cheeks.

“Agar haseen hoti toh mera bhai nikkah se bhagta nahi.” He grinned teasingly.

And his face was met by her Kasoori jutti.

“Shakal gum karo apni warna kapde ki tarah dho dalungi.” She removed her other jutti and held it up in the air, threatening to attack him again.

“Behaya aurat, shauhar ko aise kaun maarta hai?” Rehaan quickly moved away from his murderous wife.

“Laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante.”

“Talaak se zaroor maan jayenge.” He grinned.

“Mera bas chale toh tumhe abhi iss waqt talaak de doon. Lekin mere ghar walon ne mera qatal kar dena hai.” She said in a fearful tone.

“Qatal karte hai toh karne do. Mujhe bas tumse azadi chahiye.” Rehaan just shrugged.

“Accha? Ab toh nahi deti talaak. Dafa ho jao!” And she finally threw her second jutti at him.

“Bewakoof ladki, aise nikamme shauhar ka kya karogi?”

“Rehaan! Jaldi niche aao!” They heard Rehaan's mother Samina.

“Aaya Ammi!” And he ran downstairs.

“Gadha kahin ka.” Aabru mumbled before continuing her work.

💕💞💕

It was the time of dawn. Aabru had just finished her morning prayer when the doorbell rang. Her bedroom was on the ground floor so she ran to open the main door wondering who had arrived so early in the morning.

She opened the lock with the duplicate keys kept beneath a flower pot. After removing the lock, she finally pulled the door open. Her focus was on opening the door as it was a traditional double door made purely of wood and was double of her height and triple of her weight. When Aabru successfully opened the main door, her eyes fell on the person standing in front of her. Immediately her eyes turned glassy as tears threatened to fell out of them.

“Arham...”

💕💞💕

Aabru had locked herself in her bedroom. Tears never stopped flowing down her brown eyes. She shouldn't have consented to marry in her stepmother's family. They were so inconsiderate about her feelings. First, they made her marry Rehaan when Arham left. And now they didn't even bother informing her that Arham was returning.

“Aabru, darwaza kholo, beta,” She heard her stepmother Saima's voice.

“Chale jaye yahaan se! Yeh sab aapki wajah se hua hai. Galti kardi maine aapko apni maa samajh kar.” Her sensibility was blocked by her fury.

Saima was in tears. She left without uttering another word.

💕💞💕

The entire day Aabru was locked in her room. She hadn't eaten anything since the previous night. But her angry self did not allow her to step out of the room. However, as the night fell she opened the door of her bedroom.

“Ab nahi raha jata. Bohat bhook lagi hai.”

She tiptoed to the kitchen with the help of her phone's light.

“Mumani Jaan kal raat keh rahi thi ke woh aaj Afghani chicken banane wali hai. Dekhu toh kaha pada hai,” mumbling so she opened the fridge and began searching for the chicken. Picking the bowl of delicious Afghani Chicken she moved to sit at the corner of kitchen slab.

“Chawal ke bina maza nahi aayega. Aur thoda sa dahi mil jaye toh baat hi ban jayegi.” She moved to get some rice and curd from the fridge.

Aabru put exactly three big spoons of rice on a plate, generously poured the gravy of Afghani chicken on it and then put three small spoons of curd over the dish.

Her mouth was already watering. Without any further delay she attacked the chicken on her plate. She moaned as the tangy spices exploded in her mouth. She was eating hungrily and greedily and so fast that she began hiccuping. But still she didn't stop eating. She hadn't ate anything for more than twenty hours and the hiccups did not bother her more than her aching hungry stomach.

Out of blue, a glass of water appeared in front of her face. Without thinking, she took the glass and gulped down the water. When her hiccups died down, she mumbled a thank you to whoever offered her water.

But who exactly offered her water?

It was dark. She couldn't see the person. However, his musky scent was an enough introduction.

It was Arham.

But that didn't stop her from filling her tummy. At that moment her hunger was stronger than her anger. So Arham's presence could be ignored for a while.

“Ru, aaram se khao warna phir hichki lag jayegi,” Arham said with concern.

Ru. Just one word and her anger died down.

But she still kept eating so that she didn't have reply to him.

Arham bit his lips, his way to show his anxiety. He ran his hand through his curly hair, his way to show he was nervous. He lowered his eyes to the floor, his way of showing he was in pain.

But now any of this was useless. She was married to his brother.

He breathed a sigh and left the kitchen.

And Aabru's eyes pooled up once again.