Love,Marriage And Consummation

He turned the pages of his wedding album, there they were, him and her. Blushing, posing, smiling, dreams in their eyes, the joy on their faces.

It felt like yesterday when he had first set his eyes on the most beautiful face in the office. It was Valentine’s Day two years back actually, but one look at her and he had known, she was the one.

They belonged to the same team in the office, and he would spend almost an entire day crushing on her. Shy as she was, she understood he liked her but never spoke out. But then one day, he finally did muster up the courage to express his feelings for her and pretty soon they graduated to meeting up, watching movies together, talking marriage…They made such a cute couple after all and moreover, they were more like best friends, they got along so well.

He still wondered if they jumped to the altar too soon, but Valentine’s Day the previous year, they got married. The families didn’t turn out to be as hostile as they thought they would, they came around easily.

A few months down the line and his mother found out. Mothers somehow instinctively knew. His expressions, his grumpiness, he somehow seemed put off most of the time. She seemed aloof too, there wasn’t much of the blushing bride left in her. They hardly ever seemed to talk, forget looking all romantic like normal newlyweds. So his mother had guessed and indeed there was a problem.

Almost half a year of marriage and their relation hadn’t been consummated. Turned out, she couldn’t. For quite some time, she had avoided anything physical on one pretext or the other, but later she confessed to him that she couldn’t, she wasn’t interested in that particular aspect of marriage, she was afraid, somehow.

She loved him, he was the best thing that had happened to her, on his insistence, they visited a counselor. It turned out, some past unfortunate incident with some family acquaintance had traumatized her for all this long. The shrink had promised they could work things out, try to get her out of the shock.

But he had already blurted out her problems to his parents, who in turn spoke to her parents and soon all hell broke loose. His parents accused her family of having cheated them, her having had a murky history. Her family claimed they were being falsely accused, relatives came to know soon, and the end of it all was, his parents filed for divorce on his behalf.

She let go of him without any fuss, she loved him so. All she wanted, was him to stay happy if he was better off without her, she was willing to sacrifice.

So they separated, it was perhaps for the best and he was finally happy and relieved. Or so he thought.

Today as he held the wedding photographs in his hands, he could feel a little tear prick his right eye. Wasn’t he still in love with her? Her demeanor, her character, her traditions, and most importantly, the pure unadulterated love she showered on him.

For his future, she had agreed to let go, without as much of a fight or bad will. And what was her fault, that she had a past, she had a problem? She had been brave enough to confide in him, she had hoped he would help her confront her fears, but as her partner, what had he done? He had turned her in, to his relatives, who obviously overreacted and sent her packing. But couldn’t he stand with her, lend her a shoulder and help her deal with her trauma, patiently?

He instead had been a typical Man, proving to the world, that love and marriage were just about making love. And friendship, understanding, and mutual respect was all hogwash. He had been a namesake husband, having promised to be with her through thick and thin. And when she needed him the most, he had abandoned her mid-way.

He rose, it would soon be 14^th of February, his otherwise first wedding anniversary. He still loved her and whatever it was that was troubling her, he would stay by her side and help her tackle her fears.

He would win her back, he only hoped she would forgive him. This Valentine’s Day, he would bring his wife and his life back home.