Aashna Lalwani

Drama Romance Inspirational

4.4  

Aashna Lalwani

Drama Romance Inspirational

The Bubble Bursts

The Bubble Bursts

5 mins
410


Bandit was an unemployed husband. His uselessness to society was very much his own fault. He could not keep a job to save his life. The simple reason was, he could not take orders. When someone gave him an instruction, his instinct was to second-guess them. Then come up with an alternative which was always better, in his opinion. What he never seemed to realize was that not all instructions were meant to complete one single task; the one handed to him. Most of those instructions were just stepping stones for something bigger, which Bandit did not need to know about. It simply had nothing to do with his work or was out of his abilities, and he never could swallow this fact.

So all the expenses of Bandit's house, the water and electricity supply, the maid's wages, even the cost of his pyjamas, were handled by his wife, Katherine. Katherine was not very shaken or upset by this situation, as she made more than enough money to last twice her lifetime. What upset her, was that Bandit did not seem to be shaken or upset either. He acted as if this were a permanent setup, and not a wake-up call, telling him to introspect on his life decisions.

Katherine was a practical woman. She would never back down from supporting her husband, but she would never encourage dependence. When she had had enough, she told him, "Don't you think you should start looking for a job now? It's been long enough since you've been at home."

This evidently took Bandit by surprise, although Katherine did not understand why. He responded, "I don't know if the companies around here will hire me now. Coara was an influential brand. Not to mention, Davis and I didn't exactly part on great terms." Coara was the brand Bandit had been advertising for at his previous job. Just before resigning, he had said many harsh and ungrateful words to his boss, Marty Davis. This was typical of Bandit, and not surprising to Katherine. She did find it unnecessary, though. 

"Have you tried applying to any place? They might be more welcoming than you think. You could look at places at a few minutes drive as well, you know, don't have to confine yourself to one area."

"Do you want me to get out of the house? Is that what you want?" Another typical Bandit trick.

"Don't make this about me. It's not healthy for you to sit at home all day, not doing anything productive with your life. It will feel better to be in a work environment for a change, get some fresh air, for God's sake!"

"You know what, I'll see what's healthy for me and what's not. I don't need you to act like my mother."

"Aren't I acting like your mother? You live in my house that you don't pay for, I make your food, I clean up after you, I shower you with unconditional love. And what do you do? Not the dishes I asked for in the morning."

"So you're mad at me for not doing the dishes?"

"I'm mad at you for not pulling yourself together and pursuing your dream that you had when you were ten!"

"I achieved my dream!"

"And then you goddamn lost it!"

Both of them fell silent. Katherine knew she had struck a nerve, but she did not want to apologize. Bandit did need to get his act together, and if throwing the fact that he had turned into a failure in his face was the way to do it, then so be it. Katherine did not sign up for this life when she agreed to marry Bandit. She did not imagine being financially responsible for a grown adult. And on top of that, one that didn't even want to be mature about it. He wanted her to take his worries away by throwing them onto her. She was supposed to make him feel better, being his partner, but she couldn't leave him unaccountable for his actions. 

"Just send out a resume to a few places," she said, slowly. "See what happens."

"Do you think I'm a failure?" he asked. He did not look at her. Something told her he did not really want the answer; that would embarrass him too much.

"No," she lied. "You lost your way. You can get back to where you were, maybe achieve more. But you'll never know if you don't try."

He lifted his head up just enough to be able to see her face. He would do it, she knew. He would finally pick himself up and be the man she once knew. He moved towards her and wrapped his hands around her. She hugged him back and still held him when he did not let go of her. He buried his face in her shoulder. She patted his head in irregular intervals. They would not be talking more on that subject for a while. 

Reality had finally hit him. He realized how he was behaving; it was juvenile, shameful. He could not spend his life expecting somebody else to take responsibility for his life. He was an adult. He needed to start acting like one. That also meant taking orders from his superiors. They were his superiors for a reason, and he needed to respect that. He would not be beating around the bush anymore. Especially if it meant losing the woman he loved. He wasn't sure if he had completely lost her respect, but he was willing to gain it all back. He would do whatever it took to make her love him like she used to.

He stood up and went into his room, to revise his resume. Katherine came into the room and silently sat on the bed. He looked at her, and she smiled at him. She realized it would all be okay.


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