Vacations

Mishti and Raghav were made for each other. They had a relationship of 7 years and then got married easily without anyone’s objections.

Everything was so beautiful. They had love and only love between them. But like they say nothing is perfect in this world. Raghav was doing a hard job and could not give proper time to Mishti. Spending quality time together gradually decreased.

In the beginning, Mishti ignored but soon she started feeling lonely. She started thinking if Raghav was having an extramarital affair. She started following him and found out that there was nothing like that. He was a very loving husband but was not able to give her enough time.

Mishti kept on insisting to go on a vacation, away from work and the city, and spending quality time together. They used to go for outings to local areas but that time was also limited. She wanted to spend a long holiday with Raghav.

But he kept on delaying it every time.

Finally, the day arrived when Raghav planned a trip to Paris after 3 years of their marriage. It was supposed to be a 15 days trip and Mishti just couldn’t control her excitement. Enthusiastically, she started prepping for the vacation. Getting new clothes, matching accessories, and shoes, she was on cloud nine. She started telling everyone about their vacation plans, including her family members, friends, and neighbors.

The day before they were about to leave, he got a call from his client. They were doing their final packing and Mishti forced him not to take the call. But Raghav was a workaholic and so he couldn’t ignore it. He went outside to have a talk. He returned to the room with a smiling face.

He said, “I don't believe it. I was following this client for months. Finally, they agreed to meet. The meeting is tomorrow at 11 am.”

“And you are happy because they responded at least. But you won’t be able to meet them, right?” Mishti enquired with a heavy heart.

He suddenly realized that they have a flight to catch the next day at 5:40 am. He stood there with a blank expression on his face and Mishti was staring at him, waiting for his reply.

He said, “Oh, come on, Mishti. I have to go to a meeting. We can always plan for Paris some other time.”

“Are you mad? We have already planned everything. The flights and hotels are booked. How can you be so mean? You don’t care about my happiness,” Mishti replied.

“Flights and hotel bookings can be canceled. Yes, there will be a loss but this client would earn us a lot more than what we will lose now.”

She was seething with rage. She couldn’t take it anymore and started yelling at him, “What do you think of yourself, you son of a b****? Your work is more important than my happiness. Is it? It’s always you who gets to decide when to go outside. I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t live like this. To hell with your job.” She took a plate from the crockery and threw it toward Raghav.

He moved back in reflex and cried, “Are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you are doing right now?”He was getting angry too. But his fire was less than what Mishti was feeling. “Yes, I know what I’m doing. Actually, I realized today how wrong I was for choosing you.

I left my job to make this house a home and you took me for granted. You assumed that just because you are earning, you get to make all the decisions.”

She continued, “What will you get by only earning money? AC, LED refrigerator, and this expensive crockery, right?”

She took a rod from a store and started breaking things. He ran towards her and tried to stop.

“You’ve gone mad. It’s just a trip. What are you doing, Mishti? Please stop. When did you become a monster?” After creating the mess, she sat down for a while and Raghav started scolding him. But she wasn’t over yet.

She was still burning with anger. She yelled, “Shut up. Just shut up. You don’t matter to me anymore. Just leave me alone.” She asked him to get out of the house and never come back. On hearing that, he slapped her and went out of the door.

She took a shoe and threw it at him. It hit him and so he came back yelling, “F*** your house. I am never coming back. You can live all alone now, mad woman.” And then, he left.

She was all alone now; feeling tired and sad. She took out a bottle of vodka and started drinking it neat. She got so high that when she tried to get up, her foot slipped and she fell down badly. She stayed unconscious for a while. She opened her bleary eyes when the cat, all seven pounds of squirming flesh, climbed onto her belly. Squinting into the sunlight streaming in from the open window, she discovered that she was now the weary possessor of a pounding headache, and at some point, had managed to lose both a tooth and a spouse. And that squirming flesh, the cat which was gifted by Raghav before their marriage, was the only companion left.