The Gift

Riya was a perfectionist. But, she used to get hyper at the simplest of things. Her husband, Raj, disliked it when she got so worked up for small issues, say e.g. Salt getting finished.

“What’s the big deal? If there is no Salt, I’ll get another packet right away! You don’t have to worry!” Raj said. “Worrying isn’t good for your health or for your pretty face, dear! I like to see you smiling!”

Raj worked extra hard to ensure that everything worked like clock-work in their home so that Riya was at peace and always smiled. Needless to say, by doing so, Raj was ensuring his own peace of mind! Raj wanted to keep everyone happy. It wasn’t very tough for Raj as he was always the organized kind. 

“You are great husband-material”, his friends had always teased him when they saw his neat wardrobe and tasted the awesome food he prepared and served them! 

His colleague and friend, Prakash’s wedding was round the corner. Raj’s colleagues at his office were very excited, especially Srila. Srila was the only unmarried female in their office, who believed in having a great time (no matter at whose expense!). She was an easy-communicator, who moved along freely with all the males, especially Raj. Srila made it a point to catch Raj’s attention at every pretext. Any small problem at work and she would go rushing to her knight-in-shining-armour! Srila would try to spend maximum time with Raj, even inviting him for tea/coffee and lunch-breaks at office. Raj felt they were just friends and always obliged to Srila’s demands. 

It was Raj and Riya’s first wedding-anniversary. Riya had worn the same dress that Raj had gifted her earlier. She was waiting for Raj. Though they hadn’t planned anything for the evening, Riya had decided that they could go out for an outing to celebrate. The hours ticked by. But, Raj did not come. 

Riya was nearly in tears as Raj’s cellphone was switched off and her calls to Raj’s office were answered with, “But Raj has left long ago…at 6 PM.” Riya feared the worst. It was nearly 9:30 PM when the doorbell rang. Riya anxiously answered the door to find Raj. She burst out crying, partly out of relief and partly because of unmet expectations- she had always wanted their first anniversary to be special…

Raj saw that Riya was all dressed up. He offered to take her out then.

“So late? No way…But, what took you so long?” Riya asked, wiping her tears.

“We had been gift-shopping for Prakash’s wedding.” Raj answered.

“But, isn’t his wedding next week? Why did you have to go today?” Riya asked.

“We have major deliverables and meetings from tomorrow. Today evening we had free.” Raj replied.

“What a day you chose…Do you realize you missed our first wedding-anniversary? Why did you go? Why didn’t your colleagues go to shop?” Riya barraged her queries.

“All colleagues had work in their homes…” Raj answered.

“Oh! So, only you were free!” Riya exclaimed sarcastically. “Who did you go with?”

“I went with Sujoy.” Raj replied.

“Oh! My luck!” Riya walked away to change her dress and cook dinner. 

‘Ignorance indeed is bliss’, he thought to himself. Raj could understand the volcano that would erupt if Riya knew of the truth…

Raj freshened up and watched TV. Then, they had a quiet dinner (as no one said a word) and there ended the supposedly special day in their life…

The next week, Riya was all decked up for Prakash’s marriage. Raj came from office, changed and picked her up. All Raj’s colleagues had come including Srila. When the party was over, Sujoy and Srila asked Raj to drop them to their homes in his car. On the way home, Sujoy asked Srila what gift they had given Prakash.

Riya was surprised. She thought, “Why is Sujoy asking this question? Sujoy had gone gift-shopping with Raj, right?”

The loudmouth and show-off that Srila was, she told the whole story- How she had complained to all that no one was buying Prakash’s gift, how she had made an upset face and how Raj could not bear to see her upset and had gone shopping with her! Srila even described how hungry she was after shopping and Raj had treated her at the posh restaurant! 

Actually, Srila was very much aware that it was Raj’s first wedding-anniversary. Still, she did all this drama to whisk Raj away from his wife. Games some people play!

Ignorance is bliss? What do you think happened next?

Author’s Note- We think we are doing ourselves a favour and saving ourselves by hiding/fudging facts to our loved ones… But, Ignorance is not always bliss when we lose their trust. Trust, honesty and communication are the best gifts for a relationship…

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Write Over the Weekend theme for this week - Weave a post including, ‘Ignorance indeed is bliss, he/she thought to himself/herself.’

I shared another story on the same theme - The Sari 

Proud that this story features amongst the best posts & earned this WOW Badge from BlogAdda HERE.