56. His Punishment?

Anika’s PoV

With the force the door opened, I shrieked in horror and threw the phone away. I looked up to see him with a terrifying face. He didn't speak a word to me but went into the room where I think we are going to stay. I started to follow him to the room just when our driver came in with a load of baggage. I ran to help him.

“Oh, here, give it to me, bro.”

“No issues, madam. Where do I place them?”

“Just leave it here, I will take them inside.”

He went back for more luggage, I am confused. What is all this? Looks like he had packed up all the stuff from that home to here. Is he going to keep me here forever? What does he think it will do to me? I am not afraid to do chores, though I have no prior experience in it. I have never cooked back in my home. I just tried it out on my leave days, some turned out good and some horrible. I have helped my mom in chopping vegetables. On the whole I am not a good cook. But I am good at cleaning the home. It is me who always sweeps and mops the home clean back in my home. We were used to washing our own clothes in hand since childhood as we were not wealthy enough to afford a washing machine. I have helped mom in washing vessels as well. I am not a novice at doing chores.

“That is all, madam. I will take leave now.” The driver placed the remaining luggage near my feet and went off.

What should I do now? Should I open them up and see what’s inside or should I go to him and ask where I should keep them? I chose the latter and gathered my courage to go into the room.

“Arjun.”

“Bring all the bags inside this room.” He said without even raising his eyes from the laptop he’s been working.

Left with no other choice, I walked to and fro to bring all the bags in. Some were light and some were heavy. Can I complain?

“Now leave the red and blue trolleys here and also that laptop bag. Remaining bags are yours. You are free to take them out and arrange them in the cupboard drawers in the hall.” He said. He could have said it before I brought them all in. Now I have to take them all out again.

“You could have asked me to bring in only those three bags, you know.” I whined.

“Oh, yes. I could have. But I didn't feel like doing that.” He said coldly.

I took all my stuff out to the dresser he mentioned. I opened all the bags to see all my clothes, my personal items like toothbrush, comb and cosmetics, my clay jewels, a box of new jewelry paint, a bag full of clay, trays and oven mitts. So thoughtful. But he would still say he hates me.

“Thank you for getting me a new bunch of clay jewelry making kit. And also thank you for bringing me the ones I already made.” I ran in to thank him.

“Don't thank me yet. I have got you orders from four different retailers that sell these things. They also export. They want a total of 500 pairs of these every week. They also have sent you emails of the designs they want you to make.”

“Thank you so much, Arjun. But 500 pairs every week? That is nearly impossible.”

“That is none of my concern.” He jerked his shoulders.

“But Arjun,”

“No buts. I have spent a fortune for your family. How are you going to repay me? There is no way you could repay me everything in this lifetime but at least you could return a part of it only if you work hard.” He said. I was deeply hurt by this but he is right. I don't like to get charity even though he is my husband. There is no need for him to spend so much for my family when he thinks that I am not loyal to him.

“If this will make you feel better, I will do it.” I told him and went out to vent out those sobs that I have been swallowing for a long time now. I am not as strong as I project myself to be.

I went to the terrace to compose myself. I stood there long enough to see the sunset making the sky orange. I saw all the birds fly to their nests. The hot wind was turning into a pleasant breeze. I was just lost in nature to forget about my pain. Where is Anamika? Where has he kept her? No matter how hard I try to divert my mind, these two questions pop everywhere in my head. I could not even ask him these questions. Not that he will answer them, but atleast to satisfy myself that I have asked it out loud. But he gave me no chance to talk, let alone ask him questions. It was already past tea time when I heard him shout my name.

“Anika!”

I ran downstairs from the terrace gulping down that ball of fear. I don't know what I did to make him this angry now.

“Where the hell have you been? Did you think I brought you here on a vacation?”

“Uh… No…” I stuttered.

“It is 6pm and you still haven't given me my coffee. Granny has to have her tea and a little snack now. Didn't you read that in her notebook? Don't behave like a child anymore. Try being responsible.” He shouted at me.

I ran straight into the kitchen to make tea, coffee and a little healthy snack. Snack? What shall I do? I went through all the boxes in the kitchen and found some green grams. Good, I dry roasted them for a few minutes and pressure cooked it with a little salt. I spluttered some mustard, green chili, onions and curry leaves in a pan and sauteed them at the same time. Just after the pressure released, I strained the green gram and added it to the sauteed mixture. I served it on the platter and went out with the tea, coffee and snack at 7pm. I felt all guilty. It is way past tea time and it is almost dinner time. I am yet to cook dinner.

“Well done. Your timing is so perfect. You are a useless idiot.” He refused to take up the coffee or snack.

“Sorry, I will do it on time from tomorrow.”

“Don't give the tea to her. Just give her the snack. Get the dinner ready by 8.30.” He went out almost pushing me aside. He would have pushed me if I didn't have the tray in my hand.

“Granny, sorry your snack got a little late today. But I promise to take good care of you from tomorrow. Here, let me help you.” I made her sit up on the bed and gave her the plate.

“Hmmm, it is very tasty.” She ate it in a jiffy and my guilt grew exponentially. She was hungry and I was being an idiot just like he said. I made a promise to myself to take good care of her.

“Help me go to the hall. I want to watch some TV.” She said after giving the plate to me.

“Sure.”

“Where have you been all day? I have been awake since 4pm. I forgot your name, so I could not call for you either.”

“Oh, sorry. I was on the terrace. My name is Anika. Here, let me write it on this note for you. If you forget my name, you can always look at this note.” I wrote my name on the note and placed it near her bed.

“Oh, you are cleaning up the room on the terrace. I have always wanted to do that since I came here. But you see I can't climb stairs. Kathir tells me that the place is dusty and full of cobwebs.”

“Oh, I can clean it. Maybe I will start tomorrow. Yes, the place is dusty and there are many things there, granny. I will bring the unwanted things down and you tell me if we need it.” I told her, switching the TV on.

“Which program do you want to watch?”

“That soap opera on Sun TV.”

I set the TV for her wish and went straight into the kitchen to make dinner. It took me almost an hour to make a simple dinner with the help of Youtube. I still had 15more minutes for 8.30pm. I went outside to see where Arjun is.

“Arjun, dinner is ready.” I told him. He was coming back to the house from the midst of the huge trees. It was dark and I could only tell it was him with the light from his phone.

“Have you set the table already?”

“Um… No. I will..”

“Don't waste time. Go do it and then call me for dinner.” He said with an almost straight face and zero emotion. I went back in to set the table.

After dinner, I got busy cleaning up the kitchen and washing the vessels. I made granny settle herself in the bed and she wanted me to read that book to sleep. It was already 10pm when I finished with her. Of course cooking and cleaning is tiring work. I went to our room, used the restroom and decided to sleep next to him. He was already asleep.

“What do you think you are doing?” He asked me, which made me jump in horror.

“God, I thought you were asleep. I am here to sleep.”

“Sleep? You are kidding, right? A man will come for your first hundred sample danglers tomorrow at 10Am. I think you gotta work if you want to make them before 10 in the morning.” He said with a smirk. He doesn't want me to sleep. Is this his way of punishing me? For what? For his assumptions?

“But I am tired.” I tried to tell him.

“I don't care. Start making money. If you miss it tomorrow, they are going to cancel on you.”

“Here, that is your place when you come back.” He threw a pillow and a blanket on me and showed me the floor. This room is just like the room we had in our room. A very little room which is occupied by the bed on one side and the other side has a little passage that is straight to the restroom. Great, he wants me to sleep near the restroom.

I went out to finish painting my already baked danglers. Thank god I made exactly a hundred pairs. I started by attaching the hooks to it first and started painting. I could only do 50 pairs. It is not an easy task to hand paint a pair and make it look alike. It was 3AM when I went into the room to see him sleep peacefully. I drifted to sleep almost immediately, all thanks to my husband!