The Inconvenient Wife - Chapter 89

Out of the corner of his eye, Raj noticed Ankur’s finger slowly raising, until it pointed directly at Vivek, but he tried to ignore it. Ankur eventually gave up, when he realized he wasn’t getting Raj’s attention, and buried his face in his hands again.

Ankur tried again. He slowly lifted his finger and pointed towards Vivek. This time he kept his finger like that for some time. Desperate to get his father’s attention, he used his other hand to grab Raj’s face and force him to look towards his finger. This just exacerbated Raj’s irritation. He thought maybe the boy was pointing at Vivek’s tea.

“Ankur do you want tea? Just ask Sheila. That tea is for Uncle Vivek, ok?”

Ankur didn’t want tea. He needed to make Raj understand. He pointed vigorously towards Vivek, his finger shaking back and forth.

All this attention from Ankur made Vivek uneasy.

I should have killed him when I had the chance.

He considered leaving but cast aside the idea. That would appear too suspicious. Instead, he decided to play along. “You’re right, Raj. He definitely wants tea. Maybe you should ask your household help to give him some.”

“Sheila,” Raj called. “Could you please get some fresh lime tea for Ankur?”

As soon as Sheila left, he asked Sneha to take Ankur back to his bedroom. Sneha got up to take him, but Ankur resisted. He stood up and continued to point towards Vivek.

Raj could handle the embarrassment no longer. He grabbed Ankur’s hand and yanked him to the bedroom.

Sneha followed close behind. She knew Papa was on the verge of shouting at Ankur. Mama never shouted because loud noises upset him so much and shouting always just led to Ankur having a temper tantrum.

“Papa, I’ll take care of him. I’ll turn on his music and he’ll calm down,” Sneha assured Raj.

“Excuse me,” Sheila said, following the family into the room, holding Ankur’s tea. She handed the glass to Ankur and Sneha switched on the computer.

Raj left, assuming that with his tea and music, Ankur was now settled. But Ankur was far from settled. He sat on the bed and again hid his face – this time sobbing softly.

Ankur’s behavior surprised Sneha. She had never seen him cry for a cup of tea. But she dismissed the thought. Each day since Mom had left, she discovered something new about Ankur…

“Don’t cry, Ankur. See, it’s your favourite music,” Sneha tried to comfort him. Ankur looked up, his eyes red and nose runny, tears rolling down his cheeks. He again pointed towards the drawing room where Vivek was sitting but Sneha ignored him, trying to draw his attention to the music.

Eventually, it worked. As soon as the music on the computer caught his attention, it immersed him. Sheila gave him the fresh lime tea, which helped him calm down further. Soon, the tears ended and his eyes returned to their normal color..

Out in the drawing room, Vivek sipped his tea quickly. “Well, I have to apologize for my short visit, but I have a dinner to attend,” he said as he stood up to leave.

Raj was thankful to see him go. He was tired and went back to his room to get some rest. He didn’t want to see Ankur or Sneha. Ankur’s behaviour had left him completely embarrassed. It was best to just avoid the children and evade his anger.