Page 90 of The Unwanted Husband
The words were still forming when the jet’s engines roared to full power. The sudden acceleration threw her backward. She crashed against a seat, then tumbled sideways,landing hard on one of the leather couches as the aircraft lifted sharply into the air.
The sobs came violently, shaking her entire body. The flight attendants were asking if she was hurt, their concerned voices floating somewhere above her, but she couldn’t form the words. Couldn’t explain that the pain wasn’t physical but something deeper.
Why hadn’t she asked Ashok to come? Why hadn’t she thought to bring Sami and Ravi’s children,herchildren now, to meet the family in America? Like the other family traveling with her had done, staying together, not fragmenting themselves across continents.
She’d been sostupid.
Time became meaningless. She lay there on the couch, curled into herself, tears soaking into the expensive leather. Minutes or hours could have passed. The plane leveled out, the engines settling into a steady drone that matched the dull ache in her chest.
Then something shifted. A strange flutter in her ribcage, like her heart recognized something her mind hadn’t yet processed.
What...?
Isha pushed herself up slowly, her hands shaking as she wiped her tear-stained face. Her hair had come loose from its pins, falling in dark waves around her shoulders. She looked left, pulled by an instinct she couldn’t name.
And froze.
“Ashok?”
The word came out as a broken whisper, then louder, disbelieving. “Ashok!”
He was there.He was actually there.Sitting in one of the facing seats, watching her with those dark eyes that had learned to see straight through her walls.
She couldn’t trust it. This had to be exhaustion, grief, her mind showing her what she wanted most. But her body was already moving, feet hitting the floor, scrambling across the narrow aisle with none of her usual grace.
When she fell into his arms, when his solid warmth surrounded her and his familiar scent filled her lungs, another sob tore free, this one mixed with joy and confusion and overwhelming relief.
“How did you—”
His lips cut off her question, gentle but firm, anchoring her to the impossible reality. When he finally pulled back, he guided her into the seat across from him, their knees touching in the small space.
Isha gripped his hands like a lifeline, squeezing until her knuckles went white. “Ashok, I want you to come with me.” The words tumbled out childish and desperate, but she didn’t care. “I need you to come with me.”
His expression softened, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I know,” he said simply. “That’s why I’m here.”
“And the twins.” She was rambling now, the words spilling faster. “We should take the twins too. Just like—” She gestured vaguely toward the other section of the plane, separated by a polished sliding door. “Like the family traveling with us. We should be together. All of us.”
“Yeah?” There was something in his voice, something knowing.
“Yes.” Isha was already standing, pulling him up with her. “Make the plane turn around. It’s your plane, you can do that, right? I’ll apologize to the other family. I’ll explain everything. We’ll go back and get the twins and we all should go to San Francisco together. We should have done this from the start. I don’t know why I didn’t think—”
“Isha.” His voice was gentle but certain. “Let’s go.”
She blinked at him, still processing, then nodded eagerly and turned toward the sliding door. She raised her hand to knock, polite even in crisis, but Ashok reached past her, his chest warm against her back, and pushed the door open.
His arm came around her waist, holding her close. “A few weeks before Sami and Ravi’s accident,” he said quietly, his breath stirring her hair, “my sister called me. Said she needed to see me urgently for dinner.”
Isha stilled, confusion creasing her brow. She turned slightly in his embrace to look up at him, but stayed silent, sensing this was important.
“That night, Sami and Ravi told me they were planning to go to San Francisco to celebrate the twins’ first birthday.” He paused, his thumb moving in absent circles against her hip. “I already knew about the trip but what I didn’t know...” His voice grew softer. “What surprised me was that they weren’t just going for a quick visit.”
“What do you mean?” Her voice was barely audible.
“They wanted to stay. Spend time there. With everyone.” Ashok’s eyes held hers, full of something that looked like love and grief woven together. “Ravi chose to take a step down and accept the Vice President position at the San Francisco office.”
The world tilted again, but this time not from the plane. “What?” She shook her head, trying to make the words make sense. “But they never—Why didn’t they tell me?”
“It was going to be a surprise,” Ashok said. “They wanted to bring the twins to meet your family in America. Give them that connection. Giveyouthat connection, without the weight of asking for it.”
