Page 3 of The Unwanted Husband
Ashok did not necessarily agree with what Ravi said. The woman showed up for Ravi and Sami’s wedding for barely a few days before returning to San Francisco, claiming to be busy at work. The woman didn’t bother visiting since the twins were born. Why would they move for her sake?
“Does Monisha know you guys are planning to move?” Ashok asked.
“She prefers Isha,” Sami said. “She knows we will be traveling to celebrate the kids’ first birthday in the US, but it is a surprise that we will be moving there to live.”
“Wait a minute.” Ashok was surprised. “Are you saying that you guys are planning to move within the next couple of months?”
“Yes,” Ravi and Sami said in unison.
Ashok ran his fingers through his hair again. “I can’t believe this.”
“Since we will have an office in San Francisco, you can travel more often.” Ravi offered.
Ashok shook his head. “No. You’re not.”
“Ashok, this is the right thing to do. For all of us, and promise me you will reconnect with our family.”
“Sami...” he started to say but she cut him off.
“That’s a promise.” She laughed.
Ashok was not happy, but he hated to admit that they were both right: their young children needed more family than just him in their lives. However, he couldn’t give up easily. “What would change your decision?”
Sami was ready with a response like she expected him to ask the question. “If you get married and promise to have kids within the next year.”
Ashok threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “There is no winning with you, Sami.”
“You know this is the right thing for us to do,” Sami said and he could not disagree.
Ashok only wished he could be a part of the kids’ lives, but he knew he had to swallow Sami and Ravi’s decision, even if that was a poison pill.
*****
San Francisco, California.
Isha was at her desk sending out the last set of emails before she shut her computer down for the weekend. She looked away when she saw her phone ring and saw that Aman was calling her. She had dated Aman back when they were in college, but after that they ended up being in some kind of a situationship. They enjoyed each other’s company and they kept their dynamic super casual.
“Hi, Aman.”
“Isha, I’ll pick you up around six.” He was not her boyfriend but in her family’s eyes, they were a couple.
She looked at the time and knew she had another thirty minutes to wrap up the final review of one of the contracts before she left for the day. “Perfect, I’ll be done by then.”
She ended the call and returned to one final contract review. It was for a company acquisition, and she had to make the contract airtight so the big corporation didn’t go back on their agreements.
Isha was good at what she did as a corporate lawyer specializing in acquisitions. As a fourteen-year-old, she lost her parents to an accident, which she knew had to have happened because her father was under stress about his company acquisition. The big corporation had cheated him into not having anything left. She had vowed that day that she would never let anyone else go through what her father did, and she studied corporate law.
She lost her parents to the accident and was separated from her older brother, Ravi. She was blessed to have an aunt who took her in as her own, but her aunt’s love never filled the void Isha felt after losing her parents.
She only wished her brother had moved to San Francisco after his education, but he decided to stay in India and start his own company with his best friend. He was in college when their parents’ accident happened, and he had no way to take care of his younger sister, so they ended up growing worlds apart.
Her eyes averted from the contract she was reviewing, and they drifted to one of the pictures on her desk. One of them was of her biological parents, one of her aunts and uncle, who she addressed as Mom and Dad, and then her brother’s family.
Isha smiled, hoping to see her brother’s family over the summer. Her brother’s kids would be old enough to endure the long flight from India to celebrate the twins’ first birthday in San Francisco.
She was willing to tolerate and participate in the prep for the grand celebrations that her aunt and uncle were planning, only because she would get to spend time with her brother’s family. She reached out to place her fingertip on the two babies in the picture, her brother’s twins. She had never been great with kids but couldn’t wait to meet her brother’s kids.
She was never the motherly kind who would greet every baby or have the urge to hold them, but her niece and nephew were the cutest babies she had ever seen. She returned her attention to the contract she was working on, and in no time, she heard her phone ping a text notification.
