She Loved Me After All

She Loved Me After All

She wasn’t conscious of the looks I  was giving her. Her presence certainly added to the ambience of the mall. I found myself looking at beautiful shops, beautiful people and even the elevator seemed to have gained a remarkable aspect by virtue of her presence. She was the most striking of all of these.

I looked at her as she stood straight on the metallic structure holding the railing with one hand. There was a look of victory in her eyes. She seemed to have conquered the world. It hardly made any difference even if she had won the ICC World Cup that day. It was my ego that was hurt by a defiant wife.  I tried to make out if there were any regrets of the tiff we had had in the morning that day. All said and done, she was coming down from a great height---the second floor of the mall.

She was my wife, and she was descending after conducing some transactions on the second floor.  She was certainly coming down from the dominant position in the relationship. She did occupy an upper floor in the building of our relationship, but she was descending to a lower floor now. The second floor of the mall was where the jewelry store was, and I was sure she had gone there. She had been adamant on buying the expensive gold necklace. The price had scared the wits out of me, but she was bent on owning the jewelry.

I could never understand the affinity ladies have for jewelry. It seems to be ingrained in their genes. She seemed to have a similar affinity for me till a few months ago. This was when I accompanied her from her office to the bus-stop. They were some of the best 20 minutes of the day.

Twenty minutes of company every day was enough to usher in a wish of being with each other for a longer time. It was clear that she was to be the earning partner if the two of us entered into a bond. I considered myself quite lucky when she thought of forming a bond despite my being unemployed.  

My state of unemployment did create some flutters in her parents’ hearts, but they eventually gave way considering their daughter’s love for me and her good job. The fog  that had haunted me for a long time did continue to trouble me, but caught in the web of our relationship, it had ultimately given way to heavy showers. At the end of the day, we were happy.

Matters stood at a high when she insisted on buying an expensive gold necklace she had seen on display in the mall. It had been the bone of contention between us for quite a few days. I had been against buying any jewelry. I believed in simplicity. She wanted it as an investment. All signs of the affinity she had for me seemed to have disappeared into thin air now. I did wonder if she loved gold more than me.

She didn’t buy the gold necklace after all. Apparently, she loved me more than the trinket.