She hated the mirror that hung near the mantle in her drawing room. The mantle held quite a few pictures from her younger days, framed in antique brass skeletons. It reminded her of the split screen comparisons shown in TV commercials. Her youthful, lively, sexy younger self on one side and a careworn, dull, ordinary face that sported the wrinkles of her mid thirties on the other side. Marriage had slowed down the free spirit that Ana was, but it was the three hyperactive children who had completely halted the flow through her interests in life. She had divided her time between the kitchen, her cabin and the kids room that it left little time to pause and scan through, in search of her life. She believed she had lost it somewhere between the diaper changing and attending the numerous PTA meetings, after Dev had come into her life.
Dev, the love of her life, that her parents chose. She had no romantic relationships before him so she had no scale to compare the love she and Dev had shared, but she felt no sparsity. He respected her space, loved the kids, took her out now and then, cooked the Sunday lunch, kissed her forehead when he left for office, made love when they thought it had been quite a while, stayed home with the kids during the holidays when Ana had an important meeting, balanced the home budget, sang quiet well as he carried on with his mundane activities. He was a well raised, honest gentleman, whom Ana adored. Love grew into their marriage, slow yet unwavering.
After 14 years of wedlock, everything in their life had found a normal course, except Ana felt few things were going wrong in the recent days. She felt changes in their marital life, subtle changes to the third pair of eyes, but to Ana, they were glaring right at her. Dev was a little more cheerful, but it felt vastly put on. He had long meetings quiet frequently, going beyond midnight, atleast twice a week. He remained occupied with his phone and texting had improved quiet drastically but Ana found no traces of it when she peeked at his phone. That worried her more. His drinking days had increased a little and their love making decreased. The fore head pecks, the gentle smiles, the hugs from behind, the hand holding had almost become obsolete and the ones that came by felt feigned.
Ana was not the jealous or suspicious type, but the mirror near the mantle induced a paranoia. Her crows feet seemed a little too deep, her dark circles looked darker, her hair looked thinner and lighter, her age spots looked prominent, her skin felt loose, her breast looked saggy, her whole posture seemed drooped. She confined to her close friend about these changes as any worried wife would do and as any friend of a worried wife would advice, her friend assured her that this may be the menopause talking and probably Dev was busy at work but it doesn't mean her suspicions may be wrong. This left Ana even more confused. She feared the answer she might get, if she confronted Dev, but staying in this grey area of not knowing anything concrete seemed even more painful. That was when she came across the advertisement for a detective agency in the obscure little magazine she had found in the bunch of old papers and periodicals at the dentist.
Ana fixed her appointment with the detective agency and gave all the information regarding Dev. She kept asking about the confidentiality of the investigation and whether Dev would ever find out about this. The private investigator assured that everything would go fine. It took 3 weeks of restless nights for Ana and for the investigator to get back with his report, according to which Dev was not having an extra marital affair but he had been consulting a therapist for his stress related health issues. All his business meetings were real and that he had not been straying. As much as the confirmation of the affair being non existent elated Ana, the lack of her focus on Dev and his deteriorating health shocked her and the very crude idea to doubt Dev shamed her. She went home that night and had a long talk with Dev, asked him about his work, the stress at office and many other things. She hugged Dev tight and said that she loved him more than anything in her life and apologised if she had been selfish and overlooked his needs. Ana even suggested that she could take a break from work to help him out. Dev was utterly confused at his wife's strange behaviour, but he welcomed the change. He kissed the top of her head as she wept on his chest. He felt it would be inappropriate if he suggested make up sex as he was not sure if they had a fight and reconciled and also as Ana's ride on the emotional roller coaster was still in progress.
That night Ana had a peaceful sleep, knowing everything was back to normal. Dev stayed awake wondering what could have prompted this development in his marital life when suddenly his phone buzzed. A Text. He read it twice, smiled and deleted the text and went back to sleep.
"The 5 week vacation was fun. It would have been more fun if you had been there with me.
I miss you, your kiss, your touch, your cooking, Most of all, I miss us, together.
Can't wait to see you tonight."
Dev had a peaceful sleep, knowing that everything was back to normal.
Dev, the love of her life, that her parents chose. She had no romantic relationships before him so she had no scale to compare the love she and Dev had shared, but she felt no sparsity. He respected her space, loved the kids, took her out now and then, cooked the Sunday lunch, kissed her forehead when he left for office, made love when they thought it had been quite a while, stayed home with the kids during the holidays when Ana had an important meeting, balanced the home budget, sang quiet well as he carried on with his mundane activities. He was a well raised, honest gentleman, whom Ana adored. Love grew into their marriage, slow yet unwavering.
After 14 years of wedlock, everything in their life had found a normal course, except Ana felt few things were going wrong in the recent days. She felt changes in their marital life, subtle changes to the third pair of eyes, but to Ana, they were glaring right at her. Dev was a little more cheerful, but it felt vastly put on. He had long meetings quiet frequently, going beyond midnight, atleast twice a week. He remained occupied with his phone and texting had improved quiet drastically but Ana found no traces of it when she peeked at his phone. That worried her more. His drinking days had increased a little and their love making decreased. The fore head pecks, the gentle smiles, the hugs from behind, the hand holding had almost become obsolete and the ones that came by felt feigned.
Ana was not the jealous or suspicious type, but the mirror near the mantle induced a paranoia. Her crows feet seemed a little too deep, her dark circles looked darker, her hair looked thinner and lighter, her age spots looked prominent, her skin felt loose, her breast looked saggy, her whole posture seemed drooped. She confined to her close friend about these changes as any worried wife would do and as any friend of a worried wife would advice, her friend assured her that this may be the menopause talking and probably Dev was busy at work but it doesn't mean her suspicions may be wrong. This left Ana even more confused. She feared the answer she might get, if she confronted Dev, but staying in this grey area of not knowing anything concrete seemed even more painful. That was when she came across the advertisement for a detective agency in the obscure little magazine she had found in the bunch of old papers and periodicals at the dentist.
Ana fixed her appointment with the detective agency and gave all the information regarding Dev. She kept asking about the confidentiality of the investigation and whether Dev would ever find out about this. The private investigator assured that everything would go fine. It took 3 weeks of restless nights for Ana and for the investigator to get back with his report, according to which Dev was not having an extra marital affair but he had been consulting a therapist for his stress related health issues. All his business meetings were real and that he had not been straying. As much as the confirmation of the affair being non existent elated Ana, the lack of her focus on Dev and his deteriorating health shocked her and the very crude idea to doubt Dev shamed her. She went home that night and had a long talk with Dev, asked him about his work, the stress at office and many other things. She hugged Dev tight and said that she loved him more than anything in her life and apologised if she had been selfish and overlooked his needs. Ana even suggested that she could take a break from work to help him out. Dev was utterly confused at his wife's strange behaviour, but he welcomed the change. He kissed the top of her head as she wept on his chest. He felt it would be inappropriate if he suggested make up sex as he was not sure if they had a fight and reconciled and also as Ana's ride on the emotional roller coaster was still in progress.
That night Ana had a peaceful sleep, knowing everything was back to normal. Dev stayed awake wondering what could have prompted this development in his marital life when suddenly his phone buzzed. A Text. He read it twice, smiled and deleted the text and went back to sleep.
"The 5 week vacation was fun. It would have been more fun if you had been there with me.
I miss you, your kiss, your touch, your cooking, Most of all, I miss us, together.
Can't wait to see you tonight."
Dev had a peaceful sleep, knowing that everything was back to normal.
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