Page 13 of That Same Old Love

Looking at her husband, she felt her stomach flutter as it always did whenever he was around. They had been married for over a decade, and had an almost ten-year-old daughter whom they both loved dearly.

Her life couldn’t have gotten better.

“Hi, you were able to make it,” she remarked with a smile and sat next to him.

Sidhu looked up from his phone and when he saw her, he gave her a quick affectionate kiss on her cheek. “Of course. Didn’t you see any of my text messages? I’m worried about Srishti’s behavior too. I told Vipul that I would get back to work in the afternoon.”

Ten years ago, Sidhu and his brother Vipul completely took over their family business of jewelry stores from their father. They had expanded into several major cities and soon diversified into real estate and construction businesses in the last few years.

Ananya smiled. “No. I didn’t check my phone in the last hour. I just came from my parents’ house and my brother told me that he was offering Srishti a summer internship at his company. Ithink it’s a great idea to keep her occupied with something she might enjoy.”

Sidhu grinned. “That’s true. She’ll be too exhausted to get into trouble… hopefully.”

One of the teachers entered the conference room. “Mr. and Mrs. Shah?” she asked smiling.

When they nodded, “Hi I’m Pamela, Srishti’s class teacher. I’m glad to see that both of you are here to discuss Srishti.”

In the next thirty minutes, the teacher began to explain about how Srishti was involved in several physical fights and arguments with her cousins and their friends at school. And also, that lately, Srishti was being very sensitive to any teasing or comments that her cousins and a group of boys made to her.

“Who are those other boys teasing my daughter at school and what do you mean by physical fights? Has she been struck?” Sidhu asked in outrage.

“No. Srishti was doing all of the striking and we’ve already notified the other involved parents regarding the bullying,” said the teacher.

“We will speak to her again about not causing any disruption at school. But how is she otherwise? Is her behavior affecting her academic performance?” Ananya asked worriedly.

“No. She is still one of the top performers, but as you know that our school is not just all about the grades, we want to instill good behavior and character development as well,” the teacher stated.

“We will talk to herandher cousins about their behavior at school,” Sidhu informed the teacher grimly.

The teacher thanked them and soon left the room.

Sidhu sighed. “Abhinav and Abhijeet are the same age as her, and considering they live in the same house, they should be bonded more like siblings rather than cousins. I just don’tunderstand why Srishti is not able to get along with them like she did until last year.”

Ananya shook her head. “She is always complaining about how your mother favors them and not her. I have told her more than a hundred times that we need to make some adjustments living in a joint family.”

He thought about that for a few seconds. “Maybe we shouldbothask her again, about what is bothering her,” he suggested.

“Don’t worry about her, Sidhu. I know you work hard. I’m home most of the time, so I’ll keep my ears open.”

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I know you will. Do you want to go out for an early lunch somewhere? I’m free until one o’clock.”

She smiled. “Hmm… Tempting, but I can’t. I have got a deadline in two days and I also need to finish some last-minute editing on my book.”

“Okay, no problem. Let me drive back home with you and I’ll ask my driver to follow us home.”

When they walked out from the conference room, Ananya noticed that several teachers were staring at Sidhu and he was either oblivious or ignored them as usual. Usually, other women staring at him made her smug or even amused, but after seeing Mahi that morning, she felt a little insecure and held his hand tightly.

When they got into the car, she was tempted to mention that she saw Mahi a while ago. But she held off, even though it wasn’t a great big deal in any way. Except the fact that Mahi was Sidhu’s first love who had ditched him badly.

“There’s a birthday party that everyone is attending tonight. I was planning on staying home to finish up my work, but I’ll be free from nine,” she said coyly.

Sidhu smiled mischievously, his eyes still on the road since he was driving. “Hmm… Maybe I’ll go to that birthday party. You know how I love attending parties.”

She whacked him on his hand playfully.

He turned and gave her a sizzling look that she recognized. “Make sure the servants are gone as well. I don’t want anyone disturbing us for anything.”

She couldn’t wait for the night to arrive. Being in a joint family they got very few chances of being truly alone and uninhibited in their house. Their bedroom was on the third floor and offered enough privacy, but she still felt the need to remain quiet during their lovemaking when everyone else was home.

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