Like each one of us, Ayesha had dreams too. Some tiny, some medium-sized and few big dreams. She had dreamt of a fairy tale wedding – prince charming, romantic date nights and happily married life or rather happily ever after types. She believed in them too.
It was an arranged marriage for Ayesha. She had supposedly met the ” Man of her dreams ” but then it had turned out that he had cheated on her. But this did not make Ayesha lose trust in love. She had believed that true love exists and if someone had not realised its worth then the problem was not with her but with the other person.
When her parents had chosen a groom for her, she had thought that her parents might have chosen the best for her. After all, all they want is her happiness. In a traditional ceremony, the marriage had taken place -vows were exchanged. When the couple had recited those vows together and how both of them had pledged that they would be there for each other through thick and thin, she had thought – yes he is the one. This is my fairy tale wedding. This is my prince charming. Ayesha was on cloud nine.
In the first year of marriage, things were all rosy. They had travelled frequently, outdoor dining, pubs, parties – it was all happening. Aadil – Ayesha’s husband had got a promotion with an excellent hike. He had credited Ayesha for it. He had believed that since Ayesha had come into his life, all things were falling into the right place and she was like a boon or a good luck charm.
In the subsequent year, things slowly had started to fade. Less travelling, dining, parties – all of it. It was a natural thing. But then the ” love” had not faded. Aadil had got busy with his job. With the promotion, responsibilities had increased. Ayesha had quit her job shortly after marriage or rather was forced to do so. Her family had thought that since her husband was earning well, Ayesha did not have to go outside and work. Her needs would be taken care of. Ayesha felt lonely as Aadil was not able to give her the required time he had to. Ayesha had understood and had supported him in all ways. Aadil would refer to Ayesha as ” his rock “.
It was difficult for Ayesha to lead a life this way. As time had gone by, things had completely taken a different turn. Aadil got buried in his job- meetings, business outings, onsite visits. To combat the stress, he had taken to drinking. Earlier though they would visit pubs and parties, Aadil would hardly drink. But of late he was on a drinking spree. His habits were taking over him. He was not able to concentrate on his work. Aadil would return home late. This had caused a lot of quarrels between the couple. Ayesha was held responsible for all this. Who was once a good luck charm was now a jinx.
Ayesha did her best that she could. Even at the worst times, she tried to keep herself calm. Ayesha was making an honest effort to save her marriage. Aadil did love her but was not ready to mend his ways. He was happy in his current lifestyle. He had kept her happy by buying whatever she had desired but he was hardly present for her. Through thick and thin she had thought but what had gone wrong she had wondered. She had tried talking to Aadil but it had seemed futile.
Ayesha had decided that she would resume working no matter who had tried to stop her. It was the only way she could cope up with the current situation in her life. She wanted to keep herself busy so that there would be no room for unhealthy thoughts. She wanted to kick start her career, fulfil her dreams, see herself happy as she was earlier. Ayesha felt that it was her right to be happy and her happiness is her responsibility.
Conflicts between the two had reduced but at the same time, both had got soaked in their respective lives. When she had realised that things were hard to change, Ayesha had decided that she should be the change she wants to see. She wasn’t sure was this the end of the beginning of her new life which she had chosen for herself but Ayesha had felt that eventually, things would fall in place.
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