A/N: I HATE Dev/Maya. They are boring and both are so much better with their exes. Anyway, please read and review!
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Games
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Maya is now back to her regular exercise. Cleaning, vacuuming, brushing, dusting – as Rishi would say. Life has settled into a rhythm now: she wakes at the same time every morning and gets ready to go to the school, settles promptly after dinner to mark test papers or plan lessons and at exactly ten thirty pm, she goes to bed.
This pattern is inevitable, but it gives Maya the feeling of being trapped; she feels just as closed in as she had felt with Rishi. And yet, she had felt somewhat relieved to come home to him after an encounter with Dev. Maya is weird that way. She can't stand monotony, but she craves security and feels unsettled if her routine is upset.
Maya and Dev never really fought all that much about anything. They were both quiet people, both liked their space and both disliked being away from home. They had agreed on a small wedding, inviting only family. Rishi, Dev's mom, Rhea, Arjun, Rhea's boyfriend Jai and Rishi's wife Catherine. After a wedding that was more low-key than what Rishi would call a dinner party, they had told everyone that they were going on a honeymoon overseas, but really they had stayed at home, relishing the peace and comfort that can only be found in one's home.
At first, Maya was glad that she and Dev didn't fight much. It was good that they always seemed to get along. It was a relief after the explosive arguments she and Rishi used to have. It was a while before she realized that they did not 'get along'; they were indifferent to each other: too tired with life to bother arguing.
It happened gradually, over time. Every now and then, something would change in Dev's behaviour and at first she was hurt, but now she just feels weary and bored. How she had regretted having to throw away every one of the many bunches of flowers she would get from him. Now, when she is free to keep and cherish and proudly display every one of them, he gives her none.
Before, everytime he met her he would look around furtively and then embrace her. Now, when nothing is stopping him from doing so, no-one is there to see them, he feels no inclination. Sometimes they don't see each other all day. Dev is still asleep when Maya leaves for work and the only sign she hears of him coming home in the evening is the noise of the door opening and shutting.
When they are in each others' company they do not have much to say to each other. They speak to each other only to hurt. It is a game they play: Dev will comment that he liked Maya's hair better before she cut it and she will retort that his new shirt is ugly. She doesn't even know why they do it; perhaps it is to get a reaction, any reaction.
As Maya sits down to correct her fifth graders' maths tests, she hears the door open. She waits for Dev's footsteps to become distant as he climbs the stairs to his study, but surprisingly, they are coming closer. She doesn't look up as he enters, intent on adding up Michelle's score.
'Maya,' he says.
She is so taken aback at his actually walking into the room and talking to her that all the numbers floating around in her head vanish. The bunch of flowers he is clutching with both hands causes her to, as she stands up wordlessly, drop the paper she is grading.
'Happy Anniversary,' Dev says, genuinely smiling at her for what seems like the first time ever, it has been so long. It is contagious – Maya cannot stop her own lips from curling up at the corners as she accepts the bouquet he hands her.
Maya feels she ought to repay Dev for the little bubble of warmth that has welled up inside her chest, so accordingly, as she carefully arranges the bouquet in a vase, she comments that he is looking particularly handsome today, something that before she wouldn't have bothered to observe.
Seeing the genuine happiness that her compliment evokes in him if his warm embrace is any indication, Maya thinks to herself that maybe they should play this game more often.
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A/N: Okay, so maybe I lied. I don't hate Dev/Maya so much. I was going to make this some really random deep-and-meaningful story about how their marriage is falling apart, but the romantic in me changed my mind. You can even pinpoint where in the story my turning point (S, stop laughing right now!) is. But anyway, please do review with comments, criticism, whatever! )