Chapter 7: chapter 7

It was morning and Sandhya jolted awake. Her hand was still hurting and she was a bit weak. But it was already late and she was about to go bath. Something pierced in her leg, “Ouch, what is it?” she thought. It was her broken mobile piece and she looked in her surroundings anxiously and there were parts of her mobile scattered here and there. She tried to combine all the parts but it didn’t work out. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, “Maggie must have called the previous night and this man felt disturbed by the sound and broke it. Such a filthy man! He doesn’t have manners at all,” she thought and wanted to question him. But she was afraid, “What if he went to his mother and they stop Maggie’s operation. No, that shouldn’t happen. This is my bloody fate,” she thought, wiped her tears, and went to bath. She got freshened up, finished the work in the kitchen, and gave coffee to her mother-in-law. She looked at Sandhya, “Dear Sandhya, how are you feeling now? You should rest,” she said.“It’s fine, Auntie. I’m okay. The cooking is done. I’m going to the garden,” and before Meenakshi could say anything, Sandhya walked forward. She was furious, “The mobile is gone. How do I talk to Maggie now? That filthy man broke the phone and made not only me weep but also Maggie. There’s no justification for what he had done. As she had no other option left, she went to her mother’s place.As soon as they looked at Sandhya, Shanthamma and Krishna Rao felt not only felt ecstatic but also worried, “Sandhya, come sit. Let me get you coffee,” said Shanthamma and walked into the kitchen. Krishna Rao asked then, “Dear Sandhya, is everything fine?”Sandhya understood the suspicion, “Of course father, I wanted to see you and that’s the reason for my arrival. I wanted to come for so long but I dropped wondering what in-laws would think about it,” she said and Shanthamma bought her coffee. Sandhya had the coffee, “I’ll take a leave then.”“What happened, dear?You want to leave so early! Wait, let me cook all of your favorite food items.”“No, mother. I don’t have time. I’ll go. See you, father”“Wait dear, you want to ask something. What is it?”“It’s nothing, father. My mobile broke. It’s been two days since I talked to Maggie. Even though your daughter is daughter-in-law of a royal family, her situation is still the same.”They were worried looking at her, “Wait here, dear,” he said, went inside, bought four thousand, and gave it to her, “Will this work?Or else do you want me to go ask our neighbor Ramarao?”“No father, I’ll be okay with this,” she did knew their situation. She couldn’t use the phone that was in her mother-in-law’s home because she wasn’t thinking of it as her home. She felt like doing a job over there and wanted to resign the job after a year. She took the four thousand given by her father and asked them to take care of their health and stepped out.She went to a mobile store in the city. When she was about to push the door, a person pushed it in the opposite direction. The door slightly hit her on the head, she held her head, “Ouch!” He came out, “Sorry madam, I wasn’t noticing,” he eyed at her properly and asked,“Madam?I remember you! How are you?”Sandhya realised that he was the man from the yesterday’s incident, “Is this your life aim to irritate me all the time?”she was irritated a bit.“I told you I was sorry, madam.”He couldn’t talk to her, looking at her but he had to, “Hey, you came to purchase a mobile?”“Do we buy groceries in a mobile store?” she said and walked in hurriedly.She scolded him in her heart for his weird questions. He walked in behind her. She asked the seller, “Could you give me a budget friendly phone?”The man beside her understood her situation and she was holding four thousand in her hands.He wanted to help her and walked behind her and signaled to the seller, “I’ll pay the amount. Show her a good one.”The seller understood him and showed her a mobile. Sandhya liked it but,”this seems like a costly one”“No madam, it’s just 3500”“Oh, I see. Pack this one then,” she said and he made the bill.The man beside her secretly gave him the card and the seller swiped the card and everything happened simultaneously. Sandhya grabbed the phone box and saw the price 35,000/-She hurriedly asked, “The price is 35,000 on the box”, and the seller fumbled.Then the man standing beside her, “Madam, this is a new trick in the market. They will sell products at higher prices when they find people who are unaware of the product, you might not know it.”“Yes, madam. You wanted it for a lower price and I gave it to you for the original price”“Okay, thank you,” she said and walked out of the house.The man came out along with her and asked,”Come madam, let me drop you.”“No thanks, I will find my way in an auto,” she said.He was disappointed by it and requested,”It’s okay. You can tell me your name at least?”“Sandhya!” she replied irritated.He kept staring at her as long as his eye could see her walk away.With no other option left, he thanked the seller, and started his journey to the office