The Inconvenient Wife

"Happy wedding anniversary, Raj!" someone shouted at Raj from the other side of the glass wall in Raj's lab.

Raj jumped, startled by the sudden noise. "What? I can't hear you?" Raj said, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw that the intruder was just his boss, Vivek Singh. Recently, after six years of work, Raj's experiments on stroboscopic motion were yielding positive results. He could now finally show the world that it was possible for objects to be rendered invisible through speed alone.

Vivek had seen Raj's great skills as a physicist and hired him to join his research and development firm. Vivek's success as a businessman allowed him to fund Raj's research easily. He knew that Raj was onto something extremely fruitful. The patent on his experiment would bring in millions. Even though Vivek and Raj were careful to not reveal the progress to anyone, especially government officials, they had gotten the scent of it. Now, they always lurked like bloodhounds. Raj saw them around his office every other day. Keeping it a secret was becoming increasingly difficult and Raj was becoming increasingly jumpy.

Raj opened the door from inside his lab and allowed Vivek to step in. Vivek greeted him with a bear hug. "Happy wedding anniversary! You must go home today."

Raj tried to speak up and explain the work he had been doing, but Vivek cut him off.

"Mala has called me twice already and I can't handle her anymore. She chides me every time she calls. You better leave now! The research can wait. Your family cannot."

Raj cursed himself as Vivek's words sunk in. How could he forget their fifteenth wedding anniversary? He thanked Vivek as he packed his lab gear, then collected the records of the last three days and ran to the parking garage.

He heard Vivek laugh behind him as he ran toward his car, pausing only to switch on his mobile. It lit up with notifications of missed calls and messages. Raj was used to having a lot of notifications from Mala after his mobile had been off for a few days, but he never got this many. "She's going to kill me," he said under his breath as he slid into his car.

On the way home, he bought a bouquet of flowers. It was already 6pm. Mala was probably busy preparing dinner. Raj knew the flowers wouldn't be enough to make up for it, but at least they would be a start.

Mala was a city girl. Her life was abuzz with city's pulse. She loved the bright lights that made the night feel like day. To her, the energy of the city was life. It was as important as food and water. She didn't know how to live without it.

When their parents introduced them for the first time, she seemed so unimpressed. Raj felt her looking down at him, completely unimpressed with the conservative boy from the conservative town standing in front of her.

Raj told her his job forced him to stay in a small town. He knew she was disappointed, but he couldn't lie to her just to paint a rosy picture. He made it very clear to her that he wouldn't be able to get transferred anywhere else due to the nature of his job. (Or at least until his experiment was complete.) She couldn't dream of marrying him and staying in such a boring place!