The 7-year Itch

You completed seven years and …..’, said a newly made friend

‘Yes’, I said with pride and a smile in the face. I mean there should be pride in completing every year isn’t it? Living with another person, sharing everything  is no mean feat.

‘Oh’, she said.

I raised my eyebrows.

‘I have not been able to live with the same person for more than …..three years’, she said. I did not comment, knowing that she was in a live-in relationship.  Anyway it was better not to open the mouth for something which I did not know about.

‘I mean you come to know all about a person in the first few years, what is left to discover anymore’. she continued.

I kept mum. First of all I had not known that you became friends/partners just for discovering. I had always though that there were other things too like, sharing, caring, love, romance, children etc. Secondly, yes, me and my husband were married for seven years but still there were some days when I felt I did not know him at all. Can anyone know the other completely?

‘You were talking about an itch’, I tried changing the topic.

‘Huh’, she said and then realizing what I meant guffawed. With tears rolling down her cheeks she said, ‘Not an itch, the seven-year itch’.

Then on seeing the blank look on my face, ‘Don’t you know?’, she asked

‘What?’ I said.

‘Hey, Bhagvan’, she cried out, yes our native tongues do arise when in shock or surprise.

‘Don’t you know couples especially the males get edgy after 7 years of marriage. I mean what is left to discover?’, she said.

Now all this discovery business was making me edgy.

I stayed quiet.

‘They find out ways to make girlfriends, go out on tours, have a makeover…’, she went on.

My heart meanwhile thumped loudly. My hubby recently was going on a lot of official tours. On his last outing he had bought himself a couple of new shirts and ties, he had said that he had got it cheap in some sale but was it the seven-year itch?

I glanced at the clock and jumped.

‘What?’ she asked.

‘The school bus will be arriving in about five minutes and I am late’, I said.

‘Not a problem, I will drop you to the bus stop’, she said.

From that moment on I was like a woman possessed. I went through his mails, yes I know the password of his mail account. I checked his shirt for lipstick marks. I overheard all his mobile conversations, I checked to see whether his airline tickets matched to what he told me.

Until one fine day when I was checking his wallet and he caught me.

‘What?’, he asked.

I shrugged. Now we have had an unwritten policy right in the beginning of our marriage, that I would not look at his wallet and he won’t look at my purse.

‘You have been acting strange these past few days,  you have been tracking me, isn’t it? Can I know the reason?’, he asked.

‘ME?’, I asked in surprise. I mean was it that obvious.

‘I am waiting’, he boomed

‘Anita told me about the seven-year itch’, I explained.

‘What seven year itch’, he asked.

I was relieved that he did not know about it and explained.

‘Ask her why she has the three-year itch, why she changes partners every three years’, he said.

Seeing that he was seething I decided not to tell him about the discovering part and kept mum.

‘And anyways I have had enough of one woman, why would I need another’, he said still yelling and left the room.

Crestfallen I sat. Have I made his life so miserable, I thought.

After a few minutes he came back and looking at my misery said, ‘I meant that…see we have made such a nice home, we understand each other, we have a beautiful daughter, am I a fool to jeopardize all this and go after some other?’

I looked at his face, his feelings were genuine. I hugged him and decided to throw both doubts and Anita out of our life.

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Fiction written as a part of Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st to 7th September 2013

And that is my last post for this festival. I had a great time, hope you all had too.

Ciao 🙂