AnSh FF: NO GREATER LOVE: Chapter 15 p42 12/06 - Page 10

Shiv stood by the window looking out towards nothing in particular. A storm was coming and the wind blew fiercely against the windows; the shutters beat against the wall and the curtains flew wildly. Shiv oblivious to the sound stood gazing outside, deep in thought. He wanted to ask for quotations from all the contractors, to compare prices, to be extra careful and to beat Jagya at his own game. He did not know why Anandi trusted Vikram Singh. Her insight was hardly ever wrong but he felt the others deserved a fair chance too. And while Anandi had been trying hard to counter Jagya's moves, Shiv had noticed that Vikram would pause before he talked. As if he was following instructions, instructions from someone who was using Vikram to get to Anandi. This Shiv would not allow. Then there was dadu; Shiv knew he should have been in Udaipur. But he had responsibilities towards his job. His father and grandfather had always said that duty towards the country was above all else. He was from an army background after all. He had to be strong.

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Jagya knew he had to put his second plan into motion soon. He had thought out a brilliant plan. He would get some people to place illegal weapons in the containers that Shiv's dad was exporting. He would notify the police and get Shiv's dad arrested. Shiv would have to lose everything just like he had. Shiv would lose his job, his reputation, his family, and his love. He had to get in touch with his criminal contacts soon.

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Raindrops beat against the windows, falling on the floor, on Shiv's face, as he stood by the open window. Anandi ran into the room; she had heard the window shutters' noise from the kitchen and had called out to Shiv to shut the windows but to no avail. Shiv stood by the window, oblivious to the rain falling on his face. Anandi ran towards him and tried to get the windows to shut. The force of the wind was so strong that she couldn't manage on her own, and as she tried to pull the windows together yet again, she felt Shiv's strong hands over hers and they both managed to shut the windows. As she turned to look at him, she noticed that he too was gazing at her. Her heart did a rather difficult cartwheel in her chest as she found the deep eyes of her husband stare at her. He instinctively pulled her closer to him and Anandi complied without resistance. Anandi put her arms around him, her heartbeat rocketing to an erratic frequency. Shiv looked into the deep wondrous pools of chocolate that were his wife's eyes and not blinking lest he be brought back to reality, lest he realise that he had been dreaming. Anandi broke his stare, 'you are wet, you need to get changed' she said to him. Shiv smiled at her, releasing her as she went to look for a towel for him, and again stroking his chest with his fist pleading with his heart to stop pounding so hard, risking stabbing itself or breaking a rib or two.

Anandi brought a towel and led him to the dresser, signalling him to sit down so she could dry his hair. Shiv smiled tenderly, obeying her instructions. Anandi waited for him to sit and she began drying his hair and speaking to him, 'what thoughts are these, that you are so engrossed in, that you didn't even see the rain or feel it?.' Anandi put the towel aside and knelt beside him, 'I am sorry I asked you to stay in Jaitser. I know dadu needs us. I have figured out a way where we can be in Udaipur for half the time and Jaitser for half. We will be exhausted, but we need to think of a compromise and this is it', she said to him. Shiv bent towards her and kissed her forehead lightly. He saw that her concern for his family had come to the forefront of everything else. 'Don't worry Anandi. Dadu has everyone around him; and Mahi's match is over, it was just an ODI. He will be back too. Dadu will hardly miss us with Mahi around considering what he has been up to', he said to her.

Anandi looked at her husband, noticing him as if for the first time all over again. He had started to sneeze so he must need a hot shower and a hot drink. But somewhere within her, she wanted him to stay seated, in front of her so she could look at him. He had showered her with nothing but his love, affection, tenderness and patience ever since they had met; and she too cared for him deeply, he was her best friend, the reason she smiled, he filled her days with happiness. She knew he would protect her, she trusted him, believed him, believed in him he was her soul mate, her anchor and this must mean that she loved...loved him. Anandi kept staring at him then; her heart was witness to what she felt when he was around her, the drumbeats within her heart that were loud when he was around her, grew louder still . There had never been any doubt; of course she loved him, always had. Always had loved. The realisation hit Anandi as she kept looking at him and then leaned towards him, put her head on his chest, as if listening to his heartbeat, her hand clutching his shirt and said, 'I know you are worried about what I said to you earlier. There is still time. Let us go home for the weekend, and now take a shower before you really catch a cold.'

The moment his wife had placed her head on his chest and her hand on his shirt, Shiv was certain she could hear the erratic thumping of his heart. He clutched her hand with an unsteady one, while another unsteady hand tilted her head so she could look up at him. He needed to confirm that what he had seen in her eyes was not a hallucination, was not wishful thinking'he needed to see the trust, the care towards him and everyone related to him, the acceptance of his love. He struggled to keep the moistness in his eyes from sliding down his face.

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Anandi snuggled deeper into the comforting warmth she was cocooned in, her arm clutching at a loop of fabric, her fingers curling around a collar. Shiv's kurta's collar. Anandi cuddled deeper into the warmth she was engulfed in, deeper into her husband's powerful arms, holding him to herself. It was as if she had known she was safest snuggling close to her saviour, her protector, and he would shield her from everything that would cause as much as a ripple even in the calm waters of her world. She was not entirely awake, and as she opened one eye and registered her position, her heart began to beat to the dhakdhakdhakdhak rhythm that it had accustomed itself to when Shiv was around. She noticed then that she was confined in his hold, his familiar, muscular arms entangled around her, his face tucked in the nape of her neck. She tried to gently pull apart, so as not to wake him up, and for some reason regretting that she would have to leave the comfort of his arms, that she had grown so habituated to in the past few weeks. And as she finally pulled herself away, she heard a whisper so soft she would not have heard it if it wasn't spoken into her ear by her husband, his face buried in her hair, 'Don't go, stay with me.' Anandi knew she could no longer deny how much she loved being held by him. She could not refute that his tenderness, his affection, his warmth, his closeness, the sound of his heart beating in rhythm with her own, was healing her hurt, her insecurities and pushing away her fears. She realized that she had given up fighting her destiny, and admitted to herself that it was because she could not survive without him.

Shiv knew he could stay like this forever. Nothing could compare to feeling her so close to him, enveloping him in her tenderness as she moulded, relaxed into him. The drums he felt in his chest began to beat to the same rhythm as hers dhadkdhakdhakdhak.