I normally do not do One Shots and have been only updating my FF but this idea came to me so i thought why not?
Please let me know if it is any good; if I should continue and give you part 2 or if I should never write one shots and just stick to my FF.
Bhaiyya, I cannot believe this! How many roses did you order? The whole house is filled with them! The fragrance is so heady'and these orchids in all the vases..Bhaiyya this is TOO MUCH!' Saanchi complained as Shiv looked at her with a stern expression, as he pulled out a few thousand rupees for the florist. The florist rolled his eyes at the rich collector sahib who had been so demanding and had wanted just the perfect flowers and nothing else. He had offered Collector sahib so many beautiful flowers, arranged so beautifully and cheaper too...marigolds, sunflowers, peonies, lilies, lilacs. But only red roses and orchids would do. And that too the exclusive, most expensive ones imported from South Africa. The ones reserved for the Taj Palace Hotel in Udaipur. Too expensive for most men. 'Zaroor biwi ke saath kuch hua hoga' he had thought and rolled his eyes as he left the house.
'Shiv! Iski kya zaroorat hai? Anandi ko itna mehenga tohfa nahin chahiye hoga. Uske liye tum joh bhi loge na; woh kafi hoga' Meenu said to Shiv. Shiv smiled; he knew that his wife would be happy in whatever he gave her. She knew his love was behind every gesture, whatever he did for her. But he wanted to get her something special, a designer sari, some expensive jewellery and he wanted Meenu to help him. He knew how close she and his wife had become in the time Anandi had spent in their family. And so he had asked her for help and taken her with him to the poshest designer store in Udaipur and bought her an expensive Suneet Varma sari and Amarpali jewellery. Such beautiful jewellery choti ma noticed. Such exquisite jhumkhas he had picked.
When they got home finally, Shiv looked around the hall at the scene playing itself all under Mahi's supervision. Servants scurried around with orchids in vases and baskets of red roses; others put up lights and mirrored strings. Shiv looked around making sure everything was exactly right and each detail perfect. Then suddenly he remembered the candles he had to light the candles in their room. But what about the food, he turned to Ira then 'Ma, aapne uski saari favourite dishes baniye hai naa..usse bhook lagi hogi..aur usne safar ke doraan kuch khaya bhi hoga ya nahin..' his brow wrinkled as the worry was reflected on his face. She had never flown alone before; never been out of India and this time she had been away for a whole ten days.
Why did she have to be so selfless, he thought to himself. Main jaa raha tha na airport usse lane lekin nahin; usse toh sabki parwah hai..'why will everyone ruin their sleep for me; aap ayenge toh saab ko aane ka mann hoga; main kudh aajaungi' aab ziddh maat kijiye..please..' and she had silenced him before he could protest.
'Kahaan hai Anandi; uski flight toh land kargayi hogi maa; toh phir uska phone kyun nahin aaya. The flight must be late. Or she must be stuck at customs. I had asked Bheem Singh to make sure she had no problems on arrival. Lekin yeh Bheem Singh bhi naa..' and Shiv took out his phone to dial Bheem Singh's number while yelling at Mahi to check the flight status on the Emirates airlines home page.
'Bheem Singh, where are you? you had better be on your way to my house and my wife had better be in the car with you or else'' Shiv had threatened only to be told that the flight was delayed which Mahi was confirming to Ira in a whisper in the background. As he hung up Bheem Singh wished the flight would get here already so he could take Anandiji home safely. For two whole days his life had revolved around this madness that had come over his Sirji. Itna pyaar koi kaise kar sakta hai, he thought to himself.
Shiv turned around to look at his family noticing Ira and Meenu giving him worried looks; Mahi and Saanchi rolling their eyes and Dadu and Alok trying to stifle their laughter. Shiv was acting as if Anandi was the first person to ever fly long haul to a foreign country for a conference.
From the moment Ashi had called Shiv to tell him that Anandi had changed her ticket so she could come home four days early rather than stay the two weeks she had originally planned, Shiv had waited in anticipation. So he ignored his family and went upstairs to decorate their room.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the doorbell rang and Shiv almost tripped on the stairs in his hurry to go get downstairs and open the door. His entire focus seemed to be on the door and his heart had started to beat faster as his mind focused on his beautiful wife.
No one who saw the lovely chiffon sari clad woman rush into her husband's waiting arms as he held her tight, would have thought that she had been away for only ten days. Shiv held the trembling woman in his arms as both of them took each other's scent in ignoring the giggles from the family and the staring servants who had planned for this moment for two whole days.
'Aaj ke baad tum kabhi bhi mujhe akela chod kar kahin nahin jaogi..woh bhi itne dino ke liye..maine yeh dus din kaise bitayee hain yeh main hi jaanta hoon..samjhi tum' , Shiv had whispered to her as he hugged her tight. He wanted to gaze into her eyes, kiss her, keep holding her and never let go but he was aware of the people around so he refrained.
'Chalo aab andar aao', Meenu said as Anandi unwillingly pulled away from her husband as choti ma took her inside and Mahi smirked at his brother only to be scowled at in return. Anandi gasped as she saw what awaited her, the beautifully decorated house with the myriad gauzy veils whose mirrors shone and twinkled, the flowers with their beautiful fragrance that over powered her mind and the dinner table set with her favorite food. Saanchi showed her the jhumkas and sari that were for her, and Anandi sat on the dining table as dadu asked her to taste the dishes that had been laid for her even feeding her some as she smiled at him.
It was only Shiv, who as he sat watching her noticed that behind her smile and chatter, her eyes looked for him and kept turning towards him wistfully as she craved for his presence around her, his hand holding hers. She could tell he had missed her, had not eaten properly, and had buried himself in his work so as not to think of her because she had felt the same way. It had hurt her to be so far away from him. They had messaged each other and spoken on the phone but it was not the same. She was used to staying up late with him, just chatting about everything with her head on his shoulder as she looked up at him, his arms around her. She had been unable to sleep without him beside her and she knew it would have been the same for him.
Shiv walked towards her, and as he sat by her; her eyes turned towards him. he asked her softly ' Kya hua Anandi; kya tumein yeh saab accha nahin laga. Kuch aur chahiye kya? Mujhe batao, mein laadunga'' He was genuinely upset..all that mattered was her happiness and she looked sad.
Anandi looked at the man she loved more than anything else in the world. The man whose love was so intoxicating, so profound, it made her tremble and melt. This incredible man who had been sent from the heavens, by her Devi Ma just for her. She gently touched his face, and told him what she wanted, ' Kya maine aapke ke sivaa kabhi bhi kuch bhi chaha hai? Mujhe sirf aap ke saath rehna hai.' Shiv smiled like he had not in the past 10 days, his eyes lit up as if he had been given what he had been anticipating for eons and choti ma turned away as she hid her joyful tears. This is what she had always wanted for her Shiv, someone to understand his goodness and vulnerability and love him with the very depths of her soul because her God knew that if anyone deserved such love, it was her Shiv. So Shiv took his wife in his arms and ignoring the protests and whistles from his family, he carried his wife up the stairs to their room where she would have the one and only thing she wanted: HIM.
Coming up soon: Part 2: Heartbeat