FF: Last thing I expected - Mayur. Chapter28 Pg148 - Page 57

first ov all sorry 4 da late comment..coming to ur updates i swear it was Mindblowing..gr8 work..loved it *claps*

Originally posted by: archieeps

Lol...you seem quite taken with their kiss :) glad you liked it :) thanks a ton! and Nups like Bella?? hmmm...never thought about that :)

I'll try to update soon...but it'll be hard - have got lotta pending work!

Nupur awoke to the sound of water running and wondered what faucet she had left on the previous night in her flat. The few vestiges of slumber finally slipped away and she realized that 1) she wasn't at her flat, 2) she was at Mayank's flat, 3) she was in his bedroom, 4) she had slept a few feet away from him all night and 5) she was married to him.

She shot up in bed as the heart-pounding realization hit her. She was married to Mayank freakin' Sharma. God almighty, she was now Mrs. Mayank freakin' Sharma. Groaning loudly, she sank back into her pillows and drew the covers over her head.

The sound of running water ceased and she took a peek from under the covers to see her new husband walk into the room a few moments later with a towel lazily wrapped around his waist. His flat stomach was ridged with traces of muscles and the black path of treasure trail leading to the forbidden area beneath the towel caught her treacherous attention. Water droplets cascaded down his torso and his usually jet-black hair was even darker with dampness as he brought another smaller towel to his head to rub it dry.

She inched the cover back over her head to prevent Mayank from realizing she was gawking at his half-naked body. Nupur, what the hell are you doing? He's not some object – he's a real person! Stop looking at him like he's prize money….

The mornings in the following two weeks went just like that.

Nighttimes were Mayank's slow torture.

Nupur opted to take her showers at night before bed, so after they usually had a nice argument about something or other after dinner, she would storm off into the bathroom and come out in an overlarge bathrobe, trailing a potent scent of musky verbena and jasmine.

She would proceed to scowl at him as she gathered various items and disappeared into the bathroom again, muttering under her breath about whatever they had been fighting about.

He would watch as her wheatish shins and calves stomped around the room and how her face shined pink with the after-effects of a hot shower.

And then his stupid mind would imagine the bathrobe falling…

He hated his brain.

After two weeks of wedded non-bliss, Mayank and Nupur had made a habit of mostly staying apart from each other, doing their separate things and only seeing each other at breakfast before work, dinner, and once they went to their own beds... and of course in the morning and at night after their showers. That way it would be less painful – living with each other, having to face each other every single day, remind each other of everything they went through, both the good and the bad parts….who wants that?

On a rainy Friday afternoon that marked the start of their third week as a wedded couple, Nupur sat on the couch in her temporary home watching Neev play with his Terrorist Joe action figures that his granduncle had given him.

The first time she had seen them was two days ago, resulting in an argument of epic proportions that had erupted between her and her 'husband.'

Lying against the couch cushions, she could still remember the argument which had ended very badly… so badly, in fact, that she and Mayank still weren't speaking to each other.

She watched Neev pick up the action figures and make exploding sounds with his mouth. She let the memory of the argument replay itself in her mind as she watched him…

Nupur picked up the pair of socks that were stuffed under the bed in Neev's room as she set about doing the laundry. After fishing out the dusty socks, she picked up the laundry basket and left the room, but not before stepping on a very pointy object… and she wasn't wearing shoes.

"Ow!! God almighty!" she cried out, dropping the laundry basket and grabbing her foot with one hand as she hopped around the room, tears stinging behind her eyes at the pain. She cursed the toy, cursed the laundry and then cursed her husband (mostly because she was still angry at him for they had argued that morning over how she should not leave her razor near his where he could accidentally use it).

She hopped around for a few more seconds, waiting for the ridiculous pain to diminish enough for her to take a step. Having wiped her eyes from their moisture, she bent down to pick up the scattered clothes that had fallen from the basket and as she did this, she noticed the perpetrator of her pain.

She picked up the five-inch figure and studied it. It was clothed in a full-length swatch of black fabric. At first, she thought it was a monk figurine, but upon closer inspection, she recognized the features. She looked around the room and found four more of the same figurine.

She was livid.

A few hours later, Mayank came home from work surprised to find Nupur sitting on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him. He tried to remember what they had argued over that morning and if she was still peeved at him.

"Uh, hello," he said, shrugging off his coat and looking around him for the usual attack of hugs Neev gave him upon his arrival.

"He's in his room," Nupur said, knowing what he was looking around for. "Listening to some music I played for him. He doesn't need to hear us."

"Uh-oh," Mayank rolled his eyes. "What's up your bum?"

"This!"

She was suddenly standing in front of him dangling what appeared to be one of Neev's toys in front of his face. He looked back at her furious face. "You put this up your bum?"

"No! I didn't!" She actually growled at him. "I stepped on this despicable thing when I was in Neev's room gathering his laundry."

"Oh, well, sorry you stepped on it. Watch where you step next time and you won't be so upset," he said indifferently trying to step around her.

She moved again to block him, looking up at him with pure fury. "What is Neev doing with a toy like this? Do you find it funny? Is it some big joke to you? What is it, huh?"

At first, Mayank hadn't really looked at the toy, but now that the volcano was exploding at him, he snatched the small figurine from her hand and inspected it.

"It's just a toy," he snapped. "A gift from his granduncle."

"A gift?! It's a mini Terrorist, Mayank! What kind of toy is that for a small child?" she exclaimed. "Do you know how horrified I was to recognize this stupid toy?"

"Will you calm down?" he asked.

"No, I will not calm down! I do not want to see Neev playing with these toys," she whispered menacingly.

"Excuse me?" He was becoming more than a little pissed off. "And exactly why would I forbid my son to play with those toys? Just because Little Miss Priss is offended by them?"

"Neev shouldn't be playing with them," Nupur practically yelled. "Unless you're teaching him how to use violence to get his way around things, I want these toys out of this house!"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you owned the house and that you could make rules that I have no choice but to follow," Mayank drawled. "Do me a favor, Nupur, and get out of my face before I make you regret confronting me on this subject."

"I'm throwing them away," she said.

"You'll follow right after them into the rubbish bin if I see so much as one of them discarded," he said, pushing past her.

"I'm not afraid of your threats," she said to his back as he walked to his room, loosening his tie from around his neck. She had no idea he was contemplating how best to strangle her with it.

"Good for you."

"I'm getting rid of them."

"I'd like to see you try."

"There you go again, forcing everyone to think what you're thinking, imposing you're judgment on them right? Oops, I'd forgotten, of course you'd do that – you're Mayank Sharma. Everyone else is just codswallop to you isn't it? You don't care about the repercussions of the 'great' and 'sensible' decisions you make, no matter how harmful or hurtful it is to people you love – be it Neev or not!" she spat out, fuming.

Mayank stopped midstep and turned to face her slowly. "No, that is not true, Nupur."

She backed up a step as she saw the unadulterated ire on his face. He took a step closer to her, intimidating her.

"And why the bloody hell not?" she asked.

"Because I do not impose my decisions on anyone, you great twit! I make sense! But when some people simply refuse to listen to anyone about anything, then obviously I – have – to – make – the – right – choice! Anyway, those are just some idiotic little toys and you need to drop the f**king subject before I do something rash."

"I don't want him playing with them," she said softly.

"Too bad."

"The right choice you say, Mayank? Deliberately letting your son play with such dangerous toys, encouraging violent thoughts to brew in his young, innocent mind? This is the right choice? Bullshit, it's the right choice! Admit it Mayank Sharma, you've never made a single bloody right choice in your life before and you still haven't made one to date!" Nupur seethed.

"I have made the right choice Nupur. I had made it then when I chose to leave five years back and I still make it where Neev is concerned. Do you know the one wrong choice I've ever made in my entire life?"

She took a shallow breath as she realized she was pressed up against the wall, with Mayank still taking threatening steps towards her. He was speaking in a low, furious voice she barely recognized. He came up to within a few centimeters from her.

She looked him in the eye, actually glared at him in the eye as he was glaring right back at her.

"The only damn wrong choice I've ever made was to have agreed to be friends with you in that bloody house we were locked in 7 years back. If I'd left you alone and disagreed, I wouldn't have had to go through anything….anything! But probably my f**king brain stopped operating at that moment when I shook hands with you, Nupur because from that blasted moment onwards, everything just went downhill. Everything."

"I hope you learn not to make such debilitating accusations again," he said before turning away from her. "The toys stay."

Nupur took a breath, wishing that her eyes wouldn't well up with tears. She refused, absolutely refused to let the tears fall as the memories assaulted her mind. "How can you…the things you put me through, Mayank – that's nothing?"

"Go tell your sob-story to someone else and stop telling me how to raise my son," he said harshly before stalking off to their bedroom and slamming the door.

Suffice it to say, they hadn't spoken to each other since then. Even Neev had noticed the tension.

"Mummy?" Neev asked, looking up from his action figures. "Are you mad at daddy still?"

Nupur opened her eyes and looked at the small boy. He was looking at her with his large brown eyes, waiting for her answer. "Your dad and I are not very happy with each other right now."

"Why?" he asked, discarding his toys to lie down next to her on the couch. She would never have thought any son of Mayank's could be so affectionate, so sweet, but Neev always proved her thoughts wrong.

She hugged him to her, kissing his head as he snuggled up against her. "We had an argument and we haven't apologized to each other yet."

Neev looked at her in confusion. She had used too many big words.

"We had a fight and haven't said sorry to each other," she explained again.

"Oh," he replied. "I don't want you to be mad at each other. You can even kiss again if it makes you not mad anymore."

I'd really rather punch the idiot.

Nupur smiled and hugged Neev tighter. "It'll work out soon, sweetheart. Now, why don't you tell me about recess today with Miss Sonali. Did you have fun?"

"Yes. Miss Sonali made sand castles with us and they were so pretty, they looked real! Harsh and me stomped all on them and we got sand in our shoes! It was itchy."

She was just about to comment when a knock sounded at the door. It couldn't have been Mayank because he obviously didn't knock on his own front door, and plus, it was too early for him to be back from work. It was five o' clock and he usually didn't get home until five-thirty.

Nupur left the couch and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole to find an older woman standing outside the door. She looked to be in her late fifties, a severe short haircut and bifocals perched on the end of her nose. A business suit and clipboard rounded out her ensemble as she waited patiently for someone to open the door.

Easing the door open slowly, Nupur cleared her throat and stood before the woman. "Can I help you?"

The older woman sniffed and raised an eyebrow. "Mrs. Sharma?"

Cringe. "Yes."

"Good evening, I am Kiran Yadav here on behalf of the Ministry's Department of Social and Family services."

Holy shit… the Domestic Ministry Professional. Oh, dear God.

"Good evening, Miss Yadav, you are here for the inspection?"

"Yes, that is precisely why I am here."

"Um, well, please, come on in. To be honest with you, we never received any notice that you were starting the inspections…"

"We offered one notice three weeks ago following the announcement of Mrs. Annie D'Aggostino's marriage. These inspections are not to be at your convenience, Mrs. Sharma. They are impromptu, unannounced and entirely serious."

Retract your claws, lady.

"Well, then I'm sorry to say, but my husband isn't home from work yet. Doesn't he need to be here?"

"I'll wait," Kiran said, walking through to the living room.

Nupur thanked all the heavenly beings that Neev had left and had picked up his Terrorist Joe toys, taking them with him to wherever he went. It was the first time in the history of time he had ever picked up a toy after himself.

"Where is the young boy?" Kiran asked, taking a seat on the couch as if she owned the place.

"He must be in his room. Do you want to speak to him?" Nupur asked, trying not to draw her lower lip in between her teeth. Showing weakness was not an option.

"Yes. I'd like to ask him a few questions. Retrieve him."

Yes, master. Anything you say master…

Nupur left the portentous bat in the living room and walked down the hallway to Neev's room. He was jumping on the bed, a habit he knew he could be punished for. When Nupur opened the door, he flopped onto the bed and pretended that he had been lying in it the whole time.

"Nice try, darling," Nupur said, hiding a smile. "Your father will find out."

Neev shot her his perfected sad look that still held a hint of mischief. "Sorry, mummy."

"Neev, sweetheart, I need you to do something for me, ok?"

"What?" he asked, jumping down from the bed.

"A very nice lady", (LIAR!!), "is in the living room and she wants to talk to you for a few moments. Will you talk to her?"

"Ummmm. Ok," he replied. "What does she want to talk about?"

"I don't know, Neev. Let's go find out," Nupur said, holding her hand out for him to take. He grabbed it and walked with her back to where the Loch Ness monster sat, scribbling things down on her clipboard with a Ministry approved pen.

She looked up as Nupur and Neev entered and she gave them a sickeningly fake smile. "Hello. You must be Neev."

Neev nodded and scrambled onto Nupur's lap once she had taken a seat in the armchair across from the scary old lady.

"How old are you Neev?" she asked him in a cool tone.

He held up four fingers and increased his grip on Rosie. Maybe he could pretend that Rosie the dinosaur could get bigger and bigger and then eat the old lady. Rawr.

"Do you go to school?"

He nodded again.

"Do you know how to talk?" she asked edgily.

Nupur clenched her fist. Evil witch.

Once again, he nodded.

"Where do you go to school?" she asked.

"At school," he answered innocently.

"Do you know the name of your school?"

"School," he replied. Duh, lady.

"He goes to the Little Tots Early Education Centre," Nupur replied.

Kiran looked at Nupur over her bifocals with an impatient look. "Neev, do you like your school?"

"Yes. My friends go to my school and my mummy teaches my friends and me and I play at recess and I always play at centers with Harsh," he explained.

"Lovely," she said with a forced smile. "Do you like your new mother?"

"Yes. My mummy is the best mummy in all of the world and I love her," he said. "She makes me cookies all the time and she lets me eat the cookie dough! It's so yummy."

Another pointed look was directed at Nupur. "You do know that raw cookie dough has uncooked eggs in it, don't you?"

Nupur gritted her teeth. "A little raw egg never killed anyone."

"It isn't healthy," Kiran said tersely, writing quickly on her clipboard.

Nupur wanted to take the damned clipboard and smash the lady over the head with it. "Neev is a perfectly healthy child. I'm a licensed child caregiver, Miss Yadav. I have studied and worked with young children for many years and I do not need to be told what is good for my son and what isn't."

"Your son?" she asked.

"Neev is my son, yes. I may not have given birth to him, but he is still my son in every other way. Please, do not patronize me, Miss Yadav, I will not stand for it."

Take that, you great bitch. No one messes with Nupur Kavita Bhushan…Sharma, and gets away with it.

Before the old toad could reply, the sound of the front door unlocking drew their attention and Nupur's heart stopped beating. Mayank was home.

And they were angry with each other.

And for the past two days, he had ignored her upon his arrival and muttered a curse word under his breath as he glared at her on his way to the bedroom.

She moved Neev to the floor and jumped out of her chair as Mayank entered the living room, looking down at his shoes as he shrugged off his coat.

Before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him smack-dab on the lips. She pulled back and smiled at him. "Hello, darling. I've missed you."

He blinked at her for a few moments, an array of confusion displayed on his face. Has she finally lost it?

She hugged him and whispered in his ear, very quietly. "The DMP is here."

Uh-oh. Do something now Mayank. Quick! His eyes widened and his arms went around her waist. "My love, I've missed you, too," he said. He looked up over his wife's head to see a woman sitting on his couch watching them with a scrutinizing look.

"You didn't tell me we had a guest, love," he said, drawing back from the warmth of Nupur's arms.

"I was taken completely by surprise, Mayank. Miss Yadav, I'd like to introduce my husband, Mayank. Darling, this is Miss Kiran Yadav from the Ministry's Department of Social and Family Services."

"Miss Yadav, a pleasure to meet you," Mayank said extending his hand to shake.

Kiran shook his hand and went back to writing on her clipboard.

He turned to look at Nupur with a perplexed expression. She gave him a sympathetic shrug and resumed her seat. Neev had raced over to greet his father.

"Daddy, mummy said I have to talk to this lady," he explained. "Who is she?"

Mayank smiled over at the woman who was watching them.

"She works at the Ministry, Neev. She makes sure that families are always happy."

"Oh," he replied. "Does she know that you and mummy are mad at each other? Is that why she's here?"

Mayank and Nupur internally groaned.

The satanic smile on the woman couldn't have been any larger. "Are you having marital problems, Mr. Sharma?"

Who the hell does she think she is with her f**kin' little clipboard and that outdated hairdo?

"No, Miss Yadav, I don't believe I'm having any marital problems. My wife and I had an argument two nights ago and I regret to say that Neev heard it."

"Interesting," Kiran said, scribbling on her blasted clipboard.

Nupur closed her eyes and wished that this wasn't as bad as it seemed. "Miss Yadav, I truly hope you've noted that my husband and I have made up from our little spat. We are a normal, red-blooded married couple that sometimes disagrees on things. You surely can't hold that against us."

The older woman pushed up her bifocals and said nothing.

They waited in tense silence as she scribbled something down… Nupur was beyond angry at this woman's disgusting behavior. She was incensed! How dare this woman come into their home and proceed to be entirely rude to them. They were legally married and so what if they didn't love each other? Many married couples hated each other.

"This has been a preliminary interview, Mr. and Mrs. Sharma," Kiran said, standing up. "I'm to report my first impressions to the Ministry and you will receive your permanent DMP in the next week or so."

She turned on her heel and let herself out.

Nupur and Mayank stared at the empty seat Kiran had vacated and then stared at each other. Had that really just happened?

Mayank sighed and sank down onto the opposite couch, propping his elbows on his thighs and resting his head in his hands, trembling.

Nupur's heart broke for him. Oh dear….it wasn't supposed to happen this way. None of it was. It wasn't their fault the Ministry had sent the most sadistic, unfair, wicked, vile woman ever to grace the earth to give them their preliminary inspection.

"Are you sad, daddy?" Neev asked, putting his small hand on his father's shoulder.

Mayank didn't lift his head as he shook it. "No, Neev. I'm fine."

"Neev, sweetheart, why don't you go pick two toys to take with you and then we can go out to dinner," Nupur suggested, standing up and taking a seat next to Mayank.

Neev nodded and left the two of them to their business.

"Mayank," Nupur started to say.

"Don't say anything, Nupur," he said, his head still down, his voice cracking. "I don't need to be told how brutal that was."

"Mayank, don't let this discourage you. One evil woman's opinion isn't going to change anything. She's not even going to be our permanent DMP. There is no possible way that the next one could be as bad as her."

He lifted his head and looked at her. "I wanted to smash her over the head with the clipboard."

Nupur laughed. "I swear to you, I wanted to do the exact same thing."

"How long was she here before I got home?"

"She was here for about half an hour. She asked Neev a few questions and I sparred with her over my child caretaking skills. I'll tell you one thing. She obviously doesn't have any children of her own... bitter old hag."

The corner of Mayank's lips lifted. "She needs to get laid to lodge that stick out of her ass."

Nupur wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Please, I don't need that image. It will scar me for eternity." Sigh…it's much easier this way, Nupur. To forget and move on…but you can't forget everything. What happened two days back was….was terrible. But right now, he needs you. Neev needs you. Try to forget this one thing today.

Neev re-entered the room at that point, carrying two of his Terrorist Joe figurines. "Ok, I picked my toys. Let's go eat!"

Nupur couldn't believe her eyes or ears when Mayank extended his hand out to Neev and asked for the two figurines.

"Neev, would it be alright if we gave these toys away?"

He looked at his father in puzzlement. "Why? They're mine."

"Some little boys don't have any toys to play with, Neev. They aren't as lucky as you to have so many toys and wouldn't you like for someone to be very happy when they get a toy that you gave them?"

Neev thought about this for a moment. "You want me to share?"

"No, I want you to give the toys to someone who doesn't have any. It's called donating."

"You want me to donating?"

Mayank smiled softly. "It's up to you, son. You can give them to me and I'll find a little boy who has no toys and give them to him. Also, your mummy doesn't like them."

Neev turned to Nupur. "You don't like my toys?"

Before Nupur could answer, Mayank answered for her. "She just doesn't like these toys right here, Neev. They are a bit scary because she stepped on one and it hurt like the devil."

"Scary?" Neev asked with a giggle. "Mummy, are you scared of these toys?"

Nupur smiled, feeling stupid tears welling up in her eyes for the second time that week. "Absolutely terrified."

"Ok. You can give them to a little boy, daddy. Are you going to tell him that I gave them to him?"

Mayank nodded.

"I'm going to pick out another two toys and then can we eat dinner? I'm hungry and my tummy is making noises!"

They nodded and watched him leave the room.

"Thank you," Nupur said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Nupur….for what I said two days ago. I'll….I'll get changed."

He patted her hand and quickly got off the couch, heading for the hallway leading to the bedrooms, not saying anything and not looking at her.

She stared after him, her mind traveling in a dozen directions. He was the most complicated man on the planet. He was so unpredictable… so erratic and so… so… human. This was….exactly the man I fell in love with….bittersweet….Sadu.

She rubbed at the hand that he had touched and it wasn't until they had reached the restaurant that she realized her lips were still tingling from the kiss she had given him.

And it wasn't until Mayank had laid his head on his pillow that night, ready to fall asleep, the smell of verbena and jasmine so close by, that he realized he could still remember the feel of her soft lips on his.