FF: Last thing I expected - Mayur. Chapter28 Pg148 - Page 73

Originally posted by: archieeps

@ Falak, Paris and Nidhi

I'm trying guys, I really am! But today am reallly busy - only hv time to reply to ur lovely reviews :) Tmr should hopefullly be out!

Originally posted by: archieeps

@ falak

thanks for the name bit! I love your name too btw :)
xx Kainath

Originally posted by: archieeps

@ Falak, Paris and Nidhi

I'm trying guys, I really am! But today am reallly busy - only hv time to reply to ur lovely reviews :) Tmr should hopefullly be out!

Originally posted by: archieeps

Hey Debby! Thank you sooo much for the review! :) And yes, I used my own experience to describe the flu...apparently lot of ppl here were down with it too, so could relate to it and sympathize with poor Mayu....lol...and Neev was sent to Dadi's for a good reason..both of them needed some alone time :)

And Nups' life certainly got more complicated after that episode...well so did Mayank's actually...haha...

Initially I thought of writing about the soiree in the next chapter, but one more chapter before that! I'm working on it...maybe...just maybe though I might be able to put it up by tonight! :D

Thank you soooo sooo much for the awesome review :)

Originally posted by: archieeps

Hi dear! You read all the parts? I love you for that! Sorry my reply cannot be longer coz I've got to rush - but I really really appreciate your review! Glad you like all the characters especially Neev! Keep the wonderful reviews cmg along! :D

Chapter 21

Watching the cars drive by, Nupur rested her elbows on the metal balustrade of the flat's second-story balcony. The wind was gently caressing her face, blowing her hair straight behind her. It had been a nice day, a successful day, in fact. Her students had all recited their ABC's correctly, including the tricky L-M-N-O-P part. It had been a few days since Mayank had finally recovered from that nasty bout with the flu and he was unfortunately back to his usual, infuriating self.

It had been almost two months since they had married and although they were much more civil to each other than when they had first reunited, their little spats and arguments were starting to get old and annoying. Nupur knew that Mayank was trying harder not to let his erratic temper flare, but she could tell that something was causing him stress; maybe work, or parenting… or simply the frustration of being around her.

Just that morning, they had argued over the most absurd thing. It was so trivial she couldn't even remember what it was about. Though their arguments were starting to decrease in amount, they were still on edge about the upcoming DMP inspection. It had been about a week since their dinner with Rashmi and they expected her to show up at any moment.

Sighing, Nupur rubbed her hands across her face and smiled as she heard Neev's voice coming from the living room. He was talking to Rosie the dinosaur and explaining how he had said his alphabet the fastest that day in class. She couldn't help but feel a burst of pride swelling deep within her heart as he spoke. She sometimes lay awake at night pondering the degree to which her feelings for the little boy grew.

It was simple… she loved Neev as if he were her own. It was so easy to fall in love with him; his innocence and tenderness and trusting nature could turn the hardest, coldest person into a puddle of compassionate goo.

She felt a scrape of jealousy at Mayank for being able to claim him as his son, to have such a wonderful child. After four months, she wouldn't be able to have him as a son; he would be just a student from then on… it would be the hardest transition she would ever make, apart from leaving Mayank of course - again. She prayed and hoped that Neev wouldn't take the separation too hard. But at least she would still see him at school. Whereas Mayank – when would she get to see him? Those two miserable minutes when he comes to fetch and drop Neev?

His small voice was beside her suddenly. "Can I drive in a car?" he asked as he peered down at the street.

"You have to be much older to drive a car, sweetheart," she said, crouching down next to him to look through the metal rails of the balustrade.

"Just like I can't ride a bike until I'm a growmup?" he said, his wide eyes turning to look at her.

"Exactly," she nodded. "Now, where did you leave Rosie?"

"He's talking on the phone," he replied. "I pushed the buttons and now Rosie is talking to a person."

Nupur's eyes widened and she grabbed Neev's hand before walking back into the living room to find the stuffed dinosaur resting on the phone. She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear, exhaling a breath of relief upon hearing an empty dial-tone.

She placed the phone back in its cradle and handed Rosie back to Neev. "You know you're not allowed to play with the telephone, Neev. It is not a toy."

He gave her a frown, hugging the dinosaur close to his chest. "Ok, I won't play with it anymore."

"Are you just saying that or do you really mean it?" she asked sternly.

"I won't touch it anymore," he repeated, huffing in annoyance.

"Excuse me? I don't think I like your tone, young man." Nupur said, crossing her arms over her chest, ignoring the voice in her head that told her she was starting to sound like her baby sister when she was angry with her husband.

"I told you, Mummy, I'm not going to play with the phone and you keep telling me not to play with it!" he explained. "All the time you tell me not to play with it!"

"Do you hear how loud your voice is?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Are you actually yelling at me?"

"No!" he said, stomping his foot and narrowing his eyes at her.

"I don't know what has put you in such a nasty mood, but I would like you to snap out of it very soon," she warned him, her voice strict.

"I'm not in a nasty mood!" he yelled. "Don't say that to me!"

"What on earth has gotten into you?" she asked. It suddenly dawned on her. He had skipped his nap that day, opting to play with his toys instead. "Once your dad gets home, you're going to eat your dinner and get straight to bed. You are very cranky and not behaving like a good boy should."

"No! I don't want to sleep!" he yelled.

"Well, darling, that's too bad," she replied. "You're going to sleep the minute you finish your dinner. I will not tolerate your horrible mood tonight."

"You're a stupid mummy!" he screamed right as his father walked through the door.

"Whoa, whoa; what is going on?" Mayank asked, shrugging off his blazer and placing it on the back of the couch. "What did you just say to her?"

"She's being a stupid mummy!" Neev said, his eyes full of tears and his lower lip quivering, his Sharma temper beyond his control. "I don't want to go to sleep and she said I have a nasty mood and she said that I have to sleep the minute I eat my dinner and... and I don't want to!" he said as he glowered at Nupur.

Mayank raised an eyebrow at his son. "I dearly hope you received a spanking for being so ill-tempered."

"No! I don't want a spanking and I don't want to sleep!" he yelled, stomping his foot again. "I want… I want… I want to go to Dadi's house!"

"First of all, you will apologize to your mother this instant for calling her stupid and for making her suffer through your disgusting behavior. Second, you will get a spanking and you will go to bed without your dinner. Third, you are from now on, until I say so, punished: no television, no going to Harsh's house and certainly no toys."

"You're being a stupid daddy, too!"

Before Nupur could blink, Neev was snatched from the living room and dragged to his bedroom where she heard the telltale sound of a smack against his bottom. Then another… and then one more. She heard the little boy's cry and then saw Mayank slam the door to the bedroom, his face set in a scowl.

He didn't say anything to her as he grabbed his blazer from the couch and stalked back to the hallway. She watched him walk to their bedroom and slam the door there, as well.

With a tired sigh, she turned to the kitchen to set the table and set out dinner. Mayank walked into the kitchen moments later, clad in his house-clothes, his expression still set in unkind lines and a frown.

Silently, Nupur served their dinner and took the seat across from him, eating but not tasting anything. Finally the silence overwhelmed her and she spoke what was on her mind.

"Did you really have to be so harsh?" she said quietly.

He ignored her, but his lip curled in anger.

"Of course, that's where he gets it," she murmured.

"What?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't think you should have punished him so awfully. He was just cranky from missing his nap and while I agree that he deserved some punishment… I believe you were a tad hard on him."

"Stay out of it."

"Oh, that's not going to happen," she replied shortly. "I get a say in how he is raised for the time being."

His scowl deepened and he shrugged. "He was being a nasty little snot and I will not allow that. His punishment was well-deserved and I don't want you to use his crankiness as an excuse. My son will not act like that and get away with it."

For what seemed to be the millionth time that night, she sighed and nodded. "Fine." I cannot deal with his crap today.

"What, no argument? No last word?" he sneered.

"What's with you Sharma men today?" she asked in exasperation. "I'm simply not letting you get to me tonight. I've had a good day and I won't have you ruin it."

This time, he sighed. Do I have to be so callous towards her? Apologize, Mayank. "Sorry… my day wasn't so great."

"Why? What happened?"

What's this? A normal conversation? An argument averted? Hallelujah, there's hope for us not killing each other yet! Well…at least he killing me.

"Just idiots at work," he said quietly. "We received some new recruits today and we had to train them to our specialized methods. Some people amaze me with how slow they are."

She smiled lightly. "You never perfected the art of tolerance did you? I…I mean….umm…you should learn to be more patient. Now, don't look at me like that. I'm serious. You'd be much more agreeable if you were patient with people, trust me. I'm sure your new recruits were nervous at starting their new jobs and being under your leadership."

She's the one talking about patience and listening to people? Ha! What a turn of events….once upon a time Nupur, you never even gave me a chance to explain let alone be patient with me. And now here you are lecturing me on the topic of acceptance. Touch. "What would being under my leadership have anything to do with it?"

"You're only one of the leading architects in the industry. I read an article about it in Business Times. Yes, I read such magazines too Mayank, don't give me that skeptical look. So, the poor new recruits were most likely intimidated to be working for THE Mayank Sharma: India's answer to perfecting the future of architecture."

"A magazine said that?" he asked, an astonished look on his face.

"What's this? Your ego isn't inflating to twice its size?" she teased.

"I had no idea. I never thought of myself as a great architect… a good one, but not great," he mumbled to himself.

"I wish I had a camera… I want to capture the 'humble Mayank' image forever," she laughed. "Please, be modest more often. I like it so much more than the exceeding arrogance."

"Don't get used to it," he replied, a half-smile lifting the corner of his lips. "Well, now, I feel a bit bad for being impatient with those recruits…"

"A guilt-ridden Mayank? This is even better than humble Mayank!" she gasped.

"Are you quite finished annoying the hell out of me?" he asked.

"Nope, never, hubby-dear," she smiled at him. "So, are you feeling bad yet for being so hard on Neev?"

"No," he replied. "He was extremely rude to you and his behavior was completely unacceptable. But, I agree he was cranky, he hadn't taken his nap – that's probably what triggered it. Give him some time, he'll come around."

Nupur looked at him for a full ten seconds before turning her gaze away, saving herself from the embarrassment at being caught observing him. "Well, if you're finished with your dinner, I'd like to get the dishes done before taking a shower."

"Go take a shower, I'll clean up here," he said, standing up from the table.

She smiled gratefully at him and left the kitchen before she did something stupid like hug him for being a nice husband… or randomly burst into a monologue of how much she still loved him and how much his crude attitude sometimes hurt her beyond belief and how much she wanted to push him against the wall and rip his clothes off and…stop right there Nupur! No inappropriate thoughts.

Pressing her hands to her warm face, she made it to the bathroom and proceeded to take a very cold shower. Women needed them just as much as men, she decided as she shivered, rubbing the shampoo deep into her scalp, any thoughts of Mayank driven from her freezing head.

Coming out of the bathroom and brushing out the tangles from her hair, Nupur watched Mayank walk into the room and throw his shirt off before collapsing onto his bed.

"You left the balcony door open," he said as he stretched his legs out in front of him, sneakily checking her out, as he usually was forced to do once she got out of the shower. I really should begin taking long, cold showers once she's done with hers. That way any…improper thoughts can be put to rest.

"I did?" she asked, wincing when the brush encountered a mega-tangle from hell. "I thought I had closed it."

He shook his head and got up from the bed, walking to the bathroom to do the nightly necessities. "I really don't like Neev out there by himself, so please remember to close it next time."

"Yeah, I will… I was just distracted today," she said as she began to pull her locks into a braid. "I promise to never, ever, ever forget."

Lately, they had found themselves talking just like Neev to each other; mostly in a teasing way. Yeah, right… you know you're flirting with him… you skank, you. You've got to stop doing that Nupur. But, pray tell, how can you when he so willingly drags you into it?

"Promise?" Mayank asked from the doorway of the bathroom, his eyes wide and his smile playful.

She nodded with a laugh.

A night without an argument… praise the heavens!

A night filled with flirting… alert the press!

Nupur didn't understand her dream. It seemed that she was cooking something, yet something was poking at her side. Looking around the dream kitchen, she saw nothing. What on earth was poking her?

"Mummy," a voice whispered in her dream. "Mummy, are you awake?"

Her eyes opened slowly as she realized reality was intruding into her unconscious world. She blinked quickly and realized Neev was standing next to her in his pyjamas, Rosie clutched in his arm. The moonlight shined throughout the room lighting the small boy as he stared at her with his wide eyes.

"Neev? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she whispered, sitting up in bed and leaning close to the young boy. "Are you alright?"

"Mummy, I can't fall asleep!" he whispered loudly. "I was a nasty boy today and I'm sorry! I was mean to you and I called you a bad name and I'm sorry a lot!"

She looked at him and reached her hand out to his face. "It's ok, Neev. I forgive you."

"Are you mad at me and hate me like Annie hates me?" he asked, his eyes filled with the doubt and fear of being rejected.

That did it. Nupur's heart nearly broke in half as Neev searched her face for some reassurance of affection. "I could never, ever hate you, Neev. I am not mad at you at all and I want you to know that I love you so very much. Do you understand?"

He nodded and gave her a small smile. "I love you, Mummy. This much!" He spread his arms wide and dropped Rosie to the floor.

She took advantage of his outstretched arms and wrapped her own around him, dragging him into her bed. "I do believe I love you much more than that because my arms are longer."

"Nuh uh," he whispered and giggled. "When I get bigger like Daddy my arms are going to get bigger and then I'm gonna show you that I love you the mostest."

Another break in her heart as she realized she wouldn't be around when he was bigger…

She kissed his hair and hugged him closer to her.

"I can't fall asleep in my bed," he told her, a mischievous twinkle shining in his eye. "Can I sleep in here?"

She sighed dramatically. "Ok, fine."

He nearly squealed in excitement as Nupur clamped her hand over his mouth in order to keep Mayank from waking up.

"You still need to apologize to Daddy in the morning; got it?" she asked.

He nodded quickly and looked over to his father's sleeping form. "Why does Daddy sleep by himself?"

Oh, God… how do I explain to him the intricacies of this ridiculous marriage? "Well, Neev, uh, your daddy decided that he doesn't want to share his bed with me."

Neev looked appalled. "But he's 'upposed to share! You always have to share your stuff; that's what you and Daddy tell me all the time!"

"Um, well, you see…"

"This is unassebtable!" he said, using his limited vernacular to tell her that this was completely unacceptable. "You and Daddy have to share!"

"It's alright. We don't really have to share, um, I think I worded that all wrong before. You see, your father and I…"

"Come on, Mummy. We're going to share Daddy's bed! He has to learn how to share because he's a growmup and growmups have to share their stuff!"

He was out of the bed before she could stop him and she had to maneuver her movements slowly and quietly to get out of the tangle of sheets before Neev jumped onto his father's bed. "Neev, no, come back here." Sigh, this kid will be the death of me…as though I hadn't already had a wonderful experience the last time I shared a bed with Mayank.

He shook his head and slowly climbed into his father's bed, being very quiet as he did so. "Get in, Mummy. It's very warm and toasty!" he whispered.

I bet it is...

"I'm going to sleep in my bed, Neev. You can sleep with Daddy, but don't wake him up."

Neev's face fell. "Are you mad at me? Is that why you don't want to sleep with us?"

Her shoulders sagged in defeat. "No, sweetheart, I'm not mad at you." How can I say no? But…but how do I sleep in the same bed as Mayank again? He was so blunt and in-your-face the last time I did it…who knows what he'll say this time? I really really don't need to get humiliated again. But Neev…I can't break his heart!

"Then, come on." He pulled the covers down next to him and scooted closer to his father who grunted in sleep and turned away from the both of them.

She hesitated a moment before realizing that she had no choice but to get into the queen-sized bed. Cursing under her breath, she gently eased herself into the bed and exhaled once she was settled.

As she set her head on the pillow, Neev leaned over her and smiled. "Goodnight, Mummy." He kissed her cheek sloppily and snuggled into her side, wrapping his tiny arms around her waist.

She squeezed him to her and rubbed his back as his breathing slowly evened out and he fell asleep. In bed with two Sharma men… Samrat and Uday Bhaiyya would be so proud.

Either my pillow sprouted some hair overnight or I fell asleep in the wrong bed… Mayank opened his eyes slowly, wondering why the pillow he usually hugged was warmer than usual, softer and pointier. Ah, my child and wife… Neev's pointy elbows and Nupur's stupid feminine body all pushed up against me. Why do the strangest things happen when I sleep?

He opened his eyes fully against the light strolling in through the window. He gazed down at the sleeping pair and studied them. How they ended up in his bed was anybody's guess. He had to pee and didn't have time to figure out why he was in bed with the family, so he eased himself out of his son's one-hand grasp and made his way to the bathroom.

Washing his hands after doing his business, he looked back into the room to see Nupur and Neev still in his bed. He couldn't even begin to figure out how they ended up there… maybe they had been sleepwalking or maybe he had fallen into an alternate universe. What he wouldn't do to see this image everyday for the rest of his life. But of course, she's leaving us in four months…then it'll be back to being Mr Dead Man. Admit it Mayank – you have no life when she's not there…no….you do have a life. You have Neev and you have your work. That's all you need…no other influence is required at the moment. Is it?

He dried his hands and closed the door to the bathroom, taking care of his shower before the two of them woke up. Upon finishing his shower, he stepped out onto the bathmat and wrapped a towel around his waist. He could hear Neev's voice coming from the bedroom.

Walking into the room and ignoring Nupur's sigh of annoyance at his leaving a trail of water droplets behind him, Mayank found them sitting up in his bed watching him. Does she have to look at me like that…hold on to the ruddy towel Mayank. You don't want to create a scene here.

"Daddy!" Neev called out. "I'm sorry I was being a mean boy yesterday and I don't think you're a stupid daddy. You're the bestest daddy in the whole wide world!"

"You're forgiven, but I don't want to ever come home to you acting like that again," Mayank replied, digging through his dresser for a shirt.

"Ok. I promise never, ever, ever to do that again," he said.

"Good. Now, are you going to tell me why I found you in my bed this morning?"

Neev laughed. "Because you're 'upposed to share, Daddy! Mummy was sleeping by herself in the bed and you always tell me to share so you have to share, too!"

Mayank turned a surprised look at Nupur. You fell for that? he communicated wordlessly to her.

"What were you doing in our room to start with?"

"I had to say sorry to Mummy," he said obviously.

"Ok, fine; now, will you two get out so I can put some clothes on?"

"Are you shy in front of Mummy?" Neev asked.

Nupur immediately looked away and approached the door. Mayank covered his hands in his face, exasperated. "Yeah, I'm shy. Now out, please," he said, watching the pair of them wink at each other and giggle, chasing each other out of the room.

Hearing their laughs dwindle down the hallway, he smiled to himself slowly and began to get dressed for work. If only she'd stay – this would be a daily routine…but why would she stay? She has no incentive…it's not as though she's going to fall for you again Mayank. That option went down the chute years back.

His gaze fell to something poking out of the blazer he had worn to work yesterday, interrupting his thoughts. Knotting the tie around his neck, he walked towards it and removed it from the pocket. It had been lying on his desk in the evening after he'd wrapped up work – someone had hand delivered it to him. Only one type of letter was hand delivered to him in his office. Cursing under his breath he opened the green envelope, already cognizant of what it contained.

He groaned as he read the invitation to his mother's inane spring party. She held one every year right before Easter because she always complained that the people in the neighbourhood she lived in didn't socialize enough. She was also crazy, Mayank assured himself.

The party was to be held on the weekend, on the two-month anniversary of Mayank and Nupur's wedding. He hated these stupid parties with a passion, never liking to interact and chat jovially with people. He knew, though, that his mother would forever be disappointed in him were he to miss her party and the last thing he needed was his mother giving him the silent treatment.

Putting on his coat, he grabbed the envelope and made his way to the kitchen where Neev and Nupur sat eating their breakfast.

"And what is the letter of the week?" she asked the little boy.

"J," Neev replied with a mouthful of toast and jam.

"Give me three words that start with J."

"Jump," he said slowly, swallowing his food and thinking for a moment, "jar and jeans."

"Great," she smiled at him. She turned to Mayank who sat down next to them with a sigh and a clearly fake smile. "What's wrong?"

"Spring Soiree," he bit out the words as if they were poison on his tongue.

"I definitely understand what that means. Thank you for explaining it," she replied wryly. He handed her the invitation and watched as she read it. "Why is this a bad thing?"

"Because these parties are ridiculously boring and in your case, not fun at all," he told her.

"Why wouldn't it be fun in my case?" she asked.

"Every Mr and Mrs Hoighty- toity will be in attendance. You'll be stared at, the victim of all the gossip and sucked up to because you're married to me; you get this all in one nice little afternoon over cakes and hors d'oeuvres."

She rolled her eyes at him and stuffed the invitation back into the envelope. "I don't mind any of that nonsense because I am a much bigger person than any of them. This will be a great opportunity to show off our marriage in front of tons of people." And of course, show how well we get along with one another.

"Well, at least one of us won't be contemplating suicide," he muttered quietly.

"It says there are no children allowed," she said, removing the invitation once more from the envelope. "What will we do with Neev?"

"Could you ask Gunjan if she'll let him spend the night?" he asked.

"I thought he was punished."

"He is. But we'll make an exception for this," he said, giving her a stare that left no room for argument. He went back to his breakfast while Nupur left with Neev to get ready for school, going over the letter of the week once more.

That very same day, Neev had fallen during playtime, skinning his knees and palms on the pavement. Upon arriving home, he had fallen asleep even before his father had arrived home, too tired from his injury despite Nupur healing it to the best of her abilities.

Mayank walked into a calm household, receiving the information of Neev's fall at school from Nupur as she cooked and then proceeding to change out of his work clothes after checking on his sleeping son.

The sound of the doorbell reached him as he pulled on his sweats. He barely had his arms through his shirt when he felt the shirt yanked off of his body. He looked at Nupur with a bewildered gaze, wondering why she hadn't answered the door and why she had taken his shirt off.

"It's Rashmi I just checked," she said, her eyes wide as she held his shirt in her hand. "Hurry, go answer the door."

"Can I have my shirt back?" he asked, folding his arms across his bare chest.

"No," she whispered with a violent shake of her head. "Now, go and answer it."

He gave her one last confused look as he walked out of the room wearing just his sweatpants. She's officially gone crazy… I knew it would happen one day with all that reading she does.

Rashmi Walia, their permanent DMP, stood outside their door looking her usual nervous self as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She was dressed even more drably than the first time they had met her and her customary clipboard was hugged to her chest as she stood waiting.

Mayank breathed a silent oath as he opened the door to the woman and watched as her cheeks flamed bright red at his half-nudity.

"Miss Walia, please come in," he said without any preamble.

"Mr. Sharma, uh, thank you. I see you weren't expecting me. I'm sorry to come at an inconvenient time," she said in a squeaky voice.

"No, no, don't worry about it. Can I take your coat?" he asked, hiding a smile when she blushed even harder and let him help her with her cloak. "I'm sorry to say, but Neev's sleeping; so, he won't be up for this inspection."

"That's ok," she said, looking at her clipboard. "I can take this time to examine the house. It's required of all families under our jurisdiction. Mrs. D'Aggostino had her house examined this past week. I heard it's quite nice."

"How good for her," Mayank said through clenched teeth.

"We can start with the living room," she said, pushing her glasses with her forefinger and jotting a few things down as she walked around the living room. She stopped in front of the television and turned to him. "Does Neev use this appliance?"

"I don't think he knows how to use it alone, but he does watch it on occasion," he replied as civilly as he could. "Is there something wrong with having one?"

"They say that television is detrimental to the cognitive growth of children and is the leading cause of childhood aggression and violence."

"There are correlations, yes, between aggression and television viewing, but correlation does not imply causation, Miss Walia," he responded. Thank you, boring educational journal that I found in the bathroom.

She looked away from him with a frown and continued her inspection. Mayank bit the inside of his cheek as he wondered where Nupur was and why he was still shirtless. Rashmi looked up from her clipboard and then walked past him to the kitchen where he followed her.

Once the kitchen inspection was finished, after she had looked pointedly at him once she found the stash of chocolates and jelly beans they kept hidden from Neev in the back of the pantry, he walked with her down to the hallway where the bedrooms were. She poked her head into Neev's room and saw the young boy sleeping soundly. "I'll inspect his room next time," she told Mayank.

She looked into the bathroom that connected to Neev's room and wrote a few things down. She followed Mayank as he opened the door to his bedroom and bumped into his large form when he came to an abrupt halt.

"Mayank, darling, come back to bed," Nupur's soft voice sounded throughout the room. "Who was at the door?"

Mayank had to use all of his control to prevent his jaw from dropping and his eyes from widening. Nupur lay in their large, fused beds, the sheets covering her chest, and her bathrobe and his shirt strewn haphazardly across the room.

Rashmi peeked around Mayank's body and squeaked when she saw Nupur lazing languorously in the big, king-sized bed.

"My love, it seems our guest hasn't left," Mayank said in a voice that cracked in the middle. Damn his hormones. "Our DMP is here to inspect the house."

"What horrible timing," Nupur said with a theatrical sigh, automatically sitting up, still clutching the silk sheets. Good god, please tell me she's wearing something under that. Stop Mayank – get rid of that horrible, horrible mental image NOW! "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Walia. We had no idea you were going to be visiting tonight. Had I known, I would have at least tried to tidy up this mess!"

"Uh, uh, it's q-quite alright, Mrs. Sharma. I can give you a moment of privacy to get settled. I'll just stand right outside in the hallway," she said very quickly, looking anywhere but at the half-naked handsome man in front of her and the grinning woman lounging on the bed.

The minute she had exited the room and Mayank had closed the door behind her, he turned a puzzled look back to his wife. "You've gone off the deep end. I swear you have," he whispered as he started picking up the clothes from the floor. "Do you think she fell for it?"

"Well duh! I had to quickly fuse the beds together and I used your shirt to give the illusion that we…that we umm…we just had a quickie," Nupur muttered, her face pale. But suddenly, as if just let out on a joke, she smiled widely. "Poor soul… did you see how hard she blushed?"

He laughed quietly as he threw a shirt on and looked away as Nupur climbed out of the bed with the sheet wrapped around her. He instantly turned around, his eyes shut tight. Calm down Mayank. Breathe. "I'm dressed, Mayank. I just wore a tube top under the sheets so that she..you know…thinks that…anyway." she said breathlessly as she swiftly walked up to him and slid her arm through his.

He stiffened at her touch and walked with her to open the door. Thank god she was dressed. If she wasn't I swear I myself have no idea what I would have done.

Rashmi looked at them and immediately averted her eyesight to the floor. "The inspection will only take a moment," she said. Pushing past them, she walked into the room and wrote a few things down, her cheeks brightening at the sight of the rumpled bedspread and covers. She walked into their bathroom and came back out after a few seconds. "Everything seems to be in order."

"Wonderful!" Nupur said with a wide smile. "Have you inspected the entire flat?"

The DMP nodded and pushed her glasses up as they fell slightly. "In a few days I will need to conduct a solo interview with Neev. You will need to bring him to the Ministry next Monday after he is finished with school."

"Will you be giving him the interview?" Mayank asked.

"Yes and it should take around half an hour or so. I will see you two then," she said and walked rapidly out of the room.

"Wait, I won't be attending," Mayank said as they followed her. "I don't leave the office until five or six. Since this is just an interview with Neev, I don't see how my attendance is necessary."

Rashmi looked crestfallen, but nodded. "That will be fine. Mrs. Sharma can bring him alone."

They bade her goodbye, hiding their relieved smiles. Turning to each other, they sighed before laughing. "You think we flustered her enough?" Nupur asked him as they walked to the kitchen.

"Plenty," he laughed. "There can be no doubts that this marriage isn't a real one."

She gave him a wan smile, an alarm ringing in her head, warning her that his statement was slowly coming to fruition. Her defenses weren't holding up as much as she wanted them to. Oh god, Nupur I thought you'd set your mind not to give him any signals! What the hell are you doing, woman?

When he was being agreeable and fun to be around like the old Mayu, she couldn't help but want to throw her arms around him and have him look into her eyes… bah! Things weren't going as she planned at all.