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Chapter 2
Angad Khanna sat in his office, and his usually handy stressball lay forgotten on the glistening marble floor. His eyes were shut but the image of Kripa's tear stained face, her stunned expression kept on flashing before his eyes. He was forced to open them and then he sighed loudly. He knew he had been harsh on her, and he was sorry. Yet he was somewhat glad that the frustration he had withheld in himself for so long was finally out now. He cared for Kripa, as a friend and now as his wife and he wanted to move on . Given half the chance, he knew he could fall madly in love with her and make their marriage a success. But now he wanted Kripa to take that chance, an initiative on her own. Despite the friendship the shared, he always felt as if Kripa remained a little aloof from him, and perhaps did not trust him completely. She would always readily agree to any plan he made, and actively debated with him on any topic under the sun, but she never herself expressed her desire to do anything, always waiting for him to make the first move .
This was not what Angad wanted. He wanted Kripa to exercise her authority as his wife, demand his time and attention, scream at him if he were late, ask for gifts, share her dreams with him . He had seen his colleagues and friends pamper their wives, and he too wished to treat his wife in he same manner. But for now, he needed to get home and apologise for his behaviour and then sit down and discuss everything in an adult, rational way.
Adult, rational way, he thought grinning. He suddenly remembered how mature his wife and sister were as a memory of Kripa Kapoor , not Khanna, rekindled…
"Anjali get out he's mine" screamed Kripa.
"0ver my dead body Kripa . Tom Cruise has always been mine!" came Anjali's cry as Angad watched fascinated as his sister and her best friend wrestled over a remote control. Being the helpful brother that he was, Angad walked over and coolly took the remote from both of them and plopped himself on the sofa .
"Angad!" whined both of them . "Why did you do that?"
"I was simply fulfilling my duty as a responsible citizen of our country and saved two innocent and stupid girls before they could wreck further havoc" he explained matter-of –factly.
Kripa intervened " Angad, fighting over Tom Cruise is not at all stupid. In fact I can't think of anything better than to stare at his gorgeous face all day"
Before Angad could tell her exactly how idiotic this was, Anjali and Kripa started gushing about Tom Cruise's good looks while Angad watched them in wry amusement….
The clock's chiming broke him from his reverie. Angad collected his stuff and left in his car for home. He only found Anjali downstairs. He anxiously enquired about Kripa and Anjali told him about their earlier conversation. Seeing her brother's guilty face, Anjali almost decided to tell him the truth but then decided against it. It is Kripa's right, Anjali thought. Let her be the one to tell him.
In a soothing voice, Anjali said "Angad she has had to adjust a lot- her lifestyle, studies, new responsibilities. She needs you, she may not say so but she does . It isn't easy to accept so many changes at once. Kripa is really vulnerable Angad- she pretends that she can handle everything but she can't . You, her husband, need to be at her side, for her, with her".
Kripa was awake, reading a book when Angad entered the room. There was an awkward silence between them and Angad quickly proceeded to change into his nightsuit. Kripa took off her reading glasses and watched Angad fumble with the knot in his tie, muttering some incoherent curses. She then got up and made her way towards him, stopped his hands in mid motion and effortlessly undid it. Angad and Kripa stood there for a few moments, staring at each other, Kripa's hand still on his collar. Then suddenly, Kripa bent and placing her head on his chest, hugged him tightly. Angad temporarily lost his power of speech and not knowing what to do, ruffled her hair and patted her back.
To his dismay, Angad felt hot moist tears on his shirt. He tried to pull Kripa away to look at her but she wouldn't let him. Then Kripa faced him and he opened his mouth to say something but Kripa placed her finger on his lips.
"Let me Angad. I know I have been really unreasonable at times, refusing to accept the reality that I am married. It's just that…….sometimes I feel as if life hasn't been fair, that I should have been given more time before getting married. I try to make things work out, but things get too much for me to handle. I feel like I am failing everyone-my dreams, Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunty, Anjali and most importantly you". At this point she looked him directly in the eye, hoping to see something there which would strengthen her resolve. Her confused green eyes met his clear chocolate brown ones and then he asked softly, "Why do you think you failed me?"
Taken aback, Kripa replied "This marriage was as arranged for you as it was for me. Yet you took the time and effort to know me, while I simply kept moping around. You even helped me do my boring project when I could barely keep awake!"
Grinning, he answered,"Well, it is hardly my fault that I can't see my wife miserable". Seeing her pout, he tenderly cupped her face in his hands and said "We will make this work out, Kripa. Both of us."
She hugged him once more and said " I know we will."
Releasing her briefly, Angad asked "Did you have dinner ?" . Kripa grinned sheepishly and looked down. " You are such an idiot" Angad said annoyed . Then they both had dinner- Angad force feeding Kripa since she hated chappatis. In their bedroom, Angad was still musing over everything when Kripa dropped on the bed with a heavy thud.
"Oh it's you . I thought it was a cyclone" Angad commented dryly.
Stifling a yawn Kripa said "Shut up Angad and go to sleep". Saying this, Kripa fell fast asleep. Angad too tried, but unsuccessfully, since Kripa kept on moving and one 360 degree turn she took hit him straight in the stomach. He was about to wake Kripa up but then she took another huge turn and wrapped her arms around him. Smiling in her sleep, she snuggled closer and cuddled next to Angad, her warm skin making something tingle in him. He removed a stray lock of hair from her face and gazed intently at her beautiful, innocent features till he felt his own eyelids drooping. He finally closed his eyes, holding her close to him and thanking God.
Cricket
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