Also wish you all a very Happy Diwali 😳
CHAPTER 2
She saw the clock and it was 10 already in the night. She was all dolled up and was sitting waiting for him. She felt cold with the air conditioner which was in full blast and did not know whether she could move and increase the temperature. One side the heavy jewelry was making her tired and she stared at the grand sequins of her heavy lehenga and wondered if she would ever wear it again. She chided herself for thinking about all these while waiting for him. Even before she could scold herself properly the door clicked opened and she saw him walking in and her eyes couldn't take in so much. Her gaze lowered and they started to wander everywhere except towards him. He locked the door and walked towards her. He pushed the flowers aside and sat on the bed near her. He touched her hands which were resting on her knees and her legs curled just inside the skirt and the hands that held her knees tightened. He gave her a gentle smile and his hands lifted her veil. Her bangles jingled as she moved her hands further. Her face warmed up and soon he felt her palm cold.
"Are you feeling cold? Should I turn off the AC?" he asked her in a calm tone.
"You can increase the temperature a little as it would get warm in a while" and bit her lower lip when she realized the inner meaning of the sentence and his smirk made it worse. She wanted to vanish the very second or better wanted the earth to swallow her.
"Geet.. I wanted to share something with you" and his face turned from being a newly married man to a man with worried lines on his forhead.
She for once trembled what would it be all of a sudden and wanted to hear what he had to say
"Ji kahiyae" she said tried to sound as normal as possible.
He took a deep breath and started "Her name is Sam. I mean Sameera" and he did not want to look at her face and study anything and decided to continue whatever he had to say in two minds. "While completing my MBA I came across her. She was doing her master in science. Initially, we had met through common friends. Then our common likes and dislikes attracted us more and we started meeting regularly both with our friends and alone. She was more from a reserved side and I really did not want to go ahead with anything that would harm our future at any time. It was on a Saturday and I clearly remember when I realized I was in love with her. While dropping her back home I proposed her wondering if she would agree but never wanted to lose the friendship with her. She was more like my support during those stressful days and then as fate would have it it's way she agreed to my proposal. Then began our regular texting as in it became more often and then we managed to sneak out much without our friend's knowledge. She had this habit of penning down things and had written down every little instance or moment she shared with me. It was during one of her trips back home she was all very upset about leaving me and I had encouraged her. And her family being more conservative got hold of this and abused her. She was given two choices either to choose me for which she had to wait leaving her family behind or else choose her family and studies. I was not in a position to accept her the way she was cos I had my sister and brother back home and my parents who had dreams for me. I am not sure if I was selfish or tried being good to her family but had told her that we shouldn't continue this relationship any further. Also told her that any relationship that brings in pain to family wasn't of any use and left her behind. I suppose she managed to accept this fact move ahead without me. But somewhere even today I am stuck at that point and blaming myself for leaving her behind when she was ready to come with me leaving anything. I am not sure if I should have shared this with you or not. Cos right now I can only give you care and affection. I mean I am not sure if I can proceed with love right away. I shared this with a couple of them but they rejected me. Even now it's your call and I would agree to it without any qualms. I am not saying I will not be there as your husband all I want is time to love you with all my heart. I want you to be the person who would erase all the memories I had created with Sam. Sorry Sameera"
Finally he was done and looked at her and she stared at him without any kind of expression on her face. He felt bad for ruining her life in the name of marriage and even went to the extent of cursing his family for pushing this and ruining another girl's life. Tears welled up in her eyes and she managed to wipe them off. He brought his hand forward to help her but she stopped him halfway through
"Thanks for your help. But I would rather prefer you wiping even my tears when you start loving me whole heartedly. Ji, thank you so much for sharing your past with me. All I can say is I did have expectations out of this marriage but then I try going to any extent to work out relationships and I will try doing the same. At no point of time I will try forcing you to do anything for me or even expect from you. As far as Sameera" and her voice felt more lifeless when she pronounced her name "She is very lucky to have loved someone like you. A person who wanted to carry her memories for so long. Also I am not sure if I can ever make that place in your heart cos she will always be your first love. And people do say first love is something special and will never be forgotten" and smiled at him without showing any other expression in her face.
"Thanks for understanding me. A genuine request, I would rather like my wife calling me by my name rather than Ji" he spoke expecting her to be genuine once again
"I will try" and she moved out of the bed to change herself in to something comfortable. She changed in to a simple kurtha and pyjama thinking whatever happened sometime back in the bed. She did not know if she was supposed to be happy that she got a husband as genuine as him or cry that she would never be his first love which was her only expectation. She washed her face once more and took out the pillow and quilt when he held her wrist.
"Geet, I genuinely want to be yours but it's just matter of time" and he asked her to share the bed with him. Though she was a little apprehensive she decided that she would cos somewhere the way he had accepted the truth made her feel good about the person whom she got married to.
"Goodnight Geet" and he turned himself in bed facing her.
"Goodnight Maan" and stuttered a little when she pronounced his name. He was once again lost in her voice and eyes. Somewhere she entered his heart the very same moment when she expressed that she would go to any extent to workout relationships. She couldn't face him and hence she turned to the other side and slept or rather closed her eyes when tears streamed down her face without her knowledge. Soon sleep took over both after a long tired day.
He was an early riser and like every other morning he stirred in sleep very early only to find her sleeping near him. He couldn't stop himself from admiring her angelic face. He tucked her hair behind her ears and stared at her without blinking. He was more than satisfied when he saw her facing him and sleeping. She turned herself to side in sleep which he knew but seeing her towards his side made his heart to swell with a new feeling. This was something new to him, something he did not feel with Sam he thought. The mere thought of her kind off pushed him behind and he was back to being his lifeless self. He walked out of the room in his gym clothes when his mother stopped him
"Maan spare that room today. Stay with her today and please wake her up. Today is her first day here" saying she pecked his forehead and walked out. He was clearly not in mood for any of it. For the sake of his mom he walked back in to his room and woke her up.
"Mom asked you to get ready and be there for Pooja as is it's your first day" spoke Maan and walked out of the room without talking much.
She mentally thanked the stars for sending him out of the room and was quick enough to get up from the bed. She right away cleared all the flowers and set the bed straight and walked in to the bathroom to freshen up. He neither had the mood to workout. His thoughts were clouded with his past and present. He couldn't forget her and move on cos he was the one who let her down. He wanted to punish himself for he got married to a woman who would go to any extent to workout relationships. Feeling lost in his thoughts he dragged himself back in to his room only to stare at the scene enfolding in front of him. She was standing there with her in skirt and trying button up her blouse. Clearly, she had issues cos it was a back open one. He wanted to bite the towel in hand to remove his frustration. His legs moved voluntarily towards her and held her shoulders from behind. Her slightly wet milky back was torturing his senses. He held her firmly and caught the blouse ends and tried hooking them up. His hands grazed her wet back sending waves of feelings down her spine. She had her eyes shut tight controlling her desires. He wanted his hands on her forever and she was alluring him. He wanted to mentally smack the gods for creating her with so much perfection. For the first time he wanted to take her in his embrace but once again his past came over his present. He was cheating both was his first thought and left her with a jerk and slammed the door behind him and walked out of the room. She was surprised and hurt at his behavior. Soon it was time for pagphere and her cousins along with her brother had come to taker her. They teased him but he reacted to none but the hue on his face said a different story.
Arjun
Cricket
Indian Mythology
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