Posted:
So. This is a weird two shot. I'm just bored. LOL.
It's supposed to focus on the rocky relationship a husband and wife face after marriage. No marriage is perfect, and I am sure even our dearest ArHi are not an exception to that.
If you like my writing, you can check out my writing index to read more of my FFs, SSs and OSs. Please remember, a comment and a like puts a smile on my face. They are always so deeply appreciated. I shall update part II soonish. :)
Aamir18's Writing Index
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Zee <3
Battling Insecurity
Part One
Khushi gasped as the familiar, but forgotten, pair of arms wrapped cleanly around her waist, an urgent pair of lips brushing against the birthmark hidden behind the lobe of her ear. Arnav remembered how he had discovered it on their first night after their wedding... It seemed like another lifetime. He had told her that it resembled the shape of a small bird in flight, and Khushi had flushed at the innocent and romantic banter. He had chuckled at her blushing and had lightly kissed away the pout she had made on confessing it to look like a dirty and marring splotch.
Six years had passed since then.
Six years.
Arnav's business had attained the greatest heights of success, demanding more and more of the time he allotted for his family and his personal commitments. Khushi, on the other hand, had birthed the most delicate and beautiful child. Two year old Radha kept her mother completely occupied and busy, from drawing the most "exquisite" (as Arnav called it) art on the walls of Shantivan to throwing her lunch at Hari Prakash and clapping when her food hit its scowling target. It was only when Arnav returned home that Khushi would get an hour to shower, relax and change, handing over the responsibility of their daughter to her husband.
Arnav would coo over Radha as a little girl would a porcelain doll. He would shower her with kisses till she started smacking him, would take a thousand pictures to capture the memories of the first time she said "orange" or the first booger she picked and would recite every fairytale she demanded. But alas, Khushi would emerge from the bathroom and he'd sadly pass his bundle of joy back to her, returning to the laptop that held the never ending emails and office notifications.
Khushi and Arnav had not been intimate since the birth of Radha. Time had not allowed them. Every time Arnav would gather a blushing Khushi into his arms, a phone call from Aman or Radha's cries demanding her feeding would disturb them. Yes, there were stolen kisses here and there, but the nights of satisfaction and the comfort of flesh against flesh had vanished. Arnav had felt the growing distance between him and Khushi threatening their marital relationship. Showering together, falling asleep together, eating together, the stolen glances and the deepening blushes... they were no longer present in their day to day interactions. And even now, as he held her tightly against his body, he felt her stiffen against him.
As if he were an intrusion.
"Arnav Ji. What are you doing?"
Everything felt wrong. Him and her felt wrong. He felt dread course through his veins as the conclusion hit him. Arnav released Khushi from his hold and stepped back. The space would need to be diminished gradually, before it was too wide to close forever. He shook his head with a pasted smile and kissed her quickly on the cheek, leaving Khushi confused and baffled as she watched him slump upstairs to his bedroom.
As she set Radha in her crib for the night, Khushi realized that she had not noticed Arnav all day, since their absurd encounter in the kitchen. It was nearing 11:45 PM, and he had not even shown up for dinner, texting her that he was busy with other plans.
Other plans.
She tried to shut out the image of the long legged models her husband would surround himself with all day. Beautiful, sexy and young. Khushi lifted her nightgown hesitantly and stared at her reflection in their mirror. She was not blessed with the most pliant skin, and Radha's birth had left her with stretch marks all around her stomach and legs. Her hips had flared, her stomach had fattened and her small breasts had gotten significantly and embarrassingly larger. At first, Khushi had not cared about the changes in her body, as Radha had been the blessing she had received in compromise. But as she watched the fashion shows blaring on the television sets of Shantivan, she could not help but notice how ideal the models with the perfect figures looked alongside her beautiful husband.
Khushi sighed as she heard a knock on the door, and she hastily fixed the nightgown back into its proper position. She opened the latch and her eyes widened as her mouth dropped. There stood her husband. Arnav Singh Raizada. Dressed in khakis and a sweater of her favorite yellow, holding roses in one hand and extending the other towards her in invitation.
PART TWO- PAGE 5
CID
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