MN house-
Mayank walked in thro the open door . everything was quiet. Calm before storm- he thought.
Where s she?
Nupur was on the cane sofa semi reclining position with her eyes closed.
Mayank came from behind her and placed his hands on her eyes.
"jab aanken bandh tho aisa karne ka kya faayda? " she snapped," waise bhi is ghar mein kaun aanewaala hai mujse milne?"
Mayank sat next to her." Kya hua? Sorry nupur woh College mein Princi chod nahin rahe the. Ghar aane ke baad tumne kya kia?" he asked trying to make her talk.
"tumhara wait kiya." She said bluntly still eyes closed.
"nupur," he tugged her arm." Kya mein itna bura dikhtha hoon ki tum mujhe dekhna bhi nahin chahthi ho. Ankhen tho kholo.ok, yeh batao, tum ne mera wait kyu kiya? Kuch special kaam hai ?" his tone teasing .He felt she was upset he was late from work on the first day.
Silence. Nupur wanted to talk but something suddenly held her back. After waiting to tell mayank about gunjan the whole evening, she couldn't bring herself to speak against her sister or even discuss her.
"kuch aur baat hai kya? Tum nahin bhologi tho how will i know?"
She opened her eyes and looked at his concerned tired eyes.
"kuch nahin mayank bas akeli baithi thi aur tumpe gussa nikaal rahi thi."
"sach? " "much." She forced herself to smile. He returned her smile, picked up her hand and pressed it to his lips. She felt a lump in her throat.
"nupur, mujhe bhookh lag rahi hai.dinner kare?"
Guilt overtook every other feeling she had 'she hadn't cooked!!she hadn't realised it was dinner time and had been so busy brooding that dinner was forgotten.
"mayank main kuch banaya nahin hain."
Before he could mask , his face showed disappointment. Recovering immediately, he said its ok. Abhi kuch banadete hain.
"tum jaao fresh hojao.main kuch jaldi banaleti hoon. Woh dinner bananeka aadat nahin haina, isiliya bhool gayi. Chalo." She got up and hurried towards the kitchen while he went to the restroom.
she looked at her new kitchen,freshly stocked, thinking what would be the fastest thing to make. Getting confused ,she began scolding herself," tum aise hi useless rahogi nupur. Itna tak gaya hai aur kuch bhi khaane ko hai hi nahin ...tumko tho apne Baare mein hi sochna hain. Abhi kya karogi? Gunjan se poochloon?" her heart telling her she had to ask gunjan who was a born expert in all these and her ego stopping her from speaking to gunjan.
" bauji ne na kaha , tho mujse phone pe bhi shayaad baat nahin karegi. Bui ne kitni baar bola yeh sab seekhne keliye..."
Closing her eyes, she determined that mayanks stomach was more important and dialled gunjans number-"gunajn khane ke liye jaldi jaldi kya ban saktha hai?" she asked without introduction.
"kyun Di, poha banalo. Tum tho achhi se banathi ho.kya hua di?" gunjan asked her.
Relief washed over her ," tu na gunjan sach me meri pari hai! mein baad mein milthi hoon."
Gunjan smiled at her Di s words. She was missing her so much..
Nupur prepared dinner soon wondering why mayank was taking so long.keeping the kadai on the stove, she went out calling for him. He wasn't anywhere to be found. By then she smelt something burning and ran to the kitchen to find the dinner burning. Salvaging whatever she could of the dish, she began to get angry.
It was all because of him, where did he disappear to? Mera saara khana jaladiya.
"kuch jal gaya kya?" mayank walked into the kitchen with a packet in his hands.
"haan. Mera khaana aur uski saath mera dil.kaha gaye the tum?"
"its not gone Nupur.yeh khaa sakthe hai" mayank said tasting it.
"mujhe nahin khaana. Tum khaalo." She walked out of the kitchen , into the inner room , continuously fussing, came out having changed into her night clothes.Mayank came to her with a single plate , made her sit on the chair and forcibly pushed a spoonful of the slightly burnt poha into her mouth.
"tumne khaa liya?" in reply, he put another spoonful into his mouth. When she opened her mouth to speak again, he pushed one spoon inside, gesturing her to stop talking. In the same way, both ate.
Nupur realised how hungry she had been. Even the semi burnt poha tasted good, or was it because she was being fed like a child. Or because he was eating such badly made food without a word. Aunty had taught him how to cook, he cooked far better than her. And here he was sitting in front of her, eating poha few days into his marriage made by a useless wife.she didn't realise her face mirrored all her feelings
Mayank understood the guilt on forgetting to cook, cooking badly and the feeling of being useless appearing on her face.
"kuch aur chahiye.?"
She shook her head in the negative, took the plate from his hand and took it to wash while he joined her and started talking about what happened in college. He wasn't used to narrate what happened in college or school to his mother but Nupurs relative quietness was bothering him. First he thought it was because he was late but by now he knew it was something else.
He put the icecream he had brought in two bowls and handed one to her once she finished cleaning.
"yehi lene ke liye gaye the? Batake nahin jaa sakthe the.kaunsa flavour hai aur tumhara kaunsa hai?"
"dono ka ek hi hai. Chocholate . Questioning khatam ho gaya hai, tho khalein? Warna melt ho jaayega."
"haan mayank, fridge lena hai." she said walking out while Mayank followed her shaking his head.
both sat on the sofa and on nupur sitting a little away from mayank, he moved closer. She pretended not to notice while her heart missed a beat .to get over the unease she suddenly felt, she started talking.
"yeh kya Mayank. Mujhe butterscotch chahiye tha. Poochke jaana next time."
He laughed at her , showing his dimples while she ate . a small piece of chocholate chip coated with icecream got stuck at the corner of her mouth
(exactly like in the serial . its one of a clich scenes that looked out of the world due to ArTi.)
He stared at it, his lips curving into a smile at the memory of the first time he had seen a similar scene and felt the need to kiss the ice-cream off her lips. Not that he didn't feel like doing the same now ... before he could think further, he almost involuntarily had bent towards her and kissed her exactly on the chocholate chip, slowly taking the chip into his mouth. letting his lips linger there for a second longer , moving a little bit closer, he kept his bowl on the centre table and stroked her cheek with his now free index finger. His other hand took her bowl and placed it out of the way .
Nupur s eyes had closed at the instant he had kissed her. And for some seconds her mind went blank. She felt the warmth of his lips through the cold ice-cream at the corner of her mouth and sensed the warmth spread across her cheek as he touched her. If only she could just stay like this!!
Mayank continued to kiss her jaw while he pulled her closer with his free hand.
If only time could just freeze , she wouldn't have to come out and face the world. She wouldn't have to put up a brave front and not scream out her tears at the world. Thoughts came unbidden .
' yeh rishtah galat kaise ho saktha hai? bauji ne phir aisa kyun kaha? Gunjan ko mujse milne se mana kar diya. Aur gunjan bhi nahin aayi. Ya phir woh log sahi hai aur hum galat hai. saari duniya tho galat nahin ho saktha. Yeh mein kya soch rahi hoon is waqt?'
She fought with her mind thinking pointless thoughts and her heart that was yearning to forget the world. As she swallowed a lump at gunjans separation, mayank sensed a withdrawal, a hesitation in her reactions that he had never before felt. He persisted with few more kisses on her angle of the jaw but pulled himself back and looked at her.
Nupur felt torn, but more relieved that he let her off. She did not meet his eyes as he consistently stared at her , finally breaking the extended uncomfortable silence between them. If there was anything he hated, it was her silence.
"kya baat hai, nupur?"
Silence. Wait.
"kuch bhi nahin mayank. Bas woh tum achanak se..."she trailed her sentence.
"tumhe tho hamesha se surprises pasand the na...nahin, somethings wrong . tum sham se.."
"KUCH NAHIN Mayank." Her voice rose. And on seeing the hurt which appeared on his face, she held his hands which were limply holding hers forcefully and said," sorry Mayank. Woh bas... pata nahin. Kuch teek nahin lag raha hain. "
"sorry mat bolo nupur. Yeh bolo kya teek nahin hai." he had pulled her into his arms, her head resting on his chest with one arm linked to his and another on his chest. His hand stroking her hair and her arm, " its ok nupur. Jo kuch bhi hai, woh teek ho jaayega. Jab tak hum saath hai, tab tak sab kuch teek hai." she held him tighter.
"Mayank, kya tumhe sach mein aisa lagtha hai ki hum saath hai tho sab teek hai?"
"haan, kyun?"
"kuch nahin."
Pulling her away from him, he told her irritatedly," yeh Mrs Sharma bilkul boring hai. jo bhi poochon, kuch nahin. By god meri Nupur Bhushan hoti, tho aisi questions uske demaakh mein aate bhi nahin. Aur agar koi aur, matlab main yeh useless questions kartha , tho mujhe lecture sunna partha. Mein pray karunga ki yeh Mrs Sharma ki jagah mujhe Nupur miljaaye. Tab kuch jagda hota, kuch ladaai hoti , kuch arguements hote, kuch fights hote."
"bas ladaai aur jagda?" she asked her smile returning
"nahin, Nupur hai tho shanthi kahaan? Jo uske man mein hain woh uske zubaan par bhi hain. And woh apne sadu Mayank se kuch chupathi nahin."he picked up her hand in his and lightly placed a kiss on it.
Nupur smiled but the gloomy expression didn't clear completely.
"aur bohot saara pyaar hota." He smiled back.
Nupur placed her head back on his chest and as his arms went round her, thought yeh galat nahin hai.
Mayank was just glad her mood seemed to be better and hoped whatever had bothered her was over.
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this became a little longer than expected. but you know what, its almost as if while writing about MN , things get done of their own accord and everything seems less.
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