I've been wanting to write some more of the regular conflicts in a married couple's life for my next couple of chapters...unfortunately its not quite shaped up how I wanted it to. But I'm just gonna put it up anyway. Maybe I'll just edit it later if I figure out how to make it better.
Another month had gone by. Avni had a new project that she was helming and neel was busy with a rather complicated case at work. Both of them were overworked and stressed out and even though they were trying to give time to each other it was proving to be a difficult task. They couldn't help but carry their work stress and tension back home and especially over the last 2 weeks both of them had been dealing with each others frayed tempers. One or the other would blow their fuse over something petty and they were having arguments all the time over small things...if you asked them both of them wouldn't even remember exactly what it is they were arguing over. Sometimes it was just misplaced things in the room, or forgetting to switch on/off the geyser...basically anything and everything! 2 weeks back neel had gone completely off the radar for 3 days for his investigation and avni's worry turned into fury and when neel had returned. Initially he had apologised but then his work stress came out as anger and he yelled at her for not understanding his professional demands. Avni was very hurt by his insinuation and they had been having a cold war of sorts for the past 1 week to avoid any further arguments. They would act normal in front of the family as they did not want to drag them in the midst of it. But behind closed doors they were really having a tough time communicating with each other. When left to their own devices both of them were longing for each other's presence and touch but when they faced each other suddenly their ego would become bigger and they would hesitate to make the first move. Despite all their issues they still cared deeply for each other ofcourse and their little actions would speak louder than the words they were not ableto say to each other. Like Avni would still message him her whereabouts without fail because she knew that he would worry even if he did not say so, she would still keep his breakfast ready for him in the morning or atleast pack something so that he did not go hungry. Neel for his part would also keep track of her. One of the days last week Avni had an important presentation and she had woken up late so when she got ready in a hurry she had left her laptop at home and only realised it halfway to the office. Just as she was fretting about having to turn back in all the traffic to fetch it, she got a call from shweta informing her that he would bring it to her. Neel had simply dropped it off with the security at her office and asked him to deliver it to avni but that little gesture had warmed her heart. He had wordlessly left painkillers on the bedside table when she came home with a headache 3 nights back. But they both were stubborn about not wanting to apologise first.
Avni and neel finally had some respite from their hectic work because the weekend was finally coming up.
Avni and neel sat there having dinner with the family quiety, when shweta asked-
Shweta- tillu, tum donon kal avni ki office get-together ke liye kitne baje nikloge?
Both avni and neil looked up at shweta confused
Avni- mummyji aapko kaise pata ki kal get-together hai?
Shweta- arey tumne hi toh humaare family whatsapp group main post kiya tha-
Avni- kya? She grabbed her phone and realised that she had sent it by mistake to the wrong group.
Avni- voh sorry mom, galat group me bhej diya maine
Shweta- haan thik hai,usme kaunsi badi baat hai. but anyway tum donon kitne baje jaa rahe ho?
Neil- donon kyu? Uski office get-togther hai na...main kyun jaaonga
Shweta- arey kyunki invitation may likha hai ki spouse ko saath main le ke aana hai, haina avni?
Avni- vo...voh haan, matlab informal lunch hai
Avni looked at neel fervently hoping that he'd say he was busy and couldn't come.
Neel- (in his mind)- she didnt even tell me about the lunch tomm...ab kya kahun? Mujhe avni ke saath time spend karna hai...itna vakt hogaya humne kuch saath main kiya nahi aur mujhe milna bhi hai avni ke colleagues se...he really wanted to say yes but he was hesitating
Shweta- arey kis soch main doob gaye donon? Accha anyway- jab tum log kal jaoge toh please keys leke jaana kyunki main aur prakash ji bhi kal bahar ja rahe hai
Neel- ji mom thik hai.
Avni- (in her head) oh no! what if he actually ends up coming she thought worried
Next day morning after they had breakfast
Neel finally decided to ask- kitne baje nikalna hai humein lunch ke liye?
Avni- lunch toh 12 baje hai but if you have work you don't have to come she said fidgeting around
Neel- nahi, its fine I can come
Avni- are you sure? I mean I understand if you're busy...
Neel- looked at her closely and saw that she looked nervous almost as if she didn't want him to come and that annoyed him. Kyun? Tum nahi chahti ho main tumhaare office colleagues se miloon?
Avni (in her head) ab isko kya bataoon ki main kyun nahi chahti ki ye aye!
But out loud she told him- na...nahi aisi koi baat nahi hai.
Neel- ok then. So hum 1 ghante main nikalte hai phir.
Avni- hmm..she nodded back at him absently
Later once they got ready and left in avni's car. Neel was driving and there was silence. Neel decided to turn on the stereo and as soon as he did the songs of their mixtape played out one after another. He realised that she also had been listening to it everyday in her car just like him. His heart warmed at the thought but he did not show much emotion outwardly.
Avni- are you sure you want to come neel? I totally understand if you don't want to...I mean you don't know anyone there, u'll feel awkward na...she tried a last ditch effort at trying to get him to NOT come!
Neel- we're already at the venue. He pointed out as he parked the car.
Looking at avni's expressions he said sternly- what is it? Why don't you want me to come?
Avni- huh...aisa kuch nahi hai. Main toh bas...
NEEl- Bas kya? why are you asking me constantly if I want to come? I'm here aren't I? If you don't want me here, just say so clearly na he said sounding annoyed
Avni- wish I could tell you why... she muttered under her breath but neel heard her nevertheless...and he was puzzled
Both of them made their way into the restaurant where a private area had been cordoned off for this luncheon meeting. It was a small enough gathering. Only about 15 of the core group members and their families had been invited. As avni walked in a few of them walked up to greet her and avni politely introduced them to neel. And several of them exclaimed...Oh so this is neel!
And then as they mingled around avni saw that her boss was making his way over to them. She quickly leaned in and whispered to neel- voh Mr. Keshav Tiripathi (KT) hai..one of my bosses.
Mr. Tripathi was a boisterous 40 something year old guy. As soon as he made his way upto them he exclaimed loudly- Avni, Nice to see you! And lemme see..who do we have here! If it isn't our very own Mahoday Neel Khanna himself. How are you doing young man? He put a hand around neels shoulder lightly...finally aaj aapke darshan ho gaye!
Avni meanwhile didn't know where to hide her face. She knew her boss would be his hyper self and embarass her! This is why she was trying to get neel to not come with her.
Neel on the other hand was completely confused. Sorry sir main kuch samjha nahi...
KT: Arey avni, tumhaare pati ko pata nahi hai ki voh humaare office main kitna popular hai! He asked her merrily!
KT- so young man, aaj toh hum sab ko tumhaare secrets bata hi do..
Neel- secrets? He asked with a question mark on his face
KT- haan bhai. Aisa kya magic kiya hai tumne ki tumhaari biwi tumhaari tareef karne se thakti hi nahi?! Maine toh aisa kabhi nahi dekha. In all these years she is the only woman I know who does not complain about her husband at all! He laughed heartily! SO we all want to know how you have accomplished this feat...tumne impossible ko possible kardiya hai my boy...that's why u r mahoday neel khanna for all of us! And we all want to know your secret!
One of the other employees chipped in jokingly- true sir. In fact the only thing avni loves to talk about is how awesome her husband is! she laughed
KT- haan, for the longest time since she first joined work she would keep to herself and then I don't remember how one day the topic of spouses came about but since then the only non work related thing any of us has ever heard from her- is neel this and neel that! Haha
Neil was blown away by what he was hearing! He turned to avni and saw that she was flushed pink and looked a little embarrassed and was avoiding his eyes. He had already made out that this boss of Avni's was a little too hyper as a personality but although he was exaggerating neel realised that avni had definitely been talking about him and not just talking...she had clearly been saying very very good things about him!
As the realization sunk in neel had mixed emotions. Once again he was seeing the depth of avni's feelings for him which warmed his heart. It was evident that she held him on a pedestal but then why the cold behaviour at home. It also dawned on him why she was so hesitant to bring him along. She knew that her boss and colleagues would start raving when they met him because SHE had been talking about how "awesome" he was. He mentally laughed- Avni was truly an ajooba! The next moment he felt guilty maybe he should have made sure that their small squabbles didn't escalate so much! He resolved to himself to fix things after lunch.
Avneil got through lunch fairly quickly. It was a rather fun affair. All of Avni's colleagues seemed like nice people and he could make out that they all held avni in high regard and as a result him too.
Once they had wrapped up and bid adieu to everyone and got back to their car
Neel- So Mrs.Ajooba now I know why you didn't want me to come. You didn't want me to find out that I've been given an honorary title of Mahoday Neel Khanna!
Avni and neel looked at each other and then couldn't help but burst out laughing
Neel pulled avni in for a hug
Avni- vo mere boss thode hyper hai! I knew the minute he saw you he'd start with the teasing!
Neel just chuckled in response still hugging her
A moment later they broke off...and neel held her hands in his
Neel- whats wrong with us avni? Why are we struggling to say to each others face what we really feel. If you're saying such good things about me behind my back , when I'm in front of you why are you picking fights
Avni- what do you mean picking fights? You think I enjoy fighting with you?!Cant you see how hard it is for me when we are like this...not even being able to talk to you
Neel- pulled her in for another hug- sorry avni! I didn't mean it like that...he sighed. Its been tough on me too...I don't like it when you're upset with me or when we are fighting...
A few seconds later Neel felt a slight wetness on his shoulders and realised that avni was sobbing
Neel-avni, shh...please rona band karo. You know I hate seeing you like this. Please don't cry and he wiped off her tears. HE caressed her hair till she calmed down. As he drew back he placed a kiss on her cheek. Avni smiled a bit at that.
Avni-grasped his hand in hers and said- Neel I don't know what happened, or why. I guess we were both too stressed out and taking it out on each other. But please can we just end it...I am tired of it.
Neel- just placed a reassuring kiss on the palm of her hand and let his lips linger. He rubbed small circles on the back of her hand
And just like that it was all forgotten. Both avni and neel realised that one had to pick their battles...not everything warranted a discussion. Sometimes it was best to just let things go and see the bigger picture. Like right now they both realised that the bottomline was that they loved each other-truly and deeply and that surpassed everything else. Every other issue/quarrel/MU they could sort out gradually over the course of time together.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
