Ashlok FF - You've Won My Heart! (Chapter 10 updated on page 138) - Page 51

"Wow, your mehndi is so beautiful. And see how dark its colour is. You are very lucky vahini." Jyoti and Astha were sitting on the sofa facing each other. Jyoti, who was holding Astha's hands in hers, was examining her palms closely. Astha simply smiled seeing Jyoti's fascination with her mehndi.

"But vahini where is bhai's initials hidden in your mehndi? I can't seem to find it." Jyoti mused, examining her hands more keenly.

Astha was startled with this unexpected question. Last night she made every effort to avoid being asked this question but she knew sooner or later she will have to face it. Feeling uneasy, Astha pulled back her hands and closed them into fists as if trying to hide a secret lying in her hands. "You won't find it because they are not there." She saw Jyoti looking at her incredulously with questioning eyes, so she continued, giving a justification. "Actually neither I, nor the mehndi expert remembered to hide his initials while putting mehndi on my hands and by the time she remembered, she was nearly finished with the mehndi. There was no spot left on my hands to write even one letter of his name. So I decided to let it be."

Shlok, who was standing by the door listening to their conversation, felt a surge of exasperation at her words. He was unable to comprehend the cause behind his annoyance but all he knew is that he didn't like what he heard. He was reminded of the last night's events.

Suddenly Astha's eyes fell on him standing by the door. Their eyes met for few seconds before he turned around and walked away. Shlok decided it was better for him to stay away from Astha as much as possible since he didn't want to get into another round of verbal war with her.

Astha realised that he has heard their conversation. The truth was she forbade the mehndi expert to write Shlok's initials on her palm. For her, it symbolised an act of belonging...signifying in the most innocent way possible to whom the woman's heart belonged to. When he didn't even belong to her to begin with then how could she write his name on her hands. May be that right was someone else's...just the thought of it pierced her heart.

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Shlok was asked to take Astha to visit her parents for pag phere's ritual. He didn't want to go but knew he had no choice. The last thing he wanted at this moment is for Astha's parents to find out about the bitter truth of their relationship and things to get even more complicated. He found Jyoti and sent her to call Astha so they can leave. After their brief encounter in the morning, they didn't come across each other...mainly due to Shlok's conscious effort to avoid her.

He was waiting for her in the car when he saw her coming from a distance. As she approached nearer he did a double take. She was clad in a maroon chiffon saree with white crystal and beads work all over it, and off-white roses embroidered on its border which added glitter to its beauty. The saree was enhancing her slim figure, highlighting the curves of her body. It was the first time he was seeing her in a saree and a realisation was dawning on him that just how mistaken he was about Astha. She wasn't just attractive, she was strikingly beautiful and at the moment in the saree she was looking every bit graceful and elegant that anyone can appear. She was making her way steadily towards the car, looking wary as if afraid she might trip.

He forced his eyes away from her, again starting to feel annoyed for unknown reason. As she came to sit on the passenger seat next to him, he snapped at her, "Will you hurry up? I have been waiting here for nearly 15 minutes. It's bad enough that I have to accompany you for the sake of this stupid ritual."

Astha felt slightly hurt at his harsh words, thus, giving way to her anger. She stared at him with an angry piercing look. "Well I too am feeling as miserable as you, being in your company so I have got a perfect solution to put an end to our miseries. Why don't you hand me the car keys and I will drive to my parents' by myself. I can always make an excuse to my parents about your absence but at least this way I will be spared from taking any favours from you." she said raising her eyebrows and extending her hand, pointedly looking at the car keys.

Shlok, on the other hand, was taken aback. He didn't expect her to suggest something as ridiculous as this...to go all alone when according to the ritual they are supposed to go together. He stared at her for few seconds, trying to read her expressions. Then shrugging his shoulders, he turned off the ignition of the car, took the keys out and placed them in her hands.

"Ok. There you go. If you wish to go all by yourself then do so. I am sure your family won't get suspicious at all about our relationship because you will be able to convince your family very well about why I didn't come to visit them with you when according to the ritual I should. After all there could be other things more important than these useless rituals, right? I will just go back and tell aayi that your dear daughter-in-law preferred to go alone. Isn't it right?" Shlok said in a sarcastic tone.

Astha glared at him fiercely in return. Shlok could almost feel the sparks flying through her ferociously glowing eyes. He was sure if looks could kill, he would have burnt alive at this very moment and turned into ashes. She threw the car keys on his lap with a sharp jerk, folded her arms across her chest and turned her face to the other side to look out of the window. Shlok noticed her breathing heavily, making him realise that she was trying to gain control on her anger. Shlok smiled victoriously and mentally patted his back for his first victory over his wifey.

Throughout their journey, Astha stubbornly refused to acknowledge his presence, whereas Shlok couldn't help throwing her a glance every once in a while. He decided silence was the best option for him since he didn't want to poke the tigress in the eye when she was at her worst.

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The visit to Astha's parents turned out to be a pleasant one. Both of them were mindful about their behaviour...both acting like perfectly normal newly-wedded couple. Shlok, though at first was reluctant to visit her parents, soon found himself enjoying the company of her family, particularly Sid's. Astha spent most of the time with her mom, helping her with the preparation of the food and later with setting up the table. All of them had lunch in an entertaining and cheerful environment, Sid spreading the laughs around with his amusing stories and jokes.

After several hours, with the evening approaching, Shlok announced they should take the leave. He asked about Astha who was nowhere around.

"She must be in her room." Astha's mom informed him.

"Oh..I'll just go and call her then." He made his way towards her room.

He found the door of her room closed. He knocked a few times but after getting no response, he turned the knob of the door. The room was completely empty. After making sure she wasn't anywhere in the room, he was about to leave when something on the bed caught his attention. It looked like a book but very bright and colourful one in appearance. He walked towards the bed to have a closer look at it. Its vibrant colours were making him curious to find out what it is. He was just a few feet away from the book when he heard a tiny click and saw the door of the washroom open. Astha came out wiping her face with a towel. Both came to a halt, noticing each other mere few feet away.

Astha, who stared at him in astonishment, not expecting to find him in her room, saw his eyes darting towards the book kept on the bed. Her face quickly made a transformation from being surprised to one looking worried. She almost ran towards her bed and made to snatch the book before he could even take one step further and hid it behind her back.

He was too stumped to make a movement. What is it that would make her react this way? Her peculiar reaction had increased his curiosity by several degrees. He took a few steps towards her, his eyes glued to her face. She was looking nervous for once, unable to meet his eyes.

"What is it that you are trying to hide from me?" he asked, gesturing towards her hands holding the thick book.

"That's none of your business. It's something personal to me, which I don't find comfortable sharing with anyone, esp. you of all people."

Shlok could sense her hesitation. He stood there watching her, trying to decipher what could be so personal to her that she would panic at the idea of him taking a look at it and why.

She took a few steps back, trying to create more distance between them. His closeness was making her all the more nervous. "So why were you here? Were you looking for me."

He understood that she was trying to change the subject and divert his mind away from her book. He also knew there was no point arguing with her over it. So he decided to drop the matter for now. Besides, I can always find out later, he thought, his mind already scheming.

"Yes. I came to call you so we can leave."

"Oh I will come downstairs in just two minutes. You go ahead."

He nodded and turned to leave. She shut the door as soon as he stepped out of her room. Leaning against the door, she closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart hammering in her chest. That was close. She walked towards her study table, opened one of its drawers and placed the book carefully inside it. Here it will remain safe...away from his prying eyes.

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Astha was in her bedroom, sorting out her clothes in her cupboard when Kavya came running up to her, holding a board game, ludo.

"Chachi chachi, will u please play with me?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes, while skipping lightly on her feet in excitement.

Astha smiled at her and bent down to give her a peck on her cheek. This cute and innocent angel of Agnihotri family never failed to cheer her up. "I am sorry angel but I have got some work to do. Why don't you find someone else to play with you?"

The smile vanished from Kavya 's face replaced by sadness and disappointment. "I have asked everybody but no one has time to play with me. Everyone is busy. I thought you would play with me but you too have work to do."

Astha cupped her face. She couldn't bear to see her upset. "Aww my Kavya can't find anyone to play with? Never mind, I will play with you."

"Really?" Kavya squealed in excitement, a huge smile appearing on her cute face.

"Really" Astha smiled back, assuring her. Kavya hugged her in joy, making Astha chuckle.

After setting up the game, both began to play. They were half way through the game and Astha was in the lead when Shlok entered the room, swinging the keyring in his finger. When he saw them playing sitting on the bed, he approached them and sat down to observe their game. Astha, as usual was trying her best to ignore him. After few minutes, he got up and came to sit next to Kavya.

"I see our Kavya is losing the game. Why don't I play with you and make you win. What say?"

"Chachu can you still make me win?"

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged, as if he was a master at turning lost game into a win. Astha couldn't help rolling her eyes.

Seeing the two team up against her, she said to Kavya, "Now that your chachu is here, why don't you continue to play with him now?" Before, Kavya could react, Shlok interrupted in a challenging tone.

"Are you going away because I'm here or are you afraid you will lose once again like always?" she realised he was referring to all those times in their childhood when they would compete each other and he would always end up being the winner.

"Neither...I have just got some work to do." she said while getting up.

"You can always do your work later. If you are really not afraid of losing and also not bothered by my presence then prove it."

Astha scowled at his challenge. Well she was not one to back down without a fight esp. when it involved someone challenging her. She sat back down in her previous position, pointedly looking at him. Her gesture clearly indicating that she was ready to take on the challenge.

Shlok smiled and continued to play the game in Kavya's place.

As the game progressed Shlok's smiled started taking a taunting edge to it. He had always emerged as a victor when competed against her. But this time, this trivial game seemed more important to him than any other. He didn't know why he was feeling so competitive. All he knew is that he had to gain a victory over her like always, esp. when she was on a verge to win the entire game.

Astha was playing quietly without speaking a word, sitting opposite Shlok, while Kavya was sitting in between them watching the game intently. For her, it was enough that she was winning, no matter who was playing.

Astha knew there was little point now since Shlok had the ability to turn around the game in his favour. And the game did turn out the way she suspected. Shlok managed to win. He cheered with Kavya who looked almost as happy, and high-fived her. Astha smiled, feeling happy for Kavya. By now she was so used to losing to Shlok that she didn't feel upset anymore. Besides, for her these were just trivial meaningless games. They didn't decide who was the best after all.

"Well lucky for you, I am not a sore loser." she said with a smile looking at both of them. Then as she was about to get down from the bed and stand up, she accidentally stepped on her pallu of her sari, causing her to fall down on her back with a loud thump. Shlok and Kavya looked at her with concern. She took a moment to make sense of her bearings since everything happened in a flash. Her funny expressions made Shlok roar with laughter in spite of himself. She was staring ahead with wide eyes with mouth open. As she realised what happened, embarrassment took hold of her. Her cheeks coloured with blush.

"You might not be a sore loser but I am sure there is going to be something else sore tonight." Shlok joked, poking fun at her. She glared at him feeling more embarrassed than annoyed esp. after noticing Kavya laughing at her too. "Ha ha very funny." She quickly sat up adjusted her saree, her cheeks as red as tomato. Shlok bent down and extended his hand towards her to assist her to stand up. She was about to slap away his hand when a mischievous thought occurred to her. She threw a smile towards him and took his hand in both of hers in a firm hold, causing his smile to falter. Before, he could understand or suspect anything, she pulled him on the floor beside her using all the strength in her fragile body. He fell down flat on the floor unable to keep a balance. Astha laughed heartily seeing his expressions similar to hers a while back. She quickly stood up feeling pleased with herself. Now it was her turn to high-five Kavya.

"Tsk tsk...now who's going to be sore tonight?" she said, feigning innocence.

And surprisingly instead of feeling annoyed, Shlok felt amazed at her nerve to give him tit-for-tat. This was a completely new side of her that he was witnessing since past few days. And he was not hating it...that was for sure. Besides, It was a after a long time he was watching her laugh so heartily. He couldn't help smile watching her. It was like their old childhood days had returned.

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