“It’s time for a tea break biwi,” Virat said, as he placed the steaming hot mug on the table, and retreated to his earlier seat, in front of her. The night was beginning to get cold on the terrace and he had thought some tea would warm them.
She Hmmmm-ed in reply, still lost in her books.
“Sai,” he tried again.
No response.
“There is a one month training program outside Nagpur,” he casually dropped the bomb, then proceeded to blow his tea as he surreptitiously looked at her from the corner of his eyes. He had her undivided attention by the end of his line as she eased herself out of the resting position she had previously occupied, and sat up.
“What do you mean? You literally returned home 2 days ago,” she grunted, already not liking the turn of events.
“Duty calls”
She pouted, realising that she could never stop him as far as his duty is concerned.
“You will miss me” he prodded.
“No,” came an instant answer.
“It was a rhetorical question, for which I seek no answer! I know exactly how much and what do you miss” he laughed at her, before drinking his green tea.
She sighed, wishing she had not been the one who called him every night for the 2 whole weeks he had been away, because now the man knew just how much she missed him and he would flaunt it at every opportunity.
“As if you will not miss me,” she tried to counter.
“I never denied that I will miss you. In fact, when I'm away you are the one I miss first thing in the morning,” his admission made her smile. She took her own mug, and sipped the hot bitter liquid waiting for it to calm her down.
“Virat,” she hummed after a few minutes of silence.
He beckoned her to go ahead.
“When did you realise you loved me?” she shot her question and met his eyes, trying to find her answers in them.
He lifted one dark brow quizzically at the question and wondered how best to answer that.
“This,” he said after a few seconds, pointing to her mug of tea on the table.
“What this? This table,” she asked puzzled. What did their love have to do with the table?
He nodded negatively.
“Are you talking about the mess on the table,” she said as he tried to interrupt, but she continued “But there are your things as well on the table. Wait, do you mean I am a mess?” she ended her rant, eyeing him.
Virat sighed and facepalmed dramatically.
“I meant the mug, my love,” he said,shaking his head at the interpretation she had concocted. Her cheeks coloured red, as it always does, when she hears him say “my love.” She wondered why it was so easy for him to call her so fondly, to shower his love so obviously, without coming across as cringey. She realised that he would probably want her to address him with such endearments as well, and mentally made a note to find one for him.
He snapped his finger, bringing her attention back to him.
“The realisation was gradual, Sai. It was not sudden and it certainly did not strike me in the face. I would probably struggle to point out the exact moment,” he stopped to gauge her expressions and then continued, “So, maybe it was when I learnt to make green tea for you from a YouTube video and pretended to like that bitter drink because it is the only thing I knew how to make for you.”
“I always knew you hated green tea, given that you add honey to it,” Sai interrupted.
“No. It was not about me. It was about you, for I know that you love sweet things. It was just a way to entice you to never refuse the green tea,” he responded with a wink, and continued,
“Maybe it was when I knew could drop the mask of IPS Virat Chavan and did not have to act like someone I was not, when I entered the confines of our bedroom;
Maybe it was when I could not stop looking at you or when I constantly wanted, no, needed to be near you;
Maybe it was that day when I was away and we spoke the entire night, and when we cut the call, the morning felt beautiful despite the sleep deprivation.
Maybe it was during those conversations when we just clicked, when talking to you was so easy that I never wanted to stop;
Or maybe it was when I could sit in silence with you for hours and feel like it’s ok;
Maybe it was during those mundane moments - when we’d be watching a movie and you’d feed me popcorn, or when we’d discuss our favorite authors in the garden;
Maybe it was when you told me you wanted to shift to a hostel and I agreed, because your happiness mattered more than the hurt of losing you;
I don’t think I’d ever be able to tell you when I realised I loved you, but I realised pretty early that I loved the person I am, and could be, with you. The way you shower your love on everyone, your confidence, your strength, your ambitions, it inspires me Sai, it makes you irresistible to me, but it also scares me because you'd probably do fine, live well, without me. But, I...” he left the rest hanging, feeling no need to ponder on negative things.
Sai was looking at the moon when he finished, and her emotions - tears brimming her eyes and a smile on her face - mirrored his own. He resisted the urge of crossing the distance and hugging the life out of her, and asked;
“And you Sai?”
She smiled at his question, and wiped those unshed tears, before answering “Do you remember our first kiss?”
She continued when he nodded, “I hated it.”
“I know.”
He had been drunk, jealous and out of control that night. Virat had tried his best to undo that memory with lots of happy ones, but it had stuck with her.
“But you never asked me why I hated it?”
“I know Sai, I know you hated it because it was on the spur of the moment - you did not give me your consent first and I had not confessed my feelings at that point. And I've apologised for that and I will again, if you want me to,” he offered genuinely.
“Duffer. I hated it for a different reason. I hated it because I realised that I wanted this over and over again, that no matter how much it breaks me, no matter how much it hurts me, I`d want this moment with you, only you. I hated it because I'd rather be wrecked and spend the rest of my life collecting the broken pieces. I hated it because you could absolutely destroy me, and I would still love you, without any expectations.”
“Sai,”
Sometimes her own name sounded alien to her, it sounded almost like a worship. She did not know which was better; the way he called out her name in their most intimate moments, or with that raspy voice in the morning, or now, when he was so overwhelmed.
“To be honest, you are right. I would do fine without you. But I’d actually want you being there patting my head, mumbling it’ll be alright when I wake up from my nightmares,” Sai said, and then added as an afterthought,
“Had it not been for that stupid promise to Pakhi didi, we -”
“Can you just forget that part!”
“No. I will use it as a bad example for our children in the future. Seriously Virat, two days and you promised her that you would be single, main hoti nah, to…”
“When will you stop using that as an argument?”
“Never”
Glare.
“Ok fine. I`ll stop,” she giggled and then mumbled, “For today.”
“Let’s forget about that and focus on the first part of what you said. The part about children and the future,” he suggested.
“Shut up”
“Red alert. Sai Joshi is blushing and this ACP has trouble digesting that,” he mocked her.
The cushion, aimed at his face, achieved its target.
“One track mind,” she snickered.
“Yes, only you have a pure mind here! I was talking about children and the future, you inferred the act!”
The second cushion landed on his chest this time.
“Besharam”
“Tumhare liye,” he mouthed and blew her a kiss.
This man!
“Sai, look at your face, you could give competitions to those tomatoes that were in the Poha that Pakhi made today!”
“You want to spend the night on this terrace, don`t you?”
“Huh, as if you can handle that. You take the entire house on your head when I`m not here.”
“Says the one who cannot sleep when I sleep in Usha Maushi`s room,” she responded in retaliation.
“Sai, what would you have done in Pakhi’s place? I mean if I made that promise to you,” he had always wondered that.
“You sure you want to hear my answer?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
He nodded.
“Aise band bajati aapka ki ye do din ka nasha, do minutes mein utaar deti. And I wouldn’t have married your brother, for you,” she was laughing by this time, and was about to say something on the stupidities that he had committed, when Virat changed the topic,
“About the one month training program, I was only trying to seek your attention. There is a training programme, but, I never said I am going,” he smiled at her mischievously.
“Congratulations, Mr Chavan, you are spending the night on this terrace,” she threw the last cushion at him, as she gulped the now warm and sweet green tea.
-----
I went hiking yesterday, It was hard, but when I reached the top, the pain was worth it. I enjoyed the view with some cold green tea - which did not taste bitter, owing to the altitude. While on top of the mountain, I thought of love and life and this inspired this OS. Isn`t love, be it the romantic ones or any other, a bit like climbing a mountain - It’s tough, you give your best, you slip and get up, once you start the climb you’d have to go through the good weather (the happiness) and the bad ones (tough times) but you do not stop persevering. And when you reach the summit, you feel alive. A bit like the journey that our lovely couple will go through.
Oh, you might have guessed that I am a tea person. Are you one too?
I hope you had a nice time reading this one. Do leave your feedback, they are motivating!🤗
Cheers,
Keshni😳
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