'fool moron, wierdo , sicko' arohi murmerred getting into her cabin, her colleague who was waiting for her asked whom she was scolding. 'who else that stupid murthy. he was again trying to talk nonsense, this time I complained. boss will take care of him now' 'that guy is freak, good u complained, going by his talks nowadays everyone is irritated' ' exactly I mean he is married isnt he? then why pass cheap suggestive comments he is so indecent' 'he's married for more than 10 yrs , like the seven year itch may be he got the 10 year itch, you know when a guy feels like wanting a change of partner, he too must be wanting something new' her collegue laughed. 'idiot what does he think that he can go around talking nonsense, I will warn his wife also poor lady, anyways I am going home, am already late'. Throughout her way she was feeling angry on mr. murthy a co-worker who had joined a year back and now had started to try his luck with any lady he saw. She felt pity for his wife.
She entered the apartment with a headache. It was 8 pm. Arjun was already home. He had picked up the kids, took them for a swim and had fed them. The kids were busy playing and fighting. She sat next to him and threw her head on the backrest of the couch. She hugged and kissed the kids who came to her as soon as she came in. A little love from her and they were off to their room. She started pressing her head with forefingers. 'bad day?' he asked her, 'yep' she replied 'want to talk?' 'later' 'you want me to heat up the food' 'yes please, did the kids eat?' 'long back, they were hungry after swimming and they gobbled up without being told twice' 'and u, were you not hungry' 'I had some snacks earlier'. He went in to heat up the food. She went in to change, and made the kids finally get into the bed, kissed them goodnight. She knew they hated to sleep early but she couldnt let them stay up late on week nights. She promised popcorn movie time Friday night, switched off the light and closed their room door and came to the table.
'guess what I bought for dessert' 'my fav or ur fav' she asked. He looked at her with raised eyebrow. 'hmm black forest?' she guessed. 'good, if u had said vanilla u wldnt have gotten any' 'I wouldnt want any since it is not my fav' 'exactly why u wouldnt get since I wldnot get u something that is not ur fav' 'that is exactly why i guessed it right' 'after seven years of marraige you have to guess it right'. she was suddenly feeling better. a little knick kanck with him and it would charge her up, it did not matter if the arguement made sense or not. Both served in their plates and sat on the couch in front of the tv. 'hmmm keep this I want to watch masterchef Australia' 'you dont even eat those things, why do u want to watch, let us check something else' 'no no today they are gonna pick the final two'. He sighed and let her watch it. 'so they pick final two and the rest arent good then?' 'they are good but still they have to be the best' 'best according to whom?' 'to the judges' 'what if judges dont know who is best' 'they watch them clearly, why wouldnt they know, if the candidate is lucky they will get it right' 'ahh luck!!'. He watched the candidates run hither tither to grab ingredients and cook as fast as they can she was watching with interest without getting up even when the plate got empty, luckily for him there were commercials and he could change the channel. She got up to keep her plate. 'hey it came back' she came back as fast as she could spilling the drinking water on herself and saw it was still on his channel. she punched on his arm making him laugh. 'see what you did' she complained showing the wet top. 'nothing that I can't take care of' he said and before she knew he replaced her wet top with his embrace and hugged her close 'is it better now' she didnot have to reply, she felt warm and better even with just a tank top as she leaned back to his chest and continued watching. He wanted to ask what bothered her work that day then seeing her relaxing he chose not to remind her again. Being the one that cant sit quiet he started to prepare her for what he intended to do that night. He kissed her ears 'can u cook that fast' he moved her hair to the side kissed her shoulders 'do we find that ingredient here' he gave work to his hands as well 'how do the judges know the exact taste when they had just eaten something different' he said kissing her ears and then her neck, 'how come u like to watch it' 'what do u learn from this' he continued his questions while his hands continued their quest. She replied with 'shut up' for most of them. Finally he forced her to get up as he wanted to take it to more comfortable place. She too was not interested in TV anymore. They checked on the kids on their way to the room. The 5 yr old twins were inseparable. They watched them sleeping soundly, as unbearable love filled their hearts seeing the cute and innocent little ones they looked at each other and smiled. The love for each other warmed them up further.
Once in their room. She said 'will be back in a minute' 'whyyy' he said unable to bear even a moment more of wait, in reply he just got a flying kiss. He leaned back on the bed waiting for her. He was already worked up and wanted her to be in his arms. He rubbed his eyes for the 5th time after coming home from the pool and taking the shower. damn chlorine he thought. Arohi was taking time to come out, so he switched on the tv he was in mood for music as he switched channels he stopped at 'sheila ki jawaani'. She came out wearing a silky crimson night suit. She had expected that he would be ready to take her in his arms almost immediately, but instead saw him leaning back watching the tv and that too an item song. He turned his head hearing her come out and whistled. She was stunning with the silky hair flowing down and the silky fabric blocking his view. Turning off the TV he pulled her up catching her hand. 'now this is a surprise' he said pulling her over him. After a few seconds of kissing he passed his hand through her hair 'you should get a short cut' he said twisting a lock of hair around. 'but you always liked it the way it is' 'I still do, but a change is always good' he made way to her lips. Like a bolt her colleague's words came back to her 'may be murthy has 10 year itch'. how can she forget the famous saying seven year itch, she remembered the movie very well and also she and Arjun have been married for severn years. . She stopped him suddenly sitting upright. 'arjun tell me something' not understanding her sudden retreat he moved close to her 'ask me later' 'no it has to be now, do you get the itch too?'.
He was surprised is it the time or moment to talk about itch? moving the layer of her gown and kissing her shoulder he answered 'ofcourse, I do'. She pushed him back 'exCuuuse me!!' huh? arjun was perplexed by her reaction. 'why what is wrong in that?' he asked with a surprised face and tried to stop her from talking further by kissing, she was unnecessarily delaying. As he took a deep kiss from her tempting lips he felt her arms push him back. 'what? since when' she demanded , he had no choice but to answer 'from past few weeks, ever since the pool opened again' the pool arohi thought he is admitting he is attracted to someone who comes to the pool. 'so all this time you have been feeling it' she asked as anger filled her eyes 'not all the time, I get it now and then'. His admitting to it without any fear made her more angry. Should she be happy that he is frank or should she cry that even her husband got the seven year itch and is getting bored with her. 'how can you do that' she asked angrily. 'what can I do, I cant help it' he said sitting up. She couldnot control her tears of anger and sadness, she got down the bed and went to the window 'don't you love me? and you are married don't you remember' she questioned, what has love and marriage got to do with an itch caused by chlorine he was becoming clueless. He should talk to management about the pool water, he made a mental note. He walked to her and pulling her close from the back 'ofcourse I remember, and I was just going to show you how much I love you, what is wrong, come to bed, you can go to sleep if you are tired' 'I really love you' he added. 'no you dont, and you told it yourself just now' she said not moving from there. he had just said he loved her, why did she hear he didnt . 'but I said...' 'I know what you said , and heard it clear, you want a change' she went back to sit on the bed, this time the tears had rolled down. looks like she had really bad day at work he thought, be it for fun or real he could never tolerate tears in her eyes. 'all this because I asked you get a hair cut?, ofcourse I love change, I like to see you in different attires and styles beacause you are breathtakingly beautiful in every look, especially in this' his attention trailed off from the topic to her silky self that was making him hard to concentrate, then remembering he had not finished he continued 'but if you dont like it you dont have to, I love you the way you are, dont you know?' 'no, you just said you got the itch, what else is there to talk' she sniffed.
This time he scratched his head for not getting what she said. 'I don't understand, why are you crying exactly?' 'That murthy at office he passes nonsensical comments , he has that 10 year itch, useless fellow, I thought not all guys are like that, but now you are saying you too feel like having a change, how am I supposed to react after my husband tells me he has a seven year itch' she said in one go as her nostrils flared with anger. He was shocked 'what guys? what seven year itch?'. She did not answer she just looked the other way. 'okay whatever it is I dont understand, someone bothered you at work , i am going to come there tomorrow and take him to task. and you are right all guys are not the same, and the last thing you said seven year whatever I dont get it'. He sat next to her, 'stop crying and being angry dear, I dont know what I did but I am sorry' he said, saying sorry was not in his forte , but still he said when it was utmost necessary especially where arohi is concerned. 'you didnt mean it then?' she asked. He looked at her asking what did he even say. 'you said you wanted a change, and admitted you get the seven year itch, that some guys feel, like having a change after being with some one for more than seven years, so what should I make out of it?' she questioned him calming down a bit. He looked at her dumbfound for a minute. After it slowly dawned upon him what she understood, he started to laugh, seeing her getting angry again his laughter increased till he had tears in his eyes 'dumbo I was talking about the chlorine in pool water. for past few weeks it is affecting us' he came near her, she was still understanding what he had assumed and what she had assumed, when her face changed as she understood , he made a gesture of a bulb lighting up and started laughing again 'I told you to watch some intelligent shows' he said between laughs. She took the pillow insight to hit him for making fun of her. He dodged and her wrists making her drop it. 'leave me, I am going to sleep, you keep looking in the mirror and laugh' she said turning away. 'why will I let you sleep now, first you come dressed like this and blow my brains out, then you waste precious time making me wait, now it is my turn to get the payback' he said making her prisoner in his arms. 'even god himself cannot make me think of someone else, why do you think a mere seven years of time would cause it?' she snuggled against him 'but yeah may be if after seventeen years if you ask me...' he stopped getting another punch from her on his arm making him laugh again 'now let me reply your punches' he said moving her back continuing from where they had stopped, assuring her with every kiss and move that he is and forever will be in love with her and no one else.
Seher Hone Ko Hai
Cricket
Ganga Mai Ki Betiyan
