ArshiFF: Strings Attached! NOTE pg53 - Page 12

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Strings Attached!

Chapter 6

Lavanya looked at the keys in her hand and closed her eyes in defeat. The keys where the correct ones, but the lock was not; rather this was not the house she lived in, anymore.

Aman had been opening the boxes of the food he just had delivered when he heard keys rattling outside his door, then a foreign invasion into his locks and then nothing. It couldn't be a thief; he lived in Delhi's finest area, with private security. He slowly started towards the door and was dumbstruck for a second when he saw his ex-wife standing there with her eyes closed.

'Lavanya?' it was enough to start a conversation between them. Lavanya opened her eyes to the sight, which had not left her since morning, while she use to wait for Fashion Week from both the creative point of view and personal, she had never thought she would come to dread it.

Earlier Fashion Week had meant time spent with Aman, he was an immaculate boss but little gestures that he use to do, hidden from the world had been the highlights of her day; now every second was a struggle. Lavanya pursed her lips in embarrassment and looked up at him.

'Hi, I-a had- a-meeting-no-I-a-came to, oh crap!' Lavanya gave up, while Aman grimaced in understanding.

"Come in, I was about to have dinner.' Saying that he turned and entered, leaving Lavanya to follow, it was just like him to leave her with no option, she lingered a minute and then Aman turned back 'What?' Lavanya shook her head and started for the dining room, she knew the lay-out on the back of her hand; she had found it, liked it, decorated it and lived in it.

Lavanya walked into cartons overflowing from the dustbin, which had somehow found its way to the dining hall from the kitchen, there was a stale smell that lingered in her house as if it had not been cleaned and aired for a while.

"Aman, why is the house so messy?" Aman did not even flick back to look at her, "Shanta bai quit a week ago." He did not have to complete the obvious to Lavanya, she had lived with this man for two years and knew of his eccentric ways, no wonder Shanta had quit on him.

"I'll call Shanta and tell her to join back." She automatically went to the kitchen to fetch plates to serve, as she saw Aman start to hog directly from the carton. She entered a zoo!

"Aaa! Aman!!! Co-coa-coakROACH!" she ran for her life and climbed the table. Aman let out a howler and let Lavanya see the contents of his mouth.

"Stop laughing! It's not fun- what are you eating! There is a mushroom in there! Spit it out! Aman I said SPIT IT OUT!" forgetting all about the wilderness that currently resided in the kitchen she took Aman to task.

"You know you'll have a cold by morning, then why have the damn things!" when she saw that he was not going to budge and she moved to him and tried to put her nails to petty use of scratching him till he spit them out.

"Lavanya! Stop. Stop! "  Aman took hold of Lavanya's wrists in each hand and thrust them to her back, pulling her to his chest. That stopped her and he suddenly got very aware of her curves now homing into his body. Their breaths mingled with each other and grew at a very steady pace, his eyes flickered to her lips which were by now open as if in invitation.

Lavanya snapped out from the trance when she heard the bell go, Aman stepped back and walked to the door while she found sanctuary in her kitchen, but with enough caution to put Delhi Police to shame. She opened the cupboard that housed the crockery, or rather had! All she found was empty cereal boxes, which had been knocked down inside the cupboard; she literally smelled a rat and exited the kitchen and encountered Aman throwing an official letter on the sofa.

"What is it?"

"Electric-bill"

"Keep it with you, or you'd forget it."

"Its post dated anyway."

"What? Why?"

"Because I was yet to collect it, forget paying it."

"Aman-"

"Lavanya, shut up!"

"What?! Am-aman! "

"What are you doing here, Lavanya?"

"I-a, was, no the point is why is the house a mess, how can you even live in such a mess! This place is not fit to inhabit."

"Why do you care?"

"Because-because its unsanitary and you-you need" Aman scoffed and looked away. "Don't look away from me, I-a"

"Lavanya, stop worrying. You aren't my wife anymore! You took care of it by killing my baby!"

Lavanya froze.

Aman was beyond caring at that very moment, he was mad. He was mad at Lavanya for leaving him. He was mad at Lavanya for killing his baby. He was mad at the world for being happy. He was mad at the guard for not giving him the bill earlier. He was mad at the damned cockroaches! And he was mad at himself for still caring about all these things!

Lavanya dashed out of the apartment, with tears in her eyes. Aman somehow stopped him from calling her back.

The titans were throwing draggers at each other over dinner. Only we readers who have sibling very close to our own nature would recognize the silent war that was being waged. The members of Raizada clan had been a witness to such a scenario for most of their lives to let it slip. They were all aware that Anjali Manohar Jha was leading somewhere, somewhere that Arnav Singh Raizada didn't want to go.

Arnav shot a look at his sister, as if telling her to stop it now. But Anjali was on imaginary crack, named Khushi Kumari Gupta.

While the conversation was all about business, let's see what we all read between the lines.

"Chote, this bridal collection shouldn't have a hitch like the FALL  collection."

"Don't worry Di, I know what I am doing."

"I know Chote, I am after all your sister. I know all your working styles and SCERETS!"

"I know your techniques too Di, after all I have been subjected to them all my life."

"But you have to admit, they are genius techniques!" Anjali winked at Shyam and noted that he was not even looking at her.

"Yes, yes. In fact so genius that a disaster management department had to be added after your first scheme. You remember that don't you Di?"

Anjali snapped out from her Shyam contemplation at the dig.

"Oh! Come on Chote this new scheme is genius! I am sure you'll have your share of fun this time. I'll make sure my little brother has all the fun. After all we don't want the phrase 'all work and no play' to come true? What would all you employEE think of you?"

"They would think I am Arnav Singh Raizada!"

Arnav sent Anjali a warning look, as if saying 'Don't do it now, we'll talk later!'

While Anjali smiled and answered in her eyes too. 'You think? Well, I have here an army to keep my back, the back you plan to stab, little brother. Now you wait and watch.'

And the mighty Arnav Singh Raizada almost immediately regretted throwing the old dig at his manipulative sister.

"Nani, you know I have this new employee, she's from Lucknow too! You might know the family they-"

Before she could finish Chun-mun burst out laughing, in her baby giggles. Anjali looked at her daughter who had placed a lone "Bharwa-Bhindi" on the cleft of her father's upper-lip replacing a missing moustache. Shyam had been too lost to even notice his daughter's ministrations on his face.

Anjali laughed for all to see, but she tried to catch his eyes to know what was wrong.

On the other hand, Arnav realized Di was not going to back down. He'll have to make Khushi quit.

Let the show being Ms. Gupta.

That brought a ghost of a smile to his lips, which went unnoticed by all as they were busy clicking pictures of Chun-mun's master piece.

Aakash left the laughing lot to go back to his evening, yes an evening with Payal.

What a beautiful name! he thought to himself. He smiled to himself at remembering his college days when he would snigger at girls who wore sequined anklets.

'Behenji' that was the tag, he would associate them with. But not only was his Payal named Payal, she wore a pair too.

She carried it well too!

He wasn't even biased. She had pretty ankles.

When she had slid her legs under the table, one ankle over another into a relaxing position, all he could do was to stare at them through the glass of the table. But it had taken him a while to get her to that comfort level.

She had been jumpy at first. He had almost expected a punch once. He laughed at the memory.

When they were at the door of "Indian Coffee House" he had lent forward to open the door for her, she had taken a sharp breath, and he had sniggered at her response. She had looked sideways, slightly tilted upwards to give him a nervous look.

He loved that nervous look that was the only look on her face that gave him confidence. There were many that gave him comfort, satisfaction and many rose his adrenalin and left him flabbergasted, but her nervous look gave him the impression he was back in command.

Shallow!

Well, shallow he might be but no liar. And every normal human likes to have the ball in their court and he was no different.

This false comfort of being back in command had made him or rather lulled him; mind you without thought, to slide his hand- full face- on her lower back and accidently touching just the beginning of her derrire (bottom).

Okay, admit it! It was partly intentional; he had been fascinated by the thing from the very beginning!!

But her response had made him forget every lecherous thought for the next half-an-hour.

She turned back with blazing eyes, with a fisted hand. Her eyes were screaming, take it off!

He took his hand off and smiled the smile of an innocent and pointed his accused hand towards an empty table. She looked at the poor hand for a second and visibly decided to let it go for now, but flicked a last angry look at him before taking a seat on the comfortable sofa.

While another room in the house housed a jubilant wife with a distracted husband.

Anjali knew Shyam was a little off, but her constant badgering had always irritated him. She also knew a sure shot way to take him out of his misery.

While she was a little worried about Shyam, she was ecstatic about the goading session with Arnav. He might be the smart one to go to Harvard, he might be the smart one to make money like pooping, but she had her own little victories.

She silently sent her thank yous to the maker for giving her this manipulative mind. Not only did she love it, she was after all doing this for the greater good of the family.

She approached Shyam, who had his back turned to her. He was looking at the garden out front, which was dark, other than her angry brother snipping at random shrubs.

"Hi, you look a little distracted?" she slid her palms across his back, settling her right hand on his belly and her left hand to curl on his left shoulder like an up-side down hook. This gave her all the space she needed to whisper into his ear.

Shyam automatically laid his right hand over her's on his belly and caressed it. While she nuzzled her nose at the back of his nape and breathed in his scent.

"Shyam?" she moved her nose left to right as if drawing patterns on his nape.

When she did not get any further response, she bit his ear-lobe and was satisfied by the hiss issued by her husband. Anjali was not a woman who knew to give up and she was not going to learn any time soon.

She applied a little pressure to his left shoulder as if telling him to turn towards her, his movement was a little lethargic, but he did turn and was welcomed by a kiss to make a man's brain go numb.

Even his preoccupied brain realized it was jubilant sex and he was not in the habit of denying his wife anything. But what do you do when your brain is full of thoughts about your sister and whether to tell your wife about her existence or not and your wife wants to have sex?

A small voice that sounded strangely like his own, "You suck it up and do it! And then stop being a f*cking coward and tell her the truth!"

He picked up Anjali and moved to the bed, he lay her down on the bed, without even turning it down for the night. Anjali smiled up to him, but for all the saucyness in her smile, he could feel a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

He closed his eyes and started to remove his kurta, but as soon as he closed his eyes he realized he could not do it.

"Shyam? Are you stuck?" Anjali's soft husky voice floated to his cloth covered ears and he thought to himself, 'Like you wouldn't believe!'

He took of the kurta and moved to the bed, he slowly unwrapped a present from above but he still could not help the doom sitting in his tummy.

Anjali controlled the growing fear in her stomach with each second and smiled at her husband.

He wasn't looking. 

She closed her eyes as he started to undress her in a detached manner, her fear only grew.

Right before he had started kissing her, she had noticed the distant look in his eyes and for the life of her she could feel the detached and unenthusiastic kiss she was being subjected to. Anjali gulped the saliva that had accumulated while kissing, that unenthusiastic was the kiss and silently cried for the new phase of her marriage.

Shyam was lying on his back, while Anjali lay next to him not touching and not looking at each other. He sighed and got up to go to the bathroom and mentally cursed himself at sucking it up and doing it!

IT WAS A DISASTER!

In the six years of their marriage, never had she been so dejected. Their sex life had been something to be envious of, but what had just happened was a DISASTER.

She turned her face into the pillow and cried the tears of passed years and only a looming thought of how this might be permanent.

Shyam re-entered the room, ready with an apology and saw Anjali fake sleep. He realized his tigress was ready to let it go, he was weak and he let it slide too, without realizing the trouble he was inviting.

 Ciao!

Love!

Chetana

Buddy me for PM's

Chapter 5                                              Chapter 7 (Slightly mature)

Originally posted by: sohara

Nice update!

but why so much Anjali-Shyam!

I am just hating the Anji-shyamu drama in the show, plz give me a break I don't want to read their love story in the FF too.Plz start Arshi track soon.