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Running along the soft grass covered earth, she took pleasure from the soothing coolness it provided to her bare feet. Her yellow dupatta sometimes flayed in the wind and at other moments brushed the ground that intermittently glowed as if the sunlight streaming in through the tiny spaces amidst the leafy cloud, had been taken in a fistful and then scattered. Owing to the thick foliage of trees, the land remained in the pleasing shadows, while the leaves and fruits took the gifts that the sunshine offered.
Slowing down , she padded along until she reached her favourite mango tree. Why she had fondness for this particular one, there was no rhyme or reason for that. Maybe it was because of it being quite a distance away from her home, that was situated along on one side of the periphery of this mango grove. A good walk in to the grove, this tree had often provided her the respite from the world outside. To escape her mothers' scolding's, her school homework or just because the place had caught her fancy as a child, she used to always make a run for it.
And then there was the added goodness of the yellow delight. More than that, raw mangoes were her favourite. While most of the tree's fruits were plucked and buried in heaps of grains for them to get ripened by the heat, her father had known to just leave this one for her, she smiled recalling the memories of her climbing up on these trees and collecting the fruits to take them to her mother and pester her to make pickles.
Year's passed, time changed. But not her routine of coming here every other day. Even when she was in a muddled state of mind about getting married while her parent's were sure of the alliance, it was here she had come off to. Not that she got her answers by reflecting here. The confusion, the natural apprehensions that came along with getting married had ebbed away while she met Arnav a few times after her engagement. All it did was to settle down all her fraying thoughts about the expectations, the upcoming responsibilities, her own dreams to a peaceful calm.
And right now too as her heart fluttered uncontrollably, she couldn't think of any other place to come to. Two months ago, when Arnav had tied the knot with her, she knew she liked him. And was sure she'll experience her first stirrings of love with him only. Though, the chance to walk on that path came few and far in between, even in this short span of couple of months that had passed by. He used to work in another metropolitan city. And though he had tried hard, availing another home to bring her to it had taken more time than they had thought.
So it was decided, that whatever more time it required, she would stay back in their hometown at his house. Arnav had left just a few days after their wedding. While he always asked after her , whenever he called and then talked to her too, there was always a palpable distance. But today it was different. When he had told , early in the morning today, that their new flats' formalities are done with and there are no more glitches remaining, she had witnessed a longing , an anticipation like never before.
"I am coming in two days to take you, Khushi."
His words resounded again as they had been since he had uttered them. As if he was just besides her, whispering them in her ears. The image her thoughts created, halted her palm which was lightly grazing the bark of the tree and she brought it over to her chest to feel her heart beating in that rhythm again when he had actually said that. Smiling , she looked up at the small, green raw mangoes. Shaking her head, she took hold of both the ends of her dupatta and tied them around her waist.
Within a couple of minutes, one could find Khushi perched up on one of the branches, busy plucking the mangoes with her dexterous nimble fingers and dropping them on the ground to collect later after descending from the tree, the thoughts of her soon to return husband and the equally delightful recipe of mango pickle that she wanted to make for him , swirling in her mind.
**
His tanned arms moved and their muscles flexed as he held the tensed string in place, occasionally jerking it while the morning air around was rife with the loud cheers of the kids who considered him no less than a hero for being able to fly the kite so expertly. Standing on the terrace of the house, the small gathering was dedicatedly focussed upon cutting short the journey of another kite, when the man who held the reins of the kite war in his hands was called up on by his mother in an enthusiastic voice. "Arnav!". And no sooner had he turned his head, getting distracted that their own colourful kite s' string snapped and it glided down smoothly, never to be found again by them, amidst the disappointed cries. While Arnav laughed and shrugged, his little follower's laughed along.
Walking over to his mother who sat down at one of the cots placed on the terrace, his face lit up at the sight of the glass she held in her hands. " Will you consider sitting with your mother for some time? Neither have you done that since you returned nor have you taken rest. Just took a bath and came up here!". In return, he just placed a quick kiss on her cheek and took the glass from her. "I so miss this mango lassi there, Ma." She smiled and stroked his hair while he drank it.
A few moments later Khushi came up carrying a utensil in her hands. Noticing her, her mother in law innocently said to Arnav, "I know my dear child. Who would be there to make this or to know all that you like otherwise. Only your mother." And she turned and smiled at her.
Amusedly brushing away her words as the general mother in law trait, Khushi smiled back at her. While she moved to the other side of the big terrace, she turned back to find Arnav looking at her. Her steps turning shy and hesitant, she reached the other cot. Standing by its sides, she properly took hold of the ladle that she had brought along , and turned the contents of the utensils a few times to thoroughly mix them.
"What are you doing, Khushi?". At her mother in laws' call, she turned her head towards her , still stirring. Enthusiastically she replied,"Hadn't I gone to Bauji s' mango grove a few days back? I had picked up raw mangoes then. These are now cut and salted. I have been keeping them in the sunlight everyday since then. Today I will make pickles."
"Great! Then we all are waiting for it." , Ma said. "But too bad Arnav wouldn't have them. You should have prepared something for him too na." She complained. At Khushi s' confused expression , she laughingly explained," Arey Arnav doesn't like pickles. You didn't know? Ofcourse. But then its alright. You both have hardly stayed together to know such likes or d.." , her sentence was left incomplete as Arnav cut in between, " Ma, can you please bring me another one of this?" He pointed to his emptied glass. " One doesn't seem to be enough for me." As her attention was diverted to her sons' request, she happily made her hasty exit to prepare more of his favourite lassi.
With a fallen expression, Khushi turned back to the task at hand, all the while aware of Arnav s' steady gaze on her as he lazily walked towards her with a slight knowing smile playing on his lips. She rose her head to gaze upto his shirt covered chest and gave a small smile , averting her eyes again, not meeting his own which now held a tender expression. Turning , she kept the bowl on the cot and covered it. Softly, she spoke, " You don't like it because of the spices? I'll keep it light. Will you taste it then?". On receiving no response from him, she turned to look at him, only to put a temporary halt on her all other thought's. Sure, she had spent quite some time with him before marriage. But there was something about standing in this house now, as his wife especially when she wanted to tell him about the little bit of lassi that was smeared at the corner of his lips.
Mentally chiding herself for this sudden bout of shyness that she was feeling, she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Looking back up at him, she found his gaze still resting on her, the wind having tousled his hair too. And involuntarily drawn to him, she rose her hand to his lips, lightly wiping away the remnants of the drink , from both the corners. The moment didn't last for long as a low pitched childish voice called out," Arnav Uncle!" making her quickly move her hand back. His niece came running upto him, barely saving the liquid in the glass that she held from spilling out. Arnav took the glass of lassi that his mother had sent from the energetic child and looked back at Khushi who ruffled the girls' unruly curls and glancing back once at him, walked away.
**
She had just taken another fistful of small, cut mango pieces to cover them in the oily spice mixture when a pair of strong arms encircled her waist from behind and her gasp of surprise got muffled as her breathing hitched when Arnav buried his face in her hair, inhaling and then sighing, contented.
After their marriage, Arnav had been considerate to give her the time and space to adjust to his proximity. To the idea of intimacy of their relationship. Though they still hadn't taken things further, she was comfortable with his sometimes affectionate, at other times teasing touches. Infact when he was away, she used to blush all the way thinking how much she craved for it.
But this was the first time when he had touched her so possessively and if the goosebumps that had erupted all over her arms, the light shiver that ran up her spine and her rapidly beating heart were anything to go by, then she liked it.
" I have missed you. Haven't been able to steal even a few minutes alone with you since morning." He spoke softly near her ears, the timber of his voice caressing her heart. She turned her head a little to look at him and smiled even as his own eyes remained closed. "Someone will come." she reminded. " Uh huh. Everyone is taking an afternoon nap. That's what every person in this family has been doing everyday at this time, ever since I have known." As she lightly chuckled, he opened his eyes to look at her hands. " They look good." He pointed towards the pickle. Feeling her heart drop again, she moved her gaze back to the bowls. " If I had known , I would have made something else. Do you like galka?" she turned her face to him again before he caught hold of her right hand, her finger's covered with spices. Bringing it near his lips, he flicked his tongue over the tip of her forefinger even as she gulped, her gaze fixated at what he did. And it wasn't long before he took it in his mouth to lick away the spices. Her heart seemed to have stopped for a millisecond before it started its familiar rhythm again whenever Arnav was concerned. Moving his head back a little, he let out a satisfied light moan. Looking into her unblinking eyes, he bent his head again to drop a lingering kiss at side of her throat as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling lightheaded.
Turning her around, he waited for her to look up at him and when she did , he said, " I might have just started liking these mango pickles." With another smile of his , he turned to walk out of the kitchen in to the courtyard that was warm with the afternoon glow of the Sun not unlike her own heart where the warmth had snugly curled owing to her husband. Corner's of her lips lifted slightly, as she visibly beamed at the half done pickles and quickly got back to cover the remaining of the mango pieces with the spices.
A/N--
Look at my face-- đ
Ofcourse I am superhappy. I had written this for the Summer Love OS Contest which was on the FF forum. We had to use names for the characters that didn't put it in the fanfic category. My hero was Amar and his love Kriti, in the original one. :p
Needless to say, I had to come here with the Arnav-Khushi version since the results are up now. And as you can see, I, hah!, have won. đ
hehe..Anyways.
A heartfelt Thank You to everyone who voted for this and to Jot for being a helpful organizer of the contest. đ
Thanks for reading!
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