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I am pretty sure today's episode was/is going to be angsty, so here have some future fluff my friends. Please do lemme know what you think! :)
I sit at the dining table, amused, watching the
scene in front of me. This kind of stuff had been happening frequently over the
past week. A huge smile breaks out on my face as I look at Sumo and follow her
sight to the front door, she doesn't notice me and mindlessly continues what
she is doing.
"Mummy Ji!" Vandy Bhabhi gasps as she looks up
from the magazine that she was engrossed in and elbows mom before pointing
towards Sumo. This catches the attention of everyone around the room, bade papa
has a soft smile on his face as he disappears into his room while Lala Ji
breaks out into laughter before following his brother out. Everyone else
chuckle slightly, knowing exactly
what was happening, but Sumo doesn't notice.
"Suman." Mom says, the humour evident in her
voice. "Yeh tum kya kar rahi ho?"
Sumo's eyes fly back to mom, but she misses the
amused look on everyone's face due to her aloofness. "Apple kaat rahi hoon..."
She says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Sumo, itne apple kaun khayga?" I laugh looking
down at the plate in front of her. Sumo looks down and gasps clearly taken by
surprise, she had managed to cut every
apple from the bowl that was in the center of the table, I knew she meant to
cut one. "Tumhara dhayaan kidhar
hai?" I tease, but I know exactly what,
or in this case who,she is thinking about, she's been like
this all week.
"Dhayaan- kahi nahi, uh, mein haan, mein aaj
apple pie banaa rahi hoon toh isliye yeh apple." She stutters an obvious lie
but looks pleased with her self for being quick on her feet, and I have to
admit that it was a good comeback, and I could have left it right there but I
couldn't help but tease her more.
"Achaaa? Sumo, pehle kyun nahi bataya ki tum
apple pie banaa rahi ho?" I tease.
"Kitne baar kaha hai, bhabhi bola kar usko." Mom chides.
"Maa, pehle yai Sumo thi, bhabhi toh aab bani
hai naa, toh thoda waqt lagega change karne ke liye." I answer as Mom shakes
her head and heads into the kitchen, I turn my eyes back to my bhabhi. "Kisike intezaar mein itnaaa bhi desperate nahi hona chahiye Bhabhi."
"Pushkaaar! Isse taang karna baand karo. Don't
worry Suman, Shraaavan thodi der mein aajaye ga." Vandy bhabhi says smiling at Sumo
before following mom as she always does. Sumo nods but still looks towards the
door, like the flight will somehow get here earlier than it's supposed to.
"Yaar, ek haafta toh nikal gaya, ab toh sirf ek-doh
ghanton ki baat hai." I say trying to cheer her up, she nods but doesn't reply.
This was a side of Sumo I hadn't seen before,
she turned into sulk mode as soon as Shravan Bhaiyaa left for London for one
week due to a case. They were both extra
clingy the week before he left, it wasn't that noticeable unless you knew them
well because they were always attached to each other anyways.
I even saw a few tears fall from her eyes when
she hugged her husband goodbye at the airport. Even my bad joke, about him
going to London not to war, didn't make her smile and hit me like it usually
did. Bhaiyaa didn't seem much better either, he had those puppy dog eyes that
were reserved just for Sumo. On one hand, I thought it was kind of pathetic, I
mean he was only going for a week.
But then I realized that they'd been in a similar situation before when he left
and didn't come back for ten years, I think that factored into this equation
somewhere. They were still somehow trying to make up for the years lost. And
then, it didn't seem as pathetic
anymore.
Sumo was totally
silent as we drove back home which I thought would be impossible for her, it
made sense though, this was the first time they were actually apart since he'd come back two years ago,
and since their wedding a year ago. The longest time they spent apart was when
Bhaiyaa had long days at the office, and even then, if they really needed to see the other, they
were a short drive away.
But I didn't think that Shravan Bhaiyaa leaving
for a week would affect her this
much, this was not the old Sumo, the
old Sumo would have gone on with her life normally and occasionally sulked. The
new Sumo tried as well, but the smile that was usually plastered to her face
didn't show as much. It's not like she stopped functioning or something, but
you could tell that she wasn't herself, and from what I had heard her husband
was faring no better.
Sumo started doing interesting things, wearing her clothes inside out, burning food -
which she never does - putting sugar in food instead of salt. And I knew she
had trouble sleeping due to the dark circles under her eyes, everyone noticed
it and tried their best to get her mind of Bhaiyaa's absence, but it didn't
work like they hoped.
The only time the real smile returned was when Shravan bhaiyaa called, she would jump up when she heard her phone and run to their room. It
was cute, I had to admit. I admired the love the two of them shared, which was
so evident to me for a long time. Although, the three of us hung out often,
Shravan bhaiyaa and Sumo were inseparable outside of school back in the day.
And after Bhaiyaa left, I didn't miss the way Sumo's ears piqued whenever
anyone mentioned Shravan Bhaiyaa, or how she would nonchalantly ask about him
from time to time. Bhaiyaa didn't
mention her once, but he didn't stop me from speaking, or rambling on, when she
came up. And I knew that Bhaiyaa was stalking her on Facebook because sometimes
he would say things he wouldn't have known otherwise.
So, I awaited the grand reunion when Shravan
Bhaiyaa came back, but things didn't go as I thought they would. I didn't quite
understand what happened all those years ago but there was an underlying
tension - apart from sexual tension- between them. Of course, then it went all
downhill from the reunion party. But I could see how much Shravan Bhaiyaa was
bothered by his actions. He even stayed back in India to help her with the
Khosla case, and then I knew he was absolutely smitten with Sumo, he stayed
back when she needed him, not for any
other reason.
I don't think anyone noticed how at ease with each other they were during
that time, I agree that they were best friends and the closeness wasn't strange
but there was just something about the situation that screamed "we're not just friends". They would randomly grab
each other's hands and arms, like it was the most normal thing in the world, and
they stood much closer than "friends" did. Most interesting was the flares of
jealousy between the two, especially Shravan Bhaiyaa's behaviour when a guy
even looked at his Sumo.
So the whole "we're just friends" spiel did not
convince me a bit when it started. Especially when I saw the flirty side of
Shravan Bhaiyaa, which didn't make sense to me until later. I never understood
why Bhai didn't have a line of girlfriends, they fell at his feet even though
he made fun of them in his own sarcastic way, and when he did flirt it was
superficial comments that he didn't mean at all. But with Sumo, it was all
about grabbing hands, and winking, and closing her into tight spaces. It was
hilarious to watch how much this affected Sumo, it was like a game of chess,
strategic moves to make her realize her feelings for him. Because apparently,
he had loved her for years...if you ask him how long, he will give you an exact
time up to the hour, kind of scary but Sumo found it sweet so who was I to
judge?
I saw them slowly fall for each other, and I
had a feeling that the two of them never were "just friends" anyways, there was
always something more beneath the surface. Shravan Bhaiyaa always found a
reason to stay back in India until he finally
decided to move back permanently. Surprisingly, it was obvious that Sumo was
happier than both Bade Papa and me.
The flirting and moves continued for the next
few months, until one day Shravan bhaiyaa came home with the biggest smile I'd
ever seen on him and wouldn't tell me why. I had an inkling, so I called Sumo
and asked, who couldn't get a word out either. Interestingly enough, two weeks later
Shravan bhaiyaa and Sumo were engaged, everyone was really happy with it too
except Mom, but she came around eventually when she figured there was nothing
she could do.
Of course, the family insisted on the big fat
Punjabi wedding, which the two of them dreaded. They were really eager to get married, and threatened to elope whenever the
wedding plans got too extravagant. I am pretty sure it was because they didn't
want to keep sneaking off to have sex...which they did a lot before their wedding. It was so obvious too, they were both
horrible liars and the messy hair, swollen lips, flushed faces and hickies
didn't help either. They were even worse after their wedding, a broken bed and
numerous incidents of people accidently walking in on them could attest to
this.
There was one thing that didn't change even
after they got married, and it is what made me admire them more than anything
else. They are always there for each
other. They act like a brick-walls and stand in front of the other when things
get tough. Shravan bhaiyaa could kill anyone that even looked at his wife the
wrong way, and Sumo - if something someone did bothered Shravan bhaiyaa one
bit, they had to deal with Sumo. But more than that, it was the way they
silently supported each other. They talked about everything, valued each others
opinions, celebrated their successes and they were just- like a super version
of best-friends.
So when Bhaiyaa had to go to London for a week,
all hell broke loose, for the longest time he found ways to get out of it, but
he couldn't. Then he tried to bring Sumo with him - but with a pregnant Vandy
Bhabhi, who is almost ready to burst, Sumo decided that we needed her at home
more.
A clank brought me out of my thoughts and I
looked up to see Sumo running out the front door of the house. Everyone else
had left the room at some point so I got up and followed her out the door just
to see her running to Shravan bhaiyaa at full speed, but being Sumo, she
tripped over her own feet and went flying towards him, knocking them both over
onto the grass, thankfully.
"I am so so-" I imagine she was about to say
sorry, but she was cut off by a kiss. I rolled my eyes and looked back inside
keeping watch for the family, I seemed to be in this predicament a lot. I
cautiously looked back when I heard giggling, and thankfully, the two of them
were getting up.
You'd think that they would notice me, I was
standing right there, but they then wrapped themselves around each other and
just stood there mumbling something to each other. I waved the driver to go
away, then I stood there, and waited, and waited and waited for them to notice
me.
"Bhaiyaa, aap dono pichle paanch minute sai
aise hi khade hai." I finally spoke up. Shravan Bhaiyaa finally turned to me,
he didn't pull away from his wife, she was still tucked perfectly into his body
with a content smile on her face. I thought he would say hi but he just gave me
a sharp look as if he was angry that I spoke.
"He's just jealous." I heard Sumo say as she
pulled away, and unsurprisingly, their hands tangled together immediately.
"Achaa Sumo? Bhaiyaa apke intezaar mein isne 12
apple kaat daale." I teased causing her to blush, Shravan bhaiyaa just looked
between the two of us trying to figure out what it meant.
"Chotte, meine tumko Sumo ka khayal rakhne kai
liye kaha tha, usse taang karne kai liye nahi." He said pulling me into a side
hug.
"Kaan bhar rahi hai yeh aapke!" I exclaimed
causing Sumo to stick out her tongue at me. I noticed the same dark circles
under Bhai's eyes, apparently, he couldn't sleep without her either. Bhaiyaa
rolled his eyes and walked into the house.
I was definitely the observer in the family, I
sat to the side and watched everyone interact. What made me smile was how Sumo
and Bhaiyaa gravitated around each other, not letting go if the other if at all
possible, it was subtle so everyone else didn't notice. He had his hand on her
knee while they sat and chatted to the family, their chairs were so close at
the dinner table that they were touching and even though they were surrounded
by the family and interacting with them, it seemed like they were in a whole
different world. I for one was really happy that they were back together so I
didn't have to hear them whine about how they missed each other. But I would
really miss Sumo's antics, until next time I guess...but I had a feeling the
family would ship them off together when needed.
X-X-X
Time for shameless plugs, for more fluff read: The Ways He Loves Me and the companion piece Loving Her, there is also a drable on the current track: Don't Go. And if you want fluff and sexy times, read: Window of Opportunity. This is all for now, but I am always writing little things on my phone when I have time so look out for more things :)
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