|: In Your Arms, In Your Eyes :|
..
Abhijeet sat on the bed, releasing a deep breath. After a long, tiring day at work, all he wanted to do was have a good night's sleep before awaiting another long day. As he turned around, he saw his wife sprawled flat on her back, holding a hot water bag against her stomach, her pretty face contorted in a frown. He smiled, lying down beside her and stretched his arm, caressing her curls. Sure enough, she jumped into his embrace in an instant.
"Feeling better, sweetheart?," he asked softly as she cuddled closer to him, putting the water bag away. "Much better now!," Tarika replied with a smile as the warmth of his arms gave her the much needed relaxation. He kissed her forehead while continuing to caress her hair. She loved it when he did that every night before she fell asleep.
"Getting periods after the age of thirty sucks!," she complained as the cramps shot up in her stomach once again. "And to spend five long hours in doing a post-mortem of four dead bodies on the first day of the periods sucks even more," she added in irritation. Abhijeet held her closer, gently massaging her lower back. "You over-stress yourself, Tarika. You need rest at least on these four days of the month. Dr. Salunkhe also told you to take a half-day. But you don't want to listen to anyone!," he said, softly rubbing her stomach to ease her pain. "I don't want people to treat me as if I'm sick. I mean, this is not a sickness!," Tarika pouted against his chest, closing her eyes as Abhijeet's massages were helping her muscles relax.
"I know, dear! But you are in so much pain! And that too, every month. I'm just trying to help. And not just at work, you do so much in the house also. I've told you let's split the work! But for that too, you don't agree!," he frowned slightly, as he pressed her back. "You tire yourself so much at work, Abhijeet. I don't like putting more pressure on you! Specially not on weekdays!" she answered and Abhijeet gave her a look. "So? Don't you get tired? What's this logic?," he asked. "Hmm!," was all Tarika could say. "No 'hmm's! From tomorrow, we'll split the work!," Abhijeet supplied and she nodded silently, scooting even closer in his arms.
Her face buried against his chest, Tarika tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, attempting to pull him even closer than he already was, as her hand went around his neck and Abhijeet grimaced slightly with the fear of getting nearly suffocated. "Why can't we just remain like this? Snuggled together in this tight hug forever? Why do we have to go to work separately?," Tarika asked in a child-like tone, still clutching his t-shirt, and Abhijeet gave an audible chuckle at her display of childishness. It was almost a thing of every single day when she showed this demeanour very often when they were alone, usually when that bout of showering an extreme amount of love on him suddenly hit her, much to his annoyance. Though he sometimes found it crazy, he didn't mind it, considering how it made her look cute.
"The first thing is, unfortunately, God hasn't made us humans in such a way that we can go around hugging someone else to our chest 24x7... unless they are Siamese twins," Abhijeet spoke in a gentle tone, turning to a side so that he could hug Tarika completely. "Secondly, just imagine, if I go to work with you in my embrace, investigating murders, running behind criminals, slapping them… and in turn you walking around in the forensic lab, mixing chemicals with me attached to you… how would it look? It would look weird, won't it?," he continued, supressing a laugh as the said imaginary scene flashed in front of him for a moment.
"And the third and the most important thing is-" Abhijeet lifted Tarika's head, making her look at him, "-if we stay together the whole day, never being apart from each other, always watching each other's activities, we will slowly start losing our importance in each other's lives. We'll start getting bored, we'll start wanting to go away from each other. Now that we both work at different places, not meeting each other the entire day is what makes us want to come home and be with each other, right? That's why, let things be how they are!," he smiled, brushing her cheek with his fingers which she returned with a muffled 'hmm' and a bigger smile.
As they kept staring into each other's eyes for a long time, Abhijeet wondered how whatever he had said could not be any truer. After spending most of the day solving gruelling cases, putting his life at stake, dealing with suspects and people against his choice, he looked forward to be home, to be with his wife, to look into her eyes and to feel the calmness of her arms. He wondered how he never used to get this feeling before marriage, and how marriage had definitely changed his life for the better.
"I could stare into your eyes my whole life, Abhijeet!," Tarika's voice broke his trance and he gave a subtle sigh. "Why, Tarika? Why do you love me so much? What do I do so out of the world for you?," he wanted to know. "Ohh come on! As if you don't do anything for me!," Tarika scoffed, narrowing her eyes and Abhijeet made a face. "No but seriously, why are you so madly in love with me? I want to know!," he demanded.
Tarika gave him her most genuine smile, cupping his face as she answered, "Then listen. I love the way your arms make me feel like nothing can be a more secure place than your embrace, no matter wherever in the world I go. I love the way your eyes look at me, making me forget every single problem I have... and that there is a solution for everything. I love the way your touch heals the deepest wounds of my heart and my soul. And most importantly, I love you for making me feel like no one makes me happier the way you do… and no one else ever can!," Tarika said, looking deeper in his eyes as she ploughed on.
"And for me, Abhijeet, this is everything! This is a big deal!," she finished and Abhijeet looked at her with all the love he could gather. "I love you!," he whispered before sealing her lips with a passionate kiss, putting everything he had in it. She responded with the same intensity as time seemed to freeze and in that moment everything around them ceased to exist.
When they finally broke away after a few minutes, Abhijeet pecked her forehead, feeling the softness of her hairs as he pushed a few stray curls out of her face. "Let's sleep now! Tomorrow is going to be a long day, yet again," he said, and Tarika looked at him, making a puppy-dog face. "Kiss me more, na!," she whispered in a seductive tone, staring earnestly in his eyes while playing with the button of his t-shirt. Abhijeet sighed, knowing perfectly well where she was heading. He gave a quick kiss on both her cheeks. "Tarika! Baby, I told you I have a meeting with DCP Chitrole early morning tomorrow! And you also have to go to the DNA lab to collect those reports, isn't it?"
"Un-hunh!," Tarika let out a disapproving sound, a frown creasing her forehead. Though it was difficult for Abhijeet to resist, he gathered himself. "Chalo now come on! Be a good girl. Go to sleep!," he started patting her head to help her fall asleep faster. "Put me to sleep!," she ordered like a five-year-old asking for his favourite toy. Abhijeet shook his head, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Ok fine!"
As he softly hummed her to sleep while stroking her hair, Abhijeet watched her as she drifted off to sleep, a strange calmness showing on her face. He knew - and he loved - the way she feel asleep more easily when in his arms than on her own. To him, it was indeed an overwhelming feeling to know that his embrace gave her the security, the peace which she could not get anywhere else; to know that his eyes had the power of making all her anxieties vanish. Like Tarika said, it was everything. It was, most certainly, a big deal.
..
~~ The End ~~
..
A/N: For everyone who sat through this entire one-shot, thank you! This is by far, the lamest and the most boring piece I've written according to me! So, once again, thank you! _/\_