A/N- Sorry for thse who were waiting ;p . Here is the next one, enjoy
There is a knock on the door and to match it her heart beat beats accordingly. She gets up from the sofa and moves towards the door to open it, wishing the person behind the door to be the one she was waiting since whole day. She literally sighs in relief when her husband walks inside, with a really tired smile. She smiles at him warmly and takes his handbag from him to keep it on nearest table. He watches her with mind racing back to all that had happened that day, until now in his life, in their life. He is brought back in the reality when his wife holds his arm and rubs his back with other one, smiling with all the love in the world and asking "Lagta hai aaj kuch zyada hi thak gaye ho ap!"
He smiles back but slowly removes his hand from her grasp and turns to face her, saying "Haan, wo toh hai! Aur aj bhi, mere roz ke kehne ke bawjood, aapne khana nahi khaya hoga. Haina?!" He raises his eyebrow, to which she laughs and wraps her arms around his neck.
She looks in his eyes and can clearly see his efforts to try not to offend her or try not to remove her once again, for the hundredth time now. He smiles forcibly, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to think of the way to get out of this everyday situation. While he is deep in his thoughts and planning, his wife studies his face and every shift of expression on it. She understands that expressions very well, of course, as they had both faced this type of situations almost every day.
They were happy with each other for the outsiders and even for their families but both of them knew that they were happy in each other's company but not with each other. They knew if things would go on this way, they will either end up their marriage or will lose this good and healthy relation of care and not-a-romantic-one love for each other, though the latter type of emotion was only one sided. It was true, they didn't have any type of physical or romantic relation but that didn't mean none of them loved each other in that sense. The husband was not in love with his wife but the wife, like almost every other girl, had given her whole heart and soul to him. He of course appreciated it and somewhere felt sorry for it but that didn't make him to force himself to love her back in that sense.
Now, it was almost a year of their arranged marriage and they were both aware of what the other wanted. Frequently there would be a scene where she would try to get a little love from him while all he could manage to do for her would be a forced smile and hands clutched tightly in fists. Sometimes this type of incident would turn into a fight and sometimes in unspoken words lingering between them and then would result into days gone without speaking to each other. Though he didn't like his wife fuming and throwing him hateful looks or sarcastic comments, but he preferred being in that situation rather than being forcefully in her arms. And anyway he knew, he knew it very well that she would come around. He knew it from the day when they had their first fight. He knew she loved him enough to not care about that stupid fight and he also knew she would never give up trying and will die rather than go away from him, unfortunately.
But after almost a year with each other they knew how to convince each other, what they like or dislike. So to keep matters simple and not complicate their already complicated married life, they would do what may keep the other one happy, except the physical things. They would go to dinners and parties, they would go to watch movies and long drive at night. Sometimes he would cook for her and sometimes she would surprise him with candle lit rooms. He never got uncomfortable with all this as long as they were a bit distant from each other. She knew it and she would respect it almost every time until her patience would give and she would try again to get his love by trying different tactics like wearing an almost transparent top, or listening to sensual music on TV while they both are lying on their bed, or sometimes by gathering the courage and taking a step forward to know if he still gets tensed or not.
This was the same, courage-one time. She took a step forward and now she sees, to her disappointment, he stiffens and gets tense, beads forming on his forehead. She sighs, showing clearly her disappointment and then removes her hands from his neck while walking off to the kitchen and saying over her shoulder with as normal voice as she could speak with "Aap fresh ho jaiye. Mein khana lagati hun!"
They sit silently, eating their dinner while hundred thoughts run in their mind to break this awkward silence. Finally he breaks the silence and asks
"Sumona..?"
She answers half-knowingly "Haan?"
"Kal aapke koi plans hai?"
With this, she is brought out from her thoughts fully and asks in return "Kyun?"
"Agar nahi hai toh I have a great plan!" He smiles and she just watches it with sort of wow feeling. She collects herself again when she hears, a little louder than necessary, knives and spoons clicking with plates. She understands and clears her throat a little bit to make her husband stop making unnecessary noises for bringing her back in her senses. He raises an eyebrow, wishing to get his question answered to which she confusingly asks "What?!"
"Kal-Koi plan?"
She shakes her head and asks him "Aap bataiye kya plan hai apka?"
"Mein soch raha tha ke kal hum Kapil ke show par chalein? Ap aayengi?" he tries hard not to choke on his words or stutter. He studies her face for any clues of doubt for him or his proposal. He is so involved in it that he doesn't hear her calling him and only registers it when she almost shakes him out in reality. She narrows her eyes thinking what he must be thinking so deeply when she hears him ask again "Chaleingi aap?"
She kicks herself from inside for going in her thinking world again and forgetting to answer his question. She stops herself from thinking too much now when he waits for her answer while chewing and then she smiles and says "Haan, bilkul!"
And then Kartik exhales sharply as if he was holding on to his breath. She notices this and was about to ask when he cuts her and says "Muje laga aap nahi aaoge! Gussa jo ho aap."
She nods knowingly and both return to their dinner with same thoughts of breaking the same awkward silence they were having when they started their dinner.
Soon they were finished with their dinner and Kartik went straight to his bed, having no strength or mood to watch his daily BBC show. When Sumona entered the room, she knew he was tired more than uncomfortable and so didn't let the fact that her husband is dozing off mind her too much.
Now that her husband was sleeping peacefully she could freely admire him, think about the sweet moments with him, think about the questions she was having and think about how she is going to make him accept her. While she watches her husband in moonlight from the open balcony, facing him while sitting on a comfortable wooden chair, she feels her eyelids heavy with tiredness and wetness and she lets them take over the charge and then in no time she is seen sleeping soundlessly in her chair with hands tightly locked around her chest, as if to protect herself and her heart from the pain.
A/N- Time to give some reviews *wink wink*. Bbye
