CHAPTER THREE

The next morning, I woke up a bit later than usual. I was used to waking up with a smile. Every morning I would roll out of bed and wish 'good morning' to my younger sister.  I’ve called Kavya ‘Betu’ for as long as I can remember. Even though she is younger than me, she always got up earlier than I could.

With closed eyes, and a blissful, sleepy yawn I forgot the bleak reality of the last few days. “Good morning Betu.”

The voice that returned the greeting was not that of my sweet baby sister. And it dragged me back to the present with a whiplash-inducing jerk. “Good morning Kriti ji, was it comfortable for you last night?”

I sat up, quickly, when I heard his voice and remembered that I'm married now, and I'm in his house, in this man’s room. “Sorry, Arnav ji.” I couldn’t manage to properly open my eyes until then.

“Sorry for what? Kriti ji, as far as I know wishing someone good morning is not an offense.”

“No, you’re right.” I adjusted my satin robe as I started to look for my phone, and then remembered that I had left it on that small table beside the washroom last night. “It's not.”

“Then, why are you sorry?”

I paused for a moment, wondering how honest I should be. “Because I called you Betu. I wish Kavya a good morning every day, but now…” I trailed off avoiding his gaze. I didn’t complete my sentence. I had begun to miss Kavya already. Her sweet voice and our endless talks which used to irritate me when I lived with her, I was now longing for them.

“It's okay, call her if you want to.” He offered me his phone. As soon as I took the phone I couldn’t stop myself from watching him. He was already dressed for the day standing in front of a tall mirror, sealed by wooden casing, kept by the wall, he was wearing a plain black, full-sleeved shirt, the top two buttons opened, showing a tiny part of his muscular chest and light wash blue jeans. Shubhangi had been right, any woman would swoon over him. It was now that my eyes actually fell upon that perfectly chiseled jawline. His five-feet-ten inches of the well-built body looked dashing in the outfit.

He's good-looking.

When I looked down at his phone in my hand I saw the time and failed to contain a cry of shock. “Oh my God! It's 8:30, I should not have stayed in bed so long. Arnav ji, why didn't you wake me up? Oh God, now my in-laws are going to think I’m lazy. And they are going to complain to my mother!” I was panicking. What can I say? I’m a panicker. I’ve always been like that. When I had an exam at school I used to panic and just make it even worse as I forgot most of the important points minutes before going into the examination hall.

“Kriti ji,” he paused. I was out of bed by then and when he called my name I just looked at him. He was staring at me with his eyes wide open, a blank expression. I stared back and my mind had already begun conjuring images of me being scolded by Maa.

“Yes?”

“What do you eat?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“What do you eat,” he repeated his utterly ridiculous question, “that gives you the energy to talk like this? Do you have a special diet? Or some kind of supplement? You seem to do this a lot, you start uttering nonsense and can’t stop.”

“But, I…” He interrupted me before I could form a sentence. 

“It's okay if you get up late. No one will scold you for it. Don't worry so much.”

“But are you sure Maa won't be angry?”

“Yes. I'm sure. I used to sleep in all the time. She’s never said a word.”

“You are her son. I'm the daughter-in-law.” His face showed absolute confusion when I repeated my last words, “daughter-in-law.”

“So, what?”  

“You won't understand.” I ripped a saree out from the cabinet and rushed into the washroom. I was flustered, and in my distress forgetful. I repeated that very move twice more, grabbing my towel the first time, and my soap the next. After watching me scramble, he stepped close to me, halting my progress toward the shower, and curled his fingers around my wrist. He touched me for the first time. At that moment, I stared into his eyes, and really, truly saw them. They were deep…as deep as an ocean. And they were telling me something, but I didn’t know what that was.

“It's okay, I said na, no one will say anything to you. Don't be so worried. I'm here. I will be with you.”

I continued looking into his ocean eyes, and I could feel my heart-stopping. I could just manage, “promise?”

“Promise,” he said and smiled. That small, sweet smile felt like heaven. His 'promise' convinced me, and I could breathe again, but I still couldn’t think of what to say to him. Not even ‘thank you’ would penetrate the fog in my head. With every passing second, I was being hypnotized. His fingers around my wrist felt soft but firm. That first touch sent shock waves down my spine.  His touch was hesitant as if he was trying to read if that touch was acceptable to me. As if looking deep into my eyes, he sought my permission. Silence crept across the room. I hated the way it ended, though. His phone rang, and he let go of my hand. I stepped away from him feeling shy.

What the hell were we doing?

He took the call, his voice husky when he answered, “yes, Mr. Kumar,” a pause. “I will be there for our 11:30 meeting.”

I turned away from him to afford him some privacy and went to search through my suitcases again, collecting my face wash, shampoo, conditioner, and toothbrush. The call ended abruptly, and he strode toward my crouching form. When he shoved the phone back into his pocket, I found him staring at me in amused confusion.

“What?”

“How did you fit all that crap in there?” He peeked over my shoulder at my overstuffed bag. The sarcastic face was back, I didn’t know how this man shifted from one disposition to another so quickly. “It’s like there’s no bottom. How many things do you need to shower, Kriti ji?”

“Areeee, never seen a woman’s bag before? I’m a woman. We can’t just shower with soap, there are other things that need to be taken care of. See this one is shampoo, used for washing hair, you might know that. This is the conditioner, used after shampoo,” I said pointing to the different bottles one by one and speaking slowly as if I were explaining advanced mathematics to a child. I held up my favorite body lotion. I loved its fresh wild flowery scent.

“And the body lotion, sadly, is almost gone.” I was in true distress. “I will have to buy a new one.”

Arnav looked horrified.

“I don't need to see the full range of your cosmetics. Why do girls put so much makeup on?” He ridiculed all the females of the world with just one comment.

“Hello! This isn't makeup. It's just skincare.”

“Why do you need all of that? What’s the problem with the normal soap? We men are far better off than you women are. We don't need so many things to look handsome. Just soap and water that's it. Natural beauty.”

“Hmmm.” I gave my chin a tap as though I was actually considering his bizarre notion. “That is clearly why it was called Beauty and the Beast.”

“Now what is that?” his voice filled with utter confusion.

I took pity on him, “You don’t know about Disney movies? Damn, your childhood was lame.”

He shook his head. “You are—” he stopped himself and just looked at me with an adorable grin, making me blush from inside.  “Forget it. Leave all this,” he gestured to my bags. “I have to get to a meeting today.”

“Yes, at 11:30. I heard.”

He smiled at me in that wicked way I was coming to expect from him. “Don't listen to other people’s conversations. Bad habit.”

I frowned “I wasn't! I—” he interrupted me before I could finish.

“See? Again with the talking. You’re going to make us both late.”

“Yes, but—”

“No more ifs and buts,” he pointed to the bathroom. “Just go.”

He’s a devil. A perfect devil.

The man wouldn’t even let me explain myself. It’s no wonder I couldn’t speak around him. I slunk off to the restroom to get ready.

He called, “I’ll be downstairs.”

I shouted through the bathroom door, “okay! Now you go!”

“Ha! Going,” he said as he left. The door crashed closed behind him.