Thanks for the explosive response to the last chapter 😜 , hope you like this one too!

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 Teri Meri Baatein Hoti Rahe 

♪

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 "What took you so long!" Sharanya mumbled when he stepped out after a nice long shower. He watched her as she kept the dryer on the dressing table. Her wet locks were now semi-damp, wild and free. Making the comment she made her way out of the room. He was glad she didn't wait for an answer.

He pulled a fresh dry towel from his cupboard to dry his hair. Sitting on the bed, he grabbed his phone to keep up with the notifications.

"Here you go," she said walking back in after a few minutes.

"What is it?" He asked, placing the towel aside. His eyes curiously looking at the tiny tray she carried in.

"It's a thick version of dry fruit milk. I was going to freeze it to make kulfis but then the weather turned tables so now hot melted milk it is."

"Hmm," it smells delicious. "Why one bowl? Aren't you going to have some?"

"Nope, none for me. My stomach is still full."

He swallowed a spoonful and was delighted. "You must have it, it's amazing."

Sharanya smiled she was about to decline when he brought a spoonful close to her lips. "Have it," He said, his one hand holding the spoon the other palm below it to avoid dropping it.

Feeling cornered, Sharanya parted her lips taking it in. "Thanks," she mumbled. "I am done." Her eyes flying to his face. There were times when he did little things that got her heart to quicken its beat.

"I won't have all of this, it's too much." He said, filling the spoon again. "Have at least two to three bites more." He said, distracted by the flash on his screen.

"Here," He said handing her the bowl after taking a spoonful. His attention on his phone.

Sharanya who was almost sure he'd feed her again, looked at him with a little disappointment. She must stop reacting to small gestures. Her gaze fell on the bowl. She could actually have a little. With almost no hesitancy she took the spoon to eat, looking at him. He seemed engrossed reading the tiny text on his mobile screen. The silence of the room made the sound of rain outside more prominent. Sharanya turned to look towards balcony after a few minutes. She placed the bowl back on the tray, pushed the plate towards him and picked up his wet towel from the edge of the bed.

"Shall I take that towel too?" She asked.

"Hmm," He responded not bothering to find words or even look up.

Sharanya picked up the towel from his side and marched out of the room to put it on the foldable hanger she had set up in the living room for the wet clothes to dry.

After taking care of the few small tasks and locking up the place for night she entered the room to find Nikhil seated comfortably finishing of the creamy milk.

"This was too good," He said getting up, with a smile, he passed her to place the bowl and tray in the kitchen. Sharanya sucked in a breath. Why did she think he was approaching her?

Flushing her thoughts, she walked towards the window to open it up a little to let in some fresh air into the room. Sliding opening the window she looked out. It was still raining.

There was a time when rains met romance. Blame the shows she saw as a teenager. She wondered if anyone really found dancing in the rain liberating and romantic. Rain brought worries. She was always scared, terrified, what if the lightning ended up striking her or what if she slipped and fell if she wasn't careful with her stride, forget dancing.

She couldn't help but recollect the scene from one song of Jab We Met where in the male protagonists dream he dances with heroine under the rain. A small smile grazed her lips.

"My hair is still wet, where did the towel go?" She heard Nikhil say a few minutes later, breaking her thoughts. She sighed turning around. She had come to learn that when Nikhil responded or interacted while being preoccupied with work he wouldn't remember what was said to him or what he said.

"I put it on the stand in the living room to dry. Use my dryer, it will be quicker and more effective." She said.

He ran his fingers through his hair, capturing Sharanya's full blown attention with the little mindless act. "I haven't used it before. Is it too hot?"

Sharanya smiled and walked over to help him. "Come on, let me help you."

Hesitantly, Nikhil walked up to her bending his head forward as she ran the hair dryer blowing hot air over his hair.

"It's hot!" He complained, stepping away.

"This is warm, the next mode is the hot one. Just run your fingers through your hair," she said guiding him.

He straightened up looking at her, "it won't burn my hair, no?" She grinned shaking her head in a negative. He then bent his head forward again, using both his hands and all his ten fingers to massage his head.

Sharanya couldn't help but indulge in a laughter at his maniac movements. "You look like a possessed monkey," she remarked, amused.

Once again he straightened up, wearing a frown. "You're finding everything funny today. What did Gargi feed you today?"

Sharanya switched off the blow and laughed heartily, "I should ask her too. You need to have that thing as well. You could use a little bit of laughter too."

A smile had almost made it to his lips when she asked him to quickly bend his head forward and let her do all the work. She slowly ran her fingers through his thick hair. She wasn't expecting them to be as soft as they were. Her fingers, gently weaved through them, while simultaneously blowing the air evenly around.

"Turn a little bit to the left," she said and he followed. He loved the feel of her fingers on his hair. He could get used to them for a lifetime.

In no time his hair was dry. She switched off the dryer, saying, "there you go done,"

"Wow, I am going to sleep like a baby today," He said straightening up, meeting her gaze. How had he never noticed that when she had that job-done-well kind of smile, it was gorgeous.

"Me too, I am so tired laughing today." She mused.

Nikhil's face displayed a grin. He stepped towards her and stood behind her while she packed the dryer back into its place. He looked at the mirror running his fingers through his hair, setting them.

Sharanya's gaze quickly sneaked a peek at him through the mirror. Smiling to herself she slipped away into the washroom. What was wrong with her? Why was her heart behaving strangely around Nikhil today?

Minutes later, Sharanya slipped into the bed beside him after switching off the lights. Her thoughts going back to the morning when she woke up so close to him. She turned towards him to find him already looking at her. He hadn't even removed his glasses.

"Are you going to sleep with your glasses on?" She asked.

He sighed realizing he hadn't removed his glasses and quickly removed them turning to place them on the nightstand. At times, he forgot he wore glasses. He wondered if she noticed that he had shifted his pillow a little near to her, as he stretched his arm to reach the nightstand.

"By the way, I forgot to mention, that I invited Aunty, Arun and Gargi for dinner on Friday. To our place. I would have asked you beforehand but it happened very suddenly. Actually, Gargi started talking about..."

"It's okay. You don't have to explain, Sharanya. It's your house too. You can invite people as you please when you please."

Sharanya smiled. She was beginning to feel like she belonged where she was. Being around Nikhil was becoming comfortable and easy unlike the days that immediately followed the wedding. She pondered if it was the absence of her mother-in-law, that mad ever feel comfortable in her skin. Would things change once she came back?

"Friday?" He asked to confirm.

"Yes." She answered, trying to pause her thoughts. She didn't want to get into a loop of overthinking right now.

"Remind me again on the day, I might forget otherwise."

"Okay," she smiled, letting her gaze drift towards him.

"I am not sleepy oddly."

Sharanya hitched in a breath, as a silence fell. She wasn't either.

"Guess, I heard too much of your laughter today." He remarked with a grin, looking at her.

Sharanya's lips easily curved into a smile, "it's not that haunting—my laughter." She looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, when it got that weird pitch, it was." He said to tease her. "They could use that for horror films you know!"

Sharanya simpered, looking at him, "I don't sound that horrible, I am pretty sure."

Nikhil chuckled, shifting his head a bit to make himself comfortable. "Have you ever seen a horror film?"

"Many, Gargi finds them funny. Yet, she likes to have someone by her side when she's watching them. She has her running commentary on throughout."

"God, must be a hard time."

Sharanya chuckled. "Not really, it's actually quite fun. What about you?"

"Saahil used to be the one who used to watch them. I resented them. They were just horrible with illogical scenes, bizarre make up and creepy stuff. He was the prankster amongst us."

Sharanya smiled, a hint of sadness in her smile as she felt the heavy emotion hiding behind his voice. A silence fell.

"Not my place to say, but you must give him a chance. Of what I have heard from you about him, I can easily say, you guys were and are different but there's definitely that family tie that still holds you together."

Nikhil took a deep breath and then drew it out. "You don't have that with your sister?"

"No. I think I don't have anything at all. I don't have any memories like you do. If anything, I have those memories of the past etched in my mind that make my skin crawl, that make me relive the hurt. I would give anything to erase them, rub them off my mind. But I guess," she sighed, "you have to learnt o live with them."

Nikhil tilted his head to look at her. She just kept staring at the ceiling. His hand found its way to hers. "Don't think about it. Let's not end a beautiful day thinking about the bitter past memories."

Sharanya once again turned to her side and stared at him. "You're right," she managed a weak smile. She turned her wrist, her fingers steadily slipped between his.

"Thanks," her soft voice said.

"Good night," His voice low.

"Good night," she said. Their hands remained locked, fingers interwoven.

* * *

On a sunny yet breezy Tuesday afternoon, Sharanya sat on the low sitting— which was no doubt her favorite place in the house, while she read the book Nikhil had recommended her. She had to agree, he was right, the book was beautiful. His like for the book made her discover that he also had an emotional side hidden somewhere under layers.

How she wished she was as organized as him when it came to emotions. Her emotions were always all over the place. Sometimes with her overthinking and unnecessary worrying habit put into the mix, her emotions went into a troublesome spiral.

She was about to move to the next page when her phone rang. She looked up at the wall clock, it was a few minutes past two. She wondered if it was Nikhil. She was lazy in the morning and had heated and packed the leftover dinner from the night into his tiffin. She had also left a note that said—

Hope you have a wonderful time eating your lunch this time without my horrifying laughter to distract you. :p

She wondered if he had called to respond to that note. With a smile of anticipation and a spring in her step, she hurried to the dining table where she had left her phone. Her smile faded noticing it was her mother-in-law calling not Nikhil.

"Hello," she spoke picking up the call.

After exchanging, pleasantries and asking her if she had had lunch, her mother-in-law skipped to the reason of her call. She gave her instructions to pack Nikhil's bag as he was going to leave for a sudden business trip tonight. Sharanya though a little shocked, mentally noted the instructions.

Her lips twisted into a frown as she ended the call. Why hadn't Nikhil called her directly? Why did she have to hear about his sudden business trip from his mother? He had the time to call his mother and not her?

Every time she thought she was finally getting somewhere with understanding her husband something or the other made her feel like he was still a stranger and she an outsider in his life.

With a mood that had gone from cheerful to irritated, at the rate an ice cream melts on a summer afternoon, she walked into he room. She busied herself packing the bag as per the instructions she was given. Packing the exact number of shirts, trousers and pairs of socks etcetera. She couldn't get over the fact that he didn't directly tell her. She was his wife. He should have called her! If he was so busy, then an audio message or text message would also do. Why call his mother who wasn't even in town?

Her phone rang again. She sighed if it was Nikhil, she wasn't going to pick up in the first time. She'd show a little attitude. Maybe he'd apologize on the call for not being able to call her directly.

Her tiny hopes were disintegrated into thin air, when she notice it was Gargi calling not Nikhil.

"Yes," Sharanya said picking up the phone.

"Why are you so annoyed?"

"I am not!" Sharanya almost scowled, keeping her tone even, glad that Gargi hadn't chosen to do a video call.

"Sharu, shall I do a video call then?"

Further irritated, Sharanya mumbled, "What is it? Why did you call?"

"I called to discuss about the dinner. But looks like, you have something else bothering you. What happened? Nikhil said something?"

He said nothing! Her mind answered.

Sharanya took a deep breath. "It's nothing."

"Look, I know something is up. You'll feel lighter if you tell me. And since when did you need so much convincing to share what you feel with me?"

"I don't know Gargi, I just...you won't understand." Sharanya uttered sitting on the bed, defeated.

"Try me," her friend said calmly. It was both blessing and a curse to have a friend who was a therapist and life coach. Sharanya took a calming breath in and narrated about how she had received the news of his business trip from his mother.

"He must have been busy."

"Yeah, he had the time to call and tell his mother," Sharanya muttered annoyed.

"Since when did you get into a competition with his mother?" Gargi asked.

"See I told you... you won't understand. I mean... he could have at least dropped a message or even a audio message of he didn't even have the time or he should have asked his assistant to call and let me know."

On the other end, Gargi was all smiles. "Damn, you are being territorial! So much in love with your husband, eh?"

"No!" Sharanya exclaimed.

"Quit it. It's not a sin to fall in love and be possessive about a man you deeply care about, and have these small complaints and sweet expectations."

Sharanya blinked. She definitely had started having expectations. How did that happen?

"Sharu? There?"

"I will call you later."

"No!" Gargi almost shouted. "Don't you dare end the call."

Sharanya sighed. "Your neighbour can hear you, I am sure!" Sharanya mocked.

"Listen, it's natural to start having these tiny complaints —you didn't do this, you did this, you didn't tell me... it comes as a part and parcel of marriage. It's okay if you expect him to call and tell you. I would too. If I were in your shoes, I would have implicitly or explicitly told Arun that I would like to hear on such decisions directly from him. It's natural to be a little miffed if you hear about your husband's plans to travel on the same night from anyone but him."

Sharanya listened carefully lost in the maze of her thoughts. At one end, the reality check was worrying her— she had begun to have expectations. What if she ended up getting hurt at the end? On the other end, she felt very very nice to hear that it was natural to be miffed, that she had a right to be cross with Nikhil. But maybe she was moving too fast in their relationship and Nikhil wasn't. She didn't even know what he felt for her. Was he happy after the marriage? Did he regret choosing her? What did he feel about it?

Sharanya drew out a breath, "Hmm,. "Let's talk later."

"Okay, if you say so. But Sharu, don't compare yourself with his mother. I understand that you feel that aunty doesn't like you that much. It's easy to hold the same feelings for her. But then it will become a two way thing. It will ruin two more relationships in the bargain. Okay?"

"Okay," Sharanya repeated, surrendering. Gargi made a lot of sense. If she began to behave with hostility towards her mother-in-law or even started comparing herself to her she'd not only ruin their relationship but it would also have an impact on Nikhil's relationship with his mother and his relationship with her.

* * *

"Hey," Sharanya greeted, managing a decent smile. She hadn't expected him to be this late. He usually came around six, it was close to eight today.

"Hi," He said entering the house hurriedly. "Did you pack my bag?"

"Yes, just as Amma asked me to," she said, following him. She filled a glass of water while he got rid of his shoes.

"I will take a shower, eat and leave." He said, keeping his phone on the table, before taking the glass from her.

"Okay," Sharanya said watching him as he immediately got up from the chair to move to the room. He looked tired.

She was sure he wouldn't have noticed anything different in her. She didn't know why she felt so bad. Maybe she had set her expectations too high. It was time to take them down.

"Sharanya," she heard his voice call out. She quickly walked into the room.

"All okay?" She asked, he rarely called her like that.

"Yes, I couldn't find my charger," He said looking around.

Sharanya quickly reached to the draw of his desk, where she had placed it in the morning while cleaning and handed it to him.

"Thanks," He mumbled, pushing the adapter into the socket and then connecting his phone. He then rushed to his cupboard to pick out clothes. Sharanya slipped out of the room to heat the dinner and set it up on the table.

Sharanya keenly observed him as he kept his eyes on the iPad as she served. He was most definitely stressed about work.

"How come the sudden trip?"

"It's a long story, but to put in short, the guy who represents us to the Hyderabad client, ended up committing to a non-virtual meeting. It was when they sent the reminder mail he realized it was not a virtual meeting but a face to face one and now I and Sachin, need to fly all the way to Hyderabad for the meeting. We couldn't even push the meeting before it had already been pushed once. So, now the research team is analysing their recent business growth and doing a survey on their market presence, another team is drafting a proposal on pitching our new software product to them because we thought we might as well.."

Sharanya watched him as he went on. He could talk about work at length and not get tired. After a point she lost track of what he was saying.

When he finally stopped, she looked at him. "Relax, everything will turn out just fine. Take a deep breath and have dinner peacefully."

"Easier to say," He mumbled, picking up the spoon.

"Nikhil," Sharanya said switching off the screen of the iPad. "I am sure you'll do this on the flight too, at least now you can take a break. I doubt you would have taken a break in office after all these developments."

Nikhil was ready to protest, but held back. She was doing this for him. He always wanted someone to care for him. There was no point arguing with her. He nodded and surrendered. Maybe he could take a break for few minutes.

They quietly had the dinner until Sharanya asked, "when will you be back?"

"Day after tomorrow!" He answered making Sharanya feel a little bit of relief.

"Is Sachin coming here?" Sharanya asked referring to the one man from his office she often heard a lot about.

"No, he's going to join me at the airport. The driver is waiting downstairs. He'll drive me to the airport, drop me and then bring back the car here before leaving. "

She nodded.

"I didn't get a chance to ask, you'll be okay all by yourself right?" He asked looking at her.

"Yes, I will be fine."

"Okay." He responded. "Don't worry. In case, there's any one at the door at an odd time, there are security cameras in the corridor and you can have a look at the live footage. There's an app called SeeSecure on the desktop on my PC, just punch in the password— AbraKaDabra"

Sharanya lips broke into a grin, "Wow, never thought you'd keep that kind of a password.

He smiled, "it had to be easy to remember and something I could share easily so. Anyways, I should get going, you never know with traffic and if I end up missing the flight, the next one is at three am in the dead of the night."

Sharanya nodded taking his plate, while he made a beeline for the room. She quickly reached the room to help him with packing his last minute stuff into his shoulder bag.

"Passport and ID documents?" She asked.

"Check," He replied.

"Wallet?"

"Check!"

"Uh, toothbrush and toothpaste?"

"No need, they usually give that in business suites."

"Um, okay. Your files and all?"

"Check." He said picking up his ringing phone.

"Yes, I am coming down," He spoke to the driver on call.

He began dragging the suitcase out. For the first time Sharanya felt sad to see him ho. He was going to be away for tomorrow and would be back after that. But yet she felt a hollowness already.

She managed a smile as he turned to look at her.

"Okay?"

She nodded.

"If there's anything call me okay?"

She nodded again.

He stepped towards her and then paused. Sharanya closed the distance between them wrapping her arms around him. "Take care and all the best," she said softly.

Nikhil's hand left the suitcase handle and rested on her back. His heartbeat had suddenly turned frenzy.

"You take care too," He said as she moved away. His hand grabbed the handle again and he moved to the elevator with his wife on his trail.

His gaze fell on her as he stepped inside the elevator. She smiled and waved just as the elevator doors slowly closed in. Nikhil took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, reliving that hug and her soft voice. It was so damn beautiful to have a companion, a person who cared for you, who wished you well when you went out on a mission to accomplish your goal, who was a backbone in times of need and someone whose simple words made you feel special.

Sharanya locked the door and leaned against it. She didn't know of this was what love was. She had begun to feel a range of new strong emotions when Nikhil was around. Either she was actually falling in love or she was taking this being a wife thing too seriously.

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Waiting for your thoughts on this chapter. 

-Anami!♡

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