"Vicky ka call hai, puch raha hai tum aa rahi ho ya nahi?" Sidharth asked his wife.

"Maine bola tha na jao trekking pe, mujhe nahi jana. Aur please meri wajah se apne plans change na karo!" Shehnaaz replied, slightly irritated.

He shook his head, wondering why did he even bother to ask her, she had been acting strange since a couple of days. Sometimes quiet, sometimes angry and sometimes testy.

"Tum dono ne ladai ki?" Vicky asked from the other side.

"Karne ki zaroorat hi nahi padi, apne aap muh fula ke baithi hai." Sidharth replied, walking over to his study.

"Acha chhod usko, Sunday free hai toh cricket khele?" Vicky asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Sidharth chuckled, it had been more than a decade since they played cricket.

"Has kya raha hai kutte, sach me puch raha hu. Rahul aur Achintya aane wale hai kal, baat hui meri dono se aur kuch logo ko bula lunga khelne ke liye. Maza aayega behencho, kitna time hogaya sath me match khele!" Vicky suggested, sounding excited about it.

"Toh wo dono maan gaye?" Sidharth was interested now, they could play for old time's sake.

"Ha! Turant maan gaye! Chal mil mujhe kal shaamko, aage ka plan karte hai." Vicky said and hung up before calling his other friends.

"Abey Rahul, tu kya bol raha tha!? Sidharth toh turant maan gaya cricket khelne ke liye. Motey saale, bahane mat bana ab! Chal milte hai Sunday ko." He told him and dialed Achintya's number to let him know the same.
.....
"How was your day?" She asked him the night they came back from her mother's place after having dinner, so that he wouldn't think she was avoiding him.

"The usual, jo meeting last week postpone hui thi wo next week Pune me reschedule hui." He replied.

"Okay. Good for you." She muttered.

"And yours?" He asked her the same.

"It was fine, Mumma ke sath acha laga." She answered, making her way inside to change.

"Hey, um, aunty bata rahi thi ki media wale humara bhi interview lena chahte hai. I said we don't want to." He told her because he had answered on her behalf as well back then.

"Hm." She shortly nodded, applying her night cream in front of the mirror.

"Do you think I'm fat?" She suddenly asked him, wishing for a quick feedback.

"What?!" He felt like he didn't get her question for a moment.

"Do you think that I'm fat?" She repeated her question and turned back to face him.

"Wh-why would you ask such a thing?" He was confused. He looked at her, she was fine and he wouldn't call her fat just because she was curvy.

"Nevermind, forget I asked." She replied, putting an end to the topic then and there and went to sleep.

"Ek second, Shehnaaz-" he was about to say it when she didn't let him.

"I said forget I asked. Good night!" She snapped at him, turning the lights off from her side of the lamp.

Sidharth was lost for words and even thoughts about how did he manage to upset her within a minute. Initially when she seemed a little off, he doubted if it was about her father because she didn't really have good terms with him since Sukhbir got them married hastily. But now he knew it had something to do with him as well, only if she was willing to talk it out instead of getting annoyed unnecessarily.
.....
"Kahi ja rahe ho?" Shehnaaz asked her husband, finding him dressed in a pair of white jerseys Sunday morning.

"Hm, match hai." He replied, arranging something inside his sports bag.

"Aur Elle? Wo aayegi?" She asked, walking him outside.

"Don't know." He mumbled and got inside his car, making his way out through the gates.

"Shehnaaz, you coming?" Elle called her.

"Um, no. You guys enjoy!" Shehnaaz replied.

"What? Vicky told me you'd be there so I tagged along with the guys!" Elle whined, upset.

"I'm sorry Elle, I had some work." Shehnaaz lied. Her husband didn't even ask if she wanted to accompany him.

Well after she had been acting cold with him what else was she expecting. He didn't even know what she was upset about but he surely was a part of the plan that led to their marriage.

It was all Velvet, as much as the word means a softly and smoothly woven fabric, there was a lot this pretty word symbolised. Just like it's said, it's all about money, well weren't they right? It was a deal that brought two people together and made them fake it for the sake of money. As much as his company needed the merger, she knew her business was also going to excel under the prestigious surnames they carried.
So why was she getting hurt when she knew what she was getting herself into? She shouldn't have invested herself so much into this so-called alliance, especially after her husband told her he wasn't sure about giving this thing a chance.

She sat idle in the living room when she heard hurried steps behind her.

"Kya hua?" She saw her husband rushing back into the house.

"Phone reh gaya tha." He replied, grabbing his device from the dining table.

"Um, you free?" He asked her. Wow, that wasn't expected.

"Yeah why?" She nodded.

"Match dekhne chalogi?" He asked.

"Abhi puch rahe ho? Pehle toh chupchap ja rahe the, formality karne ki koi zaroorat nahi hai. Thik hai?!" She told him, believing he must have got a text from Vicky asking for her.

"Fine. Aunty ki friends aayengi lunch pe, have fun with them." He replied and walked straight out of the living area.

"Arey rukoo!" She ran after him immediately, not wanting to get more of the episode again.

"Sirf iss lunch se bachne ke liye aa rahi hu mai varna koi shauk nahi tha mujhe tumhare sath aane ka." She made it clear before getting into the car with him.

"Right. Right." He bobbed his head, turning on the ignition again. He received a few calls from his friends while he was on his way to the ground, who had been waiting for him. He disapprovingly sighed when they were held back by the red signal for a while.

"Sid! Long time man!" Rahul grabbed him in a hug and so did Achintya, they were also his college batchmates who were in the city lately. The guys took rounds while hugging each other, Vicky introduced some of his other friends as well and they began with their match soon.

"Here, chips. They're going to take a while until lunch so I grabbed them on my way." Elle passed Shehnaaz some packets, the girls sat down in the pavilion with the other players' wives. They talked about their married lives, how many years had it been and for how long they had been dating, she sat there listening to all of them while watching the match alongside.

"Woohoo! Vicky, I love you!" Elle screamed when her fiance hit a six and the girls probably did the same when their men played well. Shehnaaz would clap and give a standing ovation to her husband in that matter.

Sidharth and Rahul were batting while, Achintya was bowling, he almost rolled out a bouncer and smirked at Rahul when the umpire didn't consider it a no ball.

"Thik se dalna." Sidharth commented and Achintya gave him a look.

The batsmen ran along the length of the pitch and scored a run, now Sidharth was in the strike facing him. He threw a yorker, Sidharth couldn't play the fast ball he was given and ducked.

"Kya hua?" Achintya laughed at him, catching the ball from one of the fielders and getting back to action.

Simultaneously the first innings came to an end, Vicky's team gave away a target of 78 to Achintya's team. Sidharth scored the highest run of 35 among his team.

"You guys played well! Vicky, you were on fire!" Elle welcomed them back while Shehnaaz helped her by distributing water to the players.

"Pani." Shehnaaz forwarded Sidharth a bottle and took a seat next to him, watching him get rid of the helmet and pads.

"Lemme help." She sat closer to open the straps of his gloves and pulled them out.
He simply sat there, letting her help him while thinking what made her act so good now. Wasn't she in a mood to avoid him lately?

In the next innings, Vicky's team was having a good time bowling although they were getting tired now. The guys might be young and fit but not sporty enough to run back and forth after a ball.
Achintya hit the ball in the air but Sidharth jumped and caught it before it could reach the boundary.

"Aye chintu!" Vicky teased him, whistled and danced showing him the way out but embarrassed he couldn't take it and nudged Vicky's shoulder a little too hard, making him fall as left foot got twisted.

"Abey aye!" Sidharth came in between, pushing Achintya away. He left but Vicky couldn't get up, Sidharth held him by his shoulders and helped him out.

"You alright love?" Elle took Vicky's hand, helping him sit.

"Yeh kya hua?" Shehnaaz asked Sidharth when she noticed a scratched wound on his right hand.

"Kuch nahi hai, catch kiya tabhi hua." He brushed off, his mind was on Vicky's twisted foot. The game was wrapped up soon when Vicky's team won back-to-back wickets.

"Abhi bhoot utar gaya tera cricket khelne ka? Ye sala Achintya abhi vaisi ka vaisi hai, itni si baat pe bhadak gaya!" Sidharth told Vicky, on their way back.

"Arey kuch nahi hua hai mujhe! Tu apne hath me dettol lagwa le." Vicky blew his friend a kiss in the air to assure him.

"Mujhe nahi lagi hai. Oww- ouch! Aram se! Baad me nahi kar sakti thi?" Sidharth was replying to his friend when his wife took his wrist and suddenly started applying the antiseptic they had and it burned his skin at the contact of the gel.

"Tum dhyaan hi nahi de rahe the!" She shrugged, cleaned his wound and tapped it with a bandaid and the two had eye contact for a brief moment.

"Awww!" Elle and Vicky dramatically sang in unison, making the other two look away awkwardly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we are! Another chapter.. another round of communication gap!!

What about Sidharth finally asking his wife to accompany him to the match? What changed?

What about Shehnaaz asking her husband of his whereabouts and being worried about him even though she was mad at him? What changed?