"Mam, aap kyu aayi yaha? Mujhe bol dete chai banane!" The cook, Lata, got worried watching Shehnaaz make her own tea in the kitchen.

"Mera mann kiya chai banane ka, chill karo." Shehnaaz replied, shredding ginger into the boiling water. She was having a headache and a slight cold since last night after she got drenched in the rain.

"Aapko sardi ho rahi hai? Tulsi daal du chai me?" Lata suggested.

"Hanji, laa do." Shehnaaz replied and Lata walked into the backyard to grab the herbs and rushed back into the kitchen.

"Thank you." She mentioned, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Lata, aaj mai aur Sidharth bahar jayenge toh khana nahi banega humara." She further informed the cook before making her way into her room.

Only if it wouldn't have rained last night like anything, she would have been fine. But she didn't have much of a choice now, it was her first project after her wedding and she wanted to give her best so that people knew how good she was at her business.

Was it to prove something to her husband and his aunt? Maybe, maybe not. She didn't know the answer herself, she simply wanted them to know that she was an independent businesswoman herself who didn't need anybody's name to step into magazines and media. She wanted them to know that she was self sufficient and could run something of her own instead of running after their money for a lavish lifestyle.

"Shehnaaz? Shehnaaz!" Her blinked her eyes open when someone shook her. She woke up to her husband's confused face as he woke her up from an unexpected nap.

"What time is it? Late toh nahi hua?" She asked him, grabbing her phone to find out it was almost 8 and she was late!

"Jaldi ready ho, I've to be there with my team!" She sprung out of the bed before he could ask if she was doing fine.

Sidharth shook his head, carrying himself to the washroom to freshen up and change. He was looking forward to this event as well not because he was associated with Khanna. But because he would get to see how his wife had organised and arranged the event, since he had heard she was good.

He came out wearing black coloured two piece suit and pulled out his shoes to add some shiner before he wore them, he was busy polishing them when he heard her hum. It was some soft song he couldn't recognise but her voice was good. He quietly wore his shoes and stepped up to realize that he could get a peek of her through the door to the wardrobe that was left slightly ajar.

Don't. Still a part of him wanted to be the creep and take a glance. He took a small step forward and was almost there when his conscience held him back. His mind asked him to stop, what if she wasn't fully clothed and he saw something he shouldn't have? He retrieved his hand he was about to hold the door with and walked out of the room after shutting the door behind him.

They arrived at the venue in the next half an hour and were surrounded by his men as they made their way till the entrance. He held her hand in his, looked at her when she gripped his hand tight and found that the constant flashing of lights was making her nervous. Even her hand felt slightly warm. But the moment they were in the event, out of the reach of the media, her face gained the confidence back, she caressed the pleats of her saree and stood straight. Woah there! She looked absolutely gorgeous in the lilac black sequin and encrusted stones saree she carried with stilletos like a pro.

"Ah, the newly weds!" Khanna welcomed them warmly.

"Congratulations Mr. Khanna." The couple wished simultaneously, exchanging greetings with Khanna's wife and son who stood nearby.

"I'm impressed, just look at the arrangements!" Khanna complimented Shehnaaz.

"Thank you." She smiled shortly.

"I'll just be back, ha? Ek bar apni team se mil ke aati hu." She told her husband once they had met a few delegates, Sidharth nodded, letting go of her hand.

His gaze followed her, she called her team and had a small conversation, there were two guys and a girl. However, the taller guy seemed to have won Sidharth's attention when he kept a hand on his wife's back and spoke something in a hushed manner. It had been a couple of minutes when she tagged them along and they all came forward to greet him.

"This is my team. Ria, Nishant and Pranav." She introduced them, making him smile and acknowledge their presence.

"Good Evening sir!" They wished him.

"Good Evening, you guys have done a good job today." He replied to them.

"Thank you sir, we'll take your leave now." Nishant mentioned, nodding shortly.

"Take care." He whispered to Shehnaaz before leaving.

"Did you really mean it?" Her question made Sidharth look at her. She couldn't believe he had praised her.

"Yeah." He nodded as he finally tore his gaze away from the Nishant guy. About his compliment, he was quite amazed by everything he could look at, the arrangements screamed of class, quality and sophistication.

"Thank you." She mumbled. A smile overtook her face, it was the first time he had appreciated her work and it felt nice to know. They met more people, the investors and some colleagues while the event went ahead with the product launch and other cultural stuff.

By the time they decided to call it a night, she could feel the veins inside her head pulsating. She had felt better after the tea but exposing herself to the cold weather again proved to be a bad idea. She sighed realizing she was going to be sick. "Mumma." She whispered under breath.

"Hm?" Sidharth pardoned.

"Kuch nahi, bas thak gayi hu." She replied, relaxing her back comfortably against the plush seat in the car as they made their way home.

"Pani?" He offered her a bottle of water. He noticed she was not feeling well and that she was burning up when she momentarily touched his hand again.

"Bukhar chhad raha hai tumhe." He said, keeping his hand in her forehead to check and he was right, she was burning up.

"I know!" She groaned, squeezing her eyes shut unable to take up the headache it came along with.

"Phir kyu aayi event me jab thik nahi lag raha tha?" He asked.

"Mera event tha, kaise nahi aati?!" She replied.

The moment they got home, he got her Advil from his medicine box and asked her to sleep. He turned the AC off and gave her his quilt to use. However, Shehnaaz had trouble while sleeping, the continuous headache, emerging body aches and chills she felt all over weren't letting her be.

"Kya zaroorat thi bheegne ki? Building me hi wait kar leti toh aaj fever nahi hota." He told her. She rolled her eyes at him, so he was going to lecture her now?

"Only if you had agreed for the bodyguard in the first place.." he added.

"Just shut your mouth Sidharth! Mujhe already headache ho raha hai and you're not helping!" She snapped at him, irritated out of her mind.

"Ok." He mumbled looking away, maybe he could have saved those lines for later.

"Pani pina hai." She told him and he obliged, getting her a glass of water from the night stand.

"Can you sleep in the other room tonight?" She requested.

"Am I that irritating now? Seriously this fever has got into your head!" He asked, taken aback that she wanted him out of the room now.

"What? No! Yaha sone se tumhe bhi bukhar ho jayega isliye bol rahi hu!" She explained.

"Oh, lekin.. tumhe kisi cheez ki zaroorat padi toh?" He wondered, not really liking the idea of leaving her alone when she was sick.

"Hmm." She simply hummed. She really didn't want to be alone, she rather asked him out of courtesy in case he wanted to get rid of this situation.

"I'll try to sleep." She mumbled, slipping into the bed again and finding a comfortable position to sleep.

The next day, Sidharth didn't wake her up and asked Lata to feed her some soup again whenever she woke up before leaving.

"Hello aunty, Sidharth here." He called his mother in law on his way to his office.

"Hello beta, how are you?" Parminder was surprised to get a call from him.

"I'm fine aunty. I was hoping you could pay a visit to Shehnaaz." He replied, not being able to make a small talk and coming straight to the point.

"Ofcourse. Is she okay?" She asked with her voice in a slight state of panic.

"She was burning up last night, temperature abhi down hua hai lekin wo aapko kafi miss kar rahi thi." He replied.

"Ah, okay. I'll go and see her. Thank you for calling beta." She replied as a smile overtook her face when she realized her daughter had bagged a caring husband at least. She didn't take long and went to check on Shehnaaz, she bought lots of fruits and chocolates for her on the way, knowing they'd make her fussy daughter feel better.

However Ramya didn't like Parminder's visit, she wasn't liking the way the family were being welcomed into theirs. It was just a marriage of convenience that made them relatives and hence they should remain one, she thought. She decided to talk to Sidharth about unnecessarily inviting Shehnaaz's mother to their place. She greeted the lady out of the formalities though.

"Mumma!? Aap?" Shehnaaz was so happy to find her mother. She was sick and staying at her place, the fact that she wasn't around her mother was overwhelming and making her vulnerable at the same time.

"Kaisa hai mera baccha?" Her mother sat next to her and hugged her.

"Sidharth ne bulaya mujhe." She added, informing her.

"Acha?" Shehnaaz was surprised, her husband had been really considerate towards her lately. It felt good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello ji.. I hope sab ka weekend acha gaya.. I'm back!

How about Sidharth being the husband in need? Caring huh?

Is Shehnaaz picking up feelings for him lately?

But what's up with this Ramya?!