Five Weeks by Shruti Omar (any book recommendations .txt) 📕

'When in Rome do as Romans do,' her rational mind advised. She watched him coming closer, bringing his heat and pulsating aura to her. He was unbuttoning his Kurta with each intimate step, keeping his eyes locked to her in the mirror. She swallowed visibly, daring not to break the contact and her breath clogged in her throat as he stood behind her, closing the moderate distance between them.

“You are still in the dress!? Go and change.” He muttered, leaning in and she nimbly got up, stepping aside. He raised his eyebrow at her before bending down to keep his watch on the dresser. He straightened up and Anahita scratched her forehead. “I was going to do that.”

“You don’t want me to show you the washroom, right?” Anahita frowned, detecting if he was humoring her but he occupied himself in removing his dress that she realized it was an honest gesture of help.

“No!” She denied and he nodded, jerking a thumb toward the washroom. “There's an extra pair of towel in cabinet above washbasin. You can use that. If you want to brush, there’s an extra brush in the stand too and don’t leave the floor wet.”

“Are you ordering me?” She blurted out before she could stop. He gave her a quizzical glance and she rolled her eyes. “I don't leave the floor wet. And, just to remind you, I don’t take orders. Don’t order me again.”

“When had I ordered you?” he asked, puzzled and paused for a moment. His features softened up and he chuckled, “So, it finally started, huh? Marital life’s lovely bickering?” he inched closer to her and pushed a tendril behind her ear, running his knuckles down her cheek. “If you don't take orders, it will be fun teaching you, mou.”

“Is that a challenge posed at me?” She took the dare head on and matched his gaze. Yuvraaj shook his head, tipping her chin and pulled her closer. “No.”

She blinked at him in disbelief and he revered her face, “Husband and wife doesn’t challenge each other; they participate together. They don’t officiate, they supplement each other. They don't fight, Anahita,” he dipped down to her ear and whispered, huskily, “they make love.”

Anahita narrowed her eyes, finding her breath hitching and he moved back, dragging a palm on his windswept hair, “The whole point of saying this is to explain you that I want you to complement me, stay with me, love me and understand me because that’s what we have promised to each other while taking oaths. I will do the same but for that you’ve to get above from your immaturity. I didn’t order you. I just told you my habit. You can do the same.”

He finished and zoomed out, leaving her flustered behind. She blankly stared at the closed door and frowned. He was so intense and graved in his speech. Did he just hit his head somewhere or magically gained his brains? She wondered and shook her head. She took her clothes and sauntered to the bathroom. She needed to hit the bed, badly.

***

Muffling the turquoise quilt, Anahita yawned lazily and twisted to her left. Her sleep was wearing away and slow, distant noise of clamoring street was now becoming clear. She pushed her face more into the pillow and her tresses fell over her face. The voice was getting louder and louder that she jerked open her eyes in irritation and found Yuvraaj looming over her. She blinked, perplexed and jolted away from him. “What are you doing?”

“You were squirming, so I thought to help you with this.” He flicked her hair away from her forehead and patted her head. “Did you sleep well?”

“How could I when I have this awful uproar in the background?” She griped, flinging the quilt away and her eyes landed on the table clock. “Eight ten. Oh my God! How long did I sleep?”

“I’d say the whole day.” Yuvraaj supplied, turning the volume down of the television and she noticed him in his nightwear. “Mom woke you up for the snacks but you weren’t even stirring that she finally gave up. I asked her that I would wake you up at the time of dinner.”

She gave him a long stare, trying to wrap her mind around his new version. This wasn’t the Yuvraaj she knew, he wouldn’t have been so docile to her, he wouldn’t let her sleep peacefully and he wouldn’t turn the fucking volume down just because she was annoyed. She was really concerned for him. Yuvraaj rubbed his jaw, propping a hand behind his head and took a glance of her. “What?”

“I don’t know why…”

“Don’t tell me you’re having that moment?” he rolled his eyes and she furrowed her eyebrows, “What moment?”

“What those girls feel in Asian drama after marriage, that ‘I don’t realize I got married today moment’.” He mocked her and Anahita found relief coursing in her veins. So, he hadn’t hit his head, he hadn’t gained civility. He was just as same. She rolled her eyes, wearing the slippers. “My memory serves me well. Don’t worry, I clearly remember everything and that bullshit only happens in drama.”

“Glad!” she heard him muttering when she walked to the bathroom to freshen up. Her stomach grumbled, making her realize that she was terribly hungry. She just had her breakfast and lunch was just for pretense where she barely stomached a chapatti. She wanted a proper meal to devour. She emerged out, dabbing her face with the towel and slid the wardrobe door. “I need some space in your cupboard. That’s full with your stuff, Yuvraaj. You need to shift.”

“What are you saying?” he yawned, trudging next to her and scratched his arm. “You can have the right side. I have already made space for you.”

“You mean these three drawers and four racks?” she waved a hand at her side of cupboard. “This won’t even comprise half of my stuff. Clear this entire section for me and more your belongings to other one.”

“Why are you so cranky?” he made a face, eyeing her and shrugged his shoulders, “Manage for now and I will make some space. You don’t have to fight over that lame issue.”