All Strings Attached

Chapter Thirty

Well, the like part has been resolved- it's just the next step now. Am I there? Or does it only feel like I'm there because of all the excitement and the butterflies and everything else?

Is it that easy to be in love with someone?

Doesn't a story have a peaking plot point, and the hero and heroine have to decide whether or not they want each other?

Maybe that was the media leak. Maybe now is the happily ever after. This is what the happily ever after is like? To like and be liked and everything in between and beyond? Is this what my story is about? My love story? The one I tell my kids?

I can't possibly tell my kids about media leaks and sexual relationships with no strings attached. I want my kids to grow up believing in love that they see around them.

"Sita," Meera touches my arm, bringing me out of my reverie. "What are you thinking about?"

I smile sheepishly. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"How do you get so lost in thought among so many people?" She complains.

I shrug, my eyes briefly flitting over to Dhushyanth, who raises his eyebrows at me when he meets my eyes.

A smile almost immediately breaks out on my face, and Dhushyanth's lips perk up, before the both of us fall into chuckles.

"I don't know what inside joke the two of you have going on," Meera grumbles, "you look at each other and start laughing—"

"Your best friend seems jealous," Dhushyanth remarks, rather snidely, throwing me a wink as he stands up. "I will leave you both to have some time with each other."

"I'm not jealous," the said best friend protests, "I'm just wondering—"

"That's what Veer sounds like when we call him a jealous husband," I remind her.

"I can't believe you're siding with your husband over me," Meera smacks me in the face with a throw pillow, making me laugh out loud with surprise.

I use another pillow to hit her back, which quickly turns into the both of us blowing hair out of her faces and falling into a fit of giggles, while the boys seem to have taken the cue to leave god knows how long ago.

Giggling, Meera brushes her hair out of her face roughly. "If we have ice cream and some music, we could make this night one for the old ones."

I grin, immediately loving the idea. The family is understanding enough to let me have the evening with my best friend, chatting and giggling in the living room upstairs, and they stay clear of us, except for a few calls here and there, which are dealt with appropriately.

"He looks at you," Meera says, smiling, "he looks at you like you're the most precious thing on earth."

"Hm?" I can't help but pretend I don't know what she's speaking about, avoiding what's in front of my face.

But when has Meera ever let me stay in denial? "Don't act stupid," she slaps my arm, "you should tell him how you feel as well," she tells me, her voice sounding unnecessarily threatening. "As soon as possible. You guys deserve to be in love, and happy. Openly in love. Transparently in love. Surely in love."

"Have you been reading a lot of poetry?" Is my emotionally stunted response to my best friend's impending lecture about emotional intimacy.

~.~.~.~.~

When I slip into bed that night, Dhushyanth's eyes flutter open and he smiles, sleepily. "Have a good time with Meera?" He mumbles, pulling me into his chest and snuggling into my neck.