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Target: 245 votes.
Aarna's POV:
"Okay, let's go our home," I told him while standing so as he followed my suit and stood up. He held my hand carefully so as not to touch the scalded area and led me out but the moment we turned around, we stood rooted the ground after noticing that we had the audience.
I gulped down a lump when I saw the tear-stricken face of Swaru. She stared at me for a good few minutes as I squirmed in Dhruv's hold in anxiety. I expected a good amount of accusations and hate-filled stares from her but she did nothing except for walking back into the house calmly.
I gripped Dhruv's hand and looked at him in worry as he passed me an assured glance before shifting his gaze to my mom who was weeping silently. I immediately bent down my gloomy eyes when I noticed her. Holding my hand, he marched towards my parents and nodded at my dad.
"Take her home." He said nothing except for that while patting my head lovingly. I just a bit down my lips and stood there meekly while avoiding their eyes.
Once we were out of their sight and got settled in our car, I heaved a sigh and took deep breaths to control my emotions, and passed him an assuring smile when he looked at me with his worry-filled eyes.
As we reached home, we both silently left to our home. After freshening up, I joined Dhruv in the bed and dozed off in his embrace with so many unexplainable scenarios running in my mind.
It's been a week since Swaru's birthday incident had happened. Till now, she neither called me nor attended or replied to my messages. Though I was so worried, I told myself to give her some time to accept the truth and Dhruv had been my constant support, always trying to cheer me up. I was finally able to accept the reality and started to be my old self.
I jerked out of my thoughts when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I smiled knowing who was it and continued to dry my hair with the towel when he buried his face in the crook of my neck.
My breath hitched and my heart started beating furiously when he started peppering the kisses all over till my shoulder and when I couldn't handle these new sensations and flutterings inside my tummy, I called his name and he left his hold on me, making me groan a little in dissatisfaction at the sudden loss of the warmth.
I refused to look at him when he turned me around and held my cheeks.
"Gosh! You are blushing." He chortled while pinching my cheeks and I glared at him for making fun of me when he was the obvious reason for my situation.
I rubbed the area where he had pinched me with a slight pout and turned around to throw the towel in my hand on the bed.
"It's weekend..right! Why did you wake up so early then?" He asked me while casually picking up the towel that I had thrown away just now and made his way to the balcony to dry it.
"As you already knew, no one is at home, so I woke up to whip out something for your highness to eat!" I raised my voice as he was on the balcony and gathered my dampened hair in a clutch.
I walked towards the door when I heard him say, " Oh dear lord! Please don't let any mishaps!"
Glaring at him, I stomped my way downstairs and decided to make some waffles as they were just two of us in the home. Everyone went to attend the wedding of Athayya's close cousin's son and they left us alone here with the perfect pretext of letting us have some couple time.
"What's the need of having a couple time when you got such an unromantic one as a spouse. He even hesitates to give a proper kiss. Hmph!" I talked to myself but my back got stiffened when I heard the grunting from behind.
I slowly turned around and saw him looking at me...No no glaring at me while crossing his hands over his chest. I fidgeted under his gaze guiltily for accusing him behind his back.
"Hesitates to even give a proper kiss? Huh? You just wait for the day where I can do more than just kissing." He said blatantly as not-so-thick skin of my face already started heating up at his obvious implication. Saying this, he turned around and trudged his way upstairs like a sulking child.
"Shameless thug!" I muttered to myself while pouring the batter which was already made beforehand by Athayya, on the waffle maker.
"Are you still scolding me behind my back? Do I have to come there and give you a small demonstration of what I can do?" Came his annoying voice from upstairs and I profusely shook my head even when I knew there was no one in front of me.
"No no! You annoying jerk. Go and have a bath first. You are stinking." In response, I heard a loud thud and I smiled a little before taking the maple syrup out from the shelf.
When I was done making the breakfast, I arranged it on the table and started cleaning the mess I made inside the kitchen.
Once he came to the dining room, dressed in his home wear, we both had our breakfast together. As we were done, dhruv took the plates to the kitchen to wash them as I went to our room, thinking of what to do to pass the time.
When he entered our room, I frowned in confusion when I saw him glaring at me.
"Dude, what did I do now? I was simply sitting and racking my brains for nothing!" I asked him but gasped when he suddenly held my hand to make me stand up.
"Hey! What's your problem?" Instead of answering me, he dragged me to the closet and shoved a dress into my arms.
"Didn't I ask you to stop wearing full sleeves until your wound on the hand got healed completely?" I just bent down my head to glance at my feet only to find out that they were ..err.. quite beautiful.
"Answer me, idiot!" Hehehe.. I successfully managed to anger him again.
"Okay! Stop shouting. I will change into this dress. Now shoo away." Saying this, I pushed the towering figure of him out of the closet.
"Aarna. Stop doing the things that you aren't comfortable with, just so that you can hide your scars and pain." He said in a serious tone while strode out of the room.
I bit down my lips and pushed back the sleeve a little to reveal the ugly scab left by that burnt. Though it got healed to some extent, still it pains whenever the cloth of my sleeve brushed over it but still I chose to wear the full sleeves despite my discomfort because I didn't want him to see this ugly sight of my hand.
"Idiot! He already saw the most vulnerable side of yours. So what does this scar make any difference?" I mentally slapped myself for having an overthinking self.
After changing into half sleeves dress, I felt pretty much comfortable as I trudged out of the closet and settled myself on the couch while picking up a book to resume reading from where I had stopped yesterday.
I chose not to disturb him as I knew he was busy with his work. These days he had been stressing himself out over a deal and I was helpless as I was completely clueless about this business thing to even lend him a helping hand. So the least I could do was not to hinder his work.
When it was already hitting two, I couldn't control my hunger. So out of a habit, I marched into the study but stopped just a foot away when I saw him so immersed in his work.
I hesitated a little before tugging his T-shirt. When I was sure that I had his attention, I gestured to him by rubbing my hand over my growling tummy.
"What! Is your stomach aching? Then grab the medicine box which is in that corner and I guess you know the right medicine for it..right?" He said, making me want to smack his head and I did when I saw his hideous smile.
"Ouch!" He grimaced while thinning his lips.
"Geez! Woman, give me some respect as your husband." He chimed while standing up and closed his laptop.
"You should have thought of it when you are messing with the hungry woman. Hmph." Glaring at him, I walked in front of him proudly but hissed a little when he tugged my hair out of revenge.
"Tit-for-tat." He said, going downstairs and made his way inside the kitchen.
"You are a man. Stop being so petty." I chided him as I followed him.
"So what! I can be even pettier than you can imagine. For an instance, I can be so petty to even deny cooking for you now." He smirked at me and I marched forward to shower him with my fists.
"Don't be so cocky. I can bake myself something." I replied to him begrudgingly while attempting to take the baking items but I found that cabin empty.
"Oh my! Are we running out of them?" He gasped dramatically.
"Stop being smug. I can order a take-out."
"Is someone forgetting their own words? 'No outside food is allowed inside on sundays'." He air quoted my own words which I felt like I had said before.
'Damn!' I muttered under my breath for being so silly to even think of such kind of stuff. I would have just forgotten my own words for a day as if I didn't propose that ridiculous idea if not for Dhruv, who would still complain everything like a child to his mom and grandma. I could handle both of them but not that grumpy gramps who wouldn't let me off the hook so easily.
"Okay. I accept my defeat. Just start cooking already. I am damn hungry." I groaned as he nodded at me smugly.
"Gladly I will but.." He smirked at me and continued.
"only with the pretext that you have to assist me." Having no choice, I accepted his request unwillingly but later I got to know how wrong was I to give in to his demand.
"Aarna, cut them into small ones...yeah. No no... A little small."
"See, this one is out of the shape."
"Aarna, go and grab that spices box."
"Aarna, I asked you to bring the tasting salt, not the normal salt."
"Aarna, grab that container."
"Aarna-
"Geez! Dhruv, you damn old naggy. I never expected you to be such a wish-washy fellow." I shouted as I was completely fed up with this fellow who was behaving like an old granny purposefully just to annoy the hell out of me.
"You can go out if you don't want your stomach to have it's full." He said with an innocent face as I gritted my teeth and stood there unwillingly to assist him.
Amidst his naggings, we both completed the dishes and my mouth started watering just at the sight of them but he disturbed my dreams with his annoying voice.
"Go and set the dishes on the table." He ordered while untying the knot of the apron around his waist.
"Okay!" I rolled my eyes and obeyed him but while doing so, I thought of something and pretended to hiss while placing the hot container on the table.
"Idiot! What happened?" He immediately rushed to my side and held my hand to check my 'not-so-reddened' fingers to inspect them.
"Did you burn yourself again?" He asked with a frown obviously not believing me.
"I didn't expect it to be so hot!" I mumbled, still continuing with my act.
"It was just now put off the stove. So it is ought to be a hot, idiot!" He chided me while dipping my fingers into the glass of cool water after pouring it from the jug.
"Who would expect it to scald me?"
"I can't talk with you. Just blame yourself for being so dumb." He chided me and I pouted at him slightly.
"Enough of scolding me. I am so hungry. Feed me. I can't eat with my fingers being scalded. It's so painful." I said and to make my act look even more realistic, I added the sound effects by hissing occasionally.
Seeing me frowning, he obeyed my words and started feeding me as I thought it was my turn to take revenge.
"I don't want to eat the carrots. So remove them while feeding me." I pointed out the little carrot cubes in the vegetable biryani that he had prepared.
"Serve another scoop. I am so hungry."
"Wait, Dhruv, let me chew the food properly."
"Raita, not the curry."
I smugly ordered him around and when he looked at me with a frown, I bit back my smile.
"Woman, you are doing this on purpose...right?" He asked me in an accusing tone.
"Why would I? I am not as petty as you." I lied through my teeth.
"Yeah. I can see that." He said sarcastically while bringing his hand to put another morsel into my mouth.
"You coincidentally made my favorites. So I have to have them until I feel content..right!" I said, gulping the food.
"Coincidence? You dumb woman, I made them because they are your favorites." He raged but still fed me.
"This stupid woman will kill me one day with her dumbness for sure." I heard him mumbling and decided to pacify him a little as I was already done with today's quota of annoying him.
"Hubby, don't be angry. Yes, I am dumb but you are smart..right. So we made a good pair.. Aren't we?" I placated with a cheeky smile.
"Day by day, you are getting so brazen with your stupid tricks." He grimaced while eyeing my fingers. I gave him a sheepish smile and decided not to pretend anymore.
"I wanted you to feed me, so I pretended to be in pain." I tucked my hair strand behind my ear while saying so.
"As if I am a fool to believe it," He rolled his eyes while pouring the water on his hand to wash on the plate.
"See. Just as I said, My husband is indeed smart." I patted his back as if I was extremely proud of him and sauntered towards the stairs with a smug smile.
"You better don't come in front of me for a while or else.." When I heard his words, I made a run to our room, considering his warning seriously as my husband, in addition to being smart, was a man of his words.
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