🎶 Bolna
Published on 06.05.2021
● A U T H O R ●
Vihaan was sipping his black coffee and reading his newspaper when Aarohi made her way to the balcony whilst brushing her teeth.
Oh, How much he missed this sight!
'It has just been a day.' His subconscious reminded him. Nevermind.
Vihaan had gotten used to watch her in the balcony whenever he used to go for workout to the gym in the morning. Yesterday, he missed her presence and not seeing a glimpse of her before going to his workplace did feel incomplete. Aarohi loved to spend some time in the morning in the balcony taking in the fresh cool air.
Aarohi frowned when she turned around and spotted Vihaan.
"Whaaryoig?" Her words came out muffled since she had the toothbrush inside her mouth.
"Wash your mouth and then speak." Vihaan told her and she scrambled to her room to clean her mouth and face.
Vihaan didn't like how Aarohi used to stand in the balcony and brush her teeth without feeling conscious. He couldn't say that to her since they were on no talking terms. But when he didn't see her yesterday, his eyes searched her. He looked into the direction of her room frequently in the hope that she would come out of it and calm his restless heart with her presence. But now, seeing her do her usual thing that irritated him earlier, brought with it a soothing feeling, one which feels like home.
"What are you doing?" Aarohi asked sitting on the bean bag near the glass window and pulling her legs up, letting the wind play with her tresses and facing Vihaan.
Vihaan kept the cup on the table and turned towards her. "Flying a jet." He grinned.
"That's lame." Aarohi scoffed but couldn't help herself from laughing. "You're seriously obsessed with jet."
"And you need to be more clear and precise with your questions." He answered back. "Besides, you can see what I'm doing." He shrugged.
"Are you planning to go your company wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts, Mr CEO?" She asked, squinting her eyes playfully.
Vihaan looked at himself. "What's wrong with this, Mrs Doctor?" He played along.
Aarohi shook her head. "Sexy," she drawled teasingly, scanning her eyes over his frame. She didn't know when and how did she got so bold and free with him but it didn't feel awkward at all. She blamed this attitude over the fact that she woke up just sometime back and was probably still not completely awake.
Vihaan gaped at his wife in astonishment. Not wanting to lose the momentum, he got up from the couch and strode towards her with an intimidating look. He rested his hands on the sides of the bean bag and leaned forward trapping her in between. Aarohi gulped at the proximity. He moved his face close to hers, too close for her liking. She could see and differentiate between his iris which were a dark shade of brown and black pupil due to the bright sunlight coming from outside. She looked at him nervously. His eyes moved towards her lips for a split second making her breath hitched. Then, he brought the back of his palm and touched her forehead and she blinked.
"There's no fever." He said normally after moving back while she struggled to come out of the moment.
"Huh?"
"I'm not going to VedHaan today."
"What?" She asked, still bemused about what the hell was he speaking.
Vihaan smirked and then chortled in satisfaction that he was able to catch her off guard. By that time, Aarohi made sense of the words he spoke.
"You don't have- "
Vihaan raised a hand to stop her. "I've already been working on Sundays which I usually don't do. So taking a day off doesn't make much of a difference." He stated, putting an end to a probable debate that was about to start between them.
Aarohi nodded in understanding.
"But you know that I can take care of myself. There's nothing serious." She tried to argue.
"Who said that I'm taking a day off for you?" Vihaan said with a serious look. "You give yourself too much importance." He snickered.
Aarohi looked around trying to find something to throw at him but she couldn't. Vihaan looked at her, amused.
"Ouch!" Vihaan taunted. "Didn't find anything to throw at me? Sad." He pulled his lips in a frown and made a sad mocking face.
"I can throw a death glare at you." Aarohi seethed, glaring at him and trying to look as intimidating as possible which made her look funny.
Vihaan laughed.
"I'm going back to my room." Aarohi got up and stomped to her room.
"Get freshen up soon so that you could take medicines after having breakfast." Vihaan shouted from behind.
It had been quite some time. Vihaan was waiting for Aarohi at the dining table. When she didn't come, he himself went to check.
"Aarohi." He knocked at the door.
"Door is open. Come in." Aarohi replied in a weak and strained voice.
Aarohi was snuggled up in her bed in a fetus position with the comforter covering her whole body till the neck.
Vihaan came closer and looked at her worriedly. "Fever?" He questioned.
She shook her head in denial. "Just feeling cold and body ache."
Vihaan pinched the bridge of his nose before removing the thermometer from the drawer. "Open your mouth." He got seated at the edge of the bed. Putting the thermometer inside, he checked the temperature.
"101.1." He said in a small voice. "And you say you're just feeling cold." He chided.
"It's normal. It will go away soon." Aarohi said meekly.
Vihaan sighed. "Have the toast and then drink the orange juice. You can't take medicines with an empty stomach."
"I'm not hungry."
"Aarohi." He warned and brought the slice closer to her lips. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth and took a bite. Vihaan made Aarohi finish eating and gave her the necessary tablets to be taken.
"I need tea." Aarohi requested.
"You just had juice. You aren't going to have tea today."
"You're being mean." Aarohi scowled, which Vihaan ignored royally.
"The body ache must be due to the fever. Take rest and it will be fine."
"I'm fine. I don't need rest. And I frankly feel better now."
"No. You need to take rest." Vihaan said sternly, picking her legs up and laying them straight on the bed and pulling the comforter back on her body.
He stepped to move away but Aarohi held his hand. "Stay." She whispered.
Aarohi shifted from her position, laying down so that her side profile was against the headboard and waved a hand at the space beside her for Vihaan.
Aarohi would have never let her guard down or directly asked anyone that she needed them if she wasn't feeling so weak and exhausted emotionally. Or maybe she would have never done this if the person in front of her wasn't Vihaan. No matter how many arguments she had with him, how ugly they got, he was still there for her when she needed without her having to ask him. His presence was comforting, the way he looked at her with concern in his eyes made her feel treasured and talking with him made her forget about everything in this materialistic world. She knew she was being selfish by asking him to be with her as she wasn't feeling well because this wasn't the part of their marriage but she wanted to be selfish.
Vihaan hated to see Aarohi so fragile. There was a longing in the way she asked him to stay, making his heart clench. He sighed and sat in the space which she oh so graciously made for him with one leg folded and the other touching the ground. He smiled at her antics.
"Fine. Just sleep now. I'm here." He said, coaxing her as if she was a small baby.
"I can't sleep. I just woke up few hours back. I need to talk. We need to talk about a lot of things Vihaan." She said to him.
"I know. But it can wait." He tried to reason out.
"You're caring too much." Aarohi let out a chuckle. "I'm okay. I needed to tell Armaan had called me."
"For scolding you?" He asked, placing a pillow under her head when he noticed she wasn't very comfortable.
"Yeah. Mummy Papa and that brother of mine scolded me for being so negligent and more for stressing you." Aarohi rolled her eyes making Vihaan chuckle once more. "You told Kiara and she was abusing me on phone."
"As they all should." Vihaan said firmly.
"Thank you." Aarohi smiled at him fondly. "I haven't given you any reason to be so kind to me but you still did a lot so...yeah thanks."
"Don't think that I'm doing all this for free. You owe it to me and I'll compensate for everything when the time will be right." He warned her in advance.
"I'm ready. By the way, your back will hurt. You can lie down just like me." Aarohi offered him another pillow.
Vihaan narrowed his eyes in mischief and tilted his head. "Won't that mean that we're sharing a bed?"
"You wish." Aarohi snorted. "I was just being nice to you but seems like you don't appreciate it."
Vihaan smiled at that toothily but nevertheless lied down. "Smriti had called me. Mom, Dad, Amrit and her are coming in the evening by four."
Both of their legs were dangling down from the edge of the bed. "That's great." Aarohi grinned. "I'm excited to meet them all."
"This will be the second time Mom will be coming here since the time I've been staying here." Vihaan said with a sad smile.
Aarohi knew for sure something had happened that had created a distance between Vihaan and his family. She had noticed how little his Mom and Dad talked to him and as much as she wanted to know about that, she didn't want to make him uncomfortable or invade his personal life. It wasn't her place. If he wants, he'll tell her himself.
"We need to sort out things so that we don't fight over petty issues again." Aarohi said, her voice a pitch higher to distract him.
"The food will be cooked according to your liking. I'm fine with it." Vihaan started first.
"No." Aarohi declared. "We'll do alternate days. One day, we'll have food which normal Indians eat and the next day, we'll have those ghaas phus that abornmal people like you have."
"Hey! That's not abnormal. It's called eating healthy and being fit." Vihaan said defensively.
"Doesn't matter." She shrugged. "Next."
"You'll do your work in your own room and not in the hall or study room. I want them to be clean." He said affirmatively.
"I can try but no promises." She widened her eyes to make her point clear. "And I'll take care of maintaining cleanliness."
"You'll never forget to keep your sandals on the shoe rack when you come back come." He said sternly.
Aarohi resisted rolling her eyes. "Fine."
Likewise they discussed almost everything that bothered them and decided to make adjustments from both side.
"Now, most important thing," Vihaan said solemnly. "We. Won't. Fight. It's difficult but we can try."
Aarohi took a deep breath as if preparing for some kind of war. "I'm in."
"And if anyone fails to do it, he or she will have to pay." Vihaan said as if he was laying out rules of a game.
"But how can one break the rule? If it breaks, it will involve both the person." Aarohi frowned.
Vihaan looked at her puzzled.
"Fight will be called as a fight when two people fight or else how can it be a fight?" Aarohi said, looking at him thoughtfully.
Vihaan made a weird face. "Whatever you said doesn't make any sense but I do understand...maybe." He said the last word to himself.
"Anyways, leave all this. Tell me more about your cooking diaries." Aarohi said excitedly.
"You want to know?" He asked in surprise.
"What's the problem in that?"
"I've always seen most people feeling strange when a guy says that he likes cooking. It's like a guy can't cook or cooking is a woman's job. I've met people who felt weird when they came to know that my hobby is cooking. Even T...," He stopped in between as he realized what he was going to say and his heart started racing as memories flooded his brain. He looked around when he felt a hand over his.
Aarohi was looking at him, her beautiful eyes staring into him comprehensively. "It's okay. You don't have to say more. I understand." She said softly and gave him a small smile.
Vihaan couldn't understand how a small gesture from her side managed to calm him down. She was drawing circles on the innerside of his wrist mindlessly making him feel ticklish. He found that action cute. She was looking at his wrist but he could see her mind wasn't in the moment.
Aarohi had many sides but the innocent side of hers was the most dangerous. It made him want to trap her and never let her go. It made him want to freeze the time so that he could keep staring at her to his heart content. She was so rare, so precious yet so far that it was hard to touch her. Maybe he would never be able to understand why did he feel an insane amount of attraction towards her but every moment he spends with her makes it painfully difficult for him to accept that she's unattainable and he shouldn't chase her. She makes him want to give a chance to them. She makes him hope that maybe his moonless night isn't for forever. She brings out his suppressed emotions against his wishes. She's courageous but soft. She's bold but sensitive. She's stubborn but understanding.
Vihaan wants to stay away but he can't. Her presence was healing. Her showing interest in his life, his activities yet knowing where to draw a line, her asking him to stay, trying to keep him close gave him a feeling of affinity, a feeling of belonging, belonging to someone.
"I've many stories and incidents related to cooking from my childhood. I can share if you want to hear." Vihaan said breaking the silence that had enveloped them, successfully distracting her from her thoughts.
Aarohi grinned. "Gladly." She beamed and with that started their conversation where Vihaan was sharing snippets from his life while Aarohi listened to him enthusiastically.
Vihaan had been talking for too long that he didn't notice when Aarohi felt asleep. She still had held his hand. When he tried to remove his hand, she tightened her grip instinctively. He didn't try after that because he was scared to disturb her sleep and majorly because he didn't want to go. He wanted to be close to her, watch her, adore her. He turned his body to face her fully.
Carefully, Vihaan brushed away the small tendrils of hair that fell on her forehead and cheeks. He let his thumb linger on the soft skin of her cheek for a few seconds before withdrawing it. Probably, it was the first time he was observing her so closely as if he had the entire world's time. He observed the light freckles which were almost undistinguishable along her nose. She had bow shaped lips which he so wanted to touch.
Vihaan fell asleep gazing at Aarohi who was sleeping peacefully unaware of the pair of eyes that were staring at her with utmost affection and tenderness.
When Aarohi woke up, she was greeted with an unfamiliar sight. Both her arms were wrapped around Vihaan's right hand and her face was pressed against his bicep. It took a few seconds to understand what was happening and when she realized, she jolted back abruptly and stood on the floor.
"Shit!" Aarohi muttered to herself in horror. "I actually slept with Vihaan on the same bed." She pressed her hand on her forehead in distress.
Before she could sulk more, the doorbell rang. She scrambled to her feet and opened the front door. There they stood in front of her with bright smiling faces, her in-laws.
"Aarohiiiiii!" Smriti grinned hugging her. Aarohi hugged her back with the same energy or maybe tried to.
"Please come in." Aarohi said to all after pulling back.
She made them sit on the sofa and went to the kitchen to bring water for everyone.
"What's the commotion?" Vihaan's sleep was broken on hearing the noise. He came outside with his hand ruffling his hair, eyes half opened as a yawn left his lips.
"You were sleeping in the afternoon?" Amrit enquired, confused.
"Isn't your room there?" His Dad fired the next question, his thumb pointing to the opposite direction from where Vihaan came.
Vihaan rubbed his eyes lazily to get rid of the sleep. He didn't know when everyone arrived. Did he and Aarohi sleep for so long? He was trying to think of an excuse but Aarohi saved him from the load.
"Actually, I didn't like that room so we both got shifted in the other one." Aarohi covered up and served the glass of water to all.
Vihaan heaved a breath of relief. They couldn't reveal that they lived in separate rooms to his parents.
"Come. Sit with me." Sandhya said to Aarohi.
"How are you feeling now?" She asked laying an affectionate hand on Aarohi's cheek.
"I'm completely fine Mom." Aarohi gave her mother in law an assuring smile.
Vihaan sighed and made his way to the kitchen to bring some snacks for his family as Aarohi continued to chat with all. He was thankful that Aarohi had kept stacks of different snacks for herself which now he could serve everyone out. After all, it isn't daily that his family visits him.
***
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