The rain kept pouring and the thunder kept roaring through the night. Omkara and Gauri lay wide awake for a longer part of the night, as she kept playing with his fingers while he spooned her. The weather was cool enough, but they'd pushed the duvet away for the night. Only when Omkara had heard Gauri's soft snores did he lift his head to look at her in the darkness, and a soft smile came upon his lips. He shifted a little away from her, gently turning her around to face him without disturbing her sleep, and then huddled closer so that he was hugging her with his head cradled against her chest- just the way he usually slept next to her.
Omkara inhaled a long breath and felt the calmness in his heart as the natural scent of her body filled his senses. She smelled so delicate, causing him to have a sweet rush through his veins. In the dark, he ran his fingers through her hair as if gently massaging her scalp, and he heard her moan. Sleepily, she threw her arms around his shoulder. Omkara smiled; he was so used to cuddling next to her, that now he couldn't even sleep a wink without being close to her. Resting his leg on top of hers, he closed his eyes listening to the rhythm of her heartbeat with the sound of the steady rain in the background, not realizing his heartbeat and his breathing had started to sync with hers. He felt sleep wash over him, and in the depths of his unconscious mind, the soulful kiss they shared that evening played itself on a loop.
Like every morning, Gauri found herself waking up in his embrace. She looked at his sleeping face and her heart was overwhelmed at the realization that she would wake up for the rest of her life at the sight of such a serene look. Gauri bent her head and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, unable to hold herself back. Omkara slept like a baby, huddled up against her, but when she kissed him, a small sleepy smile came upon his lips. She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to always keep this man peaceful and happy. He had been through a lot, and she knew he deserved all the happiness in the world. She vowed to herself that she will do everything in her capacity to always keep him happy. With a renewed confidence, she slowly moved his hand away to slip out of his hold, and like every morning, placed her warm pillow in her place for him to keep hugging.
Gauri, after freshening up, changed into a pair of three-fourth slacks and a t-shirt. Since they had been informed to stay at home due to the brewing storm, and she wasn't required to connect to work from home, she decided to do the laundry. Once she had put the clothes for drying, she was in a mood to cook some breakfast. Luckily, they had stocked up after shopping just two days back. Gauri decided to cook some breakfast sausages, some eggs, and toast, along with tea. Once the rest was ready, she had put the slices of bread into the toaster, and that was when Omkara sleepily walked out, still rubbing his eyes. Gauri felt her heart melt when she saw his tousled hair as he leaned against the kitchen entrance half-sleepily.
"Good morning!" she cheerfully wished him and he opened his eyes. "You're as cheery as Cinderella!" he exclaimed with a lazy smile coming to his lips. She, in response, twirled around once and curtsied in front of him, making him grin. "Oooh, fancy breakfast?" He said, peeking at the plate behind her and she nodded, "Brush your teeth and freshen up first. We'll have our breakfast together." Omkara nodded, closing his eyes, still sleepy.
"Oberoi!" she warned, asking him to quickly finish washing up. "Yea, yea, going!" he muttered sleepily and walked towards her instead. "Bathroom is the other way!" she said looking at him in confusion. He, however, kept walking towards her and hugged her, resting his head in the crook of her neck as if he were a baby. She was amused and hugged him while patting his back gently. He drew a long breath, pulled away from the hug, and with a goofy smile, turned around to make his way to the bathroom. Gauri watched him walk away as a sweet grin adorned her lips.
***
Omkara noticed she hadn't brought up last evening's kiss, and preferred to eat her breakfast in silence, looking into her phone. While, on one hand, it avoided any awkward conversations which he was partly thankful for, he also knew that they couldn't pretend that it didn't happen. Staying mum about it or avoiding the topic altogether wouldn't help, especially given how the physical attraction was so evident between them.
Gauri heard him clearing his throat and looked up from her phone. She had been going through recipes to make something special for lunch since she was relatively free through the day. For some reason, cooking for the two of them somehow made her happy and content. Her mother had once told her that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Gauri was willing to test this theory, deliberately not wanting to dwell on why she wanted to make her way to his heart. Right now, he was looking at her, chewing the last piece of his toast, as if he was wanting to talk to her.
Omkara slightly frowned looking at the phone in her hand, asking, "Were you doing something important? Did I interrupt?" She shook her head, placing the phone aside, saying, "That can wait. What happened? You wanted to say something?" He nodded, making her furrow her brows as if asking what he wanted to talk about. "About yesterday evening." He watched her closely and noted how her eyes slightly widened and her pupils dilated at the reminder. Oh, the attraction was simmering on fire now. His gaze dropped to her mouth, noticing she had a few crumbs of toast on her chin.
Gauri was confused when he looked at her and pointed at his own lips, twice. Was he asking for another kiss? She was flustered; it was one thing to be in an emotional moment in the dark of the evening that had led to a kiss. But now, in broad daylight, out of the blue, Gauri found it slightly awkward. He must have sensed her thoughts because his eyes widened and he reached out towards her face. Gauri felt like someone poured ice water on her head when he dusted her chin, letting her know that she had crumbs on her mouth. She thought his fingers lingered a few seconds longer on her face, on her chin, and on her lips, before he pulled away with a long sigh. "What about yesterday?" she asked him, bringing the focus back on the conversation that he almost side-tracked.
Looking at her mouth, and brushing his fingers across her chin and her lips had disoriented Omkara, and for a moment, when she spoke, he took more than a couple of seconds to process the words she had uttered. Yesterday, oh yes, the kiss, he recalled. Clearing his throat, Omkara intertwined his fingers as he clasped his hands. Gauri looked at his hands, slightly amused, when she sat upright in his chair, oddly comparing his stance to that of a corporate boss who was about to start a team meeting.
"Yesterday, erm, we kissed." He said, for the lack of anything. She looked at him with a nod, asking him to go on. He looked at her face for any sign of hesitation, and except for the pinkening of her cheeks, there was no awkwardness. Good sign, he thought. Looking at him stare at her, Gauri said while still blushing but not shying away, "I know, Oberoi. I was very much conscious when that happened. Aage bolo?"
He nodded, not knowing how and why his mouth turned dry as his heart started quickening its pace. Now, he was starting to get even more visibly nervous than her as he broached the topic. Oh, how the tables had turned! When he did not say anything, she said with a long sigh, "Yes, Oberoi, we both kissed, we both liked it, we both wanted more, but we both paused before going ahead because we decided to give each other some time before we took it to the next level."
Omkara was gobsmacked at the way she structured her sentence with so much ease. He used to be able to portray intense, deep thoughts in the form of poems, at one point in time. Who would've thought that a budding shayar would have difficulty in framing his thoughts properly about a kiss?
Nodding, he said, "Yea, we both paused." Looking into her eyes, he asked her in a cautious tone, "You do understand the reason why we paused, right?" Gauri saw the hesitation and vulnerability in his eyes. In a way, she thought, it was good that they were having this conversation so that they could speak their minds and hearts out. Both of them were adults and there was nothing to be shameful about a moment of intimacy they shared. To her, it was more of an emotional act, even if she recalled the way she had ached for his physical touch. Looking at him, she knew it meant the same to him too. The worry in his eyes was so evident, Gauri simply wanted to hug it out.
Omkara looked down at his hand when she placed her hand on his. "I do, Oberoi, and I want to thank you for being the less impulsive one among us." Her words said a lot to him. She had indirectly told him that she was glad he had refrained from taking the kiss further, even if she was practically begging for more; that he had taken the decision behalf of her for them to wait, even though she wouldn't have minded going all the way.
"We haven't reached that level yet," Omkara started, holding her hand, continuing, "I agree with you. We both liked kissing each other. Sharma, I wouldn't have stopped us from proceeding ahead yesterday if it was going to be a one-time thing. Had it been a one-night stand, or had we decided to just only enjoy the physical aspects of it, I would have been the first between us to drag us to bed."
Omkara almost cursed himself for sounding so blunt when he saw her look at him with widened eyes, but this had to be said and done. Tapping the base of her wrist with his thumb, he said, "But you and I both know that it's not the case between us. With us, we're neither a one-night-stand nor is it only a physical thing that we have going on between us. You mean the world to me, Sharma. I could never ever dream of hurting your heart."
Gauri's eyes welled up with emotion as she heard him speak, while further adding, "We're married – husband and wife. We deserve to share an equation beyond just sex." She smiled warmly as he intertwined their fingers, gently playing with them as he said, "Being my best friend, I can talk to you about anything without any fear of hesitation that you would judge me. I want us to share that same level of understanding, faith and love, before we take it to the sheets. I promise you, the day we reach that level, I won't stop us at all. In fact, I will make the first move, I promise."
Gauri, enjoying the feel of his fingers against hers, cupped his face with her other hand, saying, "You don't have to explain. I know. I might have made mistakes in the past, but now, I trust you more than I trust myself. I trust you to know better about it, because, well, I'm clueless." When Omkara's eyebrows almost went all the way up in shock, she quickly added, "I mean, I know the technicalities and what goes where..." She stopped talking when she saw the mirth in his eyes. Gauri, helplessly, burst into giggles, saying, "I didn't mean to word it that way..." "It's okay, I understand," he said, placing his other hand on top of hers, which was at his cheek.
"What I meant to say," Gauri started, "is that I trust you completely to know what is better for us. I am counting on you to guide me in this. Hurting you or disappointing you is something I wouldn't even imagine doing, Oberoi." Omkara kissed the center of her palm as he leaned into her hand, while she traced faint circles with her thumb on his cheek as she admired his features. They stayed that way for a while until she saw a glint of mischief in his eyes. she narrowed her eyes when he grinned as he said to her in a teasing tone, "So, you enjoyed the kiss, eh?" She rolled her eyes at that and tried to withdraw her hand from his hold, but he held on to her. In fact, he leaned towards her and tugged on her hand, pulling her closer to him.
"We could keep enjoying what we have, you know." He said suggestively in a low tone. When she frowned slightly, not really catching on, he said dropping his gaze to her lips, "We don't have to go all the way. But we can still kiss, you know?" She tried to glare at him and failed miserably. She could only manage a blush and a shy smile.
Looking at her reaction which was almost a response to his words, he inched closer to her mouth, only for her to move away. Instead, she pressed her lips into his cheek and giggled. Omkara looked sincerely surprised, and at her infectious laugh, a smile crept upon his lips. He sat looking at her with a look of contentment as if he had absolutely nothing else to do but admire her.
"Chalo, finish off your tea quickly," she said with a smile, as she got up from her chair. Carrying both their plates into the kitchen, she said to him, "After that, you have to log into work too!" He groaned at that sound, making her chuckle aloud.
Poking her head at him from the kitchen, she said, "I'm making channa curry and kulcha for lunch. Is that okay?" He nodded, "As long as it's not methi kulcha, I'm good." She grinned as she adding, "I'm also thinking of making moong-dal halwa!" Omkara beamed at that; it was yet another one of his favourite desserts. "Thank you. And in return, I'll give you a kiss later" he said with a wink. She shook her head at that with a smile as he picked his cup of tea.