Jay's POV:
I placed my forehead on hers and giggled looking at her. Her face was glowing and her eyes portrayed great joy and satisfaction. I'm proud of myself that I could accomplish the deed with not even a single hindrance. I could see the result of my efforts in Amaira's smile. I couldn't take my eyes off her, for she was at a different level today. She was always beautiful but today she was extraordinarily beautiful. I feel full at the mere sight of her.
I gently stroked her hair and pulled her head closer. I engulfed her in my arms and relished the feeling. I handled her with utmost care as I was afraid I would break her. She is the most precious thing I've right now. The weight of protecting it is something I should learn to bear. Not even for a second, I thought I would get something that I would cherish the most in my life. This is too surreal but I don't care. These are my happy days and I'm going to live it to the full.
"Jay." Amaira whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Is that food on the table?" She asked pointing to the table behind.
"Yeah, some snacks and soft drinks." I said.
"You kept it there for eating or is it one among the decorations?" She inquired innocently rubbing her tummy.
I laughed out and said, "Go devour it all you want."
She got up from my lap and rushed to the table. She opened the lid of the bowl and gobbled the chicken leg. I rose up, the smile not fading from my face and went to accompany her. Just looking at her eat made me hungry as well. I sat on the seat in front of her and took one leg for myself.
"What actually possessed you, Jay?" She asked out of nowhere, licking her fingers.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. I still cannot believe you came up with such a romantic proposal. Are you sure you are my husband Jay?"
"Pssht! I didn't know I would get caught this soon. No no. Actually, you were so dumb to not realise I'm not your husband until now. Your husband's soul left him long ago when he was in the cab unconscious. I possessed his body that time and since I didn't know what to do I just acted along. But I've to say you're husband is stupid. Like who takes their wife to the middle of a forest at midnight just to say 'I love you?'" I asked and chuckled maliciously.
Amaira stopped chewing and the small chicken piece in the edge of her mouth came rolling down to the plate.
"If you allow me to say one more thing..." I dragged and threw her a flirty wink. "Your lips are so soft and kissable babe. I totally enjoyed the moment. Damn! Your husband is so lucky."
She choked and began coughing. I took the glass of water in front of me and passed it to her. She pushed away my hand and told, "No you're lying."
"Oh dear no. I swear I loved the kiss. I'm even dying to experience it again." I told and inched forward.
"Jayyyy." She yelled and her face turned pale.
"Dumbo why do you believe in all the crap I utter and get scared?" I teased her and laughed to put her at ease.
"I...I......I normally don't. But at midnight, and in the middle of the forest, just a small scare can give me a heart attack. So stop your nonsense." She reasoned and slapped my arm.
"Haha! All of this wouldn't have happened if you were able to acknowledge how cool your husband was."
"Alright, I accept. I can't deny it after all this you have done to me." She said coyly and I threw her a kiss.
"So what's next?" She asked raising her eyebrows.
"It's late. Let's go home first." I told.
"But how?" She asked baffled.
"Just like we came here. Wait! Amaira, now tell me where is your sense of security? You didn't lock our house properly before coming out and just like that you got into someone's car and assumed it to be a taxi just because of its color? Ha! Glad I knew you were lacking a bit of brain beforehand, that this plan turned out to be a success."
She rolled her eyes and looked at me deadpan, up and down.
"I should have simply let you die." She declared after few seconds.
Realising that the romantic mood was slowly fading, I acted up.
"Ammu, so are we husband and wife now?" I asked slyly.
"Weren't we for the last seven months?" She questioned back.
"No... I mean...how do I say?" I was searching for the correct words.
"Leave it if you are not able to say. Why take the trouble?" She said immediately. Her body language showed me she understood what I meant.
"Hey, you got what I meant, right?"
"Uh! No...nope...not at all." She responded spontaneously. She was trying hard to avoid my eyes at all points. I could see her cheeks turn red.
Damn! She is really too hard to get.
"Alright. Are we back again to the first round now? God, will there be a day when I get to play around with my kids?" I ranted loud enough for her to hear.
"Pssht. Stop overacting Jay. What do you expect me to say? Come let's do it? In your dreams man. In your dreams. Everything will happen when it is the right time. Don't create a timetable beforehand, Jay." She said smiling in disbelief and slapped my arm shyly.
"Fine. It is time we move. Come let's go." I told and got up from my seat. Amaira reciprocated my gesture and walked towards me. She clutched my elbow and gave me a cute look which I couldn't resist. I threw my arm around her which made her let go off my elbow and hug me sideways. We walked down the hill in each other's embrace stealing glances now and then.
Once we reached the road I looked on all sides to spot the car we came. There it was, under a tree on the left. We walked to it and I knocked on the car window on reaching it. He woke up from sleep startled at the sudden noise.
"Vihaan, it's me. Open the door." I yelled for him to hear above the window glass. He opened the door and we got inside.
"You promised me to be back in half an hour, Jay." He said gritting his teeth.
"Sorry mate, got a little late." I said grinning sheepishly.
"A little late? Man, it was freeeakinggg three hours!! Three hours to say the three words?? Didn't you both feel cold out there? I'm shivering while I'm inside a car. Is that what they call burning with love?" He exclaimed. I had no reply so I threw him a flying kiss to console him.
"Okay. I understand that you are in some other mood." He told and started the car. Amaira dozed off to sleep as soon as the car started to move. I got a little bit sad that the day ended soon. I was greedy to spend a little more time with her but to my dismay, she fell asleep. It's okay, she would have been tired climbing up and down the hill.
"Jay, we reached your home." Vihaan's voice woke me up. It took me a few seconds to realise who I was and where I was. Eventually, I too had fallen asleep without knowing. I got out of the car and started walking to the door, in a trance.
"Hey, you don't want your wife?" Vihaan yelled from behind.
"Shit! My wife." I slapped my forehead and ran back to the car.
She was least bothered by the external noises and continued to sleep like a dead log. I opened the door in her side and she fell straight into my arms. I carefully carried her out and shut the car door with my leg.
"Thanks for today, Vihaan. I owe you one for this." I told him and he waved back before speeding away. After struggling for five minutes I somehow managed to open the door lock without disturbing Amaira's sleep. As soon as I entered the house, I was confused as to where to take Amaira. To my room or hers? I ended up choosing our previous separate bedroom concept as I thought it is better to discuss it tomorrow rather than acting on my own.
************
I tossed over the bed and my empty stomach grumbled again. I felt sleepy to the core, yet I couldn't due to my rumbling breadbasket. My nose helped him by finding the coffee smell coming from outside. I got up hastily and sat there for a few seconds in silence. In those few seconds, I recalled yesterday's happenings. I felt energetic at once and excited to spend the first day of our official love life. It was New year and I got a new life to live. That thought erased all the leftover sleep from me.
I picturised Amaira making coffee in the kitchen and I planned to hug her from behind as a good morning greeting. I wasted no time and jogged out of my room. I spotted Amaira's back facing me as she was washing something in front of the sink. I wiped my eyes as I walked, to wipe off the remaining sleep. I threw my arms around her stomach and stuffed my face in her shoulder.
Hah! My girl is full with my love that she seems to have turned few inches bigger. I giggled at the thought and said, "God! I missed this feeling for how long?"
I was about to playfully bite her shoulder to extract a reaction out of her.
"Aww! My son, if you had told me earlier that you were missing me I would have visited you daily. Even I missed you so much, my boy." The figure turned around speaking which startled the shit out of me.
"Holy fu...fu...function!!!" I managed the unstoppable reaction I did, looking at my mom's face.
"Huh? Holy function? New year? Since when?" She asked innocently.
"Hmm...that is.... I mean...yeah only if the year begins we can celebrate the holy festivals, can't we? If so, then doesn't New year become the mother of holy festivals?" I told hoping she would buy my lie.
"Tsk tsk tsk. My son turned stupid from missing me." She told worried.
"Is that coffee mom? I feel so hungry." I diverted the topic.
"Yeah! Go brush and come, if you need it." She shooed me away. I turned around and started walking to my room, embarrassed. Amaira was coming in the opposite direction and I signalled her asking when my mom came. She pointed towards the living area and I peeped to see my Dad sitting on the couch.
Argh!! I was never this unhappy to see my parents before. I kicked the table beside me in frustration and bolted towards the bathroom to freshen up. I brushed my teeth and turned on the shower to bath. But without bathing, I was concentrated on finding ways to send away my parents. Should I probably go tell my mom directly?
'Mom, today is my only day off. I want to spend it with her alone. Can you please excuse us?'
No! That's too rude.
'Mom, don't you want to spend some quality time with dad on this beautiful day?'
Ugh! No! It would only backfire.
Fine, let them finish the purpose of their arrival and leave on their own. It would be too harsh to shoo them away when they rarely visit us. I turned the shower off and came out of the bathroom. I changed and went out to properly greet them. But I couldn't find them anywhere.
"Amaira, where are they?" I asked her noticing her presence.
"Dad received a call from his friend asking him to come over for lunch and they left immediately." She informed. It gave me happiness momentarily but deep inside I was a bit unfulfilled. It was too long since I spent some time with my parents. Them leaving without notice was not what I wanted.
"Okay." I uttered tightly.
Amaira walked past me and my mood lightened. I grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and hugged her from behind. I took a deep breath to inhale her scent. A strange feeling jolted up my body when her scent hit my nose.
"Jay!!" She told shyly and tried wiggling out of my grip. I flipped her around so that she was facing me now. I raised my eyebrows up in a manner asking 'what?'.
"Let me go. I have work." She said looking down at the floor.
"What better work do you have than this? And speak looking at me. I'm the one speaking, not the floor." I told and pulled her close by her waist. Her eyesight leveled with mine and her lips were quivering.
"You were not feeling this shy while kissing me yesterday, were you?" I leaned forward and whispered in her ears.
"That...that was because it was dark and I.. I was overwhelmed by your efforts." She spoke stuttering in between.
"Oh! You don't expect me to do it daily, do you? I mean...I don't have a problem if the reward would be a kiss." I mumbled flirtatiously.
"No. I ain't that materialistic." She replied.
"So you mean you wouldn't mind kissing me in this setup, right?" Amaira fell right into the bait.
"Yeah! No... I mean...ugh!" She was searching for the right word. I bent down, picked her up, and threw her over my shoulders. Too much chatting isn't the right thing to do in this situation. Amaira squealed at the sudden change in her position. I carried her to the couch and gently placed her on it. I sat on the leftover place and gazed at her as romantically as I could.
I leaned forward little by little at each passing second. As I was barely an inch away, Amaira closed her eyes in anticipation. It boosted me and I shortened the distance between us by placing my lips over hers.
DING DONG!!!!!!
Aah!! Shit!!
The doorbell went off right at the moment our lips touched. I punched the couch in frustration and got up to go see who that idiot was to come right at the wrong moment. I opened the door with great force making it bang on the wall hard.
"Yo! What happened bro? Were you that excited to see me?" Vihaan asked grinning ear to ear. On his left, stood Disha, mirroring his facial expressions. I took a moment to calm down before speaking.
"Wow!! What a surprise? Why didn't you call and inform us that you're coming? We could have prepared something then." I said ironically.
"Uh! Please! Forget the formalities. Aren't we all one family? Disha was worried that I was not picking her call last night. So when she asked about it, I told her about how I was stuck in a jungle where there was no network connection. And she immediately wanted to meet you both to congratulate you on your getting together. So I brought her here." Vihaan said proudly.
"Yeah yeah! Of course." I told shaking my head. So now it is a tie. Once I went to his house unwelcomed and interrupted his confession time and now he has come to mine.
Fine!! I let them in and shut the door, scowling.
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A/N: Woohoo!!! Updated finally!! Sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long:( Hope you're still hanging in there waiting and didn't abandon the book🤞