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This chap is affectionately dedicated to - user63051004NeetuGk🖤✨
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"Home is not where you are from.
It is where you belong. Some of us travel the whole world to find it.
While some, find it in a person.................."
All throughout the time when Shaurya was around, Manjiri did not bother herself to shift her eyes off the handset, in which she was pretending to be very involved.
It was when he went to the washroom to freshen up, she finally closed her phone and shot a glare towards the shut washroom's door. Resting her back against the round cushion placed on the couch properly, she again opened her phone and started browsing random stuff.
A few minutes later, Shaurya stepped out of the washroom only to find his sulking wife still in that same position and mood, half-laying and all hot under the collar.
He slowly made his way to the couch and eventually settled near her folded knees. Pulling his hand out towards her, he inquisitively probed
"What's so interesting in there?"
Hardly had his hand reached her, when her eyes shifted to him. Keeping her face blank, not showing any emotion, she responded briefly
"You got no business?"
"Now what really went wrong with you?"
Taking a sigh, he shook his head and asked this. He tried to reach her hand again but she scooted away.
"Nothing!"
She retorted and stood up. Picking her phone up in her hands, she was about to unlock it's password when in one swift move of his, she was back on the couch, seating right next to him.
"What?"
She blurted out, utterly irritated and confused. His eyes lingered on her face for a moment after which he questioned her calmly
"Exactly what? What's wrong with you?"
Hearing him, she closed her eyes in frustration and whined inwardly. It was when she heard him ask, she intaneously unfurled her eyelids
"Headache?"
"No."
She said dryly and again opened her phone probably to shoo him away or to distract her mind or even to calm down her boiling fury.
"Are you sure?... Then what? Fever?"
Shaurya asked while placing his palm against her forehead. Manjiri kept mum and tried her best to pretend that she was much more interested in her phone rather than his talks.
"Did you eat something wrong?"
He tried to jest in order to gain her attention, to which he only received a clipped look from her side. He was literally puzzled by her behaviour at then, he was unable to figure out why was she abruptly being so distant yet again.
"Why are you ignoring me? Are you upset over something? I was not even home all day, then what did I do?"
He tried to sort his abrupt queries by trying to get her to the conversation. When he got no reply from her, he simply further added
"By the way, where were you all day? No calls, no texts, why? Were you really that busy today?"
He went on, totally oblivious of the fact that by bringing the topic of phone calls and texts, he was self - inviting his adversities. Shaking her arm tersely, he started grumbling
"Now stop being like this Manjiri, end your sulking game... I'm already very hungry and exhausted."
In response to his protests, she concisely replied whilst wearing a straight face.
"Your food is kept on the dining table, downstairs. Heat and serve."
As Manjiri spoke up, Shaurya's eyebrows shot up with bewilderment
"I?... Will I have to serve myself?"
"Hmm!"
She responded and looked away. Taking a deep troubled sigh, Shaurya word by word started taking out his discontentment and confusion together
"I don't comprehend what are you trying to imply with this attitude? Rather I should be the one nagging around as you are avoiding me pointlessly since the time you got to know I had to leave today... And now when I'm back, you're still the same."
Rolling his eyes in displeasure, he remarked accusingly
"Here, the pot is only calling the kettle black. Heights of oddity and silliness!"
And that was it, these pointed remarks of his accidentally made her anger explode. At least, he had learnt how to get her to react finally.
"Shaurya just be quiet or else I would lose my composure and something unpleasant will happen..."
He found her threat utterly amusing and highly incompetent, stifling his laugh he sarcastically commented
"Unpleasant?... Don't joke please, you can't even kill a fly and you're talking to hit me..."
Hearing him joke around at her expense bubbled up her anger more, snapping him in a bit louder tone she got up
"What?... Just shut up!"
When she found him staring at her in a stupefied state, she continued pointing out his wrongdoings
"You are complaining that I'm avoiding you, but instead you're the one least responsible towards me... It was my last exam today and you too had a holiday today, but no all of a sudden you decided to attend a conference. I had planned a lot of things for today, but you just splashed the water on everything..... Still, I let go of all these things and prepared the food of your choice with all my heart... But you made me and my prepared food wait for this long."
Instead of responding or feeling guilty by her words, Shaurya just coyly smiled and shook his head in mirth, causing her to look at him dumbfounded. Clenching her teeth, she added sternly
"Stop grinning and look over here, you tell me which conference was it which was just not ending, like for whole day long... and was even not allowing you to use your phone, huh? You know for nearly the entire day, I was constantly checking my phone every now and then, eagerly waiting for you to call, to text. But you never called, nor texted."
"Oh come on Manjiri, I was not holidaying. I was occupied..."
Shaurya tried his luck to diffuse the situation, but only to be interjected by his wife's sheathing remarks
"Oh really? Thanks for updating my knowledge. Like I don't know that the conference wrapped up at 4, no? Don't even try to fool me with your dumb excuses. Jiju was there too, if he can get some spare time to call Dii multiple times, then why can't you?"
Manjiri had always been a very closed off person, unfailingly in control of her actions and responses. But the way Shaurya's present nonchalant and inattentive behaviour was aggravating her, that directly made her jitter on edge
"What's over there? I'm asking you something, look at me... Tell me why can't you?"
Clicking his tongue, and lingering his eyes over her face with utmost sincerity, he calmly spoke
"Ved Bhai and Shri Bhabhi's case is different, and ours is different... And it's natural for him to care and be worried for her, especially during these times. And as far as we are concerned, I knew you were home, surrounded by your favourite people... Wait, one second, by the way since when did you start to give a damn about my absences and late arrivals? And if I'm not wrong then you're upset with me as I didn't spend time with you... Right?"
He vocalized the last sentence cheekily with a proud smile gracing his features while on the other hand irking her senses more. At this, she fall short of a suitable reply, feeling defensive at his comment she retorted meekly. Luckily she was quick enough to reply
"Absolutely not!"
"Of course!"
He said, prying at her squarely with a devilish proud smirk pasted on his face. Pulling her hand yet again to make her sit next to him, he uttered
"Come here! I must tell you that I really enjoyed listening to these complains from you."
"Do not even try to distract me with all this... Leave it, you have ruined my mood to fight."
With his sudden pull, she was back to her initial place. Managing to maintain a much needed distance between them she warned him with these words. But that turned out to be of no use, neither her warning nor her attempt to distance, cause Shaurya gripped her elbow to stop her. He further insisted on
"So stop fighting na."
"Release your hold upon me... and come."
Her words were interrupted by an abrupt sneeze. She sniffed and then finished her words quickly, not in a mood to shout or speak anymore.
"To where?"
Shaurya quizzed her absentmindedly which made her shoot an immediate fierce glare at him whilst hissing
"Are you for real?... You're still asking where... To the dishes which are still waiting for you..."
"Oh yes!"
Shaurya finished speaking with a sheepish slight smile.
"I usually exist in two places, here and where you are..........."
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"Each time you stuck a bookmark in my heart and then walk away.................. Not fair!"
When Shaurya and Manjiri reached the dining area, they already found Ved and Adishri settled there, he at the head of the table, while she sat along the side of the table. Shaurya settled right next to Adishri.
As Adishri scooped some rice on two different plates, Manjiri intervened
"You leave it Dii, I will serve the food to both of them, you sit."
Soon Dev too walked over to the dining table and stood behind the chair on which Ved sat on. Manjiri instantly threw him a questioning glance, to which he offered her an assuring slight smile. By the facial expressions, Dev appeared to be in a fresh and a much better mood. She just hoped that everything went well on the phone call, between him and Sameeksha.
No sooner did Manjiri put a bowl of spicy green beans on Shaurya's plate, then she heard him muttering whilst directly looking at her face
"Since when did these beans start being counted among my favourite food items... Huh?"
Manjiri inwardly gasped at his audacity to still throw his tantrums, she scowled implicitly
"You are not the only one living in this house, there are others too who prefer these. Not everything will be according to you, so better eat it."
Shaurya looked at the bowl pondering if he should accept it or pass it. He didn't really want to try it but inadvertently Manjiri's fiery mode forced him to accept it wordlessly.
The other three individuals held back their giggles as they view that amusing show going on in front of their eyes. Ved finally remarked whilst glancing towards Shaurya and Manjiri
"Dev, don't you think today's surrounding temperature is high."
"Bhai, not just high, probably it's too high."
Dev's frisky comment made Shaurya look at Manjiri, who swiftly met his gaze and then in a second looked away. Ignoring the banter and wearing an icy face, she walked and pulled out a chair and took a seat beside Dev, which was diagonally opposite to Shaurya on the large table.
While Shaurya couldn't help but impassively stare at her and his brothers with his lips pulled into a tight line.
"Shri Bhabhi, offer Shaurya Bhai some more beans. See how much he is relishing them."
On this indirect mocking remark of Dev, Shaurya literally wanted to retort back at him nicely but then when his eyes met Manjiri's, all his exasperation got diluted in front of her exasperated look. So he immediately dropped his initial plan and silently focused on what was on his plate.
Reaching to the obvious conclusion, Adishri and Ved exchanged an amused glance. When Shaurya noticed this, he inwardly sighed focussing on his plate whilst occasionally glancing at his wife, who seemed to be getting very involved in something which Dev was making her view on his phone.
Manjiri and Dev, who were sitting beside each other, were busy watching an unboxing video of a music system, which Dev was desiring to order online for so long.
In between when Manjiri noticed Shaurya silently eating, from the corner of her eyes, she realized that he hadn't said a word nor was he glowering over her or the beans. In fact, he was quietly ingesting the every food item spread on his plate. She promptly slid the pot of his favourite yellow dal close to his plate. Just in time, his eyes flew upwards to meet her, she looked away as soon as their gazes met. But he continued to eye her long enough until he got a nudge from Adishri.
Shaurya angled his neck towards Adishri and found Ved raising an eyebrow. Small smiles were evidently playing at the corner of both husband and wife's lips.
Shaurya understood what they meant to ask, so in response, he just shook his head with wary levity. Slanting a little towards Adishri, he whispered his helplessness
"I don't know why Bhabhi, but today she's finding everything I do, not do, say, not say super annoying..."
"Well, she seldom gets angry... and there are times when she just needs the other person to simmer her down."
Unleashing a soft smile, Adishri vocalized to him in a low voice. After registering her words, Shaurya quizzed
"Umm!... But how?"
Adishri thought for a second, then directed him
"Approach her and try disengaging her annoyance, I'm sure she will come around by this before you know it. Cause by her persona, she can't stay in a sulk over something for long unless the other person did something really disastrous..."
"Does making her wait for long and not calling/texting her for like whole day, count in the list of disastrous acts issued by Rao Sisters?"
Shaurya asked her with an amused smile, but before Adishri could open her mouth to answer, Ved chimed in
"Certainly my brother, it definitely does. Ask me."
Hearing Ved's playful utterance, Shaurya grinned widely whilst Adishri turned and her husband's arm lightly.
"Well, 'I CAN BE MYSELF WHEN I'M WITH YOU' - is a top tier compliment........ Agreed???"
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"Plucks the moon from the sky and unwraps it like a chocolate coin........... Breaking it in half and gives you the bigger piece."
On stepping inside the room, Shaurya found the cold gushes entering the room through the wide open balcony door, air conditioning the entire place in every way. Also the moving curtains were each time dropping a thing or two from his desk.
Just by then, Manjiri too entered the room and walked past him into the dark room.
"You had left the door open..."
She abruptly stopped when she heard him say, at then she took a notice of his belongings lying on the floor. She instantly replied in a soft tone, though not at all bothered to look at him
"Sorry about that."
The best thing about her was that she never really hesitate in apologising whenever she was at fault. Unlike him. Suddenly, this particular thing struck a chord within him. He didn't say sorry to her up till now, and here he was wanting her to come back to the normal. But then he wondered was the matter really that serious that he deserved to eat the beans forcibly...
"For how long are you intending to be like this?"
He probed her when she approached to help him in picking up the fallen things off the floor. As a response, she just looked straight back at him. Though her gaze wasn't as disquieting as it was previously, but he could still clearly make out that there was still some distantness marking it's presence, in the way she looked at him.
She got up as she gathered and picked up the last fallen items - small paper clips. He intently kept gazing at her, he literally had to force his mind from thinking of the possible ways to keep her hanging close to him. And also about how to disengage her from her unprofitable annoyance.
Taking a step very closer to her, he held her elbow to turn her around and muttered
"Come on na Manjiri, it's enough now. I'm sorry, please just quit being mad at me."
"Hmm!... Ok."
She whispered with a little troubled tone and tried to scoot away from him. He was standing way closer to her. Inadvertently, a proud slight grin managed to grace Shaurya's lips, he liked his effect on her. He asked her again to confirm, moving more closer, thus totally invading her personal space
"Sure?"
Her body stiffened gauging his proximity. So she immediately replied with a shaky voice
"Yeah, sure."
Her both the hands held onto the paperclips in apprehension as he leaned in, his nose was almost about to touch hers when she anxiously stepped back, looking everywhere but him. Her heartbeat was edge by edge picking up pace.
His fingers slowly reached her fisted palms to release the clips from their cage. Examining her face for a while, he breathed out gently
"We need to talk..."
"I guess no, there is nothing to talk about."
She looked him dead in the eye and anyhow managed to answer. Then she shrugged herself out of his grip instantly.
Shaurya didn't really want to intimidate her, so he too stepped aside, thus giving her space to walk out from between him and the desk. And then wondering what to do next to get her talking, cause he can't really keep up this, this was new to him. Till date nobody else in the house has ever been this rightfully irked with him, except for his mother who used to get pissed from him every now and then for his routine habits.
And in fact, nobody else's anger didn't ever make much difference in his life as much as Manjiri's annoyance was making. He often had heard from many that typical wives behave like this when they are annoyed by their husbands, but he was practically experiencing all this for the first time.
Besides, the real fact here was that whenever he was in her vicinage, she effortlessly used to render him incapable of deeming himself with anyone but her. Thereby without much ado, he again went to her as he needed to fix this, the sooner the better, the nearer the friendlier.
_
Hardly had Manjiri undid her ponytail in front of the mirror, when she observed Shaurya walking up to her and stopping behind her, through the mirror.
And then immediately at the next moment, she felt his arms lock around her from behind.
Aligning his chin against her shoulder, he met her eyes through their reflection in the mirror. Taking a shallow sigh, he muttered in a low voice
"Remember when I had promised you that whenever in case I do not treat you well, then you lock your arms around me and as a result I'll do the same after subsiding everything... hmm?"
Manjiri didn't say anything but just briefly nodded. Taking her nod as a cue to proceed, he continued
"So at then I had forgotten to mention that this particular pact applies the other way around too..."
Manjiri studied him properly for a moment. If truth be told, she desperately waited for him all day long and felt devastated when she experienced the feeling of being neglected... But now here he was, so within her reach that she could feel every breath he took against her skin.
Shaurya must have noticed the change in her eyes, that's when he ran his palms down her bare arms tenderly and interlaced his fingers with her clammy but responsive fingers.
Words had hardly evaded from him, when she could feel her exasperation slipping away bit by bit. An apology was crystal clear in his touch, though his words weren't many but he could communicate just as much with a few mere touches.
And there he claimed to her in the morning that she just disarmed him with her mere touch...
With a little delay, she freed her hands from his hold and untangled his arms to come out of them. Whereas he just kept on looking at her intently without any clue.
She slowly turned around and without even meeting his gaze, moved her body into his personal space and gently wrapped her arms around him whispering
"I seriously hate you!"
Shaurya was floored in all respects when she leaned her head against his chest. Caught off guard by the contentment of sticking to her so close, he very carefully reached around her and fastened his hands on her back. As a response, she held onto him more tightly. Soon she heard him reply
"Feelings are mutual since the time you unsympathetically made me chew the beans..."
Hearing this, Manjiri pulled a bit away from him to examine his facial expressions and to see if he was serious. She found him mischievously grinning at her, which involuntarily made her simper a little too.
She then leaned in again, but this time against his neck. He held her firmly, pleased with the fact that she finally smiled. Her warm breath on his neck caused goose bumps to approach on that part of his skin. And it also compelled his heart to do a somersault inside his chest. She continued clinging to him closely and those few split seconds were surrealistic for him. Her grip seemed to be more tighten as she spoke in a tiny voice
"You're very bad!"
Shaurya smiled hearing her and retorted without any delay
"As if you're very good... hmm?"
Resting his cheek against the side of her head and closing his eyes, after a short while he very softly mumbled
"Listen, don't get upset from me on these kinds of petty issues... We already get very less time together, and at then also you come up with all this. It doesn't look nice......"
"And the things you did look nice?"
She asked back. Taking a pause and snuggling more into his arms, she added somberly
"You know I had planned a lot. Had made a lot of effort. And it just was not feeling right when you......."
Before she could complete finishing her speech, Shaurya made his head fall on her shoulder and slowly turned his face towards her neck. He breathed in the scent of her hair as he assured her
"I'm sorry! It won't happen again, promise. Now is that fine?"
"Hmm, somewhat!"
She replied with a quiver in response to his words and actions. Hearing her Shaurya smiled against her neck, giving in to his desire to slide behind her hair over her left shoulder. He sensed her going still just when he landed his lips against the hollow of her neck.
All of a sudden, the air between them got charged. Manjiri's hands slowly unfastened from his frame. Her breath got hitched in her throat due to the sudden strong sensations evoking within her. Everything was so new, the feeling wasn't unpleasant but it just caused her heart to flutter in a very odd way.
And nonetheless, she was the one who pulled back first, still in a daze. But Shaurya's hold on her didn't loosen a bit, he watched her studiously with his heart beating at speed.
Manjiri kept on glancing all around until she heard him say
"Look over here!"
"No, I need to go."
Shaurya couldn't help but smile at her jittery stunts. She was looking sideways when he slowly tilted his face a little and kissed her cheek lightly. Her eyes flew open in surprise, and a swift blush immediately coloured up her cheeks in response. Unintentionally, she slowly turned her face and steadily she looked into his eyes. Her voice slowly trailed off
"You claimed in the morning that I disarmed you, yet you're the one who incapacitates me each time without even trying."
Shaurya's smile only widen at her sincere statement. With a look of surprise, he could easily make out that there was a vulnerable undercurrent flowing through her low tone when she spoke. It made him wonder whether she too was getting indulged in the present pleasing moments to the same extent as he was.
"So is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
He whispered, and then edged his mouth closer to her other cheek to plant a peck over there too. But this time he didn't hurry it, his lips kept on lingering against her cheek. This resulted in her breath to come out in stuttering intervals.
The situation got more intense when she felt him travelling towards the corner of her mouth. But just in time before he could do the needful, he backed a little and asked
"Answer?"
"Huh?"
She seemed confused. Aligning his forehead against hers, he breathed out huskily causing her eyelashes to flutter under his sudden changed gaze.
"I had asked you something, good thing or bad thing?"
"Umm... I don't know."
Manjiri answered him with a quivery voice. A few seconds went like this, then when she upped her eyelashes to catch a glimpse of his face, she found him profoundly outstaring at her. She hesitantly asked him
"What?... Why are you staring at me like that? I seriously don't know, good thing or bad thing, whatever it is."
Shaurya wasn't really listening to her, he had probably lost himself in those moments. His mind was gradually knocking into his inclinations. Taking a deep breath, he mumbled still gazing at her
"Manjiri, there's something I've been wanting to do..."
Hearing his words, she offered him a questioning look. He blinked and broke contact of their foreheads.
"You want to know?"
At his this direct question, all of a sudden experienced a twisted feeling within her. Her lips automatically parted in anticipation. Her blush turned a shade deeper. His intense gaze kept her frozen at her place.
Shaurya was sure that he didn't misinterpret her silent responses. Glad about the fact that she didn't duck in time on comprehending with his inclination.
"Then stay still."
Instructing this, he tilted his a little and started inching slowly towards her face until no space was left in between...................
"It surprises me, how a gesture so small can feel so very big.
How sometimes you don't realize the nervousness or sadness you were holding deep inside until the touch of someone you admire lets it all out of you, like your entire body is exhaling..................."
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This is it for now. Hope you liked it. I am sorry for the mistakes.
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